Frontcover
Contents
Introduction
Chrétien’s Intention
The First Continuation: the Unimportance of the Holy Grail
The Second Continuation: Wandering Astray
Gerbert’s Continuation: the Crusading Knight
The Third Continuation: Revenge
The Elucidation Prologue and Bliocadran
Reading Aloud
Dates
Manuscripts
Modern editions
Further Reading
Chrétien de Troyes: Perceval
Chrétien’s Prologue
Chrétien dedicates his work to Count Philip of Flanders (1–68)
The Welsh Boy
The boy’s first encounter with knights; he leaves his mother (69–634)
A Pie, a Ring and a Kiss
The boy meets a girl at a pavilion and takes her ring (635–833)
The Red Knight
The boy arrives at Arthur’s court; he kills the Red Knight and takes his
arms (834–1304)
Training in Arms
The boy is knighted by Gorneman (1305–1698)
The Siege of Beaurepaire
The new knight defends Blancheflor against her enemies (1699–2975)
A Grail and a Lance
The new knight comes to a castle where he sees a mysterious procession
(2976–3421)
No Questions Asked
The new knight realises his mistake; he guesses his name; he is warned
about his sword (3422–3690)
The Proud Knight of the Glade
Perceval breaks his sword (3691–4143)
Blood in the Snow
Perceval breaks Kay’s arm; Gawain leads him back to Arthur (4144–4602)
The Price of Perceval’s Failure
Perceval vows to search for the grail and the lance; Gawain is accused
of murder (4603–4815)
The Tournament at Tintagel
Gawain sets out to defend himself against the charge; on the way he takes
part in a tournament (4816–5655)
Sir Gawain is Besieged
A mob besieges Gawain in a tower; he must go in search of the bleeding
lance (5656–6216)
Perceval and his Hermit Uncle
Perceval meets his hermit uncle on Good Friday (6217–6518)
Gawain and the Haughty Girl
Gawain’s horse is stolen; he has to fight to win it back (6519–7370)
The Castle of the White-haired Queen
Gawain lies on the Bed of Marvels and is offered lordship of the castle (7371–8371)
The Perilous Ford
Gawain crosses the Perilous Ford; Guiromelant challenges him to combat
(8372–9234)
The First Continuation
Arthur and his court set out to see the combat (1–503)
King Arthur’s Mother
Arthur goes in secret to the castle of the white-haired queen (504–944)
Preparing for Battle
Guiromelant arrives for his combat with Gawain (945–1440)
Gawain’s Battle with Guiromelant
Gawain and Guiromelant engage in a furious duel (1441–1739)
Gawain’s Anger
Clarissant intervenes; she marries Guiromelant without Gawain’s knowledge
(1740–1955)
The Maiden of the Ivory Horn
Gawain recovers a stolen horn; he rescues twenty maidens from captivity (1956–3630)
The Broken Sword
Gawain sees the grail and the lance; he tries to mend a broken sword (3631–3969)
Gawain’s Adventure at Montesclaire
Gawain frees the damsel of Montesclaire; he takes the Sword of the Strange
Belt (3970–4828)
Gawain is Accused Again
Dinadaret accuses Gawain of having killed his father (4829–4951)
A Double Duel
Gawain is forced to fight two enemies at once (4952–5508)
The Siege of Branlant
King Arthur lays siege to Brun’s city of Branlant; Gawain is wounded in
a raid (5509–6151)
The Portrait of Gawain
A maiden identifies Gawain by his portrait; it leads to seduction and killing
(6152–6670)
Eliavret the Enchanter
An enchanter lies with Arthur’s niece and fathers a son (6671–6784)
Carados is Knighted
The son, Carados, comes to Arthur’s court and is trained in arms and
knighted (6785–7136)
The Beheading Game
An unknown knight offers to exchange beheading blows; Carados accepts
the challenge (7137–7425)
Carados Exposes his Mother
Carados reveals the truth about his conception; his mother Ysave is
imprisoned (7426–7551)
Carados Rescues Guinier
Carados rescues a maiden from a rejected suitor (7552–8078)
The Great Tournament
Carados excels in a mighty tournament (8079–9612)
The Enchanted Serpent
The enchanter Eliavret fixes a serpent to Carados’s arm; Guinier has to
save him (9613–11948)
The Healing of Guinier’s Breast
Guinier’s breast, wounded in saving Carados, is healed with a golden
shield-boss (11949–12270)
The Drinking Horn
An ivory horn arrives at court; it turns water into wine, but exposes infidelity
(12271–12506)
The Mission to Rescue Girflet
Arthur declares that Girflet must be rescued from imprisonment in the Proud
Castle (12507–12920)
Kay, the Dwarf and the Peacock
Kay is humiliated with a roasted bird (12921–13283)
Bran de Lis and Gawain’s Child
Gawain does battle with Bran de Lis; his own son intervenes (13284–15181)
The Jousts at the Proud Castle
Lucan, Bran and Kay challenge the castle’s champions (15182–15778)
The Rich Soldier
