Arthur Timeline and Summary

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• Arthur drives the pagans out of Britain and unites the petty warring kingdoms under his rule, creating a fellowship of knights bound to him by oath.
• Arthur asks King Leodogran for his daughter’s hand in marriage, prompting Leodogran to seek out information about Arthur’s origins. The conflicting stories he hears—one alleging him to be the blood descendant of the former king, another asserting his arrival in a supernatural ship—are never resolved.
• He marries Guinevere and, during their wedding banquet, refuses tribute to Rome.
• In “Gareth and Lynette,” Arthur grants an incognito Gareth the quest of rescuing Lady Lyonors’s castle.
• Arthur’s announcement of a tournament for the last of his nine royal diamonds starts the plot that leads to the meeting of Lancelot and Elaine.
• In “The Holy Grail,” Arthur laments the deeds of chivalry that will remain undone as his knights chase after shadows.
• In “The Last Tournament,” Arthur announces the Tournament of Innocents but must leave Lancelot in charge of it as he responds to the threat of the Red Knight of the North.
• Arthur learns about Guinevere’s infidelity and goes to battle against Lancelot.
• Arthur visits Guinevere in a convent and accuses her of causing the fall of his kingdom. He forgives her and expresses his faith that they will be together in heaven.
• Before his last battle, Arthur sees a vision of Gawain, who tells him he is about to die.
• Arthur kills Sir Mordred, receiving his death-wound in the process.
• He orders Bedivere to return his sword to the Lady of the Lake and then to place him on a barge that appears on the lake carrying three mysterious queens.
• The barge carries Arthur away, never to return again.