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.
