Persevalis, arba pasakojimas apie Gralį

Romances Arthuriennes

by Chrétien de Troyes, Eglė Pilkaitė (Vertėja)

Chrétienas de Troyes – garsus prancūzų riterių romanų kūrėjas, kurio plunksna mums paliko gyvus ir spalvingus XII amžiaus personažų paveikslus. Kas iš mūsų dar ankstyvoje paauglystėje nesižavėjo Apvaliojo stalo riteriais ir puikiosiomis damomis?
Šiame Chrétieno de Troyes romane rasime ir legendinį karalių Artūrą, ir bebaimį riterį Goveną, ir pradžioje nerangų, riterių mokslų neragavusį Persevalį, kuris narsiai leidžiasi į daugybę pavojingų nuotykių ir tampa riterių pažiba.

Lyg gyvos skaitytojui iškyla prieš akis ir tiems nuotykiams riterius įkvepiančios kilmingos mergelės ir damos: kartais meilios ir nuolankios, kartais klastingos ir savanaudės, bet visada kerinčiai žavios. Nors autorius sugebėjo pavaizduoti ir tos gražios vizijos priešingybę – piktavalę mergelę…

Bet pagrindinė romano ašis, apie kurią sukasi visas kūrinio veiksmas,– paslaptingasis Gralis, apie kurį tiek daug žinojo viduramžių žmogus ir apie kurį tiek mažai žinome mes.

Genres: Classics, Medieval, Poetry, Arthurian, France, Fiction, Fantasy

175 pages

First published January 1, 1180

About the author

Chrétien de Troyes, commonly regarded as the father of Arthurian romance and a key figure in Western literature, composed in French in the latter part of the twelfth century. Virtually nothing is known of his life. Possibly a native of Troyes, he enjoyed patronage there from the Countess Marie of Champagne before dedicating his last romance to Count Philip of Flanders, perhaps about 1182. His poetry is marked by a learning and a taste for dialectic acquired in Latin schools; but at the same time it reveals a warm human sympathy which breathes life into characters and situations. Whilst much of his matter is inherited from the world of Celtic myth and the events notionally unfold in the timeless reign of King Arthur, the society and customs are those of Chrétien's own day. In his last, unfinished work, Perceval, the mysterious Grail makes its first appearance in literature.

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paolo Uccello: La battaglia di San Romano - Niccolò da Tolentino alla testa dei fiorentini, (1438). Questo è il pannello conservato alla National Gallery di Londra. Sulla copertina della mia edizione ne è riportato un dettaglio: il cavaliere sulla destra, armato di ascia, nei colori oro, azzurro e argento.

Il romanzo di Perceval è un romanzo di formazione: l’educazione di un uomo che all’inizio è un giovane allo stato quasi selvaggio, e alla fine nobile cavaliere.
Bruco -> crisalide -> farfalla.
La madre lo tiene lontano dalla cavalleria e più o meno lontano da tutto e tutti, nell’ignoranza assoluta: la donna ha già perso il marito e i primi due figli in guerra, Perceval è quello che le resta.
Se non che il giovane sempliciotto un bel giorno di primavera incontra un gruppo di cavalieri, sfavillanti d’oro, azzurro e argento. Come resistere?
A questo punto ha fretta di lasciare la casa materna e seguire i cavalieri alla volta della corte di re Artù.
In quattro e quattr’otto, la madre gli impartisce un pistolotto che in pochi minuti gli dovrebbe far recuperare tutto il tempo perso: la donna si dilunga sulla condotta consigliata con le donzelle.


Paolo Uccello: La battaglia di San Romano - Disarcionamento di Bernardino della Ciarda (1438). Questo pannello è invece conservato agli Uffizi di Firenze. Andavo a vederlo almeno una volta a settimana, con il libretto universitario l’ingresso era scontato a metà.

Perceval non ha capito bene, probabilmente la lezione è stata troppo frettolosa, o forse lui era distratto, pensava all’oro, azzurro e argento dei cavalieri. Per cui, quando incontra la prima damigella, scambia la sua tenda per una chiesa, la bacia senza indugio, le strappa un anello dal dito, si rifocilla delle di lei libagioni con disinvoltura, e l’abbandona senza remore.
E io non posso non pensare al Carlo Martello di Faber, amico fragile.

Quanto arriva alla corte del re, entra nella sala del trono direttamente a cavallo, passa talmente vicino al sovrano da urtarlo col cavallo e fargli cadere la corona.

