# King Rience — Le Morte d’Arthur character guide

> King Rience in Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory.

**Role:** minor

**First appearance:** 0004-i

## Who they are

A king who wars against Arthur and is defeated.

## In the story

### [Of a dream of the King with the Hundred Knights](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xiii)

Implied as one of the eleven kings opposing Arthur, though not named directly in this chapter.

### [The Battle Against the Eleven Kings](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xvi)

Implied as one of the eleven kings opposing Arthur.

### [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)

Defeated and put to flight by Arthur and the kings, later allies with the eleven kings.

### [How tidings came to Arthur that King Rience had overcome eleven kings, and how he desired Arthur’s beard to trim his mantle.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xxvi)

Sends a messenger demanding Arthur's beard to complete a mantle trimmed with the beards of eleven defeated kings.

### [How all the children were sent for that were born on May-day, and how Mordred was saved](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/xxvii)

Receives the news of Arthur's actions and becomes enraged, preparing a great host.

### [The Sword and the Damosel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/chapters/i)

Mentioned as the North Wales king who invades Arthur's lands and whose knights failed the sword test.

### [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)

King Rience is ambushed, wounded, and captured by Balin and Balan, then delivered to Arthur.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/characters/king_rience
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/le_morte_d_arthur_se/characters