hts whom Sir Gareth had won in battle came with their
followings and did homage to him, and the Green Knight besought him
that he might act as chamberlain at the feast, and the Red Knight that
he might be his steward. As soon as the feast was ended, they had all
manner of minstrelsy and games and a great tournament that lasted
three days, but at the prayer of dame Lyonesse the King would not
suffer that any man who was wedded should fight at that feast.
_THE QUEST OF THE HOLY GRAAL_
This is a mysterious part of the adventures of King Arthur's Knights.
We must remember that parts of these stories are very old; they were
invented by the heathen Welsh, or by the ancient Britons, from whom
the Welsh are descended, and by the old pagan Irish, who spoke Gaelic,
a language not very unlike Welsh. Then these ancient stories were
translated by French and other foreign writers, and Christian beliefs
and chivalrous customs were added in the French romances, and,
finally, the French was translated into English about the time of
Edward IV. by Sir Thomas Malory, who altered as he pleased. The Story
of the Holy Graal, in this book, is mostly taken from Malory, but
partly from 'The High History of the Holy Graal,' translated by Dr.
Sebastian Evans from an old French book.
What _was_ the Holy Graal? In the stories it is the holy vessel used
by our Lord, and brought to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea. But in the
older heathen Irish stories there is a mysterious vessel of a magical
sort, full of miraculous food, and probably the French writers of the
romances confused this with the sacred vessel brought from the Holy
Land. On account of the sins of men this relic was made invisible, but
now and then it appeared, borne by angels or floating in a heavenly
light. The Knights, against King Arthur's wish, made a vow to find it,
and gave up their duties of redressing wrongs and keeping order, to
pursue the beautiful vision. But most of them, for their sins, were
unsuccessful, like Sir Lancelot, and the Round Table was scattered
and the kingdom was weakened by the neglect of ordinary duties in the
search for what could never be gained by mortal men. This appears to
be the moral of the story, if it has any moral. But the stories are
confused almost like a dream, though it is a beautiful dream.
I
HOW THE KING WENT ON PILGRIMAGE, AND HIS
SQUIRE WAS SLAIN IN A DREAM
Now the King was minded to go on a pilgrimage, and he agree
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