Lancelot and Gawain awake the next day and are treated very courteously by the damsel. While they are looking out from the tower, they see Queen Guinevere being led by her horse's reign. When the Queen moves out of Lancelot's sight, he almost throws himself off of the tower.

Gawain and Lancelot set off in the direction the Queen was taken and meet a damsel. She forces them to swear an oath to her before she will tell them where the Queen is held hostage and how to get there. The Knights swear and she tells them they must take either the Water Bridge, or the Sword Bridge. Either way is perilous and they must suffer much to reach the kingdom of Bademagu where the villain Meleagant has taken the Queen.

The two knights separate and take either route. Alone, and lost in thought, Lancelot encounters a knight who guards a ford. The knight warns him not to come near, but Lancelot doesn’t even hear him. This spells trouble for the love-sick Lancelot.