Version 1.

Notes de lecture
19
Le texte de base est celui de ldition de Janet Cowen, Penguin Classics (2 vol.).

BOOK I

CHAPTER 19. How King Arthur rode to Caerleon, and of his dream,
and how he saw the Questing Beast
1 Then after the departing of King Ban and of King Bors, King Arthur rode unto Caerleon. And
thither came to him King Lots wife, of Orkney, in manner of a message, but she was sent thither
to espy the court of King Arthur; and she came richly beseen, with her four sons, Gawain, Gaheris,
Agravain, and Gareth, with many other knights and ladies. For she was a passing fair lady, therefore the king cast great love unto her, and desired to lie by her. So they were agreed, and he begat
upon her Mordred, and she was his sister, on the mother side, Igraine. So there she rested her a
month, and at the last departed.
Then the king dreamed a marvellous dream whereof he was sore adread. But all this time
King Arthur knew not that King Lots wife was his sister. Thus was the dream of Arthur:
Him thought there was come into this land grins and serpents, and him thought they burnt
and slew all the people in the land, and then him thought he fought with them, and they did him
passing great harm, and wounded him full sore, but at the last he slew them.
When the king awaked, he was passing heavy of his dream, and so to put it out of thoughts,
he made him ready with many knights to ride on hunting. As soon as he was in the forest the king
saw a great hart afore him.
This hart will I chase, said King Arthur, and so he spurred the horse, and rode after long, and
so by ne force oft he was like to have smitten the hart; whereas the king had chased the hart so
long, that his horse lost his breath, and fell down dead; then a yeoman fetched the king another
horse. So the king saw the hart ambushed, and his horse dead; he set him down by a fountain, and
there he fell in great thoughts.
And as he sat so, him thought he heard a noise of hounds, to the sum of thirty. And with that
the king saw coming toward him the strangest beast that ever he saw or heard of. So the beast
went to the well and drank, and the noise was in the beasts belly like unto the questing of thirty
couple hounds; but all the while the beast drank there was no noise in the beasts belly: and there-

with the beast departed with a great noise, whereof the king had great marvel. And so he was in a
great thought, and therewith he fell asleep.
Right so there came a knight afoot unto Arthur and said, Knight full of thought and sleepy, tell
me if thou sawest a strange beast pass this way.
Such one saw I, said King Arthur, that is past two mile; what would ye with the beast? said Arthur.
Sir, I have followed that beast long time, and killed mine horse, so would God I had another to follow my
quest.
Right so came one with the kings horse, and when the knight saw the horse, he prayed the
king to give him the horse: for I have followed this quest this twelvemonth, and either I shall achieve
him, or bleed of the best blood of my body.
Pellinor, that time king, followed the Questing Beast, and after his death Sir Palomides followed it.

