Episode 4The Mistake That Wrote the Knights' CodeGawain and the Pentecostal Oath
Knighted on King Arthur's wedding day, young Gawain is desperate to win glory. When his hounds are killed, he flies into a rage, refuses a beaten knight's plea for mercy, and the lady who throws herself between them dies by his hand. He doesn't run. He carries his shame back to the court, and the vow he swears there becomes the oath of every Knight of the Round Table.
Gawain and the Pentecostal Oath Explained: Le Morte d'Arthur Book III
The Original Story: A Wedding, a Table, and a White Hart
The story comes from Le Morte d'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory's great retelling of the Arthurian legends, printed by William Caxton in 1485. In Caxton's edition, chapters 1–15 of Book III tell how Arthur took a wife, how the Round Table came to be, and how its knights got their first rules.
Arthur's barons urge him to marry, and he admits he loves Guinevere, daughter of King Leodegrance of Cameliard. Merlin, the wizard who advises the king and can see the future, agrees she is beautiful. He then warns Arthur privately that Lancelot will one day love her, and she will love him back. Arthur's mind is made up. Leodegrance is delighted and sends a wedding gift: the Round Table, which Arthur's father Uther Pendragon had given him, with seats for 150 knights, and 100 of his own knights to go with it. Arthur says this pleases him more than any treasure.
Merlin is sent to find knights for the empty places, but he can only find 28. The Archbishop of Canterbury blesses the seats. When the knights rise to pay homage to the king, each one's name is found written in gold letters on his seat. Some places are left empty, including the Siege Perilous, a seat meant for one destined knight. Anyone else who sits there will be destroyed.
Before the wedding, young Gawain, son of King Lot and nephew of Arthur, asks to be knighted on the wedding day, and Arthur agrees. Then Arthur and Guinevere are married at the church of St Stephen in Camelot. At the feast, Merlin says something strange is about to happen. A white hart (a male deer) runs into the hall, chased by a small white hunting dog called a brachet and a pack of black hounds. A knight grabs the brachet and rides off. A lady on a white horse cries out that the dog is hers, and an armed knight carries her away by force. Merlin tells Arthur these events cannot be ignored, and three quests begin: Gawain goes after the hart, the newly knighted Tor after the brachet, and King Pellinore after the lady.
Gawain's Quest and His Terrible Mistake
Gawain rides out with his younger brother Gaheris as his squire. On the way he defeats two brothers who are fighting over which of them is stronger, and he kills a knight guarding a river crossing. His hounds chase the white hart into a castle and kill it in the hall. The castle's lord, Sir Ablamar of the Marsh, comes out and kills the hounds, saying the hart was a gift from his lady. Gawain is furious and fights him to avenge his dogs.
Gawain wins, and the beaten knight begs for mercy. Gawain refuses and raises his sword to cut off his head. At that moment the knight's lady runs in and throws herself over him, and Gawain's blow cuts off her head by mistake. Gaheris scolds him harshly: he should have shown mercy, because a knight without mercy has no honour. Gawain spares the knight, but then four knights of the castle attack, and Gawain is wounded in the arm by an arrow. Ladies of the castle beg for his life. He is allowed to live, but as a punishment he must ride back to court with the dead lady's head hung around his neck and her body carried in front of him on his horse.
The Pentecostal Oath
Back at Camelot, Merlin makes Gawain tell the whole story. Arthur and Guinevere are deeply upset, and at the queen's command a court of ladies judges him. Gawain must fight for ladies all his life and never refuse mercy to anyone who asks for it. He swears this on the Four Gospels. Tor finishes his quest well. Pellinore brings back the lady, later named Nimue, but on his way he rode past a young woman who begged him for help. She turns out to be his own daughter, and she is killed and eaten by lions. Guinevere blames him, and Merlin predicts that he will be punished for it.
Finally Arthur gives land to his knights and makes them swear an oath. They must never commit outrage or murder, must avoid treason, must give mercy to those who ask for it, must help ladies and women in need, and must never fight in a wrongful quarrel for gain. In Malory's account, the Knights of the Round Table swore this oath again every year at the feast of Pentecost.
What This Story Means
Malory wrote at the end of the Middle Ages, when knights were often violent and England was torn by civil war. In this episode he shows that the ideals of chivalry did not come out of nowhere. They grew from failure. Gawain is not a villain. He is young, proud and hot-tempered, and his rule-breaking costs an innocent life. The Round Table's code is a response to exactly that kind of mistake.
The three quests also work as a set of lessons. Tor behaves well and succeeds. Gawain shows no mercy. Pellinore is in too much of a hurry to help someone in need. Readers often see the Pentecostal Oath as Malory's statement of what a good knight should be, but how sincerely the knights later live by it is something the rest of the book keeps testing.
What the Manga Changes
The manga follows Malory's main events: Gawain's knighting, the white hart, the killing of the lady, the punishment, and the oath, whose promises match the original. Some details are invented or expanded for the story. In Malory the castle lady has no name and we learn almost nothing about her except that she sacrificed herself, so the manga gives her a face, a name and a loving bond with her husband. Gawain's feelings on the long ride home, and the stares of the court, are also the manga's creation, since Malory simply states what happened.
Guinevere hardly speaks in this part of the original, so the manga shows her personality through expressions and small reactions. The glowing gold names, the feast scene, the tone of Gaheris's scolding and the staging of the oath are visual choices. Tor's and Pellinore's quests are shortened to a few panels, but their outcomes stay the same as in Malory.
Where to Read It
If you want to see this moment come alive, from the white hart crashing into the wedding feast to Gawain kneeling before the court, Episode 4 of KING ARTHUR: Twilight of the Round Table, "The Mistake That Wrote the Knights' Code", tells it in full colour. Every episode on Manga Portal is free to read, with no sign-up needed, so you can start from the beginning of Arthur's story or jump straight to Gawain's quest.
Characters in this episode
King Arthur
The King of Britain, who marries Guinevere, founds the Round Table fellowship, and makes his knights swear the Pentecostal Oath.
Guinevere
Daughter of King Leodegrance and Arthur's new queen, who orders the ladies' court that judges Gawain.
Merlin
Arthur's wizard and adviser, who foresees Guinevere's future with Lancelot and sends three knights on their quests.
Gawain
Arthur's young, hot-tempered nephew, knighted on the wedding day, whose refusal to show mercy leads to a lady's death.
Gaheris
Gawain's younger brother and squire, who tells him that a knight without mercy has no honour.
King Pellinore
A warrior king who rescues the kidnapped lady Nimue but ignores a woman begging for help, who turns out to be his own daughter.
FAQ
What is the Pentecostal Oath in King Arthur?
It is the oath Arthur makes the Knights of the Round Table swear in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. Knights promise to avoid outrage, murder and treason, to show mercy to those who ask, to help ladies, and never to fight in a wrongful cause. They renewed it every year at Pentecost.
Why did Gawain kill a lady?
While chasing the white hart, Gawain defeated the knight who had killed his hounds and refused his plea for mercy. As he struck, the knight's lady threw herself over her husband, and Gawain cut off her head by accident.
What was Gawain's punishment?
He had to ride back to Camelot with the dead lady's head around his neck and her body on his horse. A court of ladies then made him swear to fight for women all his life and never refuse mercy to anyone who asked.
Who gave King Arthur the Round Table?
In Malory's version, King Leodegrance of Cameliard gave it to Arthur as a wedding gift when Arthur married his daughter Guinevere. Leodegrance had received it from Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, and it seated 150 knights.
What is the Siege Perilous?
It is a seat at the Round Table reserved for one destined knight. In Malory, anyone else who sits in it will be destroyed.
