Sir Perceval of Galles is an early 14th-century MIDDLE
ENGLISH ROMANCE composed in the northern
dialect. The protagonist, young Perceval, is raised
in the forest by his mother, and then later enters
Arthurian society in search of knighthood. The
plot surpasses the theme typical of a bildungsroman
(a story of the protagonist’s maturing
process) by focusing on familial connections. Not
only does Perceval prove his knightly worth, wed
the maiden he saves, and become lord of his own
land, he returns to the forest to retrieve his mother.
The poem includes 2,288 lines in TAIL-RHYME
stanzas of 16 lines (rhyming aaabcccbdddbeeeb).
The author also utilizes the literary device known
as stanza-linking, wherein a key word in the last
line of a stanza is repeated in the first line of the
next stanza; occasionally, the entire line is repeated.
The only extant version of the poem survives in
the Thornton Manuscript (Lincoln Cathedral
A.5.2. fol. 161r–76r).
The poem opens praising the deeds of Perceval’s
father, who married King ARTHUR’s sister,
Acheflour (a sister whose name is unique to this
poem). When Percyvell is killed by the “Rede
Knyghte,” his grieving widow flees to raise her son
in the forest, far from the knightly life. Perceval
dwells there for more than 15 years until a chance
encounter with GAWAIN, Yvain, and Kay. Perceval is
so impressed by the knights that he determines to
seek knighthood from Arthur. After a farewell
scene with his mother in which she imparts a ring
as a token of their relationship, Perceval departs
but, before reaching the court, stops at a castle
where he finds a sleeping maiden with whom he
exchanges rings.
Perceval’s introduction to court is comical, as
are many of the scenes depicting his naiveté. He
advances so near the king that his mare practically
touches the king’s nose as Perceval demands to be
knighted. The feast is interrupted by the Red
Knight, who killed Perceval’s father and who not
only drinks from Arthur’s cup, but takes possession
of it. Upon learning that the court had been
plagued by this intruder and thief for five years,
Perceval pledges to retrieve the cup, and in the ensuing
battle, Perceval defeats the Red Knight and
dons his armor. Even at this early point in the
poem, Perceval’s decisions rather unwittingly lead
to his success (i.e. the defeat of the Red Knight also
avenges his father’s death) so that these successes
appear providential.
In Perceval’s next quest, he travels to Maidenland
to defeat an evil sultan and free the imprisoned
Lady Lufamour. He defeats numerous
knights surrounding the castle and eventually defeats
the sultan, Golrotherame. In so doing, he becomes
lord of Lady Lufamour’s lands, and they
wed. These narratives are laced with uncommon
glimpses into the interiority of the strategizing of
the characters, which serves to underscore Perceval’s
advancement into the society and gradual understanding
after his isolated youth in the woods.
The text acknowledges Perceval’s inexperience but
cites his strength: “Thofe he couthe littill insighte,
/ The childe was of pith” (Braswell 1995, ll.
1639–1640).
Perceval dwells with Lufamour in Maidenland
for 12 months after their marriage, but returns to
the forest to see his mother. This return marks the
first circular turn back to events from the poem’s
beginning as Perceval encounters the maiden who
was asleep in the first castle where he found sustenance.
The maiden is no longer asleep but bound
as a captive of the Black Knight. Perceval learns
that she was imprisoned for a “fault” and then she
explains that while asleep, her ring was exchanged
for another by an unknown person. Her lost ring
provides safety for the wearer, and thus, the purported
invulnerability of Perceval is exposed to be
false in that he was protected by the ring. Perceval
recognizes his responsibility for the maiden’s captivity
and loosens and frees her. The restoration of
the maiden’s freedom, though, coincides with the
return of the Black Knight, who challenges Perceval.
Perceval defeats the Black Knight, and in his
first merciful act, at the supplication of the
maiden, he frees the Black Knight as he promises
to forgive her.
However, when Perceval attempts to exchange
rings again, he discovers that the ring from his
mother is now in the hands of a giant. To reclaim
the token of their relationship, Perceval must conquer
the giant, who wields an iron club weighing
more than 300 pounds. He not only defeats the
giant, but strikes off his hand and foot and reclaims
his ring.With his ring in his possession, he
continues his search for his mother, whom he
finds so crazed from her grief that she does not
recognize him. Perceval brings his mother out of
the wilderness, and once she has been revived, returns
with her to his own kingdom. The poem’s
last stanza is succinct in its explanation of the remainder
of Perceval’s life, saying only that he went
to the Holy Land and was killed there.
As a character, Perceval is most thoroughly
treated by CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES in PERCEVAL, or
Conte del Graal. Chrétien’s Perceval differs so radically
from the Perceval of this poem that scholars
initially thought that the two were not connected,
and that the English author had not read Chrétien.
However, more recent scholars assert that the
poem is an adaptation.
In Sir Perceval of Galles, the author is cognizant
of the characters and devices in the beginning of
the poem and carefully returns not only to the
mother left in the wilderness but to the maiden
whose magic ring sustained Perceval, the circular
pattern lending itself to a restorative theme that
some scholars say replaces the grail motif (see
HOLY GRAIL). The emphasis on family also adds an
additional layer to the romance that invites further
analysis and interpretation.
Bibliography
Barron,W. R. J. English Medieval Romance. London:
Longman Publishing, 1987.
Baswell, Mary Flowers. Sir Perceval of Galles and
Ywain and Gawain. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval
Institute Publications, 1995.
Eckhardt, Caroline D. “Arthurian Comedy: The Simpleton-
Hero in Sir Perceval of Galles,” Chaucer Review
8 (1974): 205–220.
Fowler, David C. “Le Conte du Graal and Sir Perceval
of Galles,” Comparative Literature Studies 12
(1975): 5–20.
Michelle Palmer