THE LEGEND OF PERCIVAL

Arthur Hacker, Percival with the Grail Cup

Every country, every nation has its own legends and ancient tales and the UK, of course, it’s not an exception.  The Matter of Britain is their legendary epic.

The legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table is not only a worldwide known tale, but also an important part of English literary  heritage. I’d like to talk about one of the most prominent characters of the legend, Sir Percival, in a sort of short story. But, before we start, it’s important to note that there isn’t a single version of the story of Percival. There are lots of them  and they are also contrasting, so, to create a story as coherent and enjoyable as possible, I will use as a basis the story narrated in Perceval, the Story of the Grail, by Chrétienne de Troyes, adding to it, at the same time, some elements from other stories, mainly Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach and Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory.

And now, let’s start.

Family and Early Life

Percival was the son of King Pellinore, the lord of the Anglesey Island,  and also a member of the Knights of the Round Table and a friend of King Arthur’s, whom he helped on various occasions. He was a respectable knight but had a feud with the Lot Family of Orkney, which he killed the head of, that resulted in his own death by the hands of Sir Gawain (another Knight who was sent to slay him by King Arthur to prevent a war between Camelot and Orkney).

Pellinore’s wife and Percival’s mother, devastated because of her husband’s death, thought that his death was caused by his position as a Knight  and decided to isolate his son in a castle in the middle of the woods, to prevent him from becoming a Knight and facing the same fate as his father’s.

Becoming a Knight

Percival remained in his mother’s castle, ignoring the existence of Camelot and its Knights, until the age of 15, when he encountered, in the woods, a group of Knights heading toward Camelot. Impressed by their bearing and aura of heroism, he asked them as many questions as possible, yearning for becoming like them. Without saying anything to his mother or to his sister Dindraine, he suddenly left, heading to Camelot. When he arrived, he had an argument with Sir Kay, one of the most trustworthy friends and also a Knight, well known for his bullying and boorish behaviour, who slapped a lady who said to Percival that he was gentler than him. Their argument degenerated, because of Kay, in a fight, which resulted in him having one of his shoulders broken by Percival. Both Kay and Arthur were impressed by the boy’s talent, so the King summoned him to his castle and made him one of the Knights of Round Table.

The Fisher King

After many years as a Knight, Percival decided to go and visit his mother, to be sure she was fine. During his trip, he encountered a strange man fishing near a river. The man introduces himself as The Fisher King, and invites the Knight to stay in his castle until the next morning. During the meal Percival has a vision of a bleeding lance, a sword, and a golden cup appearing behind the King; despite the strange sight Percival, who was educated to never talk too much during a meal, remains  silent, without asking   the King anything. The next morning, the Knight finds himself on the shore of the river, alone; confused, Percival tries to figure out where the castle and the King are, but he can’t find them, they are gone.

The Knight resumes his journey, but when he arrives at his mother’s castle, he discovers the terrible truth: his mother died several years before, after finding out that his son was missing; his sister reveals to him that the Fisher King he encountered is the holder of the Holy Grail, affected by a curse which is slowly killing him and destroying his own kingdom with a terrible famine; the only way to remove the curse is to have a pure and true hero asking the King a certain question. Dindraine tells him that he is that kind of hero, because he saw the Grail in the castle, so if he asked the King the question, the curse would be dispelled. Blaming himself for his error, Percival decides to return to Camelot in order to find some other Knights who could help him in his quest to find the Holy Grail.

 The Quest For The Grail

Along with Sir Bors, Sir Galhad (Sir Lancelot’s son) and his sister, Percival goes on a journey to find the Grail and, finally, saves the Fisher King and his kingdom. Using the Ship of Solomon, a mystic and ancient ship created by the wise King of Israel to allow those who have already seen the Grail to see it a second time, the group can reach the land of Corbenic, the Grail Castle. But when they arrive, they are stopped by the knights of a near castle, who command them to give them Dindraine; the Knights, of course, fight their foes in order to protect the lady, but in the end she is kidnapped. While the Knights are fighting in order to rescue her, she meets the leprosy queen of the castle, who explains her she needs her blood  in order to cure the leprosy epidemic that is consuming her and her subjects. Dindraine, willing to help her, offers as much of her blood as possible, succeeding in stopping the epidemic, and dies because of blood loss.

Percival, despite being devastated by his sister’s death, decides to stay focused on his mission. So, with his companion’s help, he puts his sister’s corpse in a boat and lets the river carry it. Then, the group left again, heading toward the Castle of the Grail. When they finally arrive, the King receives them, waiting for one of them to ask him the question. The three decree  that the most suitable knight to ask the King was Galahad, who finally frees the King and his kingdom from the curse. As a prize for his deed, the King allows the Knight to see the Holy Grail and  Galahad asks to fulfill his wish too. The Knight’s wish is to be allowed to ascend to the Heavens, so the Grail grants him a peaceful death in order to fulfill it. After completing their quest, the two remaining Knights start their journey back to Camelot but, after passing the river, Percival collapses; trying to figure out what is wrong with him, Bors discovers that he has been mortally wounded during the battle with the knights, but has been enduring it to prevent the failure of their quest. As a sign of respect, before leaving, Bors prepares a boat to put his companion’s corpse in, and then, just as Percival did with his sister, lets the river carry it. That day, after succeeding in his quest, Sir Percival dies, with a smile on his face…

Yuri