Le Morte D'Arthur Book 13 - 16
Launcelot receives word from King Pelles’s court that his presence is required at an abbey nearby. Launcelot journeys to the abbey and finds Sir Bors, as well as Lionel. Galahad is presented to Launcelot by some of the nuns who have been raising him, and they request Launcelot to knight him. Launcelot gladly knights his son, but Galahad refuses to accompany his father back to King Arthur’s court. Meanwhile, words appear in the seat of Siege Perilous that the Quest for the holy grail would begin that year. The king discovers a sword sheathed in stone with letters around it that proclaim only the best knight in the world can withdraw it. Arthur believes this should be achieved by Launcelot, but the knight believes he is too sinful for such a thing. Soon after this revelation, a mysterious knight in red armor is brought to court by an old man. The old man seats the knight, who is revealed to be Galahad, in the Siege Perilous which now has his name written on it.
Arthur and the other knights welcome Galahad, and Guenever notes the similarities in his appearance with Lancelot as she assumes that he is the knight’s illegitimate son with Elaine. Galahad manages to withdraw the sword with relative ease, and it is learned that the sword had belonged to Sir Balin, who had entrusted the sword to King Pelles at the moment of his death. The Sangreal passes through the halls of the castle but none of the knights can discern it. This occurrence awakens the hunger for Sangreal, and a large part of King Arthur’s round table vows to undertake the quest for the Holy Grail but the king is saddened since he understands that many of his knights will perish in the quest. Launcelot resolves to go for the quest as well even though Queen Guenever tries to stop him.
All of the knights set out and take different roads, and Galahad seems to receive the greatest favor as he begins to hear a voice in his head that guides him to the quests. He finds a shield that heals his wounds, another relic of Joseph of Arimathea, who had marked the shield with a cross of his blood upon his deathbed. Galahad strikes down both Percivale and Launcelot during his journey. Sir Gawaine and Launcelot are both told that they are unworthy of gaining the Holy Grail and that Galahad will be able to achieve it. Lancelot is told that he needs to live the life of a pure man without sin, and he believes this means that he will have to cease his relationship with Guenever, so he prepares himself to do so.
Percivale finds his way to an old relative’s home as he searches for the knight with the white shield, Galahad. He learns from his aunt that Merlin had created the Round table in the shape of the world, and he had prophesied that three people would achieve the Sangreal to become worthy of the Siege Perilous. He had predicted that there would be two bulls along with one chaste warrior and that one of them would raise himself well above the prowess of his father. She tells him about a dying king that would help him find Galahad, and so he sets out in her pointed direction. Percivale finds a dying king, and he is informed that the king is called Evelake. This king had been converted by Joseph of Arimathea himself, and the king had vowed to remain alive until he could meet his distant relative who would achieve the Sangreal. Percivale promises him that this would come to pass, but he comes under attack just as he is leaving the king’s land.
Percivale is rescued by the mighty Galahad, who strikes down all of Percivale’s attackers, but he refuses to remain long enough to even receive thanks. Percivale tries to catch up to the knight, but his horse is killed, and when he does find a new horse it turns out to be a friend. Percivale finds himself in a mysterious land where he assists a lion in fighting a serpent. The lion remains with Percivale, and as the knight sleeps he sees a dream in which he is being tempted by the devil. An old man on a ship comes to warn him about the influence of the devil, but Percivale still nearly fails to recognize the devil when he appears in the form of a beautiful woman. Percivale is saved by his faith in God, as the woman is vanquished just as Percivale makes the sign of the cross. Percivale punishes himself when he realizes that he had nearly been tempted out of his faith by the devil.
