Kay

Also known as: Sir Kay / the seneschal · Family: Arthur's court · Role: seneschal · First appears: Gareth and Lynette 2

Life events

• Arthur assigns Gareth to serve Kay in the kitchens for a year and a day.(Gareth and Lynette 3)
  • With: Arthur Gareth
  • “grant me to serve For meat and drink among thy kitchen-knaves A twelvemonth and a day”
• Gareth begins harsh kitchen-vassalage under Kay’s authority.(Gareth and Lynette 3)
  • With: Gareth
  • “So Gareth all for glory underwent The sooty yoke of kitchen-vassalage;”
• Gareth defeats Kay, ending Kay’s claim to be his master.(Gareth and Lynette 4 · 📍 field of tourney)
  • With: Gareth
  • “‘Master no more! too well I know thee, ay— The most ungentle knight in Arthur’s hall.’ ‘Have at thee then,’ said Kay: they shocked, and Kay Fell shoulder-slipt, and Gareth cried again, ‘Lead, and I follow,’ and fast away she fled.”
• Arthur orders Kay to nurse the maimed churl until his injuries heal.(The Last Tournament 1)
  • With: Arthur
  • “Take thou my churl, and tend him curiously Like a king’s heir, till all his hurts be whole.”

Gareth and Lynette 2

• employer: Arthur “Then came Sir Kay, the seneschal, and cried, “A boon, Sir King! even that thou grant her none,”
• sworn: Arthur “Then came Sir Kay, the seneschal, and cried, “A boon, Sir King! even that thou grant her none,”

Gareth and Lynette 3

• servant: Gareth “But so thou wilt no goodlier, then must Kay, The master of the meats and drinks, be thine.”

Gareth and Lynette 4

• servant: Gareth “Knowest thou not me? thy master? I am Kay. We lack thee by the hearth.”
• with Lancelot (Lancelot counsels Kay not to oppose Gareth's royal commission.) “Kay, wherefore wilt thou go against the King, / For that did never he whereon ye rail, / But ever meekly served the King in thee?”

Gareth and Lynette 7

• with Lancelot (Lancelot helped Kay return to Camelot.) “For one—delayed at first Through helping back the dislocated Kay To Camelot”

The Last Tournament 1

• with Arthur (interaction) “Then Arthur turned to Kay the seneschal, “Take thou my churl, and tend him curiously Like a king’s heir, till all his hurts be whole.”
• sworn: Arthur “Then Arthur turned to Kay the seneschal, ‘Take thou my churl, and tend him curiously Like a king’s heir, till all his hurts be whole. ... Friends, through your manhood and your fealty,—now Make their last head like Satan in the North.’”

⭐ Constellation map → · 📖 Read the original → · 🗂 Character index → · 🕰 Chronicle → · 📍 Places →

Extracted from the original text of Idylls of the King. Made with Rho MD.