Le roi Arthur chevauche jusqu Carlisle, fait un songe

et voit la Bte Glatissante
1 Aprs le dpart du roi Ban et du roi Bohort, le roi Arthur chevaucha jusqu Carlisle. Il y reut la
visite de lpouse de Lot, roi des Orcades, en qualit de porteuse dun message [de son mari], mais envoye sur place pour espionner la cour du roi Arthur ; elle vint richement pare, accompagne de ses
quatre ls, Gauvain, Guerrehet, Agravain et Gahriet, et dun entourage nombreux dautres chevaliers
et de dames. Comme ctait une dame dune trs grande beaut, le roi la dsira et voulut coucher avec
elle ; la proposition ayant t faite et accepte, il lengrossa de Mordred alors quelle tait sa sur du
ct de sa mre, Igraine. Son sjour la cour dura un mois, puis elle repartit.
Le roi t alors un songe trange qui lpouvanta. Mais pendant tout ce temps Arthur ignorait que
lpouse du roi Lot tait sa propre sur. Voici ce quArthur vit en songe :
Lillusion le portait croire que son pays tait envahi par des grions et des serpents, il eut limpression quils brlaient et tuaient tous les habitants du pays, il en vint alors croire quil les combattait et quils lui inigeaient de trs grandes sourances, mais quen n de compte il les exterminait.
son rveil, le songe lui avait laiss le cur gros, aussi, pour le bannir de ses penses, se prparat-il, avec bon nombre de ses chevaliers, une chasse courre. Ds quil se trouva dans la fort, le roi
aperut un grand cerf devant lui.
Cest la poursuite de ce cerf que je veux me lancer dit le roi Arthur, peronnant sa monture. Il le
poursuivit longtemps et, par la force des choses, faillit souvent abattre le cerf ; pourtant, quand le roi
eut poursuivi ce cerf si longtemps, son cheval suoqua et tomba mort : un serviteur partit chercher
un autre cheval pour le roi. Le roi voyant alors le cerf qui stait embch et le cadavre de son propre
cheval, sassit prs dune source et sabma dans de grandes rexions.
Tandis quil tait assis cet endroit, il lui sembla entendre le vacarme dune meute de trente
chiens courants et le roi vit ce moment-l venir dans sa direction la bte la plus trange quil eut
jamais vue ou dont il eut jamais entendu parler. La bte alla donc la source et sabreuva, et on
entendait dans le ventre de la bte un vacarme semblable aux glapissements de trente chiens
coupls, mais aussi longtemps que la bte buvait aucun bruit ne provenait de son ventre ; ldessus, la bte repartit, accompagne de ce vacarme, ce qui remplit le roi de stupfaction. Ainsi
plong dans ses penses, il sendormit.
Cest ce moment quun chevalier, venant pied, sapprocha dArthur et lui dit : Chevalier lourd
de penses et de sommeil, dis-moi si tu as vu une bte trange passer par ici.
Jai bien vu une telle bte, rpondit le roi Arthur, qui est passe et a d entre-temps parcourir deux
milles ; mais que voulez-vous cette bte ? demanda Arthur.
Messire, je poursuis cette bte depuis longtemps et jy ai tu mon cheval ; puisse donc Dieu mentendre, car il men faudrait un autre pour continuer ma qute.
Cest ce moment quon amena le cheval du roi, et quand le chevalier vit le cheval, il pria le
roi de le lui donner car je poursuis cette qute depuis douze mois et soit je vaincrai cette bte, soit jy
perdrai tout mon sang.

Pellinor, qui rgnait alors, poursuivit la Bte Glatissante et, aprs sa mort, sire Palamde prit
la relve.

1 the Questing Beast

ancien-franais glatir [voir DEAF] cf. dans la Chanson de Roland (laisse CCLVI : il
sagit de larme de Baligant) Cil dOcant i braint e henissent, E cil dArguille si cume chen
glatissent ; Bloch et Wartburg, glapir :
GLAPIR,

vers 1200. Altration, daprs japper, de lanc. verbe glatir, lat. glattre, verbe onomatopique, qui se disait spcial. du cri des jeunes chiens, do it. ghiattire, esp. [et portugais] latir, a. pr.
glatir. On trouve aussi la variante clatir, 1690, hors dusage aujourdhui.

Cf. la meute qui jappe (chez Florian et Hugo), le rcri de la meute qui donne de la voix.
Anglo-Norman Dictionary :
glatir
v.n. (of dogs) to howl: Cil dOcian i braient e henissent, E cil dArguille si cume chen glatissent Roland
3527; Home ne parole greu, caldeu ne latin, Ensement glatissent cum fussent mastin Rom Chev
ANTS 1616; (g.) (of persons) to howl: Hebreus enchacent les paens glatissant, U il les trovent de
mort nont garant Anc Test (B) 6326; Ne nera de labaier Ne de glatir a tuit poer S Modw 8536;
sbst. inf. shouting: Kil ne pouent de Dieu penser Pur lour glatir, pur lour noiser Chev D 574.

