Castle Orgulous

Orguellous, Orgulus, The Proud Castle

Every knight who passed by this castle was made to joust or else be taken prisoner, or at least lose his horse and harness.

Glennie puts Castle Orgulous at Bamborough (Bamburgh), Northumberland, on the east coast, a little south of Holy Island (Medgaud), near Belford but right on the coast, just on the south side of a small, squarish inlet. He gives this description:

Occupying the whole extent of a solitary eminence, it stands among sandy downs, close by the sea, and overlooking a wide plain at the foot of the Cheviots. Nearly opposite the Castle are the Faröe Islands.

Castle Orgulous appears in Malory's story of La Cote Male Taile. If we assume that at the beginning of this tale, Arthur is holding court at Carlisle or another northern city, I see no reason to reject Glennie's identification, except that Malory gives Bamborough as one of two possible sites for the castle of Joyous Garde.

The Loathly Damsel is on her way to Castle Orgulous when she stops off at Carlion to scold Percivale for his failure to ask the right questions at the Grail Castle and to invite the rest of Arthur's court to adventures either at Castle Orgulous or at Montesclaire. By her account, 566 famous knights and their high-born ladies are within Castle Orgulous, ready to provide the chance for jousting and glory. Though she says it lies far from Carlion, she intends to go there, on her tawny mule, by nightfall.