Garreth and Lynette

In his Idylls of the King, Alfred Lord Tennyson has a beautiful love story, called: “Garreth and Lynette.” But it is more than a love story. It is a deep, strong allegory on death.

Garreth is a young Knight of the Round Table, at Camelot, in the days of King Arthur. Hard times come upon the Kingdom, and all the Knights are sent out on quests. Garreth is the only Knight left in the Court of the King.

A beautiful girl named Lynette comes to King Arthur in desperation, saying: “Please give me a company of Knights, to rescue my sister, Leonor! Four terrible bandits have imprisoned her in our family castle. It is built on the top of a mountain. A river runs around it, in four loops. There is a bridge over each loop of the river. These bandits have set themselves up, one at each bridge. They call themselves Morning Star, Noonday Sun, Evening Star, and Death. . . . Death is the most terrible of them all. . . . Please give me a company of Knights, to rescue my sister, Leonor!”

The only Knight left is Garreth. So Arthur gives the quest to him. On their way to the family castle of Lynette, everyone they meet tells Garreth not to try this, to go back to the King, to wait until they had a full company of Knights.

A woodsman tells him: “You have no chance against these four bandits. The youngest is Morning Star, and he is head and shoulders taller than you. Sixty pounds heavier than you. Noonday Sun and Evening Star are worse. . . . And Death — no one will ever defeat Death. He is a giant. Go back to the King, and wait for a company of Knights.”

But Garreth says: “The King gave me this quest, and I will follow it, even if I die — as my father died.”

When they reached the castle, it was exactly the way Lynette described it. It was on top of a mountain. A river ran around it in four loops, with a bridge over each loop. And defending each bridge was one of these savage bandits.

The first was Morning Star, a big, raw boned warrior. When he saw Garreth he laughed and said: “Go home to your mother, boy! This will be your first battle, and your last!”

But Garreth rode in on him, with the lance. They met on the bridge. Morning Star was unhorsed, and wounded. Garreth took him prisoner, and left him with the woodsman.

They rode on to the second bridge. Noonday Sun was older and fiercer. He said: “You wounded my brother, boy — and you will pay for that!’

They met on the bridge. Both were unhorsed, and began to fight with the sword. The armor of Noonday Sun was chain mail. He was impregnable. Garreth was wounded, and the blood began to run down under his armor. They fought until the sun was high, blazing down on them. Garreth was weak from loss of blood.

Noonday Sun came in for the kill. But when he drew back for his final thrust, he lifted his head a little. The chain mail lifted, and for one moment his throat was exposed. Garreth put his sword through that opening, and killed Noonday Sun. They went on to the third bridge. Evening Star, as a swordsman, was as fast as light. Garreth was wounded, a second time.

They  fought until it was night, and the stars come out. Evening Star came in for the kill. Garreth fell back against the railing of the bridge.

The railing broke, and both fell into the river. There Garreth got his hands on the throat of Evening Star, and strangled him to death.

They moved on to the last bridge. It was just as Lynette had said. The castle was dark. There was a clearing in front of it, and in the center of the clearing was the black silk tent of Death, marked with a white skull and crossbones.

Leonor came out on the balcony of the castle, with a candle, and called: “Go back! Go back! Do not get killed for me!” But there was a gong on his side of the river, and a sledge hammer, for calling Death. Garreth took the sledge and struck the  gong. While it was still sounding, the portals of the black silk tent opened, and out rode death, on a great black charger.

He came out fast, and stopped in the middle of the clearing, his long lance gleaming blue in the moonlight. He did not say a word. . . . When Garreth saw him, his heart sank. He knew that what everyone had told him was true. No one would ever defeat Death. He was a giant! He was 12 feet tall.

Garreth had no more lance. And no helmet. His hair was blowing in the wind. He mounted his horse, armed only with the battered sword of Evening Star. He knew that this was his last ride. He bent down and said to Lynette: “Please tell the King that I tried to follow this quest, even if I failed. . . . And if you see my mother, tell her that I tried not to shame my father’s name.”

As he rode over the bridge, just the sound of the horse’s hooves, echoing from the black water, terrified him. He felt that there was one wild thing that he could do. As he rode down toward Death, he stood high in the stirrups and twisted his body so that the lance of Death ran under his arm. Then he brought that old battered sword down hard on the crest of Death.

The sword bit through the crest, the head, the shoulders, and the whole hulk fell apart! And sitting on the saddle was a 12-year old boy, with blond hair and blue eyes. The boy cried: “Please don’t kill me!. . . . Please don’t kill me!. . . . My brothers made me do it!”

Then they discovered that the terrible ones were the other three — Morning Star, Noonday Sun, and Evening Star. This was their youngest brother. They had set him up with this great hulk around him, to frighten everyone, thinking that no one would ever get that far!

So the lights sprang up in castle, and there was great rejoicing that night, because they had discovered that Death was only a smiling boy!

That is an allegory — a deep truth told in a story. The real battles in our life come in our youth — Morning Star. In our middle age — Noonday Sun. In old age — Evening Star.

But when we ride over that last river, the lights spring up in the castle, and there is great rejoicing, because we discover that Death is just a smiling boy ‑ the Boy that was born in Bethlehem, our Best Friend!