Ma per lui sono pronti bravi maestri: Gorneman e Galvano.
E man mano Perceval imparerà le regole della cavalleria, dell’amore (Biancofiore), della religione (il Santo Graal).


Paolo Uccello: La battaglia di San Romano - Intervento decisivo a fianco dei fiorentini di Michele Attendolo (1438). Questo è al Louvre. Bella gioia quando 23enne riuscii a chiudere il cerchio e vederli tutti e tre.

Il romanzo, però, è incompiuto. E la storia che conosciamo, è nata dopo.
In queste pagine per Perceval il graal non è il santo Graal, ma un graal, cioè, probabilmente una bacinella più che un calice, e Perceval non lo recupera.
Ma incontra il Re Pescatore, il re ferito, che è protagonista di un altro ciclo che arriva fino al film di Terry Gilliam.
Perceval è poi diventato anche Parsifal, ma era un gallo, non gallese.


Un’immagine dal film “Lancelot du Lac – Lancillotto e Ginevra” di Robert Bresson (1974). Per Chrétien de Troyes Lancillotto era il Cavaliere della Carretta, invece che del Lago.

Chrétien è stato il più grande poeta medievale prima di Dante, che non lo conosceva, pur se cita la vicenda di Lancillotto e Ginevra nel V canto del suo Inferno (Paolo e Francesca: leggendo dei due amanti fedifraghi Lancillotto e Ginevra, i due si baciarono, proprio quello è il celebre libro “galeotto”).

All’epoca di Chrétien, nel XII secolo, i romanzi venivano letti in pubblico, per così dire: questo spiega l’andamento dei dialoghi, che venivano recitati, del ritmo, certe ripetizioni, qualche prolissità, i silenzi-pausa.


”Perceval le Gallois – Il fuorilegge” di Éric Rohmer (1978). Girato in studio con scenografie palesemente teatrali, si basa proprio su questo testo.

[Marc Lamot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know you can't judge these medieval books (this one is written around 1180) by modern standards. But there's a remarkable dichotomy within this book: it contains a cycle of stories around Perceval and a cycle around Gawain, his most important fellow-knight. The main set-up of the poem is certainly didactic: to show what courtly behavior is, but with a rather variegated interpretation (from noble to plainly christian, and in any case passionate).

The theme of the Holy Grale slightly binds the two stories of Perceval and Gawain, but actually only plays a secondary role. It is certainly not worked out so mystically, as in later periods! Noteworthy also are the different style registers: the first chapter on Perceval is entertaining and amusing, even very humorous; the cycle on Gawain, on the other hand, is more serious, with more attention to the fantastic than the psychology. Other chapters are simply staggering and very religious. There's a great contrast with the sometimes bold description of the relationship between knight and lady (invariably called "girlfriends"). And strikingly: there are some anti-Semitic outbursts, though that's not unusual, when you know medieval history.

So, seen through modern eyes this is a very remarkable and capricious piece of writing. As a historical document it is very valuable, but when you read it as a piece literature, you're probably going to be very disappointed.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started out reading a different translation of Chrétien de Troyes’s poems. The repetitions, the superlatives, the exaggerated aggrandizements quickly drove me to abandon it. I picked up Bryant’s Perceval without remembering it’s the same material — and it took me a while to notice. This translation is pleasant and engaging to read, even though it features the same medieval attitudes, the same perfectionism, the same ennobling of violence, and beauty, and wealth — things that we tend not to tolerate today.

Annotations and footnotes are there, but not overwhelming. On a few occasions, I was getting ready to poke my learned friend about some textual inconsistencies, but was foiled by the footnotes. Bryant is very good at anticipating questions from readers.

Highly recommended for Arthurian newbies wanting to start reading some of the original medieval tales. (I suspect learned Arthurian readers would also find much to admire.)

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chrètian's intentions for the revelation of the mysteries of the Holy Grail can't be known due to his ill grace in dying before completing his story. I like his setup, and don't think the Continuations quite capture his genius, enjoyable additions though they are.

Chrétian evokes an otherworldly atmosphere of the spiritual and divine lying behind the mundane world, imminent and ready to break through. The Continuations use his themes, but feel more like marvel tales, introducing giants, dragons, monsters, devils and demons. Great fun, but different in tone and, possibly, intention to Chrètian's original.

There are layers of meaning, but in this reading what struck me most is the repetition of situations and behaviours, as Perceval closes in on the mysteries, and is either distracted by worldly issues or, when confronted by the outward manifestations of the Grail Procession, is unable to pierce the veil to grasp its hidden spiritual significance. A lesson about life, our tendency to be caught up in doing, forgetting about being.