En X, 53 on peut lire une variante curieuse (cest sire Palamde qui parle) : I found never
no knight in my quest of this Glasting Beast, but and he would joust I never refused him. Mais
cette leon est errone, car le manuscrit de Winchester f 281v donne : I fynde neuer no
knyght in my quete of this glatiynge bete but and he wolde iute I neuer yet refued hym.
la bete glatiant, the bete Glatyaunt
Voir : William A[lbert] Nitze [1876-1957], The Beste Glatissant in Arthurian Romance in
Zeitschrift fr romanische Philologie, LVI (1936), p. 409-418. Edina Bozky, La Bte Glatissant et le Graal. Les transformations dun thme allgorique dans quelques romans
arthuriens, in : Revue de lhistoire des religions, t. 186 n2, 1974, p. 127-148. Anne Labia, La
naissance de la Bte Glatissante, in : Mdivales, n6, 1984, p. 37-47.
source possible William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum :
[Il sagit du roi Edgar (adgr) the Peaceful, qui rgna de 959 975. Au cours dune partie de chasse,
le roi, spar de ses compagnons et les attendant, descend de cheval et se repose.] Iacebat ergo sub
malo siluatica stratus, ubi penduli per circuitum rami foliatam eerant cameram. Lassitudine itaque suadente, riuus subter scatebris loquacibus uens soporem inuitabat : cum canis fmina, cui cura ferarum uestigia insequi, prgnans, et iuxta pedes accubans, dormitantem exterruit ; namque, matre tacente, catuli
aluo inclusi latratus multiformes et sonoros reddidere, quodam nimirum sui carceris gaudio incitati. []
He lay down, therefore, under a wild apple-tree, where the clustering branches had formed a
shady canopy all around. A river, owing softly beside him, adding to his drowsiness, by its gentle
murmur soothed him to sleep; when a bitch, of the hunting breed, pregnant, and lying down at
his feet, terried him in his slumbers. Though the mother was silent, yet the whelps within her
womb barked [latratus reddidere] in various sonorous tones, incited, as it were, by a singular delight in the place of their connement. J. A. Giles, 1847.

puis Li Hauz Livres du Graal/Perlesvaus :

de la forest oissi une beste blanche conme noif negiee [ comme de la neige frachement tombe ], et estoit
greindre dun goupil et mendre dun lievre1. La beste vint en la lande, toute esfraee, car ele avoit en son ventre XV
cheaus qui glapissoient autressint dedanz li conme chien en bois, et ele san fuioit aval la lande por la peor
des chiens dont ele ot le glai dedanz lui. [...] li chael qui en li sont ne cessent de glatir, de quoi ele a mout
grant peor.
The beast came into the launde all scared, for she had twelve hounds in her belly, that quested
within like as it were hounds in a wood, and she ed adown the launde for fear of the hounds, the
questing whereof she had within her. [...] the hounds that are within her cease not of their questing, whereof is she sore adread. Translation by Sebastian Evans, 1898.

Julien Ribot, Le Bestiaire dans le Haut Livre du Graal, Perlesvaus (2009), p. 164 :
Lapparition de cet animal Perlesvaus inaugure la Branche IX de notre rcit. Au cours de son priple, le
chevalier arrive, lheure de midi, jusqu une lande isole dans la fort, et croise une petite bte blanche,
avec des yeux couleur meraude, dont la taille est entre celle du livre et du renard. Visiblement affole
par les aboiements qui proviennent des chiots dont elle est pleine, la bte glatissante finit par subir, au
pied dune croix qui se trouvait dans la lande, une csarienne force de la part de ses douze petits, qui
la dpecrent sans la manger avant de senfuir. Par la suite, les restes de lanimal sont rcuprs par une
demoiselle et un chevalier, qui repartent leur tour dans la fort, Enfin, deux prtres viennent jusqu la
croix : lun se prosterne devant elle tandis que lautre la bat avec des verges. [...]
[Le texte contient une contradiction dont le commentateur ne rend pas compte : Li chien
lorent avironne et li coururent sus de toutes parz, si la depecierent toute au danz ; ms norent
onques povoir que il manjassent de la chair ne que il lesloignassent de la croiz.* Quant li chien
orent la teste mengie, si san fouirent el bois autresint conme tuit enragi. ] *mais ils ne furent
en mesure ni de la dvorer ni de lloigner du calvaire.

Repre suivant : le Tristan en prose, o apparat laspect composite chez lanimal que poursuit Palamde :
Celle beste avoit tot droitement piez de cerf, cuisses et queue de lion, cors de liepart ; et issoit de li unz glatissemenz si granz com sele est dedenz li dusqua vint brachez toz glatissanz.

Jajouterai LEstoire del Saint Graal (d. J.-P. Ponceau, I, 1997, p. 13) :
Et si sachis kele estoit diverse en toutes coses, car ele avoit teste et col de brebis et blanc comme noif negie ; et si avoit pis de chien et gambes et cuisses et tout chou estoit noir comme carbon ; et si avoit le pis et le
cors et la crupe de woupil et la keue de lon : et si estoit la beste de diverses samblanches.

