Sir Bedivere

Also known as: Bedivere / Sir Bedevere · Family: Arthurian · Role: knight · First appears: Book V, Chapter V

In Book V, King Arthur trusted Sir Bedivere as a friend, secretly commanding him and Sir Kay to prepare horses and arms before riding with them to Saint Michael’s mount. Soon afterward, Bedivere rode with Sir Gawaine, Sir Bors, and Sir Lionel against Sir Lucius; their forces defeated the Romans, though Sir Gawaine was sorely wounded. “And so they three departed thence and rode forth as fast as ever they might till that they came to the foreland of that mount.”

In Book VII, Sir Tristram unhorsed Bedivere, striking both horse and man to the ground, and in Book XVIII Sir Lavaine was among those who smote him down. By Book XXI, Bedivere’s bond with his brother Sir Lucan the Butler was central: they were sent to negotiate a treaty with Sir Mordred, then carried the wounded King Arthur together to a seaside chapel. After Lucan’s death, Bedivere wept for his brother.

At Arthur’s command, Bedivere twice hid Excalibur and falsely claimed to have cast it away, but then threw it into the water, where a hand caught and brandished it. He watched Arthur depart by barge toward the vale of Avilion, later recognized his lord’s buried body, and chose to remain with the hermit, wearing poor clothes and living in fasting and prayers for Arthur. He also knew Sir Launcelot and spoke with him after mass.