Of course, he gets there in the end, and where I'd expected some sort of apotheosis, as in later versions of the Quest, in this, rather than being immediately rapturously translated to Heaven, Perceval returns to the world to do good and support others with their spiritual wellbeing, rather like a bodhisatva, I suppose, and I think I prefer this ending.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai lu et bien relu ce roman epoustouflant . non termine par le premier romancier dans la langue francaise, Chretien de Troyes Je l'ai fait pour mon memoire de maitrise. L'ecrit qui etait prometteur toutefois sans eclat m'a valu une note moyenne. Je me suis interessee par la suite des annees aux aventures du heros comme aux aventures de l'ecriture du romancier-conteur dans lesquelles le silence est beaucoup plus parlante que la parole meme. C'est un sujet a la vie, plein de secrets et de vivacite, qui ne convainc pas! N'empeche c'est ma quete et celle de ses heros et de l'ecrivain lui-.meme mort ou pas dans sa tache
C'est un sujet de reflexions eternelles, abasourdissantes, une vraie metamorphose du heros au cours de ses aventures ,metamorphose subtile et imperceptible, son importance reflechie dans l'oeuvre par son auteur avere par lui-meme etre traducteur des Metamorphoses d'Ovide !

I read it and reconfirmed my reading of this romance not finished by this very first romance writer in the French language, Chretien de Troyes, I did this for my degree paper. Its writing which was promising bur still without eclat, was worth a mediocre mark. I got interested in the years after in the adventures of the hero as well as in the adventures of the action of writing of the its romance writer in which silence is more telling than the very word It is a theme of life, full of vivacity that does not convince! I cannot help doing this because it is my quest as well as that of the hero or of the writer , dead or not in the job.
It provides a theme of eternal thoughts, flabbergasting

[Markus · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Janez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un roman plein de symbolisme, de mystere et contenant une histoire double qui montre la quete de l'ideal et l'ideal meme (Perceval-Gauvain). Le roman reste inacheve, mais cela ne se ressent pas comme une faute. Je crois plutot qu'il reste ouvert a des interpretations diverses de chaque lecteur.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This new edition of Nigel Bryant's eminently readable 1982 translation of the first tale to feature the grail was timed to coincide with the release of the film of The Da Vinci Code, but is as far removed from that work's fantasies as the Mona Lisa is from a Barbie doll.

Chrétien's unfinished poem, beginning as a literary folk tale of a simpleton who makes good, was already within a few years of his death being embroidered and invested with more significance than was originally intended. Bryant's version includes the whole of Chrétien's text (as found in a key manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris) and extracts from its four Continuations linked by synopses. He has revised his translation of nearly a quarter-century ago with occasional substitutions or recastings, generally for stylistic reasons, it seems, and overall this appears to be for the better. Compare these two versions from a passage in which Perceval sees knights for the first time (1982 version first):
– Stay back! A boy who's seen us has fallen to the ground in fear. If we all advanced towards him at once he would be so frightened that he would die, I think, and could not reply to anything I asked him.
– Stay back! A boy who's seen us has fallen to the ground in fear. If we all advanced towards him at once he'd be frightened to death, I think, and couldn't answer any of my questions.
The end of the second extract certainly flows a lot more smoothly, and over the course of this edition makes the revision more readable.

In 1982 Perceval cost £19.50 for the hardback; allowing for factors such as inflation, the transition to robust paperback and its limited popular appeal, this edition still represents good value. Even if the D D R Owen Everyman Classic translation of 1987 is substantially cheaper, it doesn't include the Continuations which allow us to witness the rapid evolution of a legend. All serious students should have a copy.

[Andrew Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A key volume of my summer Arthurian studies which was an incredible joy to read although you need to stick at it and persevere through all the twisting versions . A rich soup of Arthurian stories starting with Chretien’s unfinished Perceval and then the ‘fan fiction’ continuations which were written to both complete and extend the narrative and also provide a prequel - Arthurian world building at its best! And so many interesting characters who are only sketched - my fav being the Knight of the Ill-cut Coat - there is a lost tale there to be sure! Started reading in Oxford and ended in Marseille. Highly recommend.

[Gil Blas · Rating 5 out of 5]

«Cuando Perceval vio hollada la nieve sobre la cual había descansado la oca, y la sangre que aparecía alrededor, se apoyó en la lanza para contemplar aquella apariencia; pues la sangre y la nieve juntas le rememoran el fresco color de la faz de su amiga, y se ensimisma tanto que se olvida…».

