The First Continuation, composed in the late twelfth century, exists in three distinct versions, ranging from about 9,500 lines to 19,600. All three, however, tell essentially the same story, centring the action around Gawain, whose adventures in search of the Grail Castle were being recounted when Chrétien’s poem was interrupted. The messenger sent by Gawain summons King Arthur to the Rock of Champguin to observe Gawain’s battle with Guiromelant. Amid great joy Gawain is reunited with his uncle and Arthur with his mother, Igerne. The duel lasts all day, with Gawain increasing in strength after noon; it ends only towards evening when Gawain’s sister Clarissant urges him to spare her love, Guiromelant, to be her husband. Gawain agrees only on condition that Guiromelant withdraw his charge of treason; otherwise the battle must resume the next morning. But when Gawain arrives to resume battle, he learns that Arthur has wed Clarissant to Guiromelant without obliging him to retract the charge; furious, Gawain leaves court and rides until he reaches the Grail Castle, where he observes a Grail Procession that differs in important details from that described by Chrétien. Most significantly, he sees a bier covered by a silk cloth; there is a body in the bier and a broken sword upon the cloth; the one who can perfectly mend the sword would know all the secrets of the Grail Castle. But Gawain falls asleep and the next morning finds himself alone in a hedged field. He rides off to Escavalon to fulfill his promise to return to do battle with Guinganbresil, who had accused Gawain of treason for killing his lord, if he could not bring back the bleeding lance (The Story of the Grail, p. 457). Just before combat is to begin, however, King Arthur arrives and makes peace by marrying his granddaughter to Guinganbresil. Peace now reigns throughout Arthur’s lands and all barons swear allegiance to him except Brun de Branlant. Arthur lays siege to Brun’s castle, in the course of which Gawain seduces a maiden in a tent and kills her father.
At this point are interpolated the adventures of Sir Carados, which is essentially an independent romance bearing no direct relationship to the grail quest. It includes a beheading game similar to that in the English romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an enchanted serpent that attaches itself to Carados’s arm, and a chastity test with a magic drinking-horn.
Another loose end from Chrétien’s story is tied up when Arthur and his knights set off to rescue Girflet, son of Do, from the Proud Castle, where he has now been three years in prison (The Story of the Grail, p. 439). After passing through large stretches of wasteland, Arthur and his men arrive in front of the Proud Castle, from which Girflet is rescued after a series of single combats involving Lucan the Butler, Bran de Lis, Kay, Yvain, and finally Gawain.
Gawain is mysteriously returned to the Grail Castle and learns that the bleeding lance was the one with which Longinus pierced Christ’s side at the Crucifixion. He again fails to mend the sword and falls asleep before he can hear the other secrets of the castle. The following morning he awakens beside the sea and finds that the land is once again green and fertile.
The final episode of the First Continuation involves Gawain’s brother Guerrehet (Gareth) in an adventure with a swan-drawn boat, in which is found a corpse with the broken end of a lance sticking in his chest. Only Guerrehet is able to remove the lance, whose iron tip he uses to avenge himself on a dwarf knight who had previously defeated him. After slaying the dwarf knight, he kills his master and thereby unwittingly avenges the knight found in the swan boat, whose body is then carried away by the swan boat.
With the 13,000 lines of the Second Continuation, composed in the last decade of the twelfth century by Wauchier de Denain,2 attention shifts back to Perceval’s adventures. First he defeats the Lord of the Horn and sends him to King Arthur, who immediately vows to seek Perceval. Next he plays chess on a magical chess-board and falls in love with a maiden who will return his love only if he brings her the head of a white stag; she lends him her dog for the hunt, but the head and dog are stolen from him. The quest to recover them leads to a long series of adventures in which Perceval defeats Abriorin, who is sent to Arthur; slays a giant; defeats a white knight, who again is dispatched to Arthur; and fights Gawain’s son, the ‘Fair Unknown’, to a draw.
He next returns to the castle of Biaurepaire, where he finds his lady Blancheflor, for whom he had defeated Anguingeron and Clamadeu (The Story of the Grail, pp. 408ff.); they renew their love for three days, but then Perceval has to continue the quest. Having defeated the Handsome Wicked Knight and sent him to Arthur, he returns to his mother’s castle ten years after having first left it; there he sees his sister for the first time and learns how his mother had died at his departure. With his sister, Perceval returns to the hermit uncle he had met in Chrétien’s part (The Story of the Grail, pp. 459–61), who gives him a lesson on repentance. After spending a night in the Castle of Maidens, which vanishes afterwards, he defeats a knight named Garsulas and finally recovers the stag’s head and dog.
As he rides seeking the maiden who had given him the dog, he encounters another maiden, who gives him her magic ring and white mule to lead him to the Grail Castle. But he turns aside at the bidding of Briol of the Burnt Forest, who tells him he must first distinguish himself at a tournament at the Proud Castle that Arthur, too, will attend; at the tournament Perceval fights in disguise and defeats all of Arthur’s greatest knights, culminating with Gawain. Diverted by the tournament from reaching the Grail Castle, Perceval must return the ring and mule. The poem continues with Gawain’s adventures for several thousand lines, including an encounter with his son Giglain, the ‘Fair Unknown’; then it returns to Perceval, who ascends Mount Dolorous to tie his steed to a magical pillar there, set up by Merlin, as proof that he is the finest knight in the world. Perceval finally reaches the Grail Castle and joins the two pieces of the broken sword, leaving just a tiny nick; the Second Continuation then breaks off before the Fisher King can explain the meaning of the Grail symbols.
Most manuscripts continue immediately with Manessier’s Third Continuation, about 10,000 lines composed between 1214 and 1227 for Countess Johanna of Flanders, which begins with the Fisher King’s explanation of the Grail mysteries: the lance is that of Longinus; the grail was used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch Christ’s blood; the trencher covered the grail so the holy blood would not be exposed; the sword had been broken when the traitor Partinial of the Red Tower slew the Fisher King’s brother, and in his grief the Fisher King had crippled himself with the broken pieces. Perceval sets out to avenge the Fisher King and soon joins up with Sagremor, whom he helps to defeat ten knights. The story continues with Sagremor’s adventures, and then Gawain’s, before returning to Perceval, who in a chapel battles the Devil himself, in the form of a detached hand and black arm, and finally defeats him by making the sign of the Cross. He similarly overcomes a second demon, which had taken the form of a horse, and a third, in the form of his sweetheart Blancheflor. Perceval conquers several knights and sends them to Arthur, including one who was besieging Blancheflor in Biaurepaire. After a series of adventures involving Sagremor, Bors, Lionel and Calogrenant, the story returns to Perceval, who in the company of the Coward Knight triumphs over Arthur’s knights at yet another tournament. Perceval finally reaches the Red Tower and slays Partinial, then hastens to inform the Fisher King, who is immediately healed and discovers he is Perceval’s maternal uncle. Perceval returns in triumph to Arthur’s court, but is soon summoned to reign after the Fisher King’s death. He restores the land in seven years, then retires to a hermitage, where he lives another ten years, sustained only by the grail. When he dies, the Holy Grail and lance and trencher accompany his soul to heaven and will never again be seen on earth.
In two late thirteenth-century manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, an independent conclusion composed by Gerbert de Montreuil between 1226 and 1230 is inserted after the Second Continuation, although the Manessier conclusion is also retained. Gerbert did not know Manessier’s work and probably wrote a conclusion to the Grail story that was independent of his; however, in the
manuscripts the ending has been altered slightly to lead into Manessier’s continuation.
Having failed because of his sins to discover the mysteries of the Grail Castle, Perceval awakens the next morning in a meadow. He looks around and sees the wasteland restored. After having his sword repaired by Trabuchet (The Story of the Grail, pp. 426), Perceval restores Sagremor and Agravain to sanity, which they had lost upon Mount Dolorous. Perceval then rejoins Arthur’s court at Carlion and sits successfully in the fairy seat reserved for the Grail Knight, and which had been the death of six others who had tried. He returns with his sister to the hermit’s abode and later leaves her at the Castle of Maidens to continue his quest, which takes him to a tournament hosted by King Mark of Cornwall where he defeats Sir Tristan and all of Arthur’s best knights as well. He next defeats the enemies of his former mentor, Gornemant of Gohort (The Story of the Grail; p. 400); and returns to Biaurepaire to wed Blancheflor. But on their wedding night they vow themselves to virginity to win Paradise. There is indeed much concern with chastity and virginity throughout this Continuation, and considerably more moralizing and didacticism than in the others.
After many additional adventures, including lifting the siege of Montesclere (The Story of the Grail, p. 439), all designed to show that Perceval is the worthiest knight in the world, he arrives at long last at the Grail Castle where he finally mends the notch in the sword and is to have the secrets of the grail revealed to him. Gerbert’s presumed explanation is replaced, in both manuscripts that contain his poem, by the explanation in Manessier’s continuation.
GLOSSARY OF MEDIEVAL TERMS
ARMED, in the Middle Ages, meant wearing armour and had no reference to bearing arms. A man without armour was said to be ‘unarmed’, though he might be carrying any number of weapons.
BAILEY (OF baile), could refer either to the walls surrounding a castle’s yard, or (more usual in Chrétien) to the yard itself. In the latter case, it separated the outer defensive walls from the donjon (‘tower keep’) within, and was the scene of constant activity.
BARBICAN (OF barbacane), a small, round blockhouse outwork to protect the main gate of the castle. It was generally approached by a wooden drawbridge that could be raised for further protection. A second bridge typically led from the barbican to the main gate.
BEZANT (OF besant), a valuable Byzantine gold coin, circulated in Europe during the Middle Ages.
BOSS(OF bocle), a circular protuberance or swelling in the centre of the exterior of the shield, covering the hand grip and designed to turn aside a direct blow.
BRATTICE (OF bretesche), also called ‘hoarding’, was properly a crenellated wooden defensive gallery erected in time of attack to cover ground at the foot of the walls and towers, but in Chrétien it seems rather to refer to the outermost fortifications of a town, without any particular implication that the place is or has been under attack.
BYRNIE (OF broigne) see HAUBERK.
CANONICAL HOURS – matins, prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers, and complin(e) – were laid out by the Rule of St Benedict. In Chrétien’s romances we find only matines, prime, tierce, none, vespre(s), and conplie, corresponding roughly to sunrise, 9.00 a.m., 3.00 p.m., sunset and 9.00 p.m. The sixth hour (sext) is referred to as midi (‘midday’) by Chrétien.
CANTLE (OF arçon), the raised rear portion of a saddle.
CAPE (OF chape, cape), see MANTLE.
CARBUNCLE (OF escarboucle), an imaginary stone that was reputed to cast light that could rival the sun’s. Often described as bright red and compared to the garnet or ruby.
CARNELIAN (OF sardine), a clear red variety of chalcedony; not to be confused with sardonyx (OF sardoine).
CASTLE (OF chastel) could have the same meaning it does today, but often included everything within the outer walls of the city: town, streets, market, church. The town proper is referred to as the bore, while the most general word to include the entire agglomeration is vile. Stone castles were being constructed in France as early as the late tenth century, but wooden castles of the motte-and-bailey type remained more numerous well into the twelfth century.
CHRYSOLITE, a transparent green gem, also called ‘olivene’ because of its colour.
COIF (OF coife) was either a heavy woollen skullcap or a mail hood worn under the helmet.
COMPLIN(E) (OF conplie), see CANONICAL HOURS.
CONSTABLE (OF conestable) was an officer of the court, originally in charge of the horses; in wartime he commanded the cavalry.
DENIER, a small silver coin of varying value, current in France and in western Europe generally from the eighth century until the French Revolution. It was generally reckoned the twelfth part of a shilling (sou); and sometimes, like the former British penny, 1/240 of a pound (livre). In Chrétien’s day it could purchase about two loaves of bread.
ELL (OF aune), a unit of linear measure, equivalent to about four feet.
ENCEINTES (OF lices), the walls encircling a fortified castle.
FALDSTOOL (OF faldestuel), a portable, folding, backless chair, often covered by a cushion, and used for persons of distinction.
FEWTER (OF fautre), a support to hold the butt end of the lance when lowered for charging, lined with felt and attached to the saddle.
