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Sir Balin
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Sir Balin
Balin /ˈbeɪlɪn/ the Savage, also known as the Knight with the Two Swords, is a character in Arthurian legend. He is a relatively late addition to the medieval Arthurian world. His story, as told by Thomas Malory in Le Morte d'Arthur, is based upon that told in the continuation of the second book of the Post-Vulgate cycle, the Suite du Merlin.
A knight before the Round Table was formed, Sir Balin lives only for a few weeks following his release from King Arthur's prison and his subsequent slaying of a Lady of the Lake. Just prior to his departure, his destiny is sealed by the arrival of a mysterious damsel bearing a sword that only the "most virtuous" knight in Arthur's court will be able to draw; Balin draws this sword easily. His adventures end when Balin and his brother Sir Balan kill each other in single combat, fulfilling an earlier prophecy about the destiny of the bearer of the damsel's sword; they are both unaware of the other's identity during their fight.
Prior to his tragic end, this ill-fated knight contrives to inflict a "Dolorous Stroke" with the Holy Lance, the spear that pierced Christ upon the Cross, thus setting the scene for the Post-Vulgate version of the search for the Holy Grail. Merlin tells Arthur that had he lived, Balin would have been the best and bravest knight.
The story of Sir Balin (or Balyn[e]) the Savage and his brother Sir Balan is best known from the version found in Thomas Malory's English retelling of the Arthurian legend, Le Morte d'Arthur, in the long section titled the "Booke of Balyne le Saveage", a part of Malory's Book II. Malory based his tale on the continuation of the second book of the French Post-Vulgate cycle of Arthurian Grail legend, the Suite du Merlin, dating to the mid-13th century. The Suite du Merlin survives in only two copies: British Library Add MS 38117 and Cambridge University Library MS Add.7071, both dating to the 14th century. In it, Balin is called Balaain[s] (variant: Balain, with his brother originally named Balaan or Balaam) le Sauvage.
This account of the life and adventures of Balin is taken from the story of "Balin, or the Knight with the Two Swords" as retold by Malory in Le Morte d'Arthur. Perhaps uniquely among the significant knights of King Arthur's court, Balin never joins the Round Table, dying before that institution is founded. Despite Balin being proven, by his drawing of the sword, to be a "good man of his hands and of his deeds, and without villainy or trechery and without treason," his distinguishing characteristic, as portrayed by Malory, is impetuosity.
King Arthur is virile and strong, near the beginning of his reign. Balin is a poor knight who hails from Northumberland and has been in Arthur's prison for six months. Having been imprisoned for "half a year" for the death of a cousin of Arthur's, Balin is released at about the same time that a damsel sent from the lady Lile of Avalon comes to court with a sword that she reveals she is wearing when she lets her fur mantle fall to the floor. This sword can only be drawn from its scabbard by a truly virtuous knight, or so she claims. After many, including Arthur himself, have attempted to pull this sword out, Balin asks for a chance to try. However, this proves to be a trap, by which Sir Balin ultimately kills his own brother Sir Balan.
The damsel is at first reluctant to allow a knight who has just been released from prison to attempt the trial. But she does and Balin succeeds in drawing the sword and claiming it as his own. The damsel regrets her initial presumptuousness, but then further chastises Balin when he refuses to return the sword to her. She is not angry but concerned for him, because if he does not return the sword to her, he will suffer for it. The damsel leaves, but not before warning Balin that he will kill, with this sword, his greatest friend, the one whom he loves the best, and it will cause his own destruction.
Shortly thereafter, the Lady of the Lake, in pursuit of a feud between her family and Balin's, arrives to ask King Arthur for Balin's head. She demands it as payment for Excalibur, the sword that she has given to Arthur. King Arthur agrees to pay her for the sword, but not to her demand for the head of Balin, whom she claims has killed her brother, or the head of the damsel, whom she claims caused her father's death. Balin, upon hearing that the woman who was the cause of his mother's wrongful execution is in court, impetuously strikes off the lady's head with the cry: "You wanted my head and so I shall take yours!" Balin validates his swift action by making known his claim that the lady caused his own mother to be burned to death. Arthur is unimpressed by this plea, however, and insists that even were the claim true, Balin ought to have withheld his sword in the royal court, and against such a lady. Arthur then banishes Balin from his court.
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Sir Balin
Balin /ˈbeɪlɪn/ the Savage, also known as the Knight with the Two Swords, is a character in Arthurian legend. He is a relatively late addition to the medieval Arthurian world. His story, as told by Thomas Malory in Le Morte d'Arthur, is based upon that told in the continuation of the second book of the Post-Vulgate cycle, the Suite du Merlin.
A knight before the Round Table was formed, Sir Balin lives only for a few weeks following his release from King Arthur's prison and his subsequent slaying of a Lady of the Lake. Just prior to his departure, his destiny is sealed by the arrival of a mysterious damsel bearing a sword that only the "most virtuous" knight in Arthur's court will be able to draw; Balin draws this sword easily. His adventures end when Balin and his brother Sir Balan kill each other in single combat, fulfilling an earlier prophecy about the destiny of the bearer of the damsel's sword; they are both unaware of the other's identity during their fight.
Prior to his tragic end, this ill-fated knight contrives to inflict a "Dolorous Stroke" with the Holy Lance, the spear that pierced Christ upon the Cross, thus setting the scene for the Post-Vulgate version of the search for the Holy Grail. Merlin tells Arthur that had he lived, Balin would have been the best and bravest knight.
The story of Sir Balin (or Balyn[e]) the Savage and his brother Sir Balan is best known from the version found in Thomas Malory's English retelling of the Arthurian legend, Le Morte d'Arthur, in the long section titled the "Booke of Balyne le Saveage", a part of Malory's Book II. Malory based his tale on the continuation of the second book of the French Post-Vulgate cycle of Arthurian Grail legend, the Suite du Merlin, dating to the mid-13th century. The Suite du Merlin survives in only two copies: British Library Add MS 38117 and Cambridge University Library MS Add.7071, both dating to the 14th century. In it, Balin is called Balaain[s] (variant: Balain, with his brother originally named Balaan or Balaam) le Sauvage.
This account of the life and adventures of Balin is taken from the story of "Balin, or the Knight with the Two Swords" as retold by Malory in Le Morte d'Arthur. Perhaps uniquely among the significant knights of King Arthur's court, Balin never joins the Round Table, dying before that institution is founded. Despite Balin being proven, by his drawing of the sword, to be a "good man of his hands and of his deeds, and without villainy or trechery and without treason," his distinguishing characteristic, as portrayed by Malory, is impetuosity.
King Arthur is virile and strong, near the beginning of his reign. Balin is a poor knight who hails from Northumberland and has been in Arthur's prison for six months. Having been imprisoned for "half a year" for the death of a cousin of Arthur's, Balin is released at about the same time that a damsel sent from the lady Lile of Avalon comes to court with a sword that she reveals she is wearing when she lets her fur mantle fall to the floor. This sword can only be drawn from its scabbard by a truly virtuous knight, or so she claims. After many, including Arthur himself, have attempted to pull this sword out, Balin asks for a chance to try. However, this proves to be a trap, by which Sir Balin ultimately kills his own brother Sir Balan.
The damsel is at first reluctant to allow a knight who has just been released from prison to attempt the trial. But she does and Balin succeeds in drawing the sword and claiming it as his own. The damsel regrets her initial presumptuousness, but then further chastises Balin when he refuses to return the sword to her. She is not angry but concerned for him, because if he does not return the sword to her, he will suffer for it. The damsel leaves, but not before warning Balin that he will kill, with this sword, his greatest friend, the one whom he loves the best, and it will cause his own destruction.
Shortly thereafter, the Lady of the Lake, in pursuit of a feud between her family and Balin's, arrives to ask King Arthur for Balin's head. She demands it as payment for Excalibur, the sword that she has given to Arthur. King Arthur agrees to pay her for the sword, but not to her demand for the head of Balin, whom she claims has killed her brother, or the head of the damsel, whom she claims caused her father's death. Balin, upon hearing that the woman who was the cause of his mother's wrongful execution is in court, impetuously strikes off the lady's head with the cry: "You wanted my head and so I shall take yours!" Balin validates his swift action by making known his claim that the lady caused his own mother to be burned to death. Arthur is unimpressed by this plea, however, and insists that even were the claim true, Balin ought to have withheld his sword in the royal court, and against such a lady. Arthur then banishes Balin from his court.
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