Sir Mordred, on his part, had heard of their sailing, and hasted to get together a great army.  It was grievous to see how many a stout knight held by Mordred, ay, even many whom Arthur himself had raised to honour and fortune; for it is the nature of men to be fickle.  Thus it was that, when Arthur drew near to Dover, he found Mordred with a mighty host, waiting to oppose his landing.  Then there was a great sea-fight, those of Mordred’s party going out in boats, great and small, to board King Arthur’s ships and slay him and his men or ever they should come to land.  Right valiantly did King Arthur bear him, as was his wont, and boldly his followers fought in his cause, so that at last they drove off their enemies and landed at Dover in spite of Mordred and his array.  For that time Mordred fled, and King Arthur bade those of his party bury the slain and tend the wounded.

So as they passed from ship to ship, salving and binding the hurts of the men, they came at last upon Sir Gawain, where he lay at the bottom of a boat, wounded to the death, for he had received a great blow on the wound that Sir Launcelot had given him.  They bore him to his tent, and his uncle, the King, came to him, sorrowing beyond measure.  “Methinks,” said the King, “my joy on earth is done; for never have I loved any men as I have loved you, my nephew, and Sir Launcelot.  Sir Launcelot I have lost, and now I see you on your death-bed.”  “My King,” said Sir Gawain, “my hour is come, and I have got my death at Sir Launcelot’s hand; for I am smitten on the wound he gave me.  And rightly am I served, for of my willfulness and stubbornness comes this unhappy war.  I pray you, my uncle, raise me in your arms and let me write to Sir Launcelot before I die.”

Thus, then, Sir Gawain wrote:  “To Sir Launcelot, the noblest of all knights, I, Gawain, send greeting before I die.  For I am smitten on the wound ye gave me before your castle of Benwick in France, and I bid all men bear witness that I sought my own death and that ye are innocent of it.  I pray you, by our friendship of old, come again into Britain, and when ye look upon my tomb, pray for Gawain of Orkney.  Farewell.”

So Sir Gawain died and was buried in the Chapel at Dover.

CHAPTER XXXVI

THE BATTLE IN THE WEST

The day after the battle at Dover, King Arthur and his host pursued Sir Mordred to Barham Down where again there was a great battle fought, with much slaughter on both sides; but, in the end, Arthur was victorious, and Mordred fled to Canterbury.

Now, by this time, many that Mordred had cheated by his lying reports, had drawn unto King Arthur, to whom at heart they had ever been loyal, knowing him for a true and noble king and hating themselves for having been deceived by such a false usurper as Sir Mordred.  Then when he found that he was being deserted, Sir Mordred withdrew to the far West, for there men knew less of what had happened, and so he might still find some to believe in him and support him; and being without conscience, he even called to his aid the heathen hosts that his uncle, King Arthur, had driven from the land, in the good years when Launcelot was of the Round Table.