Palomides in The Bright Sword: Character Analysis

Overview

Sir Palomides enters The Bright Sword as one of the few surviving knights of the Round Table after Arthur's death, but his story reaches back to Baghdad, where he was born a prince who would never inherit. A fourth son, he travels to Britain on a whim to settle a debate among booksellers, only to become a celebrated knight, a lovesick obsessive, and finally a man who sheds his adopted name to reveal his true identity as Uthman. His arc is one of displacement, longing, and the search for a place to belong.

Plot Role

Palomides is present from the early chapters as one of the handful of knights who remain at Camelot after the Battle of Camlann. He is introduced in Chapter Four as one of the knights Collum finds in the Great Hall. Later, in Chapter Eleven, he dubs Collum a knight, striking his injured ear to knock him from his horse. He joins the quest for the Holy Lance, proving his martial skill by defeating Sir Germaine in a joust (Chapter Twelve) and later being unhorsed by the Indigo Knight, who is revealed to be Lancelot (Chapter Twenty-Four). His most dramatic turn comes in Chapter Twenty-Nine, when he volunteers to join Morgan le Fay's Wild Hunt, revealing that he is actually Uthman, a prince of Baghdad. In Chapter Thirty, he fights for the fairies against the angels at the chapel, aligning himself with the forces opposing the Christian quest. His choices shape the quest's outcome and highlight the novel's themes of divided loyalties.

Motivations and Traits

Palomides is driven by a restless desire to matter. As a fourth son in Baghdad, he is 'heir to nothing,' a rootless figure symbolized by the swift on his shield—a bird believed to have no feet and to spend its life on the wing. He tells himself he travels to Britain to settle a scholarly argument, but his deeper motivation is to escape the 'leisured irrelevance' of his life and become a hero. This ambition is both noble and self-destructive. He is proud, skilled, and intellectually curious, but also impulsive and prone to obsession.

His love for Isolde becomes the central obsession of his life. He falls for her after she gives him her sleeve to clean his sword, and he spends years pursuing her despite knowing she is married to King Mark and in love with Sir Tristram. This love degrades him: he drinks, quarrels, kills a knight in an argument, and takes up the Questing Beast hunt as a way to escape his own despair. His actions show a man who is simultaneously aware of his own folly and unable to stop it.

Chronological Arc

Palomides's story unfolds in two extended tales (Chapters Eleven and Thirteen) that fill in his past, while his present actions appear throughout the main narrative. In Baghdad, he grows up in the royal precinct, trained in martial arts and scholarship, but overshadowed by his three older brothers. He hears of Britain from booksellers and decides to go there, a journey that takes two years. He arrives at Camelot, presents gifts to Arthur, and meets Merlin. He observes the court with a mixture of condescension and fascination, noting its relative poverty compared to Baghdad.

The picnic incident marks a turning point. When three men threaten the ladies he is chaperoning, he kills two and spares the third on condition he convert to Islam. Isolde gives him her sleeve, and he falls in love. He stays in Britain, is knighted, and joins the Round Table. He becomes a dominant tournament fighter but never defeats Lancelot or Tristram. His obsession with Isolde grows, and he takes up the Questing Beast hunt after King Pellinore's death. After a year, he returns and goads Tristram into a duel, hoping to be killed, but Tristram instead baptizes him Christian. This act shatters his sense of identity—he feels like a palimpsest, scraped clean and rewritten.

He contributes to Camelot by sharing irrigation techniques, demonstrating his astrolabe, and introducing algebra. But the Table breaks apart after Lancelot is caught with Guinevere. Palomides follows Lancelot to Benwick, where he learns that King Mark has killed Tristram and Isolde died of sorrow. He lies down in despair, and the Questing Beast appears and bounds away; he follows it.

In the present timeline, he is one of the survivors at Camelot. He joins the quest for the Holy Lance, defeats Germaine, and is unhorsed by Lancelot. When Morgan le Fay demands one of the party join her Wild Hunt, Palomides volunteers, revealing his true name, Uthman. He departs with the hunt, and later appears fighting for the fairies at the chapel, where the spear is broken. His final actions align him with the old, magical world against the new Christian order.

Relationships

Palomides's relationships are defined by longing and loyalty. His love for Isolde is the most consuming, but it is never reciprocated. He sees her as a 'barbarian angel' and believes she alone knows him, even as he recognizes she bestows the same gaze on others. His rivalry with Tristram is both professional and personal; he cannot defeat him in combat, and Tristram's decency only deepens his humiliation. Yet after Tristram's death, Palomides's dream of love ends.

His relationship with Arthur is one of respect and affection. Arthur embraces him after his baptism, a gesture that moves Palomides to tears, contrasting with his own father's coldness. He follows Lancelot to Benwick out of gratitude for Lancelot's kindness, even though he doubts Lancelot's innocence. With Collum, he acts as a mentor, dubbing him a knight. With Nimue, he shares intellectual interests—she is the only one who attends his astrolabe demonstration. His relationship with Morgan le Fay is ambiguous; she waves to him during his Questing Beast hunt, and he later joins her Wild Hunt, suggesting a kinship with the fairy world.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Palomides's decision to travel to Britain sets his entire arc in motion. It leads him to love, despair, and a new identity. His decision to stay for Isolde, rather than return home, traps him in a foreign land. His decision to be baptized, though forced, transforms him and leads to his contributions to Camelot. His decision to follow Lancelot after the Table breaks aligns him with the losing side. His decision to reveal his true name and join the Wild Hunt is a final rejection of his adopted identity, embracing his origins as Uthman. This choice places him in opposition to the quest for the Holy Lance, and he fights for the fairies, ultimately helping to break the spear.

Themes and Symbols

Palomides embodies the theme of the search for identity and self-actualization. His entire life is a quest to become someone, whether a hero, a lover, or a knight. His name changes—from his Arabic name to Palomides, and back to Uthman—reflect his shifting sense of self. The swift on his shield symbolizes his rootlessness, while the Questing Beast represents the unattainable object of desire, both Isolde and a homeland he can never return to.

His story also touches on the clash of pagan and Christian worldviews. He is a Muslim who is forcibly baptized, and later he fights for the fairies against the angels, suggesting a sympathy for the old gods. His arc illustrates the end of the age of enchantment, as he chooses the magical world even as it fades. His relationship with Arthur and the Round Table speaks to the nature of kingship and legitimacy, as he is an outsider who earns a place at the Table. Finally, his violence and despair reflect the psychological cost of violence, as he kills and is killed in turn.

Study Questions

1. Why does Palomides decide to travel to Britain?

He overhears booksellers in Baghdad arguing about Britain and decides to settle the debate himself, partly out of a desire to escape his life as an overlooked fourth son and make his mark on the world.

1. What role does Isolde play in Palomides's life?

She becomes the object of an obsessive, unrequited love that drives him to despair, self-destructive behavior, and eventually a forced baptism. Her death ends his dream and leaves him hollow.

1. How does Palomides's identity shift throughout the novel?

He begins as a prince of Baghdad, adopts the name Palomides in Venice, becomes a Christian knight after his baptism, and finally reveals his true name, Uthman, when he joins the Wild Hunt, rejecting his adopted identity.

1. Why does Palomides join Morgan le Fay's Wild Hunt?

When Morgan demands one of the party join her, Palomides volunteers, revealing his true identity. This choice aligns him with the fairy world and sets him against the quest for the Holy Lance.

1. What does the Questing Beast symbolize for Palomides?

It represents the unattainable—both Isolde and a sense of belonging. He feels a kinship with the beast, seeing it as a fellow outsider in a strange land, and he chases it as a way to escape his own despair.