Gawain defeats the castle’s lord, but pretends to have been beaten; Girflet is
rescued (15779–16614)
The Search for Gawain’s Son
Gawain’s son is kidnapped (16615–16836)
The Death of the Unknown Knight
A knight is mysteriously killed at the queen’s pavilion; Gawain takes up his
mission (16837–17114)
The Black Hand
Gawain takes refuge in a chapel and sees a terrifying black hand (17115–17226)
The Grail and the Lance Again
The grail and bleeding lance appear again to Gawain; he learns it is the lance
of Longinus (17227–17880)
The Challenge at the Ford
Gawain is challenged to combat at a ford; he discovers that the youth is
his son (17881–18374)
The Swan-Boat
Arthur sees a boat arrive, pulled by a swan; on board is a slain knight,
awaiting vengeance (18375–18688)
Guerrehés and the Little Knight
Gawain’s brother Guerrehés is humbled by a little knight (18689–19154)
Guerrehés Takes Revenge
Guerrehés avenges the knight on the swan-boat (19155–19606)
The Second Continuation
The author returns us to Perceval as he leaves his hermit uncle (19607–19653)
The Lord of the Horn
Perceval fights the Lord of the Horn (19654–20006)
The Castle of the Magic Chessboard
A damsel tries to drown Perceval; a magic chessboard defeats him; a maiden
lends him her dog to hunt a white stag (20007–20303)
The Knight of the Tomb
Perceval kills the white stag, but the dog and the white stag are stolen; he
fights with a knight from a tomb (20304–20772)
The Murdered Boy
Perceval avenges a murdered boy; his killer refuses to ask for mercy
(20773–20908)
The Search for the Stolen Dog
Perceval learns why the stag’s head and the dog were stolen; he does battle
with a lion and defeats Abrioris (20909–21578)
The Dead Knight Odinial
Perceval finds a slain knight, and has to tell the knight’s sweetheart of his
death (21579–21658)
Perceval and the Giant
Perceval rescues a maiden from a murderous giant (21659–21955)
The Amorous Ford
Perceval defeats the defender of the Amorous Ford (21956–22224)
The Fair Unknown
Perceval meets Sir Gawain’s son, ‘the Fair Unknown’ (22225–22551)
Perceval Returns to Blancheflor
Perceval finds himself back at Beaurepaire; he spends the night with
Blancheflor (22552–23120)
The Handsome Knight and the Ugly Damsel
Perceval meets ‘the Fair Bad Knight’; he sends him to Arthur’s court to tell of
his love for an ugly damsel (23121–23532)
Perceval Returns to his Sister
Perceval finds himself at his mother’s house; he reveals his identity to his
sister; they go together to visit his hermit uncle (23533–24221)
The Castle of the Maidens
Striking a brass table earns Perceval lodging at a castle inhabited only by
maidens (24222–24731)
Recovering the Dog and the Stag’s Head
Perceval wins back the stag’s head and the maiden’s dog; the knight of the
tomb is explained (24732–25432)
Crossing the Bridge of Glass
Perceval sees a strange light in the forest; a maiden tells him that it comes from
the grail; she lends him a mule and a ring; he has to cross a bridge of glass
(25433–26193)
The Unfinished Bridge
Briol urges Perceval to prove himself at a tournament at the Proud Castle;
to reach it Perceval must cross an unfinished bridge (26194–26824)
The Tournament at the Proud Castle
Perceval twice fights in the tournament against King Arthur’s knights; both
times he goes unrecognised (26825–27373)
Trapped in the Tomb
Perceval is tricked into being trapped in a tomb; he returns the maiden’s mule
and ring (27374–27600)
The Magic Chessboard
Perceval delivers the dog and the stag’s head; the maiden tells him the story of
Morgan the Fay and the magic chessboard (27601–28238)
The Madness of Mount Dolorous
Perceval rescues a knight hung up in a tree by Sir Kay; he hears about the
pillar on Mount Dolorous (28239–28408)
Revenge upon Sir Kay
The rescued knight, Bagomedés, goes to Arthur’s court seeking revenge
upon Sir Kay; the knights of the court set out in search of Perceval
(28409–29208)
The Little Knight’s Shield
Sir Gawain meets a tiny knight, the guardian of a shield that tests the prowess
of a knight and the true love of his sweetheart (29209–29953)
The Tournament in the Blanche Lande
At the tournament only Gawain can carry the shield (29954–30507)
Sir Gawain and the Pensive Knight
Gawain recovers a maiden abducted from her beloved, the Pensive Knight
(30508–31040)
The War against King Carras
Gawain tells his son, ‘the Fair Unknown’, of his search for the Fisher King; his
son tells him of King Carras’s aggression against Arthur; Gawain returns to
resolve the conflict (31041–31420)
The Pillar on Mount Dolorous
A child in a tree directs Perceval to Mount Dolorous; he tethers his horse to
