Bedivere

A Knight of the Round Table, first found in Welsh legend as Bedwyr. Bedwyr was the son of Pedrawd and father of Amren and the lady Eneuawg. The Welsh legends make Bedwyr one of the best of Arthur’s warriors, even though he had only one hand. In addition, he was one of the handsomest men in Britain, behind Arthur himself and Drych. He often appears alongside Cei—a pairing that recurs in Geoffrey of Monmouth. Among his several adventures in Culhwch and Olwen, he assists in Culhwch’s tasks by tracking down Wrnach the Giant and Dillus the Bearded. A Welsh poem places his grave at Tryfan Hill.
Geoffrey of Monmouth says that Bedivere was Arthur’s butler, and that Arthur gave him the country of Normandy. In other sources, he is listed as Arthur’s cupbearer, constable, or stable master. He was named after his great-grandfather, who constructed the city of Bayeux in France. Malory names his father as Duke Corneus. He assisted Arthur in the battle against the giant of Mont St. Michel, the conquest of Gaul, and the Roman War. Geoffrey says that he was killed by King Boccus at the battle of Soissons, and was buried in Bayeaux. His nephew, Hirelglas, avenged his death.
In other romances, he survives the Roman campaign and fights in the wars against Lancelot and Mordred. In the Didot-Perceval, he dies in the first battle against Mordred. In the Stanzaic Morte Arthur (and subsequently in Malory), Bedivere and Lucan are the only knights left alive after the final battle at Salisbury. Assuming the role given to Girflet in the Vulgate Mort Artu, he was ordered by Arthur to throw Excalibur into a nearby lake. After twice hiding the sword and enduring Arthur’s rebukes, he complied. A lady’s hand caught the sword and pulled it beneath the waters. He returned to the chapel where he had left Arthur, and witnessed Arthur’s departure to Avalon. He retired to a hermitage with the former Archbishop of Canterbury and wrote down Arthur’s story for future generations. The English ballad “King Arthur’s Death” says that Bedivere died shortly after Salisbury, and that his brother Lucan performed the feats listed above.