Chapter 4 -- The Legend of Percival
In English literature, an important early collection of stories is the set of tales contained
in Sir Thomas Mallory's “La Morte d'Arthur”, the story of King Arthur, the knights of
the round table and the quest for the Holy Grail.
The Arthurian legends are full of sorcery and magic, spells and demons, and tell of the
ongoing conflict between good and evil where objects have special powers and
symbolism; where battles and conflicts between supernatural powers lie just below the
surface of normal workings.
In this world—and to those who wrote them and read them—sorcerers and demons are
as real as the space shuttle or things reported from on the Internet from the other side of
the world are to us.
One of the important characters is a knight is named Percival. Percival is a very unusual
character. He does not remember his past, he does not remember his parents or his
childhood, but seems to more or less have been born as a full grown adult. He is
innocent and naïve. He is able to communicate as an adult, but can only see the world
through the eyes of an innocent child.
This man-child is then able to accomplish what many other brave and intelligent knights
are not able to—save a king.
If all of this seems fantastic, it is. However, our legends and our myths often present
some of the clearest windows into our inner workings.
This one in particular gives a very clear picture into the Medieval Era in Western
Europe.
Material copyright 2016 by Gary Daum, all rights reserved. All photos and illustrations by Gary Daum unless otherwise
noted. Unlimited use granted to current members of the Georgetown Prep community.