(Pour une des principales transformations ultrieures mais prcdant louvrage de Malory, voir Perceforest, 3e partie, ch. XL, d G. Roussineau t. II [1991], notamment p. 216 :
Ceste beste tant merveilleuse avoit corps de liepard, piez de cerf, cuisses et queue de lyon, et
quant elle avoit faim, elle crioit comme un braquet glatissant. )
Malory parle de the Beast Glatisant en IX, 12 ; X, 13 (o le narrateur emploie lexpression
franaise et la traduit) et 63 (2 occurrences).
the quetyng beet [avec jeu de mot sur questing qui constitue lobjet dune qute ]
Moyen-anglais questen (a) Of hunters or hunting dogs: to seek game, hunt;
(b) of hunting dogs: to bay, bark.

plus grande quun renard et plus petite quun livre : erreur manifeste (du rdacteur ? dun copiste ?).

Ex. de (b) chez Malory, IX, 20 :

Then the queen [Isoud] had always a little brachet with her that Sir Tristram gave her the rst time that
ever she came into Cornwall, and never would that brachet depart from her but if Sir Tristram was nigh
thereas was La Beale Isoud; and this brachet was sent from the kings daughter of France unto Sir Tristram
for great love. And anon as this little brachet felt a savour of Sir Tristram, she leapt upon him and licked his
lears [ joues ] and his ears, and then she whined and quested [ jappa ], and she smelled at his feet
and at his hands, and on all parts of his body that she might come to.

La graphie questen ne doit pas faire illusion : la comparaison avec les couples
soften/softening, glisten/glistening, moisten/moistening, listen/listening
montre que linnitif tait prononc quest, sinon la forme en -ING serait **questening**.
Questen, dans le vocabulaire de la chasse, est un emprunt direct au franais quester
chercher la bte traque, les fumes, les traces (DMF) :
Cet bonne chae que de cerf, car cet belle choe que de bien queter ung cerf, et belle choe de le bien detourner, belle choe de le laier courre, belle choe de le chaer, et belle choe de rechaer, et belle choe aux
abaiz, oit en eaue ou en terre, et belle choe la curee et belle choe lecorchier & leuer les droiz et belle choe
et bonne la venoion. Et il et belle choe et diuere tant quen regardant toutes choes je tiens que cet la plus
noble chae que on peut chaer.
Gaston Phebus, Livre de chasse.

2 King Lots wife, of Orkney selon I, 2 7 il sagit de Margawse 1, sur utrine dArthur
(mais lintresse le sait-elle ? Arthur, lui, lignore) Le rle du roi Lot est confus : un
des vaincus de la bataille de Bdingran envoie sa femme en dlgation la cour de son
ennemi, en observatrice ?
3 in manner of a message = in the capacity of (note dE. Vinaver) Dist li mesages :
Aparmain le sarez (Le messager rpondit : Vous ne tarderez pas lapprendre. )
4 she was sent thither to espy the court comme le montre le passage correspondant de
Lestoire de Merlin (source, ici, de Le Morte) quon trouvera annot en annexe, cette
prcision, destine pimenter le rcit, est de linvention de Malory
5 En face de Guerrehet et Gahriet, Gaheris et Gareth : lesquels correspondent et estce toujours vrai ? Question prement dbattue depuis des dcennies.
6 Him thought On pourra consulter deux ouvrages dissemblables bien des gards :
Willem van der Gaaf [1867-1937], The Transition from the Impersonal to the Personal Construction in Middle English (1904); Ruth Mhlig-Falke, The Early English Impersonal Construction :
1

(variantes, dont Morgause)

An Analysis of Verbal and Constructional Meaning (2012).

En vieil-anglais, dun verbe signiant penser enan (prtrit hte) avait t tir un
factitif/causatif ynan (prtrit hte) sembler, paratre : m is eht il me semble , him hte il lui sembla (do him thought, avec nivellement des formes et rattachement erron to think ; cf. methinks comme meseemeth et Mich dnkt, die Alte
spricht im Fieber Jai limpression que la vieille parle sous leffet de la vre, dit Faust).
La distinction est encore oprante chez Chaucer :
thenke(n) penser And after wyn on Venus moste I thynke aprs boire, je dois penser lamour
Nay, nay, I thoghte it nevere, trewely! non, non, cela ne mest jamais venu lide, vraiment !
thynke(n) sembler Which was the mooste fre, as thynketh yow? Qui fut le plus gnreux, votre avis ?
But nathelees, hir thoughte that she dyde, That she so longe sholde a conseil hyde Toutefois, [la femme de
Midas] trouva que ctait mourir de devoir si longtemps cacher un secret