Launcelot leaves the hermitage where he had been staying and comes across a good man near a chapel. They learn the story of an old man in a fine white shirt whom several men have attempted to murder. Launcelot helps in the burial of the dead man, but he is told to avoid meat and wine in his quest for purity. The good man tells Launcelot that his quest for the Sangreal was likely going to fail since he would be quite unable to see the Sangreal even if it presented himself to him. Launcelot continues on his journey, but he receives a very profound dream in which sees God blessing kings and knights. Launcelot gains the help of another hermit to gain further insight into the dreams and learns that the dream was related to Joseph of Arimathea. The hermit confirms that Galahad was one of the two knights that had been shown to him in his vision and that none could stop him from achieving the Holy Grail. He advises Launcelot to make it known that Galahad is his true son. The knight continues on his journey and comes across a group of men fighting on white and black horses. Launcelot decides to aid the weaker black side, but he receives another dream that tells him he had sinned. He has another dream interpreter who tells him that he had opposed God by exercising his pride and choosing to fight for the knights on black horses. Launcelot is then unhorsed by a knight in black armor on a black horse.
Gawaine and Ector De Maris receive dreams that perplex them quite significantly, and both of them hear a voice telling them that they are unworthy of the quest. Gawaine and Ector set out in search of a famous Hermit and come upon a knight. Gawaine agrees to fight the knight and ends up dealing him a life-rending blow. It is only then that the knight reveals his name, Uwaine, and Gawaine is heartbroken as he realizes that he has killed one of his closest and fondest relatives. They bury the knight, and successfully locate the hermit who interprets their dream. He tells Gawaine that his dream was about the round table, and how the only knights worthy of the Sangreal were Galahad, Percivale, and Sir Bors. The hermit explains that the first two knights were pure in their virginity, while Sir Bors had only ever besmirched his honor once. Sir Ector’s dream is seen to be a reflection of Launcelot’s state, which had been worsened despite his desire to be holy. The hermit explains that Launcelot hadn’t killed a man since he had repented and so it was likely that he would die as a holy man. He tells them both that they have been seen as unworthy of achieving the Sangreal due to their sins.
Meanwhile, Sir Bors had departed for a hermitage after beginning the quest of the Sangreal and had very early on decided to live off the simple fare of bread and water until he had risen to the Sangreal. Sir Bors roams the lands winning for the side of good even as he refuses to be rewarded for the good deeds that he performs. The devil tries to intercede as he forces Bors to choose between either saving his brother, Lionel, or a lady being taken forcefully by a knight. Bors faces an impossible dilemma but he ultimately decides to save the lady, and he hurries back to rescue his brother. He finds a dead body that appears to be Lionel, and he is then nearly duped by the devil who creates a ruse for Bors to lose his virtue.
Bors survives the moral ordeal and returns to find his brother, Lionel, furious at him for leaving him to rescue an unknown woman. Bors refuses to fight his brother, who has been possessed by the devil. Lionel kills two men who try to shield Bors, but the crazed knight strikes them both down. Sir Bors then prepares to put down his brother with tears in his eyes, but he hears a voice from above that instructs him to run instead. He is directed to take a ship, and join up with Percivale. He meets the young knight and tells him about the trials he has had to face in the quest for the Sangreal.
Analysis
In this section, the spiritual and the mystical aspects of the quest for the Holy Grail are brought to the front. It is important to note that the Holy Grail is not something that can be simply possessed physically, but it is rather something that is needed to be achieved. The quests for the Holy Grail are meant to be spiritual just as much as they are physical. There is significant honor attached to the quest for this very reason, and it serves as the motivation for the knights even as several of them are told that they are unworthy of achieving the Sangreal. The author imbues a greater sense of spirituality in the text through the use of dreams, which have been an important motif throughout the book, but dreams become the central method for the advancement of the plot in this section. Nearly all the knights who have set out to search for the Holy Grail are hounded by vibrant dreams, and they all set out to find hermits by aiding them to understand their dreams.
In this section, we see the rise of the three knights that are prophesied to rise to achieve the Sangreal, which are Percivale, Galahad, and Sir Bors. However, an equal amount of focus is given to the knights who are destined to fail, like Sir Launcelot. The famous knight does his best to repent for the sins that he has committed but he finds himself sinning against God unintentionally. The dream Sir Ector receives mirrors Launcelot’s reality, as his actions for purity seem to drag him further into sinfulness. The hermit predicts that Launcelot will die a holy man since he has begun to exercise control since he repented for his sins. On the other side, Galahad seems to rise as much as Launcelot seems to fall, as all the knights receive visions in which Galahad’s rise to the Holy grail is repeatedly reinstated.
