Chapter 11 Summary: The Tale of Sir Palomides

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Palomides is a prince of Baghdad, the fourth son of the caliph’s extended family. He grows up in the royal precinct, a lush, luxurious enclave at the center of the round city. Though he enjoys every comfort, he feels a nagging hollowness because he will never inherit the throne. He wants to be a hero, but he does not yet know what story he belongs to.

One day, in the paper-sellers’ market, he hears three booksellers—Hassan, Tahir, and Ziyad—arguing about Britain. They describe it as a cold, barbarous land ruled by seven kings, guarded by a magic idol that puts strangers to sleep, and populated by people who eat birds that grow on trees. Palomides, bored and restless, announces that he will settle the argument by going to Britain himself.

The journey takes two years. He travels by camel along the Silk Road to Mosul, then through Sivas, Ankara, and Constantinople. In Venice he adopts the name Palomides, easier for Europeans to pronounce than his Arabic name. He continues through Milan, Cologne, and Bruges, then sails across the sea to Britain. No magic idol puts him to sleep, though he later wonders if the whole experience was a kind of dream.

At Camelot, Palomides presents gifts to King Arthur, who thanks him graciously. Merlin, who speaks fluent street Arabic, welcomes him as a visiting diplomat from the mythical city of Sarras. Palomides tours the court and finds it modest compared to Baghdad. The Round Table is impressive but not as magnificent as the silver tree with mechanical birds in the caliph’s palace. The rose garden is small, the menagerie has only two lions, and the royal library holds about thirty-five books, mostly copies of the Bible. Britain has not yet discovered paper.

Palomides stays through the summer, observing the court. He notes that Arthur is a furnace of energy, always working, never sitting down, and seems to be consuming himself. He also notices Queen Guinevere, whom he finds intelligent and dangerously bored, and Lancelot, whose dominance in combat is almost bizarre. As the season ends, Palomides prepares to leave.

Before departing, he agrees to chaperone a group of ladies on a picnic. Three rough men appear and demand payment from the women. Palomides, tired of being a passive observer, draws his sword. He kills two of the men and spares the third on the condition that he convert to Islam and make a pilgrimage to Mecca. After the fight, one of the ladies—Isolde the Beautiful—detaches a sleeve from her dress and gives it to him to clean his sword. At that moment, Palomides falls madly in love with her.

Key Events

Palomides hears conflicting stories about Britain in the paper-sellers’ market and decides to travel there.
He journeys for two years across the Silk Road, through Constantinople, Venice, and northern Europe.
He adopts the name Palomides in Venice.
At Camelot, he meets Arthur and Merlin and tours the court, comparing it unfavorably to Baghdad.
He observes Arthur’s relentless energy and the political tensions around the queen.
He chaperones a picnic, fights off three attackers, kills two, and spares one on condition of conversion.
Isolde gives him her sleeve to clean his sword, and he falls in love with her.

Character Development

Palomides begins the chapter as a dilettante prince, a slumming aristocrat with no clear purpose. His decision to travel to Britain is impulsive and romantic, but it gives him a story to inhabit. He is acutely aware of his status as a fourth son, rootless and landless, symbolized by the swift on a shield—a bird believed to have no feet and to spend its entire life in the air.

His time at Camelot deepens his sense of exile. He is homesick, and he misses Baghdad’s grandeur. Yet he also begins to see Arthur clearly: a man burning with energy, perhaps consuming himself. Palomides’s fight with the three men marks a turning point. He stops being a tourist and becomes an actor, proving his worth through combat. His love for Isolde, sparked by her boldness and her gift of the sleeve, gives him a new emotional anchor.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Foreignness and misidentification: The British call Palomides a Saracen and assume he comes from Sarras, a place that does not exist. He has given up correcting them.
Civilizational comparison: Palomides constantly measures Camelot against Baghdad—the Round Table versus the silver tree, the small library versus the House of Wisdom, the two lions versus the caliph’s hundred.
Quest for heroic identity: Palomides wants to be a hero but does not know what story to join. His journey to Britain is an attempt to find one.
Rootlessness of the fourth son: The swift, a bird that never lands, becomes a symbol of his landless, wandering life.
The journey westward: Palomides travels ever westward, toward the setting sun, pulled by rumors of Arthur.
Misinformation about distant lands: The paper-sellers’ tales of bird-fruit trees and magic idols are wildly wrong, yet they inspire Palomides’s adventure.
Combat as proof of worth: Palomides’s fight with the three men demonstrates his skill and his desire to be seen as a hero.
Love at first sight: Isolde’s bold gesture—giving him her sleeve—immediately captivates him.
Arthur as self-consuming fire: Palomides wonders what fuel keeps Arthur burning, and concludes that a fire not fed must be consuming itself.
Circularity: The court moves in a great circle from Camelot to Caerleon and back, and the golden lancer on Baghdad’s dome spins to point at enemies, suggesting cycles of fate.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter introduces Palomides as a major character and provides an outsider’s perspective on Arthur’s court. His comparisons between Baghdad and Camelot highlight the relative modesty of Arthur’s world while also showing Arthur’s extraordinary personal magnetism. The chapter also sets up Palomides’s love for Isolde, which will likely drive his future actions. His decision to spare the third man on condition of conversion foreshadows his own complicated relationship with faith and identity.

Study Questions and Answers

Why does Palomides decide to travel to Britain?

Palomides is a fourth son with no inheritance, and he feels a hollowness in his life of leisure. When he hears the paper-sellers arguing about Britain, he sees an opportunity to make his mark on the world. He announces that he will settle the argument by going there himself, turning a whim into a heroic quest.

How does Palomides’s view of Camelot differ from the British view?

The British see Camelot as the center of their world, with the Round Table as its great treasure. Palomides, coming from Baghdad, sees it as modest and even primitive. He notes the lack of paper, the small library, the tiny rose garden, and the misidentified lions. His perspective reveals the relative isolation and simplicity of Arthur’s court.

What does the swift symbolize for Palomides?

The swift is a bird believed to have no feet and to spend its entire life on the wing, never landing. For Palomides, it symbolizes the rootless, landless life of a fourth son—heir to nothing, fated to wander in search of a place. He understands the symbolism even though he knows swifts actually have feet.