Summaries
Slander and Strife
Gawain's brothers Aggravain and Mordred, hating the queen and Launcelot, speak of their adulterous love before numerous knights. Gawain, Gareth, and others ask them to say no more and expect no support from them. Aggravain and Mordred nevertheless inform Arthur, who in fact has known for a long time and has ignored the matter for love of them both. He grudgingly consents to Aggravain's plan to trap them. The jealous brothers spring their trap; Launcelot kills Aggravain with twelve of his knights and wounds Mordred, who flees.
Arthur judges Guinevere to be burned, as law requires. Gawain pleads against it and refuses to have any part in it; his brothers Gareth and Gaheris beg to be excused as executioners or guards. All Lancelot's house urges him to rescue the queen, as he himself desires, and so when the queen is lashed to the stake Lancelot comes, kills all those standing around her-including Gareth and Gaheris, who are unarmed, and takes her with him to Joyous Gard, where Tristram kept Isode until King Mark murdered him.
The Vengeance of Sir Gawain
When Gawain hears of the death of his brothers, he drops his love for Launcelot and swears he will be avenged. He persuades Arthur to lay siege to Joyous Gard. Arthur and Launcelot parley and Arthur is ready to drop the siege, but Gawain will not hear of it. The pope requires Arthur and Launcelot to make peace and orders Launcelot to return Guinevere to the king. Launcelot obeys; Gawain reaffirms his vow of vengeance; and Launcelot is banished — as was Tristram — and returns to his own country with all his forces.
The Siege of Benwick
At Gawain's insistence, Arthur attacks Lancelot's lands, leaving England and Guinevere in Mordred's safekeeping. Gawain fights nobly, but Launcelot will not come against him because of their former love. Finally, when Gawain calls Launcelot a traitor, shaming him before his people, Launcelot is forced to defend his honor. Launcelot beats Gawain but refuses to kill him.
Gawain is carried back to Arthur's tents and lies there three weeks to let his wounds heal. As soon as he can sit on a horse he challenges Launcelot again, and again Launcelot is forced to fight. He again hacks Gawain almost to death but stops at the last moment, leaving his former friend howling and whining in impotent rage. Then comes news of Mordred's treason.
The Day of Destiny
Mordred makes himself King of England and incestuously claims Guinevere as his wife. Guinevere escapes to the Tower of London. The Bishop of Canterbury reproaches Mordred for his usurpation and would-be incest, and when Mordred tries to kill him, he flees and becomes a hermit. Mordred wins many Englishmen to his side, then meets Arthur at Dover but is forced to retreat from him.
In this battle Gawain is mortally wounded. As he dies he admits to Arthur that if it were not for his insane pride in insisting on unjust revenge, Launcelot would be here now to save the kingdom; then he writes Launcelot, begging him to come help Arthur and also to pray at his tomb. Then, bleeding from the wound he got originally from Launcelot — with the fated sword of Balyn — Gawain dies.
Arthur meets Mordred again at the battle of Bareon Down and again puts him to flight. They meet next at Salisbury Plain, and there, with all who loved Launcelot fighting on Mordred's side, they prepare for what is to be their last battle. The night before the battle, Arthur dreams he is on the Wheel of Fortune, sitting on a throne and dressed in the richest gold that can be made:
And the kynge thought there was undir hym, farre from hym, an hydeous depe blak watir, and therein was all maner of serpentis and wormes and wylde bestis fowle and orryble. And suddeynly the kyrige thought that the whyle turned upso-downe, and he felle anionge the serpentis, and every beste toke hym by it lynnue. And than the king cried as he lay in his bed, "Help! Help!"
After the prophetic dream he has another. Gawain and a number of ladies come to him to warn him against fighting in the morning for if Arthur fights, he will die; if he waits for a month, Launcelot will be here to help him. Then Gawain and the ladies vanish.
Arthur asks a truce, and the two armies meet on the field to set terms. An adder appears, a knight unthinkingly draws his sword to kill it, and the two armies are at war. At the end of the day, Mordred is the only man of his army left standing, and Arthur has only two knights, Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere. Against Sir Lucan's advice, Arthur fights Mordred and kills him, but he gets his own death wound as he does it. Lucan and Bedivere bear him to a chapel. Robbers overrun the battlefield stealing the gear of dead knights, killing any that have life left in them.
Arthur is dying and cannot be moved to safety. And so he sends Bedivere to throw Excalibur into the lake nearby, then return and tell what he has seen. Bedivere hides the sword under a tree, thinking it too precious to throw away, then returns and says he has obeyed. "What did you see?" Arthur asks. Bedivere says he saw only waves and winds. Arthur sends him twice more, and the last time Bedivere does as he has been commanded. A hand catches the sword and brandishes it three times.
Then at Arthur's command, Bedivere carries the king to the waterside, where a barge awaits him and some ladies in black hoods. Bedivere puts Arthur in the barge and he is borne away to Avilon, perhaps to heal his wounds, perhaps to die. Bedivere wanders through a forest until he comes to where a hermit is kneeling over a fresh grave. It is the grave of a man brought to him at midnight by ladies in black. Whether or not the body is really that of Arthur, no one knows. Some say Arthur still lives, and some say riot.