Merlin’s pillar (31421–32027)
Perceval Nears the Grail Castle
Perceval comes to the tree of candles and the chapel of the Black Hand; he is
directed to the Fisher King’s castle (32028–32264)
Perceval and the Fisher King
Perceval returns to the Grail Castle, and asks the Fisher King the meaning of
his adventures and the truth about the grail and the lance; but he repairs the
broken sword imperfectly (32265–32594)
Gerbert’s Continuation
Perceval is not yet worthy to know all the secrets of the grail; a voice tells him
to seek his mother’s house (1–102)
Perceval Breaks his Sword
Perceval hears rejoicing inside a ring of wall; he breaks his sword on the gate;
he is given a healing letter (103–286)
The Forge on the Lake
Perceval finds he has restored the land; he battles past serpents to the smith
Trebuchet, who repairs his broken sword (287–898)
The Healing Letter
Perceval uses the healing letter to save Agravain and Sagremor, driven mad on
Mount Dolorous (899–1158)
The Perilous Seat
Perceval returns to Arthur’s court and sits in the Perilous Seat (1159–1612)
The Faithless Lover
Perceval’s cousin is about to be jilted by the faithless knight Faradien, who plans
to marry another damsel; Perceval forces him to keep his promise (1613–2482)
A Demon in the Shape of a Girl
Perceval wards off a demon by making the sign of the cross (2483–2586)
The Meaning of the Broken Sword
Perceval and his sister visit his hermit uncle, who explains the significance of
a sword’s two edges (2587–2861)
Perceval Learns his Mother’s Name
Perceval repels Mordred’s attack on his sister; he returns to the Castle of the
Maidens, where he learns his mother’s name and her connection with the grail
(2862–3247)
A Stranger Challenges Arthur’s Knights
Faradien and Mordred arrive at court to submit to Arthur; the king’s
knights are challenged to combat by a stranger; he is recognised as
Tristran (3248–3692)
Tristran’s Disguise
Tristran goes to King Marc’s court to see Yseut, disguised as a minstrel; she
recognises him by the tune he plays (3693–4110)
Beaten by Minstrels
Tristran and his companions shame their opponents by turning the tide of the
tournament while disguised as minstrels; Perceval arrives and defeats them in
turn (4111–4726)
Tristran Forgiven
Gawain makes peace between Tristran and King Marc (4727–4868)
Gorneman and the Demon Knights
Perceval defends Gorneman, who had knighted him, against forty demon
knights (4869–5496)
The Healing Balm
A hag restores the knights to life with a potion; Perceval wins it from her and
heals Gorneman and his sons (5497–6154)
Perceval Marries Blancheflor
Perceval returns to Beaurepaire and keeps his promise to marry Blancheflor
(6155–7020)
Dragonel the Cruel
Perceval prevents a knight forcing a girl to marry him against her will
(7021–7526)
The Knight of the Cart
Perceval saves a knight who has been robbed, stripped and abused (7527–8291)
The Shield with the Red Cross
Perceval sees two hermits beating and worshipping a cross, and a beast devoured
by her offspring; he is given a white shield with a red cross (8292–8905)
The Knight of the Dragon
With the aid of the red cross shield Perceval defeats the Knight of the Dragon
and rescues the Maiden of the Circle of Gold (8906–10192)
Mordrain
At an abbey Perceval sees King Mordrain, his wounds still fresh after three
hundred years; he hears the story of Mordrain, Crudel and Joseph of
Arimathea (10193–10613)
The Ivory Chest
Perceval opens a chest to reveal himself the killer of the Red Knight long
before; he defends himself against the Red Knight’s sons; a minstrel saves
his life; he releases the captive Gawain (10614–12380)
The Hidden Knife
A damsel is about to murder Gawain, but then falls in love with him; she saves
him from death at her father’s hands, and then saves her father from Gawain
(12381–14078)
The Worm in the Stone
A hermit gives Perceval instruction; Perceval frees a demon worm from a
block of marble (14079–14571)
Lugarel the Jealous
Perceval defeats a murderous knight unable to forgive his sweetheart’s killer
(14572–14998)
The Maiden in the Spring
Perceval rescues a girl who has been forced to stand naked in a pool; but she
then tries to betray him (14999–15268)
The Brigands’ Girl
A second girl betrays Perceval, luring him into an ambush; he destroys a band
of brigands (15269–15738)
The Hermit’s Injunction
A hermit tells Perceval that a knight’s purpose is to defend Holy Church; he
engages in violent combat with the Knight of the Ill-cut Coat, who is honoured
to be defeated by him (15739–16049)
The Black Giant
