Le Morte . . .Reading Check Answers

1. Sir Gawain convinces Arthur that it is too late and if they retreat they will become laughingstocks/be humiliated

2. Every day Sir Gawain rides up to the city walls and challenges any one of Sir Launcelot's knights who will accept his offer, and he defeats them all.

3. Because of an enchantment known only to Arthur and himself, Sir Gawain's strength increases from 9 a.m. to noon and then diminishes until it returns to normal.

4. He had false letters written and sent to himself claiming that King Arthur had died in battle, and then read them to the assembled nobles and persuaded them to elect him king.

5a. He was seated on a chair on a platform (or scaffold) but falls down into a pit of water filled with frightening beasts that tear him apart.
5b. NOT to fight Modred the next day because he and his knights would surely die; instead, he was to wait for Launcelot and his reinforcements to come .

6. he was bitten by a poisonous snake (an adder)

7. As Arthur stabbed Modred with his spear, Modred uses his last strength to draw up and land a blow with his sword into the side of Arthur's head.

8. Nothing but the wind upon the waves (rippling waves)
9. A hand appears from beneath the surface, takes hold of the sword and waves it thrice (3 times),  then disappears with the sword

10. the Archbishop of Canterbury (the priest who had been banished by Modred)

(11 answers; 22 points)