Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Overwhelming Sangreal
Sir Malory, while certainly allowing for his use of the various grail themes to be a bit spread-out, still seems very concerned with the Holy Sangreal and its mysteries. I must admit, I was a bit confused when I read of the various sick and wounded kings—King Arthur, King Pellam, the Maimed King, King Pelles, and King Estorause. I suppose King Pellam and King Pelles may very well be one and the same—“the Maimed King” could be a mere title, I suppose—but there also seem to be two lances: the lance Garlon used to kill Herlews le Berbeus and “a spear which bled marvellously [sic]” (303). Despite such plurality in these themes, I find that the power and importance of the Sangreal are thoroughly displayed when they are revealed to Galahad in Sir Malory’s text. When my brother Bendigeid Vran beheld the Cauldron, I do not recall him having been possessed by any sort of a religious fervor; neither was he required to have a certain degree of purity. Galahad, on the other hand, is only able to behold the secrets of the Sangreal because of his purity, and once he beholds them he is so caught up in the sacred that he dies. I certainly understand death due to extreme anguish, but this death from overwhelming joy in the spiritual surely shows the power of the grail as Malory describes it.
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When first saw the graal so many years before, it was nothing special. A couple of youths a couple of maidens, a bleeding spear and a dish type of cup. Sure it was strange, but i never felt connected with god. It was a rather secular ordeal, the procession. There were a lot of names and why did this Percevale take a back seat to Galahad. I was wondering about the other knights from Gaul, Ireland, and Denmark, why didn't they tag along with the Great Britain crew, I mean they traveled all the way to castle Corbenic as well, then they get kicked out? Whats with that? Yeah this story was harder to follow than my own, but me thinks it doth to the language.
How dare Balin enter my castle and kill my brother before my eyes. I had no choice but to try to avenge my brother's death that day, and if Balin had not come upon the marvellous spear in the chamber of my castle before I was able to catch up to him then it would have been he who lay bleeding on the floor. If only my guards had not allowed Balin to bring his sword into my castle through his deceit then my brother would still be alive and the walls and roof of my castle would not have come crashing down onto my head. It was the dolorous stroke that struck down me with my castle and trapped me beneath its wreckage for three days. It saddens me very much that I was not able to avenge my brother's death and that I too was struck down by the intruder Balin.
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