Queen Guinevere lay idly in bed dreaming beautiful dreams. The sunny morning hours were slipping away, but she was so happy in dreamland, that she did not remember that her little maid had called her long ago.

But the Queen's dreams came to an end at last, and all at once she remembered that this was the morning she had promised to go to the hunt with King Arthur.

Even in the hunting-field, the King was not quite happy if his beautiful Queen Guinevere were not there. This morning he had waited for her in vain, for in dreamland the Queen had forgotten all about the hunt.

“If I dress quickly, I shall not be very late,” thought the Queen, as she heard the far-off sound of the hunting-horn. And she was so quick that in a very short time she and her little waiting-maid were out, and riding up to a grassy knoll. But the huntsmen were already far away. “We will wait here to see them ride homewards,” said the Queen, and they drew up their horses to watch and listen.

They had not waited long, when they heard the sound of horse's hoofs, and turning round, the Queen saw Prince Geraint, one of Arthur's knights. He was unarmed, except that his sword hung at his side. He wore a suit of silk, with a purple sash round his waist, and at each end of the sash was a golden apple, which sparkled in the sunlight.

“You are late for the hunt, Prince Geraint,” said the Queen.

“Like you, I have come, not to join the hunt, but to see it pass,” said the Prince, bowing low to the beautiful Queen. And he asked to be allowed to wait with her and the little maid.

As they waited, three people, a lady, a knight and a dwarf, came out of the forest, and rode slowly past. The knight had his helmet off, and the Queen saw that he looked young and bold.

“I cannot remember if he is one of Arthur's knights. I must know his name,” she said. And she sent her little maid to find out who the strange knight was.

But when the little maid asked the dwarf his master's name, the dwarf answered rudely that he would not tell her…

Stories of the Vikings (Serapis Classics)