7 the king saw a great hart afore him le cerf est considr comme un gibier de choix,
notamment parce quil est capable de ruses pour chapper ses poursuivants
8 awaked en vieil-anglais, le verbe avait un prtrit fort onwc, wc (do awoke) et
un prtrit faible wacode
9 by ne force invitablement
10 yeoman le smantisme du terme a uctu entre domestique, valet et alleutier ;
franc tenancier .
tymologie trs incertaine. On a rapproch gotique gawi, allemand Gau, nerlandais gouw
district ; on a suppos une variante dgrade de young man.
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeoman) se surpasse en rapprochant, au mpris de la loi de
Grimm, le grec ye (ge) : The word ye (ge) in Greek means land and Ye means the
Earth. est sans tym. Cest en grec moderne que se prononce / i/.
11 ambushed La bte sembche, quand, poursuivie, elle entre dans le bois [dans son
gte]. Littr ; cf. dbucher, rembucher. Second emploi du terme dans cette acception en
IV, 6 :
Then were they all three on foot, and ever they saw the hart afore them passing weary and ambushed.

En dehors du vocabulaire de la vnerie, enbuschier/embuschier se cacher dans un bois

et de(s)buchier sortir du bois ont t supplants par des formes italianisantes, embusquer et dbusquer ; du coup, le franais se retrouve avec embche et embuscade.
12 he set him down by a fountain il ne peut sagir que dune source (spring of water)
13 a knight afoot limage dun chevalier rduit la marche pied est incongrue
14 thou sawest tutoiement pour la prise de contact, mais Arthur garde ses distances.
La conversation se poursuit au chapitre suivant et les deux hommes se tutoient.
15 Such one saw I that is past two mile sous lieue , Littr cite un passage de Perceforest qui claire cette formulation (titre du chapitre : Coment le roy Perceforet trouua le
temple incogneu/et des merueilles quil y vit) : Lors [Perceforest] regarde le preudhome qui etoit mys ur es coutes a genoulx par deuant lautel/et fut en tel point lepace dune lieue de terre
et resta ainsi pendant une heure [le temps moyen estim pour parcourir une lieue, sur
terre et pied]. (La lieue de terre ou commune faisait 4, 44 km environ.)

On trouve dautres exemples de lieue dans cette acception chez La Curne de Sainte-Palaye,
Du Cange, Godefroy et le Dictionnaire du Moyen Franais (1330-1500) ; chantillons :
Lexposant estant couchi en son lit avec sa femme, vint environ trois Lieues de nuit un appell Jehan Coanne
lhuys dudit exposant (1376).
Ce sachiez vos bien de part moi
que chevalier ni pot antrer
qui i post mie arester
demie liue vis ne sains,
qui fust de covoitise plains
ne qui ait en lui nul mal vice
de losainge ne davarice.

Car sachez bien, cest moi qui vous le dis,

quil serait impossible un chevalier dy pntrer
et de sy maintenir en vie et en sant
une demi-heure
sil tait plein de convoitise,
ou quil ft perdu dun vice pouvantable
de mensonge ou davarice.

Chrtien de Troyes, Le Conte du Graal, d. de Charles Mla (1994), daprs le ms. Berne 354.

On comparera lemploi de furlong par Chaucer dcrivant le bouche--oreille, la rumeur :

But al the wondermost was this:
Whan oon had herd a thing, ywis,
He com forth ryght to another wight,
And gan him tellen anon-ryght
The same that to him was told,
Or hyt a forlong way was old

Mais voici ce quil y avait de plus surprenant :

Quand lun dentre eux avait entendu un cancan, cest sr,
Il allait de ce pas en trouver un deuxime
Et se mettait en devoir, sans dlai, de lui apprendre
Cela mme quon lui avait appris
Le temps quil ait parcouru deux cents mtres.

