When Malory's Aggravayne and Mordred are recruiting a few good men to help them trap Lancelot in the queen's bedchambers, they find willing allies among one particular group, the Scottish:

Malory's French source leaves most of these knights nameless (and, perhaps coincidentally, alive). For Malory, however, naming these knights and associating them with the Scots seems to be important; bound to Gawain and Aggravayne by ties of blood and friendship, Aggravayne's twelve allies divide Arthur's court through precisely that kind of loyalty, suggesting that ethnic divisions are a greater concern for Malory than they had been for the anonymous author of the French prose Mort Artu. This concern with ethnic division, and particularly with the Scots at Arthur's court, colours Malory's portrayal of a number of traditional characters and events. Malory seems to have believed that the Scots were the greatest threat facing the English in the fifteenth century; in direct contrast with English opinion during the reign of Edward I, Malory saw the Scots as neither despicable nor easily conquered. They were dangerous.

Conflict along the shifting border between England and Scotland was endemic and pervasive, and often linked with the larger world of medieval Europe through the Scottish alliance with the French. English political theory insisted upon the historical unity of the British islands, a stance which led to numerous attempts at annexing Scotland, some more violent than others. Scottish resistance to English domination, even in the face of military defeat, gave rise to their reputation as dishonest and treacherous neighbours, prone to unreasoning violence and a stubborn insistence on their perceived rights. The Luttrell Psalter (London, British Library, Additional 42130), created for Lincolnshire knight Geoffrey Luttrell sometime before his death in 1345, graphically illustrates this reputation.