“Stumble you upon the sand.”
And as he touched shore, he stumbled, holding the Queen in his arms;
and the squires and boatmen with their oars and boat-hooks drove the
poor pilgrim away.
But the Queen said:
“Let him be; some great travail and journey has weakened him.”
And she threw to the pilgrim a little clasp of gold.
Before the tent of King Arthur was spread a rich Nicean cloth upon the
grass, and the holy relics were set on it, taken out of their covers
and their shrines.
And round the holy relics on the sward stood a guard more than a
king’s guard, for Lord Gawain, Girflet, and Kay the Seneschal kept
ward over them.
The Queen having prayed God, took off the jewels from her neck and
hands, and gave them to the beggars around; she took off her purple
mantle, and her overdress, and her shoes with their precious stones,
and gave them also to the poor that loved her.
She kept upon her only the sleeveless tunic, and then with arms and
feet quite bare she came between the two kings, and all around the
barons watched her in silence, and some wept, for near the holy relics
was a brazier burning.
And trembling a little she stretched her right hand towards the bones
and said: “Kings of Logres and of Cornwall; my lords Gawain, and Kay,
and Girflet, and all of you that are my warrantors, by these holy
things and all the holy things of earth, I swear that no man has held
me in his arms saving King Mark, my lord, and that poor pilgrim. King
Mark, will that oath stand?”
“Yes, Queen,” he said, “and God see to it.
“Amen,” said Iseult, and then she went near the brazier, pale and
stumbling, and all were silent. The iron was red, but she thrust her
bare arms among the coals and seized it, and bearing it took nine
steps.
Then, as she cast it from her, she stretched her arms out in a cross,
with the palms of her hands wide open, and all men saw them fresh and
clean and cold. Seeing that great sight the kings and the barons and
the people stood for a moment silent, then they stirred together and
they praised God loudly all around.