Percivale's From The Forest To The Round Table

From the Forest to the Round Table
“Who in time became one of the noblest of all the Knights of the Round Table...Some call him simply ‘The Fair Unknown’ ” (228). In King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table edited by Roger Lancelyn Green, Percivale is said to be the son of Sir Gawain and Lady Ragnell. According to the tales he grew up isolated from the outside world in the forest of Wales with his mother. Percivale’s story , like the majority of all heros’, can be broken down into a single cycle or journey referred to as the Hero's cycle/journey. In the tales of King Arthur and his knights, Percivale sets out on the Hero's Journey as he is called to adventure and receives assistance, experiences trials and crises, and finds treasure and a new life at the end of his journey.
Percivale is called to adventure, the first step in the Hero's journey, multiple times throughout the duration of his story.
Percivale accepts the opportunity of adventure each time it presents itself. As shown when knights enter the forest where he lives and tell him that King Arthur will make him “a knight if you prove yourself, but worthy” (231). Following this encounter Percivale is ready to become a knight and is willing to do anything to make this happen. The knights, in telling him about themselves and knightship, call him to adventure, but Percivale is also called to adventure when King Arthur tells him what quest he must complete to become a knight. King Arthur says “A knight shall be you...if you bring back my cup and return wearing the armor of the knight who has taken it” (236). In this example King Arthur presents an opportunity to Percivale and Percivale accepts the journey. Percivale is once more called to adventure when “suddenly he saw a dark castle in front of him” (240) and chose to enter. The castle appearing gave Percivale yet another quest. Percivale responds to all calls of adventure, the first step in the Hero's
cycle. Percivale receives assistance, an important step along the Hero's journey, throughout his adventures. Assistance from outside sources often help the heros learn or grow in a way that will help them on their quest. Percivale receives assistance when his mother tells him about the chivalrous way of life, what rules he must follow, and says “your father was the best and bravest of all the knights: be worthy of him and me”(232). His mother’s advice helps Percivale throughout all of his adventures and ensures that he will always act the way expected of him. He also receives assistance when he “went with Sir Gonemans… learning to fight with sword and spear...and he learnt the high order of knighthood...of right from wrong” (239). Gonemans teaches Percivale about what it really means to be a knight. Both Sir Gonemans and Percivale's mother assist him and their advice and teachings become crucial for Percivale as his story progresses. As Percivale approaches both of his crises he faces smaller trials, the next steps in the hero's journey. Approach and less difficult trials are necessary to prepare Percivale for his larger battles. As shown when after “looking down upon a damsel who lay sleeping on a couch” (233) he acts likes his mother told him, in a knightly way. This tests his ability to act in a knightly way and prepares him for when he again meets Lady Blanchefleur. Percivale’s ability to act chivalrous is tested again when Sir Kay rudely remarks “what can a miserable goat-herd do against so great a knight?” (235) and then “stroke the damsel across the face” (236) to avoid acting rudely Percivale swears that he will chasten Sir Kay with “a blow that you will not lightly forget” (236). He acts the chivalrous way in spite of Sir Kay provoking him, a trial that helps him build a calm and concentrated attitude. Percivale is once more tested when he plays a magic game of chess “he reached out idly and move white pawn...he saw that he was checkmated...a third time this happened” (240). This was tested his mind and knowledge of magic. This trials prepared him for the difficult battles he would later face. Percivale faces his final crises, a pivotal point in the Hero's journey. The crises or the biggest and most important battles give Percivale a chance to prove himself. During his first crisis when he courageously battles the red knight in pursuit of King Arthur’s ceremonial cup, the Red knight “fell backwards from his horse and lay there dead...Percivale knelt triumphantly...and drew out King Arthur's golden cup” (238). This large-scale battle is a moment that changes Percivale’s life, like all crises do. The next critical moment is Percivale’s journey comes when he sees the Holy Grail and is fascinated with it, so entranced by its beauty he is put into an almost hypnotic state of desire, saying “none but I shall achieve the Quest of the Holy Grail” (244). The madness shown by Percivale in that moment forever morphes his life. These moments are both Percivale’s crises because the event and its effects forever shaped his life. Each crisis has a result and treasure, although not always fulfilling, this result is an important part of the Hero's journey. Everything Percivale does demands a response, whether it good or bad. For example, in return for retrieving King Arthur’s cup from the Red knight Percivale is knighted by King Arthur as he says “Arise Sir Percivale of Wales...your place awaits you at the Round Table” (247). Percivale becoming a knight is a direct effect of him recovering King Arthur’s cup, therefore it is a result of his adventure. Percivale’s second crisis also has an outcome, although it is not as pleasant as the first, As a result of his inability to listen to Lady Blanchefleur and her warnings not to search for the grail, Percivale forever loses Lady Blanchefleur, “he tried to ride back in search of Blanchefleur, but..he could never find any trace of the mysterious castle” (244,245). He gains no treasure in his crazed search for the Holy Grail, but the search’s results are rather dire. The result is often one of the most important parts of a hero’s quest because everything any hero does comes at a price. As a result of their recent adventure the hero has a new life, nothing can be the same once the hero has completed their quest, a needed step in the Hero's journey. Percivale has a new life after his journey, he can never be the same after his crises, and these events have changed him so his life must also change. In the case of Percivale, after his experiences he lives a new life as a great and just knight, “many deeds did Sir Percivale after this, but there is no space to tell of his adventures” (248). Before embarking on his quest Percivale lived alone with his mother in the woods, but after his life changes dramatically, he becomes one of the greatest knights of the round table. His life is affected majorly in one other way, Percivale always “sought for the Lady Blanchefleur, always he was true to her alone: but he could not find her” (248). Prior to his self-crusade he hadn’t even met the Lady Blanchefleur and had not yet been captivated by her. He didn’t know about anything outside of his mother and the woods prior to his adventure, setting forth on his journey changed his entire world.
Percivale follows the Hero's’ Cycle as he is accepts the opportunities of adventure presented him and is given help from outside sources, faces both smaller trials and large crises, and finally, following the completion of his journey, discovers treasure and an enhanced, evolved way of life. Percivale’s story echoed those of the other knights of the Round Table, setting an example of a courageous and good-hearted way of life. This collection of stories and others from the same time period show that nobility in personality was valued and that acting kind or “good” was something that was highly stressed. Living a life that made you “worthy of heaven” was one of the most important things in the Middle ages, so the heros of the time reflect the importance of good character, but the stories also had another purpose. The tales gave people hope. Percivale , among others, gave people a role model to strive to become and more importantly belief in themselves and others. Although his story is fictional, Percivale gave the people of the middle Ages, nobles and peasants alike, a bright gleam of hope in the time commonly referred to as the Dark Ages.