| Perceval found the Red Knight, killed him with his javelin and took the Red armor, the weapons and the Grail cup. He gave the grail cup to a squire to return to the king and went home to see his mum. On the way home, Perceval met Lord Gornemant of Gohort, who offered him lodging and taught him about courtly manner and some skills on how to use the armor and weapons. “Gornemant gave him advice, including not talking too much, or else people would take him for a fool. This advice would have unfortunate consequences.” “Perceval left Gornemant and found lodging at Biaurepaire Castle belonging to Lady Blancheflor.” The castle was under siege by Clamadeu, who had taken a number of prisoners and who had hoped to force Lady Blancheflor into a marriage. Percevel vowed to help her and she promised him her love and her kingdom if he was successful. The victory of Perceval reached King Arthur and Arthur requested his services at the court. The freed prisoners became members of the fellowship of the Round Table. Perceval stayed with Blancheflor, until he decided to return home, and on his way, stopped to take lodging with a man fishing by the river who it turned out, was the Lord of the castle. This man happened to have been maimed. Perceval was given a sword by this man, the finest one he had ever seen. The next event in the story is recalled as follows: ”During his stay, he witnessed several strange processions taking place. There was a squire who was carrying a Bleeding Lance, passing Perceval and his host to the next room. Two more squires followed the first squire, each squire carrying a candelabra. A maiden then followed these two squires, carrying the Grail. The Grail illuminated the room more brightly than all the candles in the room. Another maiden carrying a silver carving platter followed her.” “Though, Perceval was curious about the spear that bled and the Grail, he heeded Gornemant's warning of not talking too much and kept silence. The grail passed by several times during dinner. Perceval decided to ask his host's servants about the spear and Grail, rather than asking his host. However, the next day, Perceval woke and found the entire castle seemingly to be deserted. So, he dressed and armed himself. The moment he left the castle, the drawbridge was raised. Shout as he may, he could not go back into the castle.” Perceval’s next encounter was with a maiden who was weeping over a knight who had lost his head to another knight just moments prior. She immediately recognized the sword Perceval had with him as one belonging to the “Fisher King” and warned him of the weakness of the sword. She told him it could only be repaired by a blacksmith named Trabuchet. Upon hearing Perceval’s story, the maiden inquired why Perceval had not asked his host about the procession, instead asking the servants. She immediately became distraught suggesting that if he asked the question about the Lance and the Grail, “his host who |
was maimed, would have being healed, and the land that was devastated around the castle, would have been restored.” … “When the maiden also heard that his name was Perceval, she revealed that she was his cousin and that his mother had died in grief at his departure.” Perceval then vowed to avenge the damsel’s murdered knight. Perceval succeeded at this and sent the knight whose life was spared back to King Arthur to be a Round Table knight. King Arthur was delighted and determined to meet this knight, Perceval and sent several men one after the other to find him. Each time the poor stupid Red Knight would kill them, not understanding their intentions. Finally, Sir Gawain succeeded in bringing Perceval back without a fight and the two met and had a celebration after Perceval became a knight of the Round Table. The next segment ends the tale of Perceval and begins the adventure of Gawain but does not continue for long. Chretien de Troyes never finished the story and died shortly afterwards. The story has been continued by several other authors. The important quality of the story is the Grail which shone more brilliantly than the brightest candle. The owner of the castle was the “Fisher King” and we call the salmon today the fisher king. The salmon is the “Salmon of Knowledge” from our earlier Irish and Welsh tales. We have an auspicious “Red Knight,” associating the Holy Grail with Red and Salmon now. Each knight that was defeated by Perceval was given the chance to become a prisoner of King Arthur, being sent back to him, then became members of the “Round Table.” The next most important author of the Grail tale after Chretien de Troyes would be Robert de Boron who introduced the idea that the Grail was the chalice used by Jesus during the Last Supper. De Boron wrote a trilogy, Joseph d'Arimathie, Merlin, and Perceval. So, Chretien de Troyes presented the Grail as a shining object of some kind. And lastly, Wolfram von Eschenbach (1200-1210), in Parzival, described it as a stone that fell from the sky known as lapsit exillis, (a meteorite). (72) Once again, relating the occult relationsjip to the mushroom; fish scales being similar to mushrooms scales, or scabs, or the remnants of the veil left over, on the cap. These are like scales. The mushroom and the fish both have gills on their underside. The scales and gills are the reason why the fish, and especially the king-fish, the salmon, is associated with the mushroom. The mushroom is also thought to be engendered by water, which is the umbilical environment of the fish. Finally, the hazelnuts drop from the tree into the well, and we have already seen where the Tree of life or Tree of Knowledge in the biblical and pre-biblical scenes incorporates an apple which represents the mushroom, or the hidden knowledge or wisdom, similar to the hazelnuts. (72) http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/quest1.html |