# Balin le Savage — Le Morte d’Arthur character guide > Balin le Savage in Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Balin, knight Balin **First appearance:** 0004-i ## Snapshot The knight with the two swords whose fierce loyalty and cursed fortune drive him toward the Dolorous Stroke that will wound a king and waste a land. ## Who they are Balin le Savage arrives at Arthur's court as a poor knight seeking justice, but his temper and the strange sword he alone can draw set him apart. He loves his brother Balan deeply, yet fate keeps them apart until they meet in a duel neither recognizes, each wounding the other unto death. Merlin prophesies that Balin shall strike the Dolorous Stroke, and his story shows how one knight's doom can echo through the whole realm. ## In the story ### [How King Arthur, King Ban, and King Bors rescued King Leodegrance, and other incidents](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xviii) Prophesied by Merlin to be one of the two knights who will slay the eleven kings. ### [Book II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/book-ii) Central figure in Book II, involved in the Dolorous Stroke and his eventual death. ### [How Balin, arrayed like a poor knight, pulled out the sword, which afterward was the cause of his death.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/ii) A poor knight recently released from prison, he successfully draws the sword and refuses to return it, despite the damosel's warning that it will cause his destruction. ### [How the Lady of the Lake Demanded the Knight's Head](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/iii) Balin recognizes the Lady of the Lake as his mother's murderer and beheads her in Arthur's court, despite the king's safe-conduct. He is banished but vows to redeem himself by fighting King Rience. ### [How Merlin told the adventure of this damosel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/iv) Achieved the sword and incurred the wrath of Lanceor and King Arthur. ### [How Balin Slew Sir Lanceor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/v) Pursued and jousted with Sir Lanceor, slaying him in combat. ### [How a damosel, which was love to Lanceor, slew herself for love, and how Balin met with his brother Balan.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/vi) Balin grieves the deaths of Lanceor and the damosel, then reunites with his brother Balan and plans to seek Arthur's favor by fighting King Rience. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/vii) Slew Lanceor in self-defense and mourns the lady's suicide; vows to honor all women better for her sake. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/viii) Receives Merlin's prophecy about the dolorous stroke and departs toward King Rience. ### [How Balin and his brother, by the counsel of Merlin, took King Rience and brought him to King Arthur](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/ix) Balin, the Knight with the Two Swords, along with his brother Balan, captures King Rience on Merlin's counsel. ### [The Battle Against Nero and King Lot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/x) Fights marvelously alongside his brother Balan; called the Knight with the Two Swords; praised by Arthur as one of the best knights. ### [Of the interment of twelve kings, and of the prophecy of Merlin, and how Balin should give the dolorous stroke](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xi) Merlin prophesies that Balin will give the dolorous stroke, bringing great vengeance. ### [How a sorrowful knight came before Arthur, and how Balin fetched him, and how that knight was slain by a knight invisible.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xii) Arrives at Arthur's camp, retrieves the sorrowful knight, and vows to avenge his death after the knight is slain by Garlon. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xiii) Protagonist of the chapter; mourns his earlier misfortune, encounters the invisible knight Garlon, and protects the damosel at the castle. ### [How Balin met with that knight named Garlon at a feast, and there he slew him, to have his blood to heal therewith the son of his host](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xiv) Protagonist who slays Garlon at the feast to avenge past wrongs and obtain blood for his host's son. ### [How Balin fought with King Pellam, and how his sword brake, and how he gat a spear wherewith he smote the dolorous stroke](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xv) Fights King Pellam, breaks his sword, and delivers the dolorous stroke with a magical spear. ### [How Balin was delivered by Merlin, and saved a knight that would have slain himself for love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xvi) Rescued by Merlin, given a new horse, and rides through countries destroyed by his dolorous stroke. He encounters and aids the knight Garnish of the Mount. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xvii) Balin causes Garnish's tragedy, then rides toward a castle where he exchanges his shield and prepares to joust, aware of the peril. ### [How Balin met with his brother Balan, and how each of them slew other unknown, till they were wounded to death.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xviii) Balin, weary from travel, fights his brother Balan unknowingly and dies from their mutual wounds. ### [The Tomb of Balin and the Prophecy of the Sword](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xix) Buried in a tomb with his brother Balan; his sword is enchanted and placed in a marble stone. ### [Book IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/book-iv) Draws a sword from a scabbard, accidentally slays a lady, and later fights his brother Balan to the death. ### [How King Arthur Shewed the Stone Hoving on the Water to Galahad](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/v) Mentioned as the former owner of the sword who slew his brother Balan. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/characters/balin - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/characters