- A Knight of the Round Table named Geraint (who also happens to be a prince) has married a woman named Enid.
- Enid and Guinevere are besties, but when rumors swirl that Guinevere is cheating on Arthur, Geraint begins to fear that his wife's reputation will suffer by association. He doesn't want Enid to become tainted.
- To protect Enid from “taint,” Geraint takes her to his castle in the hinterlands.
- There he forgets about jousting, hunting, and even governing his kingdom, preferring just to keep house with Enid. Everyone begins to make fun of him.
- When Enid learns of the mean gossip, she’s so upset that she begins to cry in bed with Geraint one night.
- Interpreting her tears as love-longing for another knight, Geraint leaps from the bed, calls for his horse, and orders Enid to put on her worst dress. Now that's revenge.
- Looking at her worst dress reminds Enid of the time when she first met Geraint and he brought her to Arthur’s court. This recollection prompts a flashback to that episode.
- Camelot, One Year Earlier:
- A forester arrives in Arthur’s court with news of a huge white hart (a male deer), prompting the whole court to go on the hunt.
- Guinevere arrives late to the hunt. Prince Geraint rides up while she’s watching for it from a little hillside next to the woods.
- A knight, a lady, and a dwarf walk into a bar. Um… ride by, that is. When Guinevere sends her maiden to ask the knight’s name, the dwarf refuses to answer and whips her.
- Geraint approaches with the same request and receives the same treatment. He vows to Guinevere to avenge the insult to her by learning the knight’s name by force and rides off in pursuit of the trio.
- Before he leaves, Guinevere makes him promise to bring any future bride he finds to her so that Guinevere can dress her for her wedding.
- Geraint follows the trio to a little town. At one end stands a new white fortress, at the other end a dilapidated castle. There’s a lot of noise being made throughout the town.
- As he rides through the town, Geraint finds every hostel full and discovers that the noise he hears is the sound of squires preparing their masters’ armor for battle.
- When Geraint asks what all the fuss is about, everyone responds, “The Sparrow-Hawk.”
- He can’t get a satisfactory explanation of what this means from anyone, which annoys him.
- He asks an armorer about lodging and is directed to the home of Earl Yniol, over the bridge.
- When he arrives at the castle, Geraint finds the place in total disrepair. It’s occupied by a welcoming host, his wife, and their beautiful daughter Enid.
- Yniol tells Geraint that the Sparrow-Hawk is his nephew. He’s the knight who insulted Guinevere.
- Angered by Enid’s refusal of his advances, the Sparrow-Hawk spread a rumor that Yniol stole his inheritance, prompting the townspeople to turn against Yniol and steal everything he owned.
- The town has a tradition in which knights compete to win a golden sparrow-hawk for their lady. Yniol’s nephew has won it for the past few years, which is why he is called The Sparrow-Hawk.
- Geraint announces his intention to defeat Yniol’s nephew in that year’s tournament. When Yniol protests that he cannot because he has no lady, he proposes to fight for Enid. Furthermore, he wishes to marry Enid if he wins.
- Geraint defeats The Sparrow Hawk in the tournament, learning that his name is Edyrn, Son of Nudd. He sends Edyrn to apologize to Queen Guinevere.
- Geraint forces Edyrn to return Yniol’s earldom. Edyrn eventually reforms and becomes a good man and knight.
- The next day Enid wakes in anticipation of traveling to Camelot to marry Geraint. But she is ashamed that all she has to wear is a threadbare old dress. She wishes she had the beautiful, rich dress that was stolen from her when the townspeople turned against her family.
- Her mother comes in to wake her up, carrying the beautiful new dress, which has been recovered from the townspeople who stole it. She begins to dress Enid in it.
- Geraint sends a message to Enid requesting that she travel to court in the oldest dress she has. Without a word of dissent, Enid takes off the new dress and puts on the old one.
- Enid’s mother is angry with Geraint for making this request, until he explains his reasons for it: (1) He wants to honor Guinevere’s request to dress his bride for her wedding. (2) He wants to be sure that Enid really wants to marry him and is not just doing it for the rich life marriage to a prince would bring. (3) He wants to test Enid’s obedience.
- Geraint promises that someday Enid will wear the beautiful dress her mother gave her next to her family’s hearth, perhaps with a child in her lap.
- All being forgiven, Geraint and Enid ride to Camelot, where Guinevere dresses her for her wedding, which is presided over by Dubric, bishop of Britain.
- End of flashback: Enid’s thoughts return to the present, where she gazes on the threadbare dress she wore to court one year ago.
- Acceding to Geraint’s request that she put on her worst dress, she wears it once again.