Rock


    1. Rock Castle

      A castle converted to Christianity by Joseph of Arimathea. It was ruled by Lord Matagran.


    2. Rock, Lady of the

      A lady who had lost her lands to two knights. [More]


    3. Rock of Blood
      Roche de Sanc

      A cliff near the city of La Choine, where King Evalach of Sarras (Evelake) fought a battle against King Tholomer of Babylonia. Evalach was nearly defeated, but a holy White Knight appeared and routed Tholomer’s forces. The enormous bloodshed at the battle stained the cliff red, giving it its name.


    4. Rock of Canguin

      Another name for Canguin.


    5. Rock of Hermits
      Roche aux Ermites

      A small island where King Mark of Cornwall, in one of his many attempts to rid himself of Tristan (Tristram), abandoned his nephew. A knight named Assar, who lived on the nearby Island of Two Brothers, befriended and rescued Tristan.


    6. Rock of Merlin

      Merlin’s tomb, where Tristan and Lancelot fought a great battle in the Italian Quando Tristano e Lancielotto Combattettero al Petrone di Merlino.

      Merlin had predicted that the two greatest knights in the world would do battle there. Tristan thought he was fighting Palamedes, who had agreed to meet him there but was delayed by injury. Lancelot, for his part, expected to stop a fight between Tristan and his son Galahad. The two knights revealed themselves and ended the fight before they injured each other too severely. This episode appears, in varied forms, in many different romances.

      In La Tavola Ritonda, a number of stones of this nature are collectively called Merlin’s Stones.


    7. Rock of the Cornishwoman

      A castle where a Cornish enchantress bewitched and imprisoned Meliadus, Tristan’s father, on the eve of his son’s birth.

      See also
      Tower of Enchantments | The Legend of King Arthur


    8. Rock of the Maidens
      Roche aux Pucelles

      A high rock on which Merlin imprisoned a lady and her many sisters, after the lady tried to kill Merlin by sorcery. The maidens on the Rock possessed the power of prophecy and correctly predicted the deaths of Arthur, Gawain, Morholt, and Gaheris.

      Gawain and Morholt were trapped on the Rock after they decided to enjoy the maidens’ company. Yvain tried to rescue them, but found that they had no memory of their former lives. They were eventually freed by Gaheris, who defeated the maidens’ brother in combat.


    9. Rock of the Perilous Port

      The pirate Foucaire inhabited this place. [More]