Reading Journal #3 - Arthur

 

Reading Journal #3  3/8/2001-12/2/2001

 

3/8/2001

From Ritual to Romance by Jessie L. Weston

 

“But this much seems certain, the aim of the Grail Quest is two-fold; it is to benefit (a) the King, (b) the land.  The first of these is the more important, as it is the infirmity of the king which entails misfortune upon his land  . . .”(21)

               Church [Catholic] does not acknowledge the Grail Legend (3).

               Neglect to mention the alternate Adonis story where he becomes the flower.  Even this would connect with the return to life idea.  Persephone is not given the same type of respect even though she is forced to endure the same half year that Adonis does.  One presumes this half year is the same half year.  Is this due to the fact that she is female, and therefore, less important or because of the rites of Adonis seem more sexual [or that her myth is a why myth, or that she is a goddess or or].  The story of a mortal (now quasi-immortal) man beloved by two goddesses, who gets to enjoy them both in addition to the law stating that women do not cut their hair must prostitute themselves for a day.  Adonis is far more attractive legend then rape of Persephone, far happier.  Also influenced by Osiris same way that the Romans adapted the gods of other cultures.

               So the women sobbing in Shelley’s poem [his one about Adonis] were actually based on historical fact (47).

               Du Crone

Perlesvaus= woman loses her hair.  Weston sees no other connection except to Adonis ritual.  But isn’t a woman’s hair a symbol of her glory, chastity, etc. . . at least in Christian symbolism.  (which in itself maybe, undoubtedly is, a hold over from pagan time).  But admits that ate itself has other importance to other cults.  However takes as a whole – transformation of pagan into Christian.

               Figure of the Grail King, “. . . the figure of a divine or semi-divine ruler, at once god an king, upon whose life and unimpaired vitality, the existence of his land and people depend” (62).  To a degree like the divine right of kings except the above is more of a pact.

               Professor von Schroeder Mysterium and Mimus

               Weston writes “There may no Doctor in the Grail Legend . . . “ but doesn’t the questor function as a healer?  Weston does point out the healing skills of Gawain but if Gawain does not appear than the Questor functions as the doctor by healing the eking and the land. 

               Page 108 she reaches the above conclusion.  Though I do not think it unusual that Gawain is said to hold such power, at least in the older tales, it was only with the addition of Lancelot and the French tradition that his rep. started to take the blows it did.

               It seems that the whole argument hinges on what ifs.  There is not clear evidence of when the Grail story came in existence.  And even then you can simply argue that if you accept Weston’s Ritual than you must accept the idea that Christianity is not valid but a merging of various reconstruction myths.  Which is not what she is suggesting and would get many people upset.

               The problem goes back to the dating the Grail story and its connection to the Arthur cycle. SO the cycle story comes from ritual.  The grail does not heal the land but the question.  She is right with the maiden story, perhaps.  A great many stories do have their beginning in reality.  But then how did avoidance of in breeding occur?

               Right about Galahad.  Question of Perceval (Perdur) is a good one.  Why did he supplant Gawain?  To make the story more Welsh and less Scot? But Gawain’s name is Welsh in the original, at least according to  Weston (and other sources) so while offer the Percival variant.  To take Gawain out of the spotlight for a second?  To claim descendent?  IF Gawain’s story is older than Perceval’s what does that say about invention?

               Perhaps to make the story your own?

               Percival now more German than Welsh.

 

3/14/2001

The Development of Arthurian Romance by Roger Sherman Loomis

 

               Matthew Arnold’s Lectures on Celtic Literature.

               Doesn’t seem to like Monmouth very much.  Zane lies on Monmouth too much.

              

               Laymon

               Wace

 

               Has an interesting point.  Why are we excepted to be sympathetic to Iseult in T&I when she flaunts the rules.  Never understand the part of binding Banwren to the tree. Why after B has served her so faithfully?

               The legend of the portrait (cloth) of Jesus is that of the Shourd of Turin  possibly?

              

               “If one were asked to sum up in a few words both the greatness and the limits of the literature of the Round Table, perhaps the best answer would be that it produced Don Quixote” (190).

 

               Loomis has some very good points, esp. in regards to the idea of sympathy for the adulterous lovers.  Think also of that the degradation of Arthus in the later romances was due to the French vs. English rivalry.  Could be the reason for the degradation of Gawain as well as having a French knight steal the love of the wife of an English King. 

               But he does seem to ignore the fact that in Malory, Lancelot lies at the end.  Lancelot repeatedly insists to Arthur that he (Lance)  never touched Dwen in that way. He also ignores Malory’s humor.    But that lie of Lance’s should have deserved a mention esp. when Loomis maintains that that Iseult manipulates Tristan when disguised as a leper.

               And the book somewhat dates itself.  IT would seem more natural for Gareth to love Lynett – who did have a good reason to get angry.  Than the one dimensional Lyness.  But I agree with Tennyson, whose version Loomis does not refer to   Loomis seems not to think that Malory tried to shift the blame from Arthur to merlin in regards to the incest and the taking of the infants (he also sesm to bypass the chest story).  Malory does mention that it is Merlin’s lack of speech that led to the incestual affair and then Merlin’s suggestion of the baby though I bever fully understood how he was discovered by the parents.