Bagdemagus
King and Round Table knight in Le Morte d'Arthur, father of Meliagaunce, who attempted the Grail shield.
Bagdemagus is a king and knight of the Round Table in the British Arthurian tradition, attested through thirty-three citations across twelve chapters of Le Morte d'Arthur. His career begins with disappointment: when King Pellinore presents both Bagdemagus and Sir Tor as candidates for a seat at the Round Table, Arthur chooses Tor (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Chapter V). A prophecy written upon a cross declares that "Bagdemagus should never return unto the court again, till he had won a knight's body of the Round Table, body for body" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Chapter V). Rather than accept defeat, Bagdemagus vows to stay away "till men speak of me great worship, and that I be worthy to be a knight of the Round Table" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Chapter V).
During his wanderings, Bagdemagus "rode to see many adventures" and "happed him to come to the rock whereas the Lady of the Lake had put Merlin under the stone, and there he heard him make great dole" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Chapter V). He eventually proves himself: "Bagdemagus departed and did many adventures, and proved after a full good knight, and came again to the court and was made knight of the Round Table" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Chapter V).
Bagdemagus is prominently associated with Sir Launcelot. His daughter facilitates Launcelot's escape from captivity, identifying herself: "my father is King Bagdemagus, that was foul rebuked at the last tournament" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VI, Chapter IV). Launcelot later repays this debt by fighting on Bagdemagus's side in tournament, where "the gree was given to King Bagdemagus" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VI, Chapter VII). Bagdemagus also plays an active role in the tournament sequences of Book X, where he fights vigorously: he "smote on the left hand and on the right hand marvellously well" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XLV), and Sir Dinadan "mocked and japed with King Bagdemagus that all knights laughed at him, for he was a fine japer, and well loving all good knights" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XLIV).
Malory develops Bagdemagus through three distinct phases. The early chapters present a knight wounded by exclusion who channels resentment into purposeful quest, encountering Merlin's imprisonment along the way (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Chapter V). The middle phase, spanning Books VI and VII, shows him as a king whose authority is intertwined with Launcelot's -- his daughter's intervention and Launcelot's subsequent championship in tournament create a reciprocal bond (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VI, Chapters IV, VI, VII). In Book VII, Gareth defeats him in tournament: "then came in Sir Bagdemagus, and Sir Gareth smote him down, horse and man, to the earth" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VII, Chapter XXVIII).
The tournament chapters of Book X reveal a more complex figure. As a tournament patron and participant, Bagdemagus leads his party against the King of Northgalis (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XLI). He shows a shrewd tactical eye toward his own son Meliagaunce, instructing Sauseise: "encounter with my son Meliagaunce and give him large payment, for I would he were well beaten of thy hands, that he might depart out of this field" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XLI). He engages consistently well: he "first began, and ever he held on" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XLIV). Yet the Gaheris episode shows vulnerability: Gaheris "smote ever at the face of King Bagdemagus," until "King Bagdemagus hurtled down Gaheris, horse and man" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XLIV).
The Grail quest marks Bagdemagus's final phase. He attempts the adventure of the white shield at the Abbey, declaring "I wot well that I am not the best knight of the world, but yet I shall assay to bear it" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XIII, Chapter IX). He is defeated by a white knight and wounded, and later dies: Galahad finds "the tomb of King Bagdemagus" at the abbey (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XVII, Chapter XVIII). His son Meliagaunce inherits a castle near Westminster from which he will kidnap Queen Guenever (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XIX, Chapter I).
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition