because the king had wounded his knight. Although, Arthur was not ranked below Gryfflette, he wanted the revenge. Last, Arthur showed his honor once again when he decided not to fight a tired Pellinore. Merlin says, “To win would bring you no honor, to lose would be to increase your shame” (page 76). The fight would not have been fair, so Arthur did not attempt to start the jousting match. Honor was an important quality to the knights, and all the three knights in the story proved that the had this characteristic in specific situations. Finally, being skillful in battle was an important part of the code of chivalry. King Arthur thought that Pellinore “was a magnificent fighter” (page 75). Arthur even said that he would have rather been killed than have had the unfair advantage that Merlin’s magic gave him because Pellinore deserved to win with his great battle skills. The praise that Arthur gave King Pellinore proved that being skillful in battle was respected by other knights and important in the code of knighthood. To reiterate, the code of chivalry was expected to be followed by knights in the Medieval time period. This code made the world full of elaborate courtesy and knights trying to make their society the best they could through fairness and respect. In Le Morte d’Arthur, the characters demonstrated the qualities needed to make the ideal knight. Examples of respect for women and courtesy for everyone, helpfulness for the weak, honor, and skillfulness in battle were all observed in the actions of King Arthur, King Pellinore, and Sir Gryfflette. Because of this romantic atmosphere in the story, the characters proved to be the ideal knights at certain times and respected for their chivalrous actions....
