a distant land. In The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Sir Gareth is given a magic ring by a damsel of Avalon. The ring not only makes him invulnerable to losing any blood at a tournament he is about to attend, but will cause him to take on many different colours in succession in the jousting, so allowing him to disguise himself. In the 12th-century romance Floris and Blancheflour, the hero Floris finds his beloved Blancheflour, whose tomb he has just opened and found empty, in a tower of ladies whose garden is just like the garden of Paradise depicted upon the tomb. This tower, however, is in Babylon, and Blancheflour has been purchased by the very real Emir of Babylon to add to his harem. Before leaving in search of Blancheflour, Floris is given a ring by his mother, a ring that makes him invulnerable to death. References External links Sir Perceval of Galles, from Sir Perceval of Galles and Yvain and Gawain, edited by Mary Flowers Braswell, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1995. 14th-century poems Arthurian literature in Middle English Romance (genre) Middle English poems Parodies of literature Poetry based on works by Chrétien de Troyes Works based on Perceval, the Story of the Grail