Perlesvaus

"Perlesvaus", also called "Li Hauz Livres du Graal" ("The High History of the Holy Grail"), is an Old French Arthurian romance dating to the first decade of the 13th century. It purports to be a continuation of Chrétien de Troyes unfinished "Perceval, the Story of the Grail", but it has been called the least canonical Arthurian tale because of its striking differences from other versions. It survives in three manuscripts, two fragments, and two 16th century printings. [Busby, Keith (1991). "Perlesvaus". In Norris J. Lacy (Ed.), "The New Arthurian Encyclopedia", pp. 358–359. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.] ["The Arthurian Handbook", pp. 80–81]

"Perlesvaus" begins by explaining that its main character, Percival, did not fulfill his destiny of achieving the Holy Grail because he failed to ask the Fisher King the question that would heal him. These events are related in Chrétien's work. The author soon digresses into the adventures of knights like Lancelot and Gawain, many of which have no analogue in other Arthurian literature; often events and depictions of characters are thoroughly at odds with other versions of the story. For instance, while later literature depicts Loholt as a good knight and illegitimate son of King Arthur, in "Perlesvaus" he is apparently the legitimate son of Arthur and Guinevere, and he is slain treacherously by Arthur's seneschal Kay, who is elsewhere portrayed as a boor and a braggart but always as Arthur's loyal servant (and often, foster brother). [The details of Loholt's murder occur in Bryant, "The High Book of the Grail", pp. 172-174.] Kay is jealous when Loholt kills a giant, so he murders him to take the credit. This backfires when Loholt's head is sent to Arthur's court in a box that can only be opened by his murderer. Kay is banished, and joins with Arthur's enemies, Brian of the Isles and Meliant. Guinevere expires upon seeing her son dead, which alters Arthur and Lancelot's actions substantially from what is found in later works. Though its plot is frequently at variance with the standard Arthurian outline, "Perlesvaus" did have an effect on subsequent literature. Arthur's traditional enemies Claudas, Brian and Meliant appear for the first time in its pages; as does the Questing Beast (though in a radically different guise). The story of Kay murdering Loholt is mentioned in the Lancelot-Grail cycle as the one evil deed Kay ever committed, but the details and retribution are left out. "Perlesvaus" was adapted into Middle Welsh as "Y Seint Greal", and one episode was rewritten in verse and included in "Fouke Fitz Warin".

Nothing is known of the author, but the strangeness of the text and some personal comments led Roger Sherman Loomis to call him "deranged." [Loomis, "The Grail", p. 97.] Loomis also notes an antisemitic air absent from most Arthurian literature of the period, as there are several scenes in which the author symbolically contrasts the people of the "Old Law" with the followers of Christ; these scenes usually predict violent damnation for the unsaved. [Loomis, "The Grail", p. 97; 100.]

Notes

References

*Bryant, Nigel (2007). "The High Book of the Grail". Rochester, New York: Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9-781843-841210.
*Lacy, Norris J. (Ed.) (1991). "The New Arthurian Encyclopedia". New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
*Lacy, Norris J.; Ashe, Geoffrey; and Mancoff, Debra N. (1997). "The Arthurian Handbook". New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8153-2081-7.
*Loomis, Roger Sherman (1991). "The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol". Princeton. ISBN 0-691-02075-2

External links

* [http://omacl.org/Graal/ "The High History of the Holy Grail"] from the Online Medieval and Classical Library. Sebastian Evans translation (1898).