"Seven years ago I was riding all alone, fully armed as a knight ought
to be, and looking for adventure, when I came upon a path leading through a
thick forest. The path was full of brambles and thorns and very hard to follow,
but all day long I drove my horse on till at last I came out of the 
Forest of Broceliande into an open field and saw in the distance a wooden tower.
As I drew nearer I could see the walls and the moat of a castle and on its bridge
the lord coming out to meet me with a falcon
on his wrist.
He welcomed me and asked me to be his guest for the night, for he said that it had been many years since he had seen a knight looking for adventure. He led me into the courtyard where he beat three times with a hammer on a small copper gong. At once people came to take my horse and led it away. The lord's daughter gently took off my armour and gave me a short cloak of peacock-blue to wear. She took me to sit in a lovely meadow with a wall all around, and there we two spoke alone for a long time. She was so pretty and spoke so well that I would gladly have stayed there forever, but when night came the lord came to find me and bring me to supper.
Yet the meal, too, was delightful, for I was seated close to the lord's daughter and was given to eat every delicious thing I could desire. After supper the lord of the castle asked me if I would promise to return after my adventures, and spend the night with them again. I said I would be happy to do so.
That night I was very comfortable and was looked after well, and as soon as light appeared the next morning I found my horse was saddled and everything was ready for me. I thanked the kind lord and his daughter, asking the Holy Spirit to bless them, and went on my way.
Find out more about the
lords of Medieval castles
and the people who lived on their land.
