Bevis the Giant – collaborative painting

Sir Bevis of (South) Hampton
A short tale from long ago

Sir Bevis was a knight who lived in (South) Hampton.
His mother was very unkind.
When Bevis was young she had his father killed and sold Bevis to pirates.
The pirates took Bevis far away to Armenia.

In Armenia, Sir Bevis became a brave knight.
The King’s daughter Princess Josian watched Bevis fight a dragon and fell in love with him.

Josain gave Bevis a special horse called Arundel.
Arundel was a faithful and loyal horse.
He would only let Bevis ride him.

Josian, Bevis and Arundel went on adventures together.
They met a giant called Ascapart
Ascapart was very tall and carried a tree as a club.

Bevis, Josian and Arundel became great friends with Ascapart.
He helped them escape capture and imprisonment by carrying them away in his big coat pockets.

But Ascapart was a traitor.
He tried to hit Bevis with his club.
They fought together.
The fight ended when Ascapart accidentally tripped over his club… and died.

Bevis, Josian and Arundel travelled the world and had many other adventures before returning to England.

One summer day Bevis and Arundel won a big horse race.
They won bags of gold.
The prize helped Bevis built a strong castle in Sussex.
He called it Arundel Castle after his loyal horse.

Arundel the horse lived for many more years, until he was extremely old and was always a faithful friend.