Using his lance like a javelin, Perceval defeats a black giant seeking vengeance
for his brother’s death; he is given fine new arms (16050–16556)
The Search for Perceval
Arthur’s knights set out to find Perceval; Kay’s discourtesy costs him dear
again (16557–16839)
The Repair of the Broken Sword
Perceval returns to the Fisher King and perfectly repairs the broken sword
(16840–17086)
The Third Continuation
Perceval, as repairer of the broken sword, must take revenge upon Partinal,
the murderer of King Goondesert, and so heal the Fisher King (32595–33183)
Perceval and Sagremor
Perceval meets Sagremor, whose horse has been stolen; together they battle
the knights who stole it, and rescue an abducted maiden (33184–33757)
Sagremor and the Robber Knight
Sagremor pursues the thief and wins back his horse (33758–34080)
Sagremor at the Castle of the Maidens
Sagremor raises the siege of the Castle of the Maidens (34081–34725)
Sagremor Rescues a Damsel
Sagremor saves a damsel from rape, but is wounded (34726–35050)
Gawain’s Unfinished Mission
The sister of Silimac, the knight killed at the queen’s pavilion, reminds Gawain
of his promise to complete her brother’s mission (35051–35299)
Gawain Rescues Dodinel
Gawain saves a maiden from a pyre, and frees Dodinel from prison, refusing to
believe him guilty of murder (35300–35745)
King Margon
Gawain defends Silimac’s sister against King Margon’s siege; she charges
Gawain to take revenge upon Kay for her brother’s death; Margon, known as the
King of One Hundred Knights, saves his sister (35746–36363)
Gawain’s Battle with Kay
Gawain is attacked as the killer of Silimac; Silimac’s sister explains that Kay,
not Gawain, was to blame; at Arthur’s court Gawain, disguised, does battle
with Kay (36364–36916)
Gawain and Agravain
Gawain aids his brother Agravain against five knights (36917–37140)
The Chapel of the Black Hand
Perceval battles with the black hand; he is shown Queen Brangemore’s
graveyard (37141–37862)
The Devil Horse and the Demon Maiden
A black horse tries to drown Perceval; a demon appears to him as Blancheflor
(37863–38409)
A Toll is Demanded
A knight demands that Perceval pay a toll or accept imprisonment; Perceval
defeats him and sends him to Arthur (38410–38545)
Perceval and Dodinel
Perceval saves Dodinel’s sweetheart from her abductor; he hears that
Blancheflor is under attack (38546–38922)
Perceval Returns to Beaurepaire
Perceval has his horse re-shod and his sword repaired by the smith Trebuchet’s
son; he defeats Blancheflor’s attacker Aridés; Blancheflor pleads with him to stay
(38923–39359)
Perceval’s Prisoners Submit to Arthur
The knights defeated in Perceval’s latest adventures surrender at Arthur’s court
(39360–39576)
The Coward Knight
Perceval meets a handsome knight who is terrified of combat; but as Perceval rides
to the rescue of two maidens, the cowardly knight is transformed (39577–39969)
The Vow to Search for Perceval
Arthur is downcast when Perceval fails to arrive at Pentecost; the knights vow
to go in search of him (39970–40182)
Boort Abandons his Brother
Boort sees his brother Lionel in dire straits, but abandons him to go to the
rescue of a maiden; it is Gawain instead who saves Lionel (40183–40513)
Boort’s Combat with Lionel
A demon disguised as a hermit tries to make Boort despair; Lionel attacks
Boort in a rage and kills Calogrenant when he intervenes; a cloud descends
to stop the battle (40514–40974)
The Fair Bold Knight
Joining Perceval in a tournament, the Coward Knight displays such courage
that he earns a new name (40975–41317)
The Healing Grail
Perceval finds Ector in a wretched state; they fight and almost kill each other,
but are healed by the holy grail (41318–41606)
Revenge for the Fisher King
Perceval takes revenge upon Partinal as he had promised the Fisher King
(41607–41860)
The Healing of the Fisher King
The Fisher King is healed at the sight of Partinal’s head; the grail serves food in
abundance; the Fisher King bequeaths his kingdom to Perceval (41861–42101)
Perceval Returns to Arthur
Perceval jousts against six knights with arms of every colour; he returns to
Arthur’s court and recounts his adventures; news arrives of the Fisher King’s
death (42102–42468)
The Grail and the Lance Depart
Perceval is crowned; he reigns and retires from the world and dies, and the grail
goes with him; Manessier dedicates his work to Jeanne, countess of Flanders
(42469–42668)
Appendix 1: The Elucidation Prologue
Appendix 2: Bliocadran
Appendix 3: Independent conclusion to the Second Continuation in the Bern manuscript (Burgerbibliothek 113)
Glossary
Index