Sir Garlon

Sir Garlon is an invisible knight who uses concealment to attack other knights without warning. His repeated ambushes make him the enemy of Balin, who pursues him both to avenge his companions and to stop further harm. Garlon’s identity is finally exposed at King Pellam’s feast, where Balin kills him.

Identity and Method

Garlon is known for making himself invisible and striking with a spear. At King Pellam’s court, another knight identifies him as the black-faced man and calls him a marvel among living knights because he destroys good knights while unseen. Garlon’s invisibility gives him a marked advantage, but it also makes his violence appear as treachery: his victims cannot meet him in an ordinary contest.

Ambushes on Balin’s Road

After Balin escorts the grieving Herlews le Berbeus toward King Arthur’s pavilion, Garlon appears invisibly and wounds Herlews with a spear. Dying, Herlews identifies his attacker as Garlon and asks Balin to take his horse, continue the quest he had been pursuing with the damsel, and avenge his death. Balin vows to do so. King Arthur arranges a rich burial for Herlews and records Garlon’s treachery on the tomb; the damsel keeps the broken spear-shaft from the attack.

Balin soon travels with Perin de Mountbeliard, who has pledged not to leave him while he lives. Garlon again strikes unseen, piercing Perin with a spear. Perin identifies his attacker as the invisible traitor, and Balin laments that this is not Garlon’s first outrage against him. Balin and a hermit bury Perin beneath a fine stone and royal tomb. Letters in gold found the next morning foretell that Sir Gawaine will avenge his father King Lot’s death on King Pellinore, adding another strand of future vengeance to the journey.

King Pellam’s Feast and Garlon’s Death

Balin later hears from a host that Garlon has also harmed his household: after the host twice unhorsed a brother of King Pellam at a joust, that knight retaliated by wounding the host’s son, who cannot recover without Garlon’s blood. The host explains that King Pellam is holding a feast within twenty days, and Balin agrees to help obtain the blood needed to heal the boy.

At the feast, Balin asks whether Garlon is present and learns to recognize him by his black face. Balin weighs the danger of attacking him there: killing him in the court may prevent Balin’s escape, while letting him go could mean losing the chance to stop further harm. Garlon notices Balin watching him, approaches, and strikes him across the face with the back of his hand, ordering him to attend to the feast. Balin answers that this is not Garlon’s first outrage and rises to kill him. He then asks the damsel for the spear-shaft from Herlews’s death; she has carried it throughout. Balin drives it through Garlon’s body, naming it as the weapon with which Garlon killed a good knight, and tells his host that he can now take enough blood to heal his son.

Narrative Role

Garlon’s unseen attacks make him a persistent threat rather than a single opponent: each ambush adds another death and strengthens Balin’s vow of revenge. The carried spear-shaft links the first killing to the final confrontation, turning evidence of Garlon’s earlier violence into the means by which Balin avenges it. His death also answers the host’s need for a remedy for his wounded son, bringing Balin’s pursuit to a practical as well as personal conclusion.