Peredur is a Welsh prose ROMANCE retelling the story
of King ARTHUR’s knight PERCEVAL. It is one of three
romances (with OWAIN and GERAINT AND ENID)
regularly included in texts of the MABINOGION. The
earliest complete version of Peredur dates from the
end of the 13th century, but the romance was most
likely originally composed in the late 12th or early
13th century. Some Welsh scholars hold that the text
was written in the early 12th century, and therefore
predates CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES’s PERCEVAL. The vast
majority of scholars, however, believe Chrétien’s
poem to be the source of the Welsh romance.
The story begins with Peredur’s father, Efrawg,
a northern earl who supports himself by holding
tournaments.When he and Peredur’s six brothers
are killed in knightly combat, the boy’s mother
takes him to raise in the wilderness. But one day
Peredur meets three knights who awaken his innate
interest in chivalry, and he sets out for
Arthur’s court to be dubbed a knight himself. At
court a strange knight insults the Queen, and Peredur
rides off to avenge her, killing the knight with
a javelin and taking his armor.
Seeking knightly adventures, Peredur comes to
the castle of an uncle who is lame, and who instructs
him on some of the finer points of chivalry,
advising him not to be too inquisitive. Riding on to
another castle, Peredur finds that it belongs to another
of his uncles. Here Peredur witnesses a
strange procession of a bleeding lance followed by
a platter on which is held a severed head in a pool
of blood. But Peredur, following his first uncle’s
advice, does not ask what it means.
To this point the plot has followed that of Chrétien
fairly closely, although Chrétien’s grail (the inspiration
for what was to become the HOLY GRAIL
in later versions of the legend) is replaced by the
severed head. But now a number of different adventures
ensue, including a period of instruction in
arms by the witches of Caer Loyw (the Welsh name
for Gloucester). Peredur then returns to Arthur’s
court, where he is accosted by Sir Cei, whom he easily
bests and injures. After some time at court, he
leaves again for a series of adventures, including
competition in a tournament before the Empress of
Constantinople.He wins her love and he rules at her
side for 14 years. Back again at Arthur’s court, a
loathly maiden on a yellow mule enters the court
and courteously greets all except Peredur. Him she
berates for failing to ask the meaning of the procession
at his uncle’s castle.Had he asked the question,
he learns, he would have healed the lame king and
restored the land. After more adventures Peredur
learns that the witches of Caer Loyw had crippled
his uncle and had killed his cousin, whose head is
carried on the platter. Peredur learns that he is fated
to avenge his family.With the help of Arthur and
Gwalchmei (the Welsh name for GAWAIN), the
witches are destroyed.
Peredur has not been admired for its aesthetic
quality. Critics have called it “confused” and
“chaotic.” In particular it seems weak where it deviates
from Chrétien’s story—the years in Constantinople
seem irrelevant to the plot, and the
replacement of the mysterious grail with the severed
head, turning Peredur into a story of family revenge,
takes away the wonder and mystery of Chrétien’s
tale. But the question of sources has been one that
has fascinated scholars, particularly the sources for
material not found in Chrétien.Most interesting has
been the suggestion that the marriage to the Empress
is a manifestation of the mythic Celtic sovereignty
ritual, in which the beautiful goddess/queen,
who represented sovereignty, chose her own mate.
Bibliography
Barber, Richard. The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief.
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
2004.
Bromwich, Rachel, A. O. H. Jarman, and Brynley F.
Roberts, eds. The Arthur of the Welsh: The
Arthurian Legend in Medieval Welsh Literature.
Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1991.
Goetinck, Glenys. Peredur: A Study ofWelsh Tradition
in the Grail Legends. Cardiff: University of Wales
Press for the Language and Literature Committee
of the Board of Celtic Studies, 1975.
Peredur. Introduction and English translation by
Meirion Pennar. With illustrations by James
Negus. Facsimile of the Welsh text edited by J.
Gwenogvryn Evans. Felinfach, U.K.: Llanerch,
1991.