Balin

Malory structures Balin's narrative as a chain of violence that the knight can neither control nor escape. The sequence begins with his beheading of the Lady of the Lake, which he justifies: "this same lady was the untruest lady living, and by enchantment and sorcery she hath been the destroyer of many good knights, and she was causer that my mother was burnt" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter III). This act sets him at odds with Arthur's court and propels him into wandering.

The pursuit by Sir Lanceor tests Balin's resolve. When challenged, he responds with characteristic directness: "it had been better to have holden you at home, for many a man weeneth to put his enemy to a rebuke, and oft it falleth to himself" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter V). After killing Lanceor, Balin witnesses the knight's lover take her own life with Lanceor's sword, a sight that grieves him "passingly sore" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter VI). The episode foreshadows the brother-killing climax: violence begets tragedy that Balin cannot prevent despite his evident compassion.

The Garlon episode shows Balin as an agent of justice constrained by circumstance. Learning that the invisible knight Garlon has slain two of his companions, Balin infiltrates a feast where he "advised him long: If I slay him here I shall not escape, and if I leave him now, peradventure I shall never meet with him again" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XIV). When Garlon provokes him by striking him across the face, Balin acts decisively: "this is not the first despite that thou hast done me" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XIV). He kills Garlon and calls to his host: "Now may ye fetch blood enough to heal your son withal" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XIV).

The Dolorous Stroke -- Balin's wounding of King Pellam with the sacred spear -- collapses castle and countryside together: "the most part of the castle, that was fallen down through that dolorous stroke, lay upon Pellam and Balin three days" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XV). Merlin delivers Balin from the ruins, but Merlin's prophecy of the brothers' mutual destruction proves unavoidable. Balin knows his fate but accepts it with resignation: "I shall take the adventure that God will ordain me" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter II).

The climactic duel between Balin and his brother Balan unfolds through tragic misrecognition. A knight persuades Balin to exchange his shield, removing the one mark by which Balan might have identified him (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XVII). Balan "thought it should be his brother Balin by cause of his two swords, but by cause he knew not his shield he deemed it was not he" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XVIII). After a brutal fight in which "Balin was bruised sore with the fall of his horse, for he was weary of travel" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XVIII), the brothers discover each other's identity only when mortally wounded. Balin laments: "that ever I should see this day" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XVIII), and blames the castle's custom: "all that made an unhappy knight in the castle, for he caused me to leave my own shield to our both's destruction" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XVIII). His final words look to posterity: "when we are buried in one tomb, and the mention made over us how two brethren slew each other, there will never good knight, nor good man, see our tomb but they will pray for our souls" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XVIII). Balin dies at midnight; the lady of the castle buries them together but "knew not Balin's name" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XVIII).