AN AGED MAN ENTERED THE HALL, FOLLOWED BY A YOUNG MAN
The Coming of Sir Galahad
From the painting by Walter Crane

"THIS IS MY BRIDE," HE CRIED TO ALL THE PEOPLE
Patient Griselda
From the drawing by Hugh Thomson




PREFACE


The word chivalry is taken from the French cheval, a horse. A knight
was a young man, the son of a good family, who was allowed to wear
arms. In the story "How the Child of the Sea was made Knight," we are
told how a boy of twelve became a page to the queen, and in the
opening pages of the story "The Adventures of Sir Gareth," we get a
glimpse of a young man growing up at the court of King Arthur. It was
not an easy life, that of a boy who wished to become a knight, but it
made a man of him. He was taken at an early age, sometimes when only
seven years old, to the castle of the king or knight he was to
serve. He first became a page or valet, and, under the instruction of
a governor, was taught to carve and wait on the table, to hunt and
fish, and was drilled in wrestling and riding on horseback. Most pages
were taught to dance, and if a boy had talent he was taught to play
the harp so he could accompany his voice when singing to the ladies.

By the time a boy was fourteen he was ready to become an esquire. He