GREAVES (OF chauces), mail leggings worn to protect the leg from knee to ankle.
HAUBERK (OF hauberc), the basic piece of twelfth-century armour, was a longsleeved skirt of mail extending to the knees. It was split from the waist down to facilitate riding. Similar to it, but made of scale (i.e., small, generally circular plates of mail sewn to leather), was the byrnie (OF broigne). It was often regarded as synonymous with the hauberk. Under either the knight generally wore a quilted tunic (gambison or auqueton) for padding. Over them he often wore his tunic (bliaut) or a cloak (mantel).
HELMET (OF hiautme) in Chrétien’s period was pointed and covered the upper part of the head. It was not fully enclosed, but when attached to the coif and ventail covered nearly the entire face and could successfully hide a knight’s identity.
HERALD (OF heraut) proclaimed tournaments, regulated knightly functions, and kept a listing of the names and blazons of the knights.
JACINTH (OF jagonce), a reddish-orange variety of zircon, also called ‘hyacinth’.
LEAGUE (OF lieue, liue), a measure of distance varying from about two and a half to four and a half miles, but usually reckoned to be about three miles. As a measure of time in the romances, it refers to the amount of time needed to travel that distance.
MANGONEL (OF mangonel), a military engine used for hurling stones and other missiles at an enemy’s position.
MANTLE (OF mantel), a loose, usually sleeveless cloak made of fine materials and worn over other clothing. As opposed to the cape, which was a utilitarian garment worn to protect against the cold and rain, the mantle was considered an integral part of ceremonial dress. Both were generally joined at the throat by a clasp or ribbon.
MARK, a measure of gold or silver equal to half a pound (8 oz); a gold or silver coin of that weight.
MATINS, see CANONICAL HOURS.
NASAL, a piece of metal riveted to the bottom front of early medieval helmets to protect the nose and middle of the face.
NONES, see CANONICAL HOURS.
ORPHREY (OF orfrois) was an elaborate embroidery with gold thread, or material so embroidered or woven.
PALFREY (OF palefroi), a saddle horse reserved almost exclusively for women.
PELISSE (OF pelice, peliçon), a long cloak or robe, usually of fur or fur-lined, worn by both sexes. It could be an outer garment, a dress, or an under-dress.
PRIME, see CANONICAL HOURS.
QUINTAIN, a dummy used for jousting practice; originally it consisted simply of a shield set up on a post, but later was mechanized with an arm designed to fell the charging horseman if he did not land his blow properly.
SAMITE was a heavy silk fabric, often interwoven with gold or silver threads.
SCARLET (OF escarlate), a fine wo
ollen broadcloth, rivalling the better silks in price and luxury appeal. It might be red, or another colour altogether. In The Knight with the Lion, p. 298 for example, it appears to be the deep blue-green of the peacock’s feathers.
SENESCHAL, an official at a medieval court with responsibility for overseeing domestic arrangements, servants, feasts and ceremonies, and the administration of justice.
SHIFT (OF chemise), an undergarment worn by both sexes. Since it was worn next to the skin, the material was often soft and fine. It had long sleeves and was laced at the sides. A woman’s chemise was long, extending to the feet; a man’s (which we have generally translated ‘shirt’) was shorter. Though one was not considered improperly attired in only a chemise, a bliaut (‘tunic’) or mantel was generally worn over it.
SHILLING (OF sou), the twentieth part of a pound (OF livre). A sou typically comprised 12 deniers (q.v.).
SURCOAT (OF sorcot), a loose cloak-like garment, often worn over armour.
TUERCE, See CANONICAL HOURS.
TUNIC (OF bliaut), the usual court dress of the nobility, both male and female. ‘The lady’s bliaut was an elaborate dress, of the costliest materials, with bands of embroidery at the high neck and at the wrists of the long sleeves, often lined with fur, cut in two parts as a rule, with skirt (gironée) very long and full, and longwaisted bodice (le cors), adjusted closely to the figure by means of lacings (laz) at the sides’ (Goddard: 47–48). The man’s bliaut was long-sleeved and knee-length, also frequently of expensive materials and fur-lined, but not so tightly fitted. Both were fastened at the neck with a brooch.
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