Merlin had planned for Arthur a marriage with the daughter of King Laodegan of Carmalide.  By his advice Arthur paid a visit to the court of that sovereign, attended only by Merlin and by thirty-nine knights whom the magician had selected for that service.  On their arrival they found Laodegan and his peers sitting in council, endeavoring, but with small prospect of success, to devise means of resisting the impending attack of Ryence, king of Ireland,... (Age of Chivalry, Bulfinch, 1901)