Courtesy of: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/l/le-morte-darthur/summary-and-analysis/book-8-the-death-of-king-arthur-the-day-of-destiny
Gawain's brothers Aggravain and Mordred, hating the queen and Launcelot, speak of their adulterous love before numerous knights. Gawain, Gareth, and others ask them to say no more and expect no support from them. Aggravain and Mordred nevertheless inform Arthur, who in fact has known for a long time and has ignored the matter for love of them both. He grudgingly consents to Aggravain's plan to trap them. The jealous brothers spring their trap; Launcelot kills Aggravain with twelve of his knights and wounds Mordred, who flees.
Arthur judges Guinevere to be burned, as law requires. Gawain pleads against it and refuses to have any part in it; his brothers Gareth and Gaheris beg to be excused as executioners or guards. All Lancelot's house urges him to rescue the queen, as he himself desires, and so when the queen is lashed to the stake Lancelot comes, kills all those standing around her-including Gareth and Gaheris, who are unarmed, and takes her with him to Joyous Gard, where Tristram kept Isode until King Mark murdered him.
The Vengeance of Sir Gawain
When Gawain hears of the death of his brothers, he drops his love for Launcelot and swears he will be avenged. He persuades Arthur to lay siege to Joyous Gard. Arthur and Launcelot parley and Arthur is ready to drop the siege, but Gawain will not hear of it. The pope requires Arthur and Launcelot to make peace and orders Launcelot to return Guinevere to the king. Launcelot obeys; Gawain reaffirms his vow of vengeance; and Launcelot is banished — as was Tristram — and returns to his own country with all his forces.
The Siege of Benwick
At Gawain's insistence, Arthur attacks Lancelot's lands, leaving England and Guinevere in Mordred's safekeeping. Gawain fights nobly, but Launcelot will not come against him because of their former love. Finally, when Gawain calls Launcelot a traitor, shaming him before his people, Launcelot is forced to defend his honor. Launcelot beats Gawain but refuses to kill him.
Gawain is carried back to Arthur's tents and lies there three weeks to let his wounds heal. As soon as he can sit on a horse he challenges Launcelot again, and again Launcelot is forced to fight. He again hacks Gawain almost to death but stops at the last moment, leaving his former friend howling and whining in impotent rage. Then comes news of Mordred's treason.
The Day of Destiny
Mordred makes himself King of England and incestuously claims Guinevere as his wife. Guinevere escapes to the Tower of London. The Bishop of Canterbury reproaches Mordred for his usurpation and would-be incest, and when Mordred tries to kill him, he flees and becomes a hermit. Mordred wins many Englishmen to his side, then meets Arthur at Dover but is forced to retreat from him.
In this battle Gawain is mortally wounded. As he dies he admits to Arthur that if it were not for his insane pride in insisting on unjust revenge, Launcelot would be here now to save the kingdom; then he writes Launcelot, begging him to come help Arthur and also to pray at his tomb. Then, bleeding from the wound he got originally from Launcelot — with the fated sword of Balyn — Gawain dies.
Arthur meets Mordred again at the battle of Bareon Down and again puts him to flight. They meet next at Salisbury Plain, and there, with all who loved Launcelot fighting on Mordred's side, they prepare for what is to be their last battle. The night before the battle, Arthur dreams he is on the Wheel of Fortune, sitting on a throne and dressed in the richest gold that can be made:
And the kynge thought there was undir hym, farre from hym, an hydeous depe blak watir, and therein was all maner of serpentis and wormes and wylde bestis fowle and orryble. And suddeynly the kyrige thought that the whyle turned upso-downe, and he felle anionge the serpentis, and every beste toke hym by it lynnue. And than the king cried as he lay in his bed, "Help! Help!"
After the prophetic dream he has another. Gawain and a number of ladies come to him to warn him against fighting in the morning for if Arthur fights, he will die; if he waits for a month, Launcelot will be here to help him. Then Gawain and the ladies vanish.
Arthur asks a truce, and the two armies meet on the field to set terms. An adder appears, a knight unthinkingly draws his sword to kill it, and the two armies are at war. At the end of the day, Mordred is the only man of his army left standing, and Arthur has only two knights, Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere. Against Sir Lucan's advice, Arthur fights Mordred and kills him, but he gets his own death wound as he does it. Lucan and Bedivere bear him to a chapel. Robbers overrun the battlefield stealing the gear of dead knights, killing any that have life left in them.
Arthur is dying and cannot be moved to safety. And so he sends Bedivere to throw Excalibur into the lake nearby, then return and tell what he has seen. Bedivere hides the sword under a tree, thinking it too precious to throw away, then returns and says he has obeyed. "What did you see?" Arthur asks. Bedivere says he saw only waves and winds. Arthur sends him twice more, and the last time Bedivere does as he has been commanded. A hand catches the sword and brandishes it three times.
Then at Arthur's command, Bedivere carries the king to the waterside, where a barge awaits him and some ladies in black hoods. Bedivere puts Arthur in the barge and he is borne away to Avilon, perhaps to heal his wounds, perhaps to die. Bedivere wanders through a forest until he comes to where a hermit is kneeling over a fresh grave. It is the grave of a man brought to him at midnight by ladies in black. Whether or not the body is really that of Arthur, no one knows. Some say Arthur still lives, and some say riot.
Courtesy of: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/l/le-morte-darthur/summary-and-analysis/book-8-the-death-of-king-arthur-the-day-of-destiny