The Fisher King and Maimed King

You may have wondered who this Fisher King is. The Fisher King appeared in the first Grail story by Chretien de Troyes. He was the uncle of Perceval (actually the brother of Perceval's mother). The king was never given a name, except that Perceval later learned of his title as the Fisher King.

Perceval stayed overnight at the Grail Castle where he witnessed the procession of the Grail and the Bleeding Lance.

In the morning, Perceval found that the castle appeared deserted. The moment Perceval left the castle, the gate closed behind him. No matter how much he demanded and cursed that they open the gates, the gates would not open for him, so the hero left.

He then met a damsel who was Perceval's cousin, not far from the castle. The damsel told him that the Fisher King was wounded through both thighs by a javelin, during a battle. The Fisher King became a cripple, spending most of his time fishing. (See the Grail Castle.)

In this case, the Fisher King was the Maimed King. In other versions about the Grail (due to the fact that Chretien never completed Le Conte du Graal), other authors used their own interpretations, and sometimes distinguished the Fisher King as a separate person from that of the Maimed King. At other times, there was probably more than one Fisher King or Maimed King, which can be really confusing sometimes.

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From Robert de Boron's work, called Joseph d'Arimathie (Estoire del Saint Graal) and the Didot Perceval (from an unknown author), the Fisher King was Bron, the brother-in-law of Joseph of Arimathea, who brought the Grail to Britain, forty-two years after Christ's Resurrection. Bron was known as the Rich Fisher because he had prepared the fish for supper at the Grail Table (table of Joseph of Arimathea, not the Round Table).

Bron married Joseph's sister Enygeus, and they had twelve sons. It was Alain le Gros, the youngest son of Bron, who became known as the Fisher King. In most cases, Alain became Bron's successor as the Keeper of the Grail. It was Bron's grandson who was destined to sit on the Siege Perilous, the seat of the true Grail hero. This grandson was Perceval.

At the end of Perceval's quest, he became Bron's successor and the last Keeper of the Grail. When Perceval died, he vanished along with the spear and the Grail.

See Didot Perceval.

Bron was identified with Bran the Blessed, the king of Britain in the Welsh myth titled Daughter of Llyr (Mabinogion). The Fisher King or Maimed King probably originated with the story of Bran, who was sometimes called the "Pierced Thighs". The tale has the magical Cauldron of Rebirth which resurrects those who had died, but they were dumb because they no longer had the ability to use their tongue to speak. So the similarity of this tale with the later Grail story is that the Cauldron was sort of like the Grail, and whenever the Grail appeared in the room, everyone was silenced as if they were struck dumb.

See Daughter of Llyr for the story of Bran and the Cauldron of Rebirth.

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In the Vulgate Cycle, the romances introduced a new family to be contemporary with King Arthur. King Pelles of Listenois was the Fisher King and the keeper of the grail, at the time of Arthur's reign and the Grail quest.

Pelles' grandfather was King Lambar; a king who was killed in the war against the neighbouring King Varlan. Varlan was losing the battle against Lambar, so Varlan fled and found the magic ship. There he found a Sword with the Strange Belt on the bed. With the new sword, Varlan attacked and killed Lambar. The blow to King Lambar also destroyed many people and laid waste to their two kingdoms. These two barren kingdoms became known as the Waste Land. Varlan returned to the ship to retrieve the scabbard, since he wanted to keep the sword. No sooner than he sheathed the sword, but King Varlan fell dead. He was struck down by the sword, apparently as punishment for using the sword against his pious foe (Lambar).

Pelles' father, King Parlan (Pellam) also found the ship and the Sword with the Strange Belt. Parlan only drew the blade by a handbreadth when a flying lance pierced his thighs. Parlan became known as the Maimed King, whom Galahad would later heal at the end of the Quest.

It was Perceval's sister who recalled this family history of the Fisher King to Galahad and his companions. See Aboard the Ship in the Quest of the Holy Grail (Galahad's Tradition).

See the Sword with the Strange Belt, for the prophecy about the sword.

In Perlesvaus or The High History of the Holy Grail, Pelles appeared as a king, but he was not the Fisher King. Pelles was the King of the Lower Folk. The Fisher King and King of Castle Mortal were his brothers. His sister Yglais was the mother of Perceval and Dindrane (Dindraine). Alain le Gros was Yglais' husband and the father of Perceval. Alain was the son of Garis le Gros and the grandson of Nicodemus (Nichodemus). (See House of Perceval).

The name of Pelles originally appeared as Perceval's maternal uncle who was a hermit, instead of the Fisher King (however, not in Chretien's story).

The origin of the Grail family of King Pelles goes back further in time. During the time of Joseph of Arimathea, Josephus, Joseph's son, became the Keeper of the Grail, and he befriended King Mordrain and Nascien. Before Josephus died, he left the Grail in the care of Alan the Fat (Alain). Alan the Fat used the Grail to cure King Calafes of the Land Beyond. Calafes changed his name to Alphasan when he was baptised.

In return for this miracle, King Alphasan (Calafes) had his daughter married to Joshua, Alan's youngest brother. Alphasan also made Joshua his heir, building a new castle for Joshua which was called Corbenic, meaning "Holy Vessel". It was this castle which would house the Grail. Joshua and his descendants would rule in the Land Beyond, from Corbenic Castle, until the time of King Pelles, the last Grail king of Corbenic. Pelles was a direct descendant of Joshua.

Alphasan died because he slept in the same chamber as the Grail. An angel wounded Alphasan with the spear. After this incident, this part of the castle was known as the Palace of Adventures. Anyone attempting to sleep in this palace would also die from the burning lance.

Only Gawain managed to survive from the wound he received from the angel because Elaine, Pelles' daughter, healed him with the Grail. See Gawain at Corbenic in the Lancelot's page.

Through trickery, Elaine slept with Lancelot so that she became the mother of the true Grail knight, Galahad. See Lancelot and Elaine on Lancelot's page.

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This story is different from the one told in the Post Vulgate Cycle known as the Suite du Merlin (c. 1240) and Sir Thomas Malory, in Le Morte d'Arthur.

It was Balin de Savage (Knight of Two Swords), who would use the spear (Bleeding Lance) to wound King Pellam (Parlan or Pellehan), the father of King Pelles. The blow to Pellam was known as the Dolorous Stroke. The spear pierced his thighs, which crippled the king. Thereafter Pellam was known as the Maimed King.

The Dolorous Stroke killed many people in the castle and laid waste to three kingdoms [Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II chapter 15] which then became known as the Waste Land. A great enchantment fell upon the kingdom of Logres.

The land remained barren until Galahad healed Pellam (the Maimed King) and completed the quest. The enchantment upon Logres would also be broken when Galahad healed the king. See Knight with Two Swords in the Legend of Excalibur about Balin and the Dolorous Stroke.

Pelles was also the Maimed King, when he found the magic sword and wounded himself [Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XVII chapter 5].

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The story though is connected with the theme that though the Grail came from God or at least from the Last Supper, it had many of the pagan motifs from Celtic myths. For instance, when the king become wounded or crippled, the land would fall into enchantment, causing the land to become a barren Waste Land. Only by healing the king would fertility be restored to the land. This was a common theme of Celtic myths.

When a man became king, he was considered to be wedded to the land. Especially when a king married a goddess. The land and his queen became one. In the Irish myths, King Ailill of Connacht was not only wedded to Queen Medb (Maeve) by marrying a queen with godlike qualities, Alill was also wedded to the land. Similarly, the Irish god Dagda would have sex with Morrigan at least once every year, on the night of Samhain-eve. This copulation with the goddess was to ensure that the prosperity (fertility) of Ireland was renewed each year. Samhain was a Celtic festival that marked the end of summer.

Arthur was the same way, when he married Guinevere. In some Welsh legends, Guinevere was a goddess or personification of Britain. Arthur was not only wedded to the queen, he became wedded to the land. As much as Arthur represented the kingdom of Logres or Britain, Guinevere was identified with the land.

In later legends, Arthur received the Round Table from Guinevere's father as part of a dowry or a wedding gift. In a way, Guinevere was the Round Table. Arthur's strength came from the Knights of the Round Table. When Guinevere was about to be executed without a trial, