Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

352 Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[409]question, “What aileth thee, uncle?” The French version makesPerceval fail in curiosity—Wolfram conceives the failure as onein sympathy. He fails, at any rate, and next morning finds thecastle empty and his horse standing ready for him at the gate; ashe departs he is mocked by servitors who appear at the windowsof the towers. After many adventures, which are quite unlikethose either in Chrestien's “Conte del Graal” or in “Peredur,”Parzival, who has wedded the maiden Condwiramur, finds hisway back to the Grail Castle—which no one can reach exceptthose destined and chosen to do so by the Grail itself—breaks thespell, and rules over the Grail dominions, his son Loherangrainbecoming the Knight of the Swan, who goes abroad rightingwrongs, and who, like all the Grail knights, is forbidden to revealhis name and origin to the outside world. Wolfram tells us thathe had the substance of the tale from the Provençal poet Kyot orGuiot—“Kyot, der meister wol bekannt”—who in his turn—butthis probably is a mere piece of romantic invention—professed tohave found it in an Arabic book in Toledo, written by a heathennamed Flegetanis.The Continuators of ChrestienWhat exactly may have been the material before Chrestiende Troyes we cannot tell, but his various co-workers andcontinuators, notably Manessier, all dwell on the Christiancharacter of the objects shown to Perceval in the castle, and thequestion arises, How did they come to acquire this character? TheWelsh story, certainly the most archaic form of the legend, showsthat they did not have it from the beginning. An indication in oneof the French continuations to Chrestien's “Conte” may serveto put us on the track. Gautier, the author of this continuation,tells us of an attempt on the part of Gauvain [Sir Gawain] toachieve the adventure of the Grail. He partially succeeds, and thishalf-success has the effect of restoring the lands about the castle,which were desert and untilled, to blooming fertility. The Grailtherefore, besides its other characters, had a talismanic power in