Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
XX: The Sangreal (Continued) explained
Sir Launcelot, in his quest for the Holy Grail, encounters a sick knight healed by the holy vessel but is himself unable to witness it due to his sins.
What happens
Sir Launcelot, in his quest for the Holy Grail, encounters a sick knight healed by the holy vessel but is himself unable to witness it due to his sins. He confesses to a hermit, vowing to forsake Queen Guenever. Sir Perceval is attacked by twenty knights, rescued by Sir Galahad, then tempted by a fiend disguised as a woman and a beautiful lady, but saves himself by making the sign of the cross.
Themes in this chapter
Heroism and the Quest
Both Launcelot and Perceval are on a quest for the Holy Grail, facing trials that test their spiritual worth.
Love and Transformation
Launcelot's love for Queen Guenever is a hindrance to his spiritual quest, leading to his confession and vow to change.
Mortality and Immortality
The Sangreal brings healing and spiritual immortality, contrasting with the mortal sins that prevent Launcelot from witnessing it.
Characters to notice
- Sir Launcelot
Rides through the forest, witnesses the Sangreal heal a knight but is unable to partake due to sin, confesses to a hermit and vows to avoid Queen Guenever.
- Sir Perceval
Attacked by twenty knights, rescued by Sir Galahad, then tempted by a fiend on a black horse and later by a beautiful lady, but resists through the sign of the cross.
- Sir Galahad
Rescues Sir Perceval from twenty knights, then chases them into the forest.
- Queen Guenever
Mentioned as the queen Launcelot has loved unmeasurably and vows to avoid.
- Hermit
Hears Launcelot's confession, counsels him to forsake the queen, and gives him penance.
Key passages
“My sin and my wretchedness hath brought me into great dishonor. For when I sought worldly adventures and worldly desires, I ever achieved them, and had the better in every place, and never was I discomfited in any quarrel, were it right or wrong. And now I take upon me the adventure of holy things, I see and understand that mine old sin hindereth me, so that I had no power to stir nor to speak when the holy blood appeared before me.”
Launcelot laments that his past sins prevent him from experiencing the holy Grail, whereas he always succeeded in worldly quests.
Launcelot's realization of his spiritual failure.
“Then he made the sign of the cross on his forehead. When the fiend felt him so charged, he shook off Sir Perceval, and went into the water crying and roaring; and it seemed unto him that the water burned.”
Perceval makes the sign of the cross, causing the demonic horse to throw him off and plunge into the water, which appears to burn.
Perceval's use of the cross to defeat a fiend.