Then the fight waxed hotter and hotter, and the British knights were in such jeopardy that Sir Gawaine dispatched a messenger to bring him help as quickly as it could be sent, for he was wounded and sorely hurt.  King Arthur, having received the message, instantly mustered his army; but before he could set out, into the camp rode Sir Gawaine and his companions, bringing with them many prisoners.  And the only one of the band who had suffered any hurt was Sir Gawaine, whom the king consoled as best he could, bidding his surgeon at once attend to his wounds.

Thus ended the first battle between the Britons and the Romans.  That night there was great rejoicing in the camp of King Arthur; and on the next day all the prisoners were sent to Paris, with Sir Launcelot du Lake and Sir Cador, and many other knights to guard them.  On the way, passing through a wood, they were beset by a force the Emperor Lucius had placed there in ambush.  Then Sir Launcelot, though the enemy had six men for every one he had with him, fought with such fury that no one could stand up against him; and at last, in dread of his prowess and might, the Romans and their allies the Saracens turned and fled as though they had been sheep and Sir Launcelot a wolf or a lion.  But the skirmish had lasted so long that tidings of it had reached King Arthur, who arrayed himself and hurried to the aid of his knights.  Finding them already victorious, he embraced them one by one, saying that they were indeed worthy of whatever honors had been granted them in the past, and that no other king had ever had such noble knights as he had.

To this Sir Cador answered that they might one and all claim at least the merit of not having deserted their posts, but that the honor of the day belonged to Sir Launcelot, for it passed man’s wit to describe all the feats of arms he had performed.  Then Sir Cador told the King that certain of his knights were slain, and who they were, whereupon King Arthur wept bitterly.

“Truly,” he said, “your valor nearly was the destruction of you all.  Yet you would not have been disgraced in my eyes had you retreated.  To me it seems a rash and foolhardy thing for knights to stand their ground when they find themselves overmatched.”

“Nay,” replied Sir Launcelot, “I think otherwise; for a knight who has once been put to shame may never recover the honor he has forfeited.”

There was among the Romans who escaped from that battle a senator.  He went to the Emperor Lucius and said, “Sir, my advice is that you withdraw your army, for this day has proved that grievous blows are all we shall win here.  There is not one of King Arthur’s knights that has not proved himself worth a hundred of ours.”

“Alas,” cried Lucius, “that is coward’s talk and to hear it grieves me more than all the losses I have sustained this day.”

Then he ordered one of his most trusty allies to take a great force and advance as fast as he possibly could, the Emperor himself intending to follow in all haste.  Warning of this having been brought secretly to the British camp, King Arthur sent part of his forces to Sessoigne to occupy the towns and castles before the Romans could reach him.  The rest he posted up and down the country, so as to cut off every way by which the enemy might escape.