Idylls of the King Geraint and Enid Summary

  • According to the speaker, it’s common for a man to cause trouble for himself by believing what’s false to be true, and vice-versa. This folly only ends after death, when we see ourselves truly.
  • And it’s this way with Geraint. Angry with Enid because he believes her to be unfaithful, he commands her to ride ahead of him and not speak to him, perhaps so that he doesn’t lose his temper with her.
  • He commands Enid to lead the way into the wilds. She does so, trying to figure out and amend whatever wrong she’s committed as Geraint regrets ever wasting time on her.
  • Enid spots three knights hiding behind a rock, waiting to ambush them. She breaks Geraint’s command of silence by telling him about the bandits.
  • After scolding Enid for breaking his commandment, Geraint defeats the bandits, then commands Enid to drive the bandits’ horses and armor ahead of her.
  • Geraint starts to pity Enid and contemplates asking her whether she’s been unfaithful to him. But for him it would be easier to kill her than ask that question.
  • Enid sees three more bandits waiting in the forest to ambush them and tells Geraint, who responds that the bandits anger him less than her disobedience.
  • Geraint kills the three bandits and commands Enid to drive their horses and armor ahead of her, together with the three she’s already driving.
  • As they enter a meadow above a little town, they meet with a young boy carrying lunch for some nearby mowers. Geraint asks the boy to feed Enid.
  • The boy gives food to both of them. Geraint gives the boy a horse and armor as payment, then asks him to find them a room for the night.
  • In the tavern where they rent a room, Geraint and Enid meet up with the Earl of Limours, a former suitor of Enid’s. Geraint buys wine and food for him and all his friends.
  • The Earl of Limours tells Enid that he still loves her. Citing Geraint’s obvious neglect of her as evidence of a lapse in his devotion, he offers to dispose of Geraint for her.
  • Enid hedges in order to avoid a conflict: she tells him to come take her away from Geraint in the morning.
  • The next morning, Enid tells Geraint about Limours’s intentions and they leave the inn. Geraint again commands her to ride out ahead of him and not to speak a word.
  • When Enid spots Limours bearing down on Geraint, she points a finger toward him rather than speaking, which pleases Geraint.
  • After Geraint kills Limours, all his men abandon the fight. Geraint and Enid ride on.
  • A bleeding wound inside Geraint’s armor causes him to pass out and fall off his horse.
  • Enid dismounts and bandages the wound.
  • The lawless Earl of Doorm passes by with his men and, at Enid’s pleading, commands them to bear Geraint to his hall on a stretcher.
  • As Enid weeps over Geraint, he starts to believe she still loves him. He remains silent in order to test her devotion further.
  • The Earl of Doorm offers to marry Enid. He tries to get her to drink some wine, and when she refuses he slaps her.
  • At this, Geraint leaps from the stretcher and cuts off the Earl’s head.
  • Geraint apologizes to Enid for the way he has treated her and promises never to doubt her again.
  • As they ride from the Earl’s hall, they meet Edyrn, the man who impoverished Enid’s family when Enid refused his advances.
  • Edyrn tells them that he comes bearing a message from Arthur to the Earl of Doorm, commanding him to disband himself.
  • He also assures Geraint and Enid that after his defeat and penance in Arthur’s court, he is a changed man.
  • The three of them ride to Arthur’s encampment, where Arthur tells Geraint that his departure from Camelot shamed him into rooting criminals out of the borderlands.
  • When Arthur and his troops return to Caerleon (a.k.a. Camelot), Geraint and Enid go with them and spend some time there. Enid becomes close to the queen again.
  • Enid and Geraint live happily ever after until Geraint dies in battle fighting for Arthur against the heathens from the North.