NIGHTBRINGER | The Arthurian Encyclopedia

Ozana le Cure Hardy

‘Ozana of the Hardy Heart’
Osanna, Ozanna

Toward the beginning of Sir Marhaus’ career, as he was returning from killing the giant Taulurd, he chanced to meet four knights of Arthur’s court, Sirs Sagramore, Ozana, Dodinas le Savage, and Felot of Listeneise; Marhaus smote them down all four with one spear.

Malory next mentions Sir Ozana traveling with the two YwainesBrandilesAgravaine, and Mordred, all by now members of the Round TableDinadan meets them and cooks up with them a scheme to rout King Mark by dressing the jester Dagonet in Mordred’s armor and telling Mark it is Lancelot; the scheme backfires when Mark, fleeing, meets Palomides, who refuses to be routed and instead unhorses Dagonet, Ozana, and the others.

Ozana appears again at the Winchester tournament, where he is bested by Sir Lavaine.

Despite all these bestings, Ozana may well have been a good knight, most of whose history did not get into Malory’s epic; a good device to show off a new knight is listing how many fine knights of established standing he can defeat. Ozana was among the knights who rode a-Maying with Guenevere when Meliagrant abducted her, and among the knights who attempted to heal Sir Urre.

By his apparent choice of traveling companions, we may perhaps theorize that Ozana was more of Gawaine’s faction than Lancelot’s, and hence that he remained with Arthur during the split and perished in the last battle.