¿Puede una metáfora justificar un libro? Sí, pues no somos excesivamente prácticos, y cuando se leyó menos. Pero este libro legendario es mucho más, y es infinito aunque está sin terminar, pues dio lugar a una tradición.

Conviene leer la traducción de esa especie de Tolkien catalán que fue Martin de Riquer.

[Fred Lente · Rating 2 out of 5]

It ends right in the middle! I mean, for shame, author who died 1000 years ago. FOR SHAME.

[Philip of Macedon · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Chrétien de Troyes died in 1190 he left his final Arthurian story unfinished. Perceval ended up being his most perplexing and impactful work. Not only did it inspire many adaptations and independent efforts to tell the story, but his unfinished story was picked up and finished by four different poets over the next 40 years. The first continuer is unknown, but the others are thought to be Wauchier de Denian, Gerbert de Montreuil, and Manessier. The latter seems to have written his continuation at the same time as Gerbert, both picking up at the end of the second, unaware of the other’s work. Most surviving manuscripts of Perceval include at least three of the continuations. Altogether, these form one of the most sweeping and epic sagas of medieval literature.

In addition to the four continuations, there are two prologues added to many manuscripts, one known as the Eludication Prologue, which attempts to prepare the audience for the vast epic they are about to hear. It explains how the Waste Land in which Perceval grows up became so dreadful — the raping of the maidens of the wells by numerous lords of the lands, bringing about the tribulations that make the land so unpleasant. The other prologue is a brief prequel to the story of Perceval, called Bliocadran, after Perceval’s father. This short but valuable prelude explains his father’s and uncles’ deaths, and his mother’s resultant fear of her son growing up to be a knight. Unlike in Perlesvaus, in which his father and uncles are killed in war, here they are killed in tournaments.

The continuations are not each intended as a distinct and stand-alone ending to the grail quest. They build off one another, and more than resolve the quest, they seem intended to serve as a long running series of new adventures and explorations, new chances for magnificent deeds and feats of valor and heroism and illustrations of high character, of spiritual athleticism. There is no eagerness to get to the end, to resolve the mysteries. Rather, multiple threads are begun and these lead to many new adventures unrelated to the grail.

The first continuation picks up immediately at end of Chrétien’s unfinished work, with Gawain’s impending battle with Guiromelant. Arthur and his companions come to witness the battle at the castle where his mother and Gawain’s sister and mother reside. Their battle goes on for a couple days, through Gawain’s ebbing strength as the sun moves across the sky. His sister, now aware of his identity, and also being the object of his opponent’s love, is ashamed that her brother and lover are fighting. She attempts to intervene and finally they call a truce, with the agreement that if Guiromelant rescinds his accusation against Gawain, Gawain will give him his sister’s hand in marriage. This does not happen, and Arthur gives Guiromelant Gawain’s sister, much to Gawain’s anger. He sets off away from all to fulfill his quests, swearing never to return to Arthur’s court.

Instead of returning to Perceval, this continuation strangely introduces many additional threads, seemingly uninterested in resolving Perceval’s saga or even acknowledging that it exists and was the focus of the whole grail story. This continuation spreads out across many years, at least enough years for characters who didn’t exist in Chrétien’s story to be conceived and to grow up as knights. I don’t know what the author’s goal was, but I suspect he wanted to tell his own Arthurian epics with all of his own ideas and stories, building off of Chrétien’s work with little concern for properly finishing it. It’s an amazing piece of work.

There is an episode like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but not quite in its final form. Gawain is not the main hero, and the knight is an enchanter name Eliavret who conceived a child through deception, thought to be the son of Caradoc. Carados, his son, is the protagonist of this tale, and decapitates the mysterious knight, who returns a year later ostensibly to return the blow, but instead tells the boy the truth of his conception, which he confronts his parents with. His mother is imprisoned in a tower by her husband, Caradoc, who believes Carados was his son.

Carados, as a knight, becomes the focus of the narrative for a while. Perceval’s only appearance at all in the first continuation is at a tournament, though our attention is directed to many other knights besides himself. His achievement here is that he unhorses Cliges, another legendary Arthurian knight never mentioned anywhere besides in Chrétien’s story of him. Carados becomes the main focus of the story for a long time. Eliavret and Carados’s mother bring about horrors for their son after he avenges their infideity by forcing Eliavret to have sex with animals.

They get an enchanted wyvern to latch onto his arm, seep him of life and fill him with poison, slowly bringing him toward death for years. This episode brings Arthur and Guinire, Carados’s love, and others to search for Carados while he is on the run, ashamed of his plight and wanting to die alone. The final resolution sees his plight lifted by Guinire sitting in a tub of milk with her breast upon the rim, and Carados submerged in a tub of vinegar — this is the only thing that gets the serpent off his arm, as it lunges for the breast. It is decapitated and hacked to pieces by Cador, Guinire’s brother. Carados later becomes king of Caradoc’s lands and frees his mother from the tower she’s been imprisoned in for years, apologizing for the grief he causes his parents.

Gawain earlier in the story had left Arthur’s siege of a castle to find his own adventures, and met a maiden with a stitched portrait of him. She loved him, they made love. Her brother came home to find Gawain and attacked him, then her father too, and both were killed. Then her second brother came home and fought Gawain, until they called off the fight and agreed to pick it up later if and when this knight, Bran de Lis, came across Gawain. Later, Gawain is with Arthur as they’re on a quest to free Girflet from the Proud Castle and they come across Bran de Lis. Gawain tells them the story of how they met, but he portrays himself as a villain in the tale, as though he was a rapist when in fact the girl desperately wanted him. Interesting detail, as this aligns with what we know of Arthurian knights and their modesty.

This continuation eventually returns to the grail with Gawain, and focuses on a third mysterious item: the broken sword. He who can mend the sword can learn the secrets of the grail. Gawain asks the right questions but cannot mend the sword. The Grail story is only sort of resolved, with Gawain and not Perceval. He’s not worthy of knowing all the secrets, but this telling seems to follow Robert de Boron’s Joseph of Arimathea lore. He is able at least to learn their origins but not the importance of the sword. Translator Nigel Bryant offers an insightful hypothesis: the grail mysteries are no longer important, the grail now serves as a catalyst for further adventures. A sort of frame story.

Gawain has many other spellbinding adventures and rough encounters. He travels through remote and beautiful lands whose wonders are rendered exceptionally well in writing, for example the relentless storming night of one particular evening, or the calming serenity of a forest filled with birdsongs and sunlight. The imposing and incredible character of castles and fortresses are always presented with a sense of awe, as are the daunting obstacles and tribulations knights come across on their adventures.

Gawain battles his son after he has been kidnapped and is missing for years. It is another appearance of the father unknowingly battling his son trope, popular in medieval legends. The author takes some bizarre detours and some of it makes no sense from the point of view of the original story. But it’s magnificent anyway, an amazing sprawling epic saga that brings Gawain to the forefront and makes him the hero we’ve always known he was.

Other figures, some I’ve never before encountered in Arthurian lore, have their moments of fame and heroism. Gawain’s brother, while off looking for Gawain and not knowing he has returned to Arthur’s court, has his own remarkable adventure, wrapping into a mysterious happening at one of Arthur’s castles one night, while Arthur can’t sleep. He goes down to rest beside the ocean and a ship drifts into shore, pulled by a swan. On the ship is a dead knight with a lance pierced through his chest, and a note that instructs Arthur to lay his body out for all to see, until someone pulls the lance out and uses it to avenge the knight by piercing his killer in the same place. The resolution of this final quest, like so many others that have appeared, is entirely unrelated to the grail saga. But it doesn’t matter.

The Second continuation is evidently supposed to pick up in sequence, as a follow up to the first continuation. There are a few details that eventually make this apparent, and Nigel Bryant’s notes suggest this is the case. But there are some huge inconsistencies and impossibilities in it if this is the expectation. This continuation picks up Perceval’s story, just after leaving his hermit uncle’s place, from Chrétien’s story. It’s made clear that the events at the beginning of Perceval, his killing of the red knight, and his leaving of home, were only ten years ago. This means the space of time between the end of Chrétien’s story and this one is even fewer years.

It’s impossible over that even shorter period of time for Gawain to have fathered a son —Ginglain, the Fair Unknown, and that son to have been kidnapped and have grown old enough to do battle with Gawain, as happens in part of the first continuation. There are a lot of chronology errors one begins to notice, as it is impossible for all the events of the first continuation, clearly transpiring over a span closer to multiple decades, to have occurred in just a few short years, but that’s part of Arthurian tradition. Hell, Carados Shortarm’s adventure with the snake that his parents set upon him took a few years alone. One has to suspend their disbelief just enough to look past what to a modern reader appears careless, but in the age they were written is merely unimportant. There are far more interesting things afoot.

Here Perceval is seeking out the Fisher king and the grail to learn their mysteries, but he is easily distracted and pulled into new adventures. He fights the Lord of the Horn, discovers the castle of the magical chessboard that plays on its own, encounters a mysterious knight of the tomb who briefly tricks and imprisons Perceval but then releases him. He is lended a hunting dog in order to hunt a majestic stag so he can bring the stag’s head back to a maiden — but both the head and dog are stolen and Perceval gets pulled into long quests to regain them. He battles a giant, a lion, reunites with his love Blancheflor, defeats the Fair Bad Knight, returns to his sister, finds the castle of maidens, and seeks the mysteries of Mount Dolorous.

Gawain, too, receives due attention, as he and the other knights of the round table set off to find Perceval, missing now for years. Tournaments and wars and encounters with strange knights and later his son see Gawain performing the deeds for which he is best known, high heroism and chivalry.

There is no final resolution of the grail mysteries here, and the sword has only deepened the questions. Perceval mends it, but imperfectly — leading to new stories to be told.

Gerbert’s continuation picks up immediately at the end of the second. This continuation did not appear in most manuscripts of the complete grail story, and survives only in two. It was written at the same time as the third continuation, and so they both pick up in mid sentence, and tell of quite different events.

Perceval is unworthy of the grail and must seek improvement. He goes to discover his mother’s fate, then must have his sword repaired by the legendary smith Trebuchet, who is fated to die upon completion of this final task. Upon finally returning to Arthur after years of absence, Perceval, as he did in Robert de Boron’s version, sits in the perilous seat, although this seat is not at the round table. Six others have sat in it, hoping to be deemed the greatest knights the world will ever see, as the seat will reveal. Instead the earth swallows each and they are gone — until Perceval sits upon the seat and the earth opens to release them from their subterranean imprisonment. It is then recognized that Percival is, or will become, the greatest of all knights.

On the subject of great knights, Tristran makes an appearance here, coming disguised to Arthur’s court, challenging his knights, and defeating four before clashing with Gawain, at which point Arthur learns who it is and he breaks up the fight.

Perceval defeats the Knight of the Dragon, as in Perlesvaus, in which a knight has been possessed by the power of the devil, and his shield is a demon, or a dragon, that scorches everything and everyone in fire, making him unbeatable. Perceval has just won a magic shield from a maiden, made of wood from the cross of Jesus’s crucifixion, and with this, after grueling combat, is able to vanquish his foe.

There’s a sequence in which Perceval must pay for his killing of the Red Knight, when he ends up in the castle of his sons and is the only knight able to open the ivory chest that contains the red knight’s body. A scroll with his body claims that he who is finally able to open the chest is the murderer of the knight within. The sons will each battle Perceval, and the oldest son of the red knight goes first, dealing wounds Perceval has never experienced before. It’s the most punishing battle he’s ever encountered.

Gawain undergoes a similar episode immediately after being freed from the castle in the above sequence, in which we learn he was taken captive after being unable to open the ivory chest. He comes across a castle peopled by the relatives of a knight he slayed some time ago. He engages in combat with many men of a family, cuts off hands and arms and scalps and heads, deflowers a maiden who he falls in love with, and fights her father after being promised a most dishonorable execution.

Gerbert, unlike the other continuers, employs Chrétien’s financial metaphors in writing some of his battle scenes, as well as a few other nods and allusions, throwing back to the author who began this wildly growing epic. His treatment of this material seems colored by the crusades, already a prominent inspiration to the authors, but now characterizing Perceval in the garb of crusader, much like other stories of Perceval before. Since this continuation was written after Perlesvaus, or Parzival, or the Quest of the Holy Grail, or De Boron’s works, influences from each of these can be detected.

The third continuation picks up directly at the end of the second. Gerbert’s was later amended by scribes with an ending paragraph identical to that of the second continuation, so that the third continuation could be seen as a continuation of Gerbert’s or the second continuation, depending on which were included in a manuscript. In the two manuscripts which include Gerbert’s continuation, slight alterations were made to maintain consistency with Gerbert, like adjusting references to past events that occurred only in Gerbert’s work, attempting to make his work canonical with the rest.

An example is the smith Trebuchet, the creator of the sword Perceval must mend. In Gerbert, Perceval meets him, has the sword repaired, and Trebuchet dies, having fulfilled his one last purpose. In the third continuation, written without the knowledge of Gerbert’s, Trebuchet is met for the same purpose, under different circumstances. In one manuscript only, a scribe amended the text to make this Trebuchet the son of the elder Trebuchet who died in Gerbert’s continuation, and spoke of multiple swords in an attempt to meld the two stories into a coherent whole, in which the father Trebuchet has mended a sword and died, and the son has mended a different sword.

Manessier was commissioned by Countess Jeanne of Flanders to finish the story, but by this point the secrets of the grail had become known to the audience through the work of Robert de Boron, whose canon was adopted by all the continuers. So, like those who came before, he focuses on things other than the grail.

This continuation introduces an independent episode of Sagremor, a knight often referred to in Arthurian romance but never given direct attention. He stays at the Castle of Maidens and rescues them from a siege by a lord who would take one of the maidens captive. Although it’s not an entirely original episode it does show Sagremor as a distinctly unique knight of the Round Table who’s quite different than Perceval or Gawain, with a love and adoration for his horse that we don’t often see, and a compassionate side that seems to dwarf the compassion with which either other knight is often attributed.

In this continuation are episodes that have appeared elsewhere, like that of the Coward Knight, who becomes the Fair Brave Knight after being thrown into combat unwillingly and prevailing over his enemies, although the details here are quite different; or that of Boort (Bors) rescuing a maiden on the verge of being raped instead of rescuing his brother Lionel, taken captive by knights, stripped, and beaten bloody. The two brothers later do battle, as a result of Lionel’s anger toward his brother for the perceived neglect. There is no shortage of bloodshed and violence and severed limbs and decapitations in this continuation, and Satan or his demons make multiple appearances, almost bringing our heroes to their demise on multiple remarkable occasions.

The major goal of the final continuation is no longer to learn the mysteries of the grail, for these are not what will heal the Fisher King. Now, Perceval must avenge the Fisher King against Partinal, a lord responsible for the king’s state. Revenge is a recurring theme throughout the final continuation, not just with Perceval seeking it for the Fisher King, but Gawain, Sagremor, and even minor characters enacting their own forms of vengeance throughout, to right the devastating wrongs that have been inflicted upon them and upon others. But alongside these episodes of revenge are reflections on a milder, wiser path, the healing powers of the grail, the importance of mercy and tempered justice.

[Hannah L]

Realising you’re reading the wrong book over half way through is really not the move but hey we finished it !

[Ferran Errando · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perceval 1 - Galvany 0

Frisant pel dia que descobreixi el meu nom.

[Anthea Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard Wagner's Parcival opera on the radio one Saturday afternoon and decided to pursue the book that had inspired this. It was surprisingly difficult to find but I ordered a used copy from Amazon eventually.

I can't forget the imagery from this book, written in 12th century France. I am amazed at the character arc from the imbecilic young Percival who wants to be a knight so he can dress like one to the repentant and sorrowful man who missed his chance to grab the grail.

The story changes direction, promising to get back to Percival but never does, instead ending literally in mid-sentence during the story of Gawain.

The scenes of the wasteland by TS Eliot was inspired by the haunting description of the inside of the castle where there is no sound of children playing, nor business of shops selling baked goods, nor mills grinding because the lands lies desolate due to the wounds of the Fisher King.

If you love history, and love literature, be sure not to miss reading this gem.

[Felix Cortes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok... Tengo que decir que el libro esta muy muy intrigante y muy bueno siendo un cuento medieval frances, o romance, whatever. Mi problema con el libro y la razon por la que no le doy una estrellita mas se basa en el hecho de que... NO TIENE FINAL!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Me frustre mucho. Tambien me enfogona el hecho de que la historia de Perceval termina muy abruptamente. Y Gauvain, a pesar de ser nice, no es tan epico para mi como Perceval. El personaje de Perceval era mucho mas adorable, ya sea por su salvajismo e ignorancia, y me intrigaba el hecho de como se convertiria en un hombre mas "decente," a diferencia de Gauvain, que es muy cortes y noble y bueno al punto de aburrirte. Pero si, esta muy genial, pero te deja con mas dudas que el series finale de Lost.

[Myriam Bannari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lecture assez rapide, une page sur deux est lue puisque l'autre page est écrite en vieux français. L'histoire est bien, le personnage de Perceval aussi, mais c'est un peu répétitif. J'aime bien la dichotomie du personnage qui est "tiraillé" entre l'incarnation de la pureté médiévale et l'idiotie. Le fait que l'auteur soit mort avant de terminer le livre fait en sorte que la plus grosse intrigue ne sera jamais vraiment résolue, donc c'est dur de pouvoir apprécier l'oeuvre dans son entièreté.

[Francisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Origen de mi pasión por los ciclos artúricos. Prosa medieval, reiterativa y pausada.

[Inés Alhambra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perceval eres un tonto

[Laura Sagués · Rating 3 out of 5]

Que desafortunat i aventurer, aquest paio

[tamz · Rating 3 out of 5]

what.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*. Shame on you, Chrétien, for quitting your story mid-sentence, shame on

[Ezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perceval is an Aurthurian legend about, you guessed it, Perceval (and also a bunch of other knights, namely Gawain). It's the origin of the Holy Grail legend, which is pretty dope. It was also fun trying to spot parts that inspired later authors.

Old J.R.R. of Tolkien fame took some ideas from this, such as the idea of a broken sword that must be reforged, which is also on the dope side of things. There’s a scene where Perceval (or Gawain, I can’t remember which) sees fires and people partying at night in the distance, but when he gets to them they vanish like the elves in Mirkwood Forest from The Hobbit.

Old C.S. of Lewis fame also directly used ideas from Perceval in That Hideous Strength. But I think he also got the idea for a scene in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader when dishes float around of their own accord and serve people at a table. In Perceval, at one point, the Holy Grail floats around and serves everyone at a table.

It was also interesting to realize that Perceval is doing a very similar thing as modern fantasy books. It was written in the late 12th century, but it is set in a much older time. It has plenty of fantastical elements such as supernatural objects, monsters, demons, and all that fun stuff.

Perceval also does the thing that modern books sometimes do of pretending they are telling a true, historical story even though everyone knows it is just made up. The author (or rather multiple authors who kept having to pick up where the last one left off) will say things like “my source book tells me” or “I’m not lying, I promise you, this really happened yo!”

Aside from that, there are a lot of cool scenarios both supernatural and otherwise in the book. There’s lots of fun jousts and swordfights and surprisingly graphic violence all around. There’s people carrying bleeding lances. There’s a bed that, if you lay in it, triggers a bunch of arrows to shoot at you. My favorite chapter had this castle that was besieged by 40 knights who could be killed for a day, but they would resurrect overnight to attack the next day.

So plenty of good stuff, but there were also plenty of bad things as well. It’s very long and extremely meandering.

But the worst thing was the depiction and treatment of women in the book. There is a good deal of sexual assault, and not always perpetrated by the bad guys. There’s even a knight (who is mostly a bad guy) who says that women pretend to not like SA but that it is what they actually want. It’s horrifying that such a vile idea has been around forever, apparently. Considering all the negative parts of Perceval, I can’t recommend it.

[librosgatosyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lástima que este libro quedó inconcluso, Pero estaba entretenido, y me asombra porque no suelo leer este tipo de narrativa, y tanto este como los tres anteriores, fueron fáciles de seguir, una historia de caballeros, basado en las leyendas del Rey Arturo, los caballeros de la "tabla" redonda, enfrentamientos sangrientos etc. pero también el amor, en su forma casi primitiva, excelente etc. 😉👌🏼

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was pure joy and transported me into chivalric Arthurian quests. It was really interesting seeing the different continuations and also how the tale had developed with Wolfram von Eschenbach, Mallory and Wagner. Indespensible source material for anyone interested in the Grail myth.

[autumn ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

most of this book is just c. de troyes going “i won’t bore you with details of the fight but the knights fought and Perceval won” and as a tired lit student at 3am thank you sir because i don’t care either!!

[Elida Marie Gravklev]

elsker at det vi på en måte i dag synes er en dårlig måte å skrive på slapper så lenge det er skrevet på middelalderen. Elsker at alle er forelska i Yvain, elsker selvfølgelig Perceval <3 slay alle sammen

[christine ✩]

ENGL214BE FA25

bro what do you mean this is unfinished that's crazy how dare Chrétien De Troyes die before finishing this
kind of funny i can't lie. why is perceval Like That and why is this actually more gawain's story than anything.

[Emanuele Baseggio · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Chi dimentica l’ingiuria ha il cuore vile. In un’anima gagliarda se ne va il male, ma non la vergogna. È nel codardo che l’onta si dissecca e muore.”

[Nada · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aller hop! Je jette au placard en espérant ne plus jamais devoir le rouvrir avant ma mort! Liberté!

PS: Si j’attrape ce prof de français, je vous jure..