Up and down the rows of tables they spoke of the Red Knight, and one and another said they had never before seen such a fine knight nor one so skilled in arms, to their way of thinking. And Sir Gawain said that never before had he seen a knight so worthy of praise for feats of arms, “nor do I believe that Sir Lancelot of the Lake, who is reputed the best knight in the world, could do as much as this knight did today, for I saw him strike some hundred blows one after another, each of which took out a knight or horse. Nor have I ever seen a better man with a lance, because after he had broken his spear, he went on to defeat two or three knights with the stub. I saw this myself, for otherwise I would not easily believe it.”

Sir Gawain praised the knight, but the ladies and maidens said even more, for they affirmed that no knight had ever performed such wonders, because they had clearly seen his enemies fall before him wherever he went as if they did it willingly, “and it did not seem,” they continued, “that it could be anything other than a spell, for everyone who came near him was killed.”

Vulgate Lancelot