so, having told you how king arthur obtained that very excellent sword, excalibur, for a weapon of defence, i shall now presently recount sundry other noble and knightly adventures whereby he won for himself a most beautiful and gentle lady for his queen.

for, though all the world is very well acquainted with the renown of that perfectly gracious dame, the lady guinevere, yet i do not think that the whole story of those adventures by the which king arthur won her good favor hath ever yet been told.

so as the matter hereinafter to be related contains not only the narrative of that affair, but also the account of a certain enchanted disguise which king arthur assumed for his purposes, as well as sundry adventures of very knightly daring which he undertook, i have great hope that he who reads what i have written shall find it both an agreeable and an entertaining history.