Page:The Mythology of the Aryan Nations.djvu/391

Rh Amaltheia, or any other of the oval vessels which can be traced back CHAP, to the emblem of the Hindu Sacti. We should be prepared, therefore, to find in the man}' forms assumed by the Arthurian myth some traces of its connexion with the symbol of the fecundating power in nature; nor is this expectation disappointed. The symbol of the sun has already appeared as a lance, spear, or trident in the myths of Abaris and Poseidon ; and in this form it is seen again in the story of the Holy Grail, when Sir Galahad is to depart with it from the Logrian land. As with his comrades he sups in the palace of King Pelles, he sees a great light, in which he beheld four angels supporting an aged man clad in pontifical garb, whom they placed before a table on which lay the Sangreal. "This aged prelate was Joseph of Arimathcea, 'the first bishop of Christendom.' Then the other angels appeared bearing candles and a spear, from which fell drops of blood, and these drops were collected by angels in a box. Then the angels set the candles upon the table, and ' the fourth set the holy speare even upright upon the vessel,' as represented on an ancient churchyard crucifix, in rude sculpture, at Sancreed in Corn- wall."^ This mysterious spear is constantly seen throughout the legend. When Sir Bors had seen the Sangreal in the house of Pelles, he was led into a fair chamber, where he laid himself in full armour on the bed. " And right as he saw come in a light that he might wel see a speare great and long which come straight upon him point- long."^ Indeed the whole myth exhibits that unconscious repetition and reproduction of the same forms and incidents which is the special characteristic of the Greek dynastic legends. Perceval, in the episode of Pecheur, the Fisher-king, answers to Sir Galahad in the quest of the Sangreal. In both cases the work can be done only by a pure- minded knight, and Perceval as well as Galahad goes in search of a goblet, which has been stolen from the king's table. The sick king, whom he finds lying on his couch, has been wounded while trying to mend a sword broken by his enemy Pertinax, and Perceval alone can make it sound, as Theseus only can recover the sword and sandals of his father Aigeus. The title of the Fisher-king suggests a comparison with that of Bheki in the Hindu legend and the Frog- prince of the German story. The latter denotes the sun as it rests upon the water; and as Bheki cannot reappear in her former beauty until the night is spent, so the Fisher-king cannot regain his health until Pertinax has been slain. He is avenged by Perceval, who bears away the holy vessel and the bleeding lance as the reward of his

' Mr. Gould, from whom these words emblem. — Curious Myths, ii. 348. are quoted, gives a drawing of this ' Morte (TArihure. Gould, ;'/'. 340.