Let’s continue on in our quest for the Holy Grail, as told in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur.
Summary of Chapter 3: “Sir Percivale”
The main character in Chapter 3 is Sir Percivale. In earlier Grail legends, Percivale is the pure knight who achieves the Grail, but in Malory’s version, he ends up being more or less the “#2 knight” behind Galahad. Like Galahad, Percivale is a pure virgin knight, and because of his purity, he (along with Bors) is with Galahad when they eventually achieve the Grail (wait until chapter 9). In this chapter, though, we learn of Percivale’s initial adventures on the Grail quest.
Picking up from what we learn in chapter 2, after Galahad defeats Launcelot and Percivale in a joust, Percivale returns a recluse. Upon returning to this recluse, she reveals to him that she is his aunt. She used to be the Queen of the Waste Lands, but now she has been disinherited and lives in poverty—still, she has now found happiness. She tells him that shortly after he left his mother to become a knight, she had died. She also tells him that it was Merlin who had prophesied that the quest for the Holy Grail would be accomplished by “three white bulls” from Arthur’s Round Table. Two would be virgins and one would be chaste. It was Merlin who set up the Siege Perilous as the seat for the greatest knight who would achieve the Grail. After that, Percivale’s aunt tells him he must ride to the Castle of Carbonek, where he’ll find the Maimed King and hear news about Galahad. The Castle of Carbonek, as we find out later, ends up being the Grail castle.
And so, Percivale rides off and finds lodging in a castle. In it, he sees an ancient-looking man with a gold crown, naked to the waist, and covered with wounds. Percivale sees the man place his crown on the altar. The man is King Evelake, who came with Joseph of Arimathea to England and who longed to enter into the mysteries of the Holy Grail. He had been told that his wounds would finally be healed when he is kissed by his 9th generation descendant.
Percivale rides off again and soon encounters 20 knights. As they fight, Galahad shows up, chases them off, but then rides off again. In the fight, Percivale lost his horse, so he is unable to catch up to Galahad. That night a mysterious lady brings Percivale a huge, black charger. Percivale mounts the horse, and it rides off faster than any horse could run. Soon, it takes Percivale to the seashore and it becomes apparent that the horse is intent on charging into the sea to drown Percivale. When Percivale crosses himself, though, the charger, who is a demon in disguise, throws him off, plunges into the sea, and vanishes. Percivale finds himself on an island, where he sees a huge serpent carrying a young lion in its mouth. Percivale kills the serpent, and the lion sleeps by his side that night.
During the night, though, Percivale has a strange dream. In it, he sees two ladies: a young lady riding on the lion, and an old lady riding on the serpent. The young lady says to him, “My lord sends his greeting! Tomorrow you will fight the most powerful champion in the world. If you lose, you’ll die and be disgraced for all eternity. My lord is the world’s greatest lord.” After that, the old lady says to him, “You’ve offended me without cause. You killed my serpent while he was taking his prey. The lion wasn’t yours to defend. You must make amends and serve me.” When Percivale says no, she tells him when he pledged himself to Christ, he pledged himself to her—and when he’s unprotected, she’ll take him for her own.
The next morning, a ship with awnings of white samite comes to the island. An old man in priestly garments on the ship tells Percivale the meaning of his dream. He tells Percivale that the young lady on the lion represented the new church, while the old lady on the serpent represented the old church. She didn’t reprimand Percivale for killing the serpent, but for killing the fiend that was in the shape of the black charger. The old man tells Percivale that she was trying to get Percivale to renounce his faith.
After that ship leaves, another ship comes to the island. This ship has black silk awnings and has a richly clothed lady on it. She tells Percivale that she came from the Waste Forest, where she had met a Red Knight carrying a white shield who was chasing two knights. She also tells Percivale that the old man on the white ship was an enchanter and that if Percivale believes him, he’ll end up starving on the island. She, on the other hand, is the richest lady in the world who has become disinherited. Percivale vows to serve her. She brings him on board and provides him with a feast of luscious meats and wine. Then she begs him to become her lover. Percivale is seduced by her, and soon they are naked together in her bed. At that moment, though, Percivale happens to see the red cross on the hilt of his sword all ablaze. He immediately makes the sign of the cross, and the lady screams that he has betrayed her. The ship speeds away and Percivale is again alone.
My Commentary on Chapter 3
As we leave Launcelot confessing his sins to the hermit, we come back to the tale of Percivale. While Launcelot rode off into the wasteland, Percivale returned to consult a certain woman, a recluse, who reveals herself to be his aunt. She is interesting, in that she used to be the Queen of the Wasteland, but is now disinherited, poor…and yet happy. As we’ve already begun to see, one of the main themes in the story of the Holy Grail is the futility of worldly wealth and power. Christ himself said, “What does it profit a man who gains the whole world, but loses his soul?” Percivale’s aunt knows this too well. Yet she also now knows that it the losing of her wealth and power that has led to her contentment. It is also worth noting that Percivale learns his mother died shortly after he went off to become a knight. Even though he is pure, he still is not spare from the sufferings of life.
As he continues his adventure, he encounters King Evelake, a former companion of Joseph of Arimathea, who longs to experience the mysteries of the Grail. Clearly, he is an ancient man, and as we are told, he is suffering from his wounds. As with everything here in the wasteland, he is longing for healing and salvation, which will ultimately come with Galahad.
The rest of Percivale’s tale is a long, complicated tale. Having lost his horse, he can’t follow after Galahad. He is given a black charger by a mysterious woman that turns out to be a fiend who attempts to drown Percivale in the sea. Although Percivale is pure, he is nevertheless able to be deceived, which puts his life in danger. As always, the sign of the cross is what saves him.
Still, he is not out of danger because he is now stranded on an island. His encounter with the giant serpent and the young lion is interesting because normally—especially in a Christian-themed story—we assume the serpent is bad (associated with Satan) and the young lion is good (associated with Jesus as the “Lion of Judah”). And so, when we read Percivale kills the serpent, we no doubt think this is a good thing because Percivale is a pure knight. In this case, though, we are wrong—for it is another trick of the Devil.
The question as to what the “new church” and the “old church,” I believe, has to do with the two covenants in the Bible: namely, the “new church” is the Church in Christ, and therefore the new covenant; whereas the “old church” is OT Israel/the Jews, and therefore the old covenant. Clearly, here in the Grail story, the Jews are equated with the Devil who tries to trip up and seduce Christian knights. The old man on the white ship warns Percivale, and the lady on the black ship is what the old man warned Percivale about. Sure enough, the lady on the black ship is a temptress who almost succeeds at seducing Percivale. As happens throughout the Grail story, the chief temptation for the knights seems to be lust…but along with that, wealth and power.