16 either I shall achieve him = the Beast

17 Pellinor, that time king, followed the Questing Beast, and after his death Sir Palomides followed it. En dehors de ce chapitre et du suivant, le nom de Pellinor ne sera plus mentionn en rapport avec la Bte Glatissante quen II, 10 (the Knight with the Strange Beast); Palamde prend la relve sans attendre la mort de Pellinor.
La seule mention de Pellinor sut voquer un joyeux dsordre : passe que les versions
de Wikipedia soient en dsaccord selon la langue dans laquelle on les consulte, mais Christopher W. Bruce, The Arthurian Name Dictionary (1999) renforce cette impression. Quon
en juge :
Pellehan
A Grail King of Listenois in the Vulgate romances. The rst appearance of his name in the Vulgate
Queste del Saint Graal suggests that he was Percevals father, which would make him the origin of Pellinore (and also, probably, of Pelles). The Vulgate Estoire del Saint Graal, however, calls him the son of
King Lambor and the father of Pelles and Pellinore, making him Percevals grandfather and Galahads great-grandfather. Like all Grail Kings, he inherited the title of Fisher King from Bron, the first
of his lineage. Later, however, he fell ill with a festering wound and became known as the Maimed
King. The circumstances behind this wound vary: the Vulgate Estoire tells us that he received it in a
battle in Rome; in the Vulgate Queste, we learn that he was struck through the thighs by a holy spear
when he tried to draw the Sword with the Strange Hangings, meant only for Galahad.
The Post-Vulgate Merlin continuation provides a much longer story. Here, he has a brother
named Garlon, an invisible knight who commits murder and is pursued by Balin. Balin eventually
slew Garlon during a feast in Pellehans Perilous Castle, for which Pellehan attacked Balin, shattering the latters sword. Pellehan pursued Balin throughout his castle as Balin ran from room to
room looking for a weapon. Eventually, he found the Bleeding Lancethe spear that killed
Christand struck Pellehan through the thighs with it. This blow was called the Dolorous Stroke,
and it caused the castle to crumble and turn Listenois into a Waste Land. (In another version,
however, the Dolorous Stroke occurs in an episode with Pellehans father, Lambor.)
Pellehans wound refused to heal, and he lay ill for many years. At the end of the Grail Quest,
Galahad cured him with some blood from the Bleeding Lance, and Pellehan retired to a her-

mitage.
Tennyson alone names Pellehan as one of the kings who joined Lots rebellion against King Arthur at the beginning of Arthurs reign. [VulgQuest, VulgEst, PostMer, Malory1]
Pelles
The Vulgate Grail King. He was the father of Elaine (or Amite) and grandfather of Galahad. His
origin may lie with the Welsh characters Pwyll, lord of Dyfed, or Beli, king of Britain. Another possible source for his name is the Cornish peller, meaning enchanter (Loomis, Romance, 267).
Pelles was the son of Pellehan (usually the Maimed King) and the brother of Pellinore, although
all three were probably once the same character. According to Perlesvaus, in which Pelles makes
his rst appearance, he was Percevals maternal uncle. His siblings included Yglais (Percevals
mother, also called the Widowed Lady), Messois the Fisher King, and the evil King of the Castle
Mortal. Perlesvaus calls him the Hermit King, for he retired to a hermitage after his son, Joseus,
killed his wife.
In the Vulgate romances, Pelles is himself the Fisher Kingthe king of the land of Listenois (a.k.a
the Strange Land) and the Grail Castle, Corbenic. (The Vulgate Merlin, however, names Alain as
the Fisher King and Pelles as his brother.) He was descended from Bron, the rst Fisher King. His
son, Eliezer, was one of Arthurs knights. According to the Post-Vulgate Cycle, his two sisters
married Lac and Dirac, the father and uncle of Sir Erec.
Pelles was aware of various prophecies that Galahad, the yet-conceived son of Lancelot and
Elaine, would complete the Grail Quest and restore the land of Listenois. Thus, he conspired with
Brisen, Elaines maidservant, to get Lancelot into Elaines bed. When Lancelot was visiting Corbenic, Pelles drugged his wine and told him that Guinevere was waiting for him at Case Castle.
Lancelot rode there, climbed into Elaines bed and, believing he was with Guinevere, fathered
Galahad. Some years later, Lancelot went insane and eventually found his way to Corbenic. Pelles
took him to the Palace of Adventures, where the Grail was kept, and cured him. At the culmination of the Grail Quest, Pelles received Galahad, Perceval, and Bors in his castle, presented them
with the Grail, and led Galahad to heal the Maimed King.
Malory confuses matters by attaching to Pelles a story given in the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal to
Pellehan: As a youth, Pelles came across a ship that had been built by King Solomon of Israel.
Aboard the ship, he tried to draw the Sword with the Strange Hangings, which was meant only for
Galahad, and he received a holy wound through his thighs, rendering him inrm. Thus, in Malory, Pelles also may be identied with the Maimed King.
Neither the Vulgate stories nor Malory describe Pelless death. In Perlesvaus, he is slain by Aristor
of Amorave, an evil knight who is later killed by Perceval. [Perlesvaus, LancLac, VulgLanc, VulgQuest,
PostMer, PostQuest, Malory2]
Pellinore
A king of Listenois, Wales, or the Isles rst mentioned in the Vulgate Merlin and the Livre
dArtus as the Maimed King, who was wounded by a holy lance after he doubted the wonders of
the Grail, and who would only be healed at the conclusion of the Grail Quest. He was the son of
Pellehan and the brother of Pelles (the Fisher King), although all three kings were probably originally the same character. R. S. Loomis thought that the origin of his name was Beli Mawr (Beli
the Great), a character in Welsh mythology.
The Vulgate Merlin says that Pellinore had twelve sons and a second brother named Alain. The
Post-Vulgate romances expand and change his role. Pellinores father, Pellehan, becomes the
Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal, Vulgate Estoire del Saint Graal, Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin, Sir Thomas Malory Le Morte Darthur
Perlesvaus, Lancelot do Lac, Vulgate Lancelot, Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal, Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin, Post-Vulgate Queste
del Saint Graal, Sir Thomas Malory Le Morte Darthur
1
2

