Persides
Sir Persides is a knight of the Round Table attested across six chapters of Le Morte d'Arthur, appearing in both the Tristram cycle (Book IX) and the Grail quest narrative (Book XI).
Sir Persides is a knight of the Round Table attested across six chapters of Le Morte d'Arthur, appearing in both the Tristram cycle (Book IX) and the Grail quest narrative (Book XI). He serves as a companion and witness to several major figures, including Sir Tristram, Sir Palomides, and Sir Percivale.
Persides first appears as an acquaintance of Sir Tristram, having previously jousted before King Mark in Cornwall. He recognises Tristram's reputation, declaring "I know well that Sir Tristram is a noble knight and a much better knight than I, yet shall I not owe him my good will" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXVI). This candid admission of Tristram's superiority establishes Persides as honest and self-aware. He also identifies Sir Palomides, describing him as "one of the best knights of the world" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXVI).
When Palomides challenges Persides to joust, Persides accepts despite the odds: "we will not go like knaves thither, but we will ride like men and good knights to withstand our enemies" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXVII). He suffers defeat but without dishonour. Persides later rides alongside Tristram to the tournament, where together "they did fare that they put the King of Northgalis aback" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXIX).
In a later episode, Persides is found by Sir Percivale bound in chains. After being freed, he warns Percivale of an approaching enemy, and Percivale's strike is so fierce that Persides exclaims: "that was a mighty stroke as ever I felt one, for had not the chain been ye had slain me" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XI, Chapter XII). Persides then hosts Percivale at his castle and subsequently reports to King Arthur on Percivale's prowess, prophesying: "on my life he shall prove a noble knight as any now is living" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XI, Chapter XIII).
Persides plays a notably different role in each of his two narrative arcs. In the Tristram cycle, he functions as a capable but secondary knight whose honest assessments of other warriors help the reader gauge their relative standing. His acknowledgment of both Tristram and Palomides as his superiors provides an internal measure of the knightly hierarchy. In the Percivale sequence, he shifts to a more active role as the freed prisoner who repays his rescuer with hospitality and advocacy at court.
The account of Persides injuring Sir Mordred "a ten days afore" a later encounter is distinctive: "had it not been for the love of Sir Gawaine and his brother, Sir Persides had slain Sir Mordred" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXXV). This detail positions Persides as a knight capable of threatening even major figures, while also illustrating how political alliances within the Round Table could override the outcomes of individual combats.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition