Sir Perceval of Galles

Sir Perceval of Galles is a Middle English Arthurian verse romance whose protagonist, Sir Perceval (Percival), first appeared in medieval literature in Chrétien de Troyes' final poem, the 12th-century Old French Conte del Graal, well over one hundred years before the composition of this work.

Grieving over her husband's death, and distressed that her child might grow up to share this same fate, Acheflour retires into the forest to bring up her young son in seclusion, away from the temptation of arms.

The first part of the tale follows Chrétien's story quite accurately, although in abridged form and laced with comic touches at the boy's expense.

Perceval rides out and, after having demanded being given the Red Knight's armour, he throws a hunting spear through his eye and kills him.

Before arriving at Arthur's court, Perceval has already taken a ring from the finger of a sleeping maiden, exchanging it with his own, believing himself to be acting in accordance with advice his mother gave him on his departure.

He prepares a fire in order to try to burn it off, but Gawain arrives, sees the boy's difficulty and helps him to disarm the corpse.

Perceval puts on the armour, throws the naked body into the flames, and, in a final parallel with Chrétien's tale, rides off to seek more adventures, without returning to Arthur.

Seeing Perceval on the Red Knight's horse and wearing his armour and weapons, she mistakes him for her son whom she has been searching but found only some burning corpse.

Overjoyed, the woman rides to him and reveals herself to be a witch, reminding him that, had the rumour of his death by the knights of Arthur been true, she would have been able to bring him back to life.

Upon hearing this, and before she could demonstrate any of her powers, Perceval skewers her on his lance, rides back to the fire, and merrily casts her in it to burn with her son.

Perceval rides off to the Land of Maidens in pursuit of this quest himself, "Als he ware sprongen of a stane, thare no man hym kende" (as though he had sprung from a stone, and nobody knew him).

[16] The next morning, exhausted by his efforts, a sleeping Perceval is spotted resting against the outer wall and brought into the castle by its occupants to meet a delighted Lady Amour.

Guessing from the description and from Gawain's account that it is the young Perceval, King Arthur had ridden fiercely in pursuit.

[19] Guigemar is involved in a serious hunting accident in the forest and is then transported, on a bed in a mysterious boat with candles at its prow, to a place where he is healed of his wound, and to a beautiful woman with whom he falls in love.

The giant tells Thopas that he has indeed entered a magic place: But-if thou prike out of myn haunt, Anon I slee thy stede With mace.

Perceval finds and marries his Lady Amour in a Land of Maidens, just as Thopas stumbles upon his Faery Queen in an enchanted forest in Chaucer's tale.

In Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, in the Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones, a tournament is arranged beside a Castle of Maidens.

[21] Sir Tristram (Tristan) has recently emerged from a spell of madness, living in a forest as a derelict following emotional turmoil involving his beloved Isolde (Iseult).

Similarly, in Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, Sir Yvain (Ywain) lives in the forest as a derelict after separating from his wife,[22] as does Sir Orfeo in the narrative poem of that name, during ten years of separation from his own wife before he follows her into the Otherworld and rescues her.

Tristram, who has recently killed a giant, conceals his identity outside the Castle of Maidens and fights at this tournament in black arms.

[24] This ring, that protects him from death while he is wearing it, is his reward for saving the King of Sidon's daughter from the unwelcome attentions of a giant.

The ring not only makes him invulnerable to losing any blood at a tournament he is about to attend, but will cause him to take on many different colours in succession in the jousting, so allowing him to disguise himself.