Maimed King, and Pellinore is given a number of adventures at Arthurs court. He is also named
in the Post-Vulgate as the father of Perceval, Lamorat (who is his brother in Palamedes), Drian,
Aglovale, and Torve noted Knights of the Round Table. In Palamedes, he has a sister called the
Lady of the Island of Fairies. Malory says that he married the Queen of Flanders. Malory reproduces his adventures from the Post-Vulgate, but removes his association with the Grail family.
The Livre dArtus, in an apparent attempt to reconcile conicting traditions, actually includes two
characters named Pellinore. The are cousins. The rst is the father of Perceval and 16 other sons.
He was wounded in the manner described above and can only nd sport in shing. He is thus
both the Maimed King and the Fisher King. Fourteen of his sons were killed when King Agrippe
invaded the Waste Land, causing Pellinore to retire to the Castle of Marvels and to await his healing. The second Pellinore is the king of Listenois (the Waste Land) and Corbenic (the Grail Castle).
He has twelve sons. Like his cousin, he has been wounded, by the Bleeding Lance, and must await
healing from Galahad. The two Pellinores are destined to be healed on the same day. No source
beyond the Livre dArtus includes this duplication.
According to the Post-Vulgate Merlin continuation, Pellinore pursued the horrid and elusive
Questing Beast, giving him the nickname Knight with the Strange Beast. In his rst appearance,
Arthur challenges him for the right to pursue the Questing Beast (and for the injury of the young
Sir Giret). Pellinore wins the combat, but Merlin stops him from slaying Arthur. He later enters
Arthurs service. At the battle of Tarabel, he kills King Lot of Lothian, sparking a feud between his
sons and the sons of Lot (Gawain, Aggravain, Gaheris, and Mordred). Arthur promoted Pellinore
to the Round Table. In another adventure, Pellinore, intent on rescuing one maiden from Sir Hontzlake of Wentland, declined to help another, who later turned out to be Alyne, his own daughter
by the Lady of the Rule. She killed herself when she realized that Pellinore would not help her
avenge her slain lover. According to the French Palamedes, Pellinore conquered Wales and helped
Arthur quash a Saxon invasion.
In the traditional legend, Pellinore is slain by Gawain and his brothers in revenge for Lots death.
In the Italian Chantari di Lancelotto, however, he is alive at the end of Arthurs reign, and he helps
Lancelot defend Joyous Guard against Arthur. [VulgMer, Livre, ProsTris, Palamedes, PostMer, PostQuest, Chantari, Malory1]
En II, 14 (volet 41) un personnage mentionne King Pellam of Listinoise ; aucun moment ce titre nest
aussi clairement associ Pellinor. Un roi sans royaume ? Non, car dans le Tristan en prose, le royaume a
sa tte Pellinor, chez Malory Pellehan/Pellam.

Voir la mise au point de Franois Moss dans son introduction Lancelot

du Lac III : La Fausse Guenivre , Lettres gothiques, 1998.

Vulgate Merlin, Le Livre dArtus, Prose Tristan, Palamedes, Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin, Post-Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal, Li
Chantari di Lancelotto, Sir Thomas Malory Le Morte Darthur
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