Perceval, the Story of the Grail Chretien de Troyes

Background

The poem relates the adventures and growing pains of the young knight Perceval, but the story breaks off. There follows an adventure of Gawain of similar length that also remains incomplete. There are some 9,000 lines in total, whereas the other romances by Chrétien de Troyes seldom exceed 7,000 lines.

Perceval is dedicated to Chrétien's patron Philip I, Count of Flanders.[3] Chrétien claimed to be working from a source given to him by Philip. His poem was written in Old French during the 1180s or 1190s and likely left unfinished because of the death of either Philip in 1191, while crusading at Acre, or the death of the author himself. Some scholars argue that during the time Chrétien was writing Perceval, there was a political crisis taking place between the monarchy and the aristocracy, which included his patron, which may have influenced Chrétien's work.[4]

There are possible parallels in Perceval with the Irish mythological race of the Tuatha Dé Danann. The race has three central talismans, a spear, a cauldron, and a sword, that correlate with the spear, grail, and sword present in Perceval.[5] Chrétien's Perceval also includes many similarities to the Irish saga The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn. The main character, Fionn mac Cumhaill, is raised in isolation and undergoes many adventures akin to those of Perceval, suggesting that the narrative may have been a source of inspiration for Chrétien.[5]

Synopsis

The poem opens with Perceval of Wales (Perceval le Gallois), whose mother has raised him apart from civilization in the Welsh woods. While out riding one day, he encounters a group of knights and realizes he wants to be one. Despite his mother's objections, the boy heads to King Arthur's court, where a young girl predicts greatness for him. Sir Kay taunts him and slaps the girl, but Perceval amazes everyone by killing a knight who had been troubling King Arthur and taking his vermilion armor. He then sets out for adventure. He trains under the experienced Gornemant, then falls in love with and rescues Gornemant's niece Blancheflor. Perceval captures her assailants and sends them to King Arthur's court to proclaim Perceval's vow of revenge on Sir Kay.

Perceval remembers that his mother fainted when he went off to become a knight, and goes to visit her. During his journey, he comes across the Fisher King fishing in a boat on a river, who invites him to stay at his castle. While there, Perceval witnesses a strange procession in which young men and women carry magnificent objects from one chamber to another. First comes a young man carrying a bleeding lance, then two boys carrying candelabra. Then a beautiful young girl emerges bearing an elaborately decorated graal. Finally another maiden carried a silver platter. They passed before him at each course of the meal. Perceval, who had been trained by his guardian Gornemant not to talk too much, remains silent through all of this. He wakes up the next morning alone and resumes his journey home. He encounters a girl in mourning, who admonishes him for not asking about the grail, as that would have healed the wounded king. He also learns that his mother has died.

Perceval captures another knight and sends him to King Arthur's court with the same message as before. King Arthur sets out to find Perceval and, upon finding him, attempts to convince him to join the court. Perceval unknowingly challenges Sir Kay to a fight, in which he breaks Sir Kay's arm and exacts his revenge. Perceval agrees to join the court, but soon after a loathly lady enters and admonishes Perceval once again for failing to ask the Fisher King whom the grail served.

No more is heard of Perceval except in a short later passage, in which a hermit explains that the grail contains a single host that miraculously sustains the Fisher King's wounded father. The loathly lady announces other quests that the Knights of the Round Table proceed to take up and the remainder of the poem deals with Arthur's nephew and best knight Gawain, who has been challenged to a duel by Guiromelant, a knight who claims Gawain had slain his lord. Gawain offers a contrast and complement to Perceval's naiveté as a courtly knight having to function in un-courtly settings. An important episode is Gawain's liberation of a castle whose inhabitants include his long-lost mother, his grandmother Ygerne, and his sister Clarissant, whose existence was unknown to him. This tale also breaks off unfinished, interrupted when a messenger arrives at Arthur's court to request his presence at Gawain's upcoming fight against Guiromelant.[5]