hands right and left, until their horses went in blood up to the fetlocks.

And while the slaughter and the noise and shouting were at their greatest,
suddenly there came down through the battle Merlin the Wizard, upon a
great black horse, and riding to King Arthur, he cried out, "Alas, my
Lord! will ye have never done? Of sixty thousand have ye left but fifteen
thousand men alive. Is it not time to stay this slaying? for God is ill
pleased with ye that ye have never ended, and yonder kings shall not be
altogether overthrown this time. But if ye fall upon them any more, the
fortune of this day will turn, and go to them. Withdraw, Lord, therefore,
to thy lodging, and there now take thy rest, for to-day thou hast won a
great victory, and overcome the noblest chivalry of all the world. And now
for many years those kings shall not disturb thee. Therefore, I tell
thee, fear them no more, for now they are sore beaten, and have nothing
left them but their honour; and why shouldest thou slay them to take
that?"

Then said King Arthur, "Thou sayest well, and I will take thy counsel."
With that he cried out, "Ho!" for the battle to cease, and sent forth
heralds through the field to stay more fighting. And gathering all the
spoil, he gave it not amongst his own host, but to Kings Ban and Bors and
all their knights and men-at-arms, that he might treat them with the
greater courtesy as strangers.

Then Merlin took his leave of Arthur and the two other kings, and went to
see his master, Blaise, a holy hermit, dwelling in Northumberland, who had
nourished him through all his youth. And Blaise was passing glad to see
him, for there was a great love ever between them; and Merlin told him how
King Arthur had sped in the battle, and how it had ended; and told him the
names of every king and knight of worship who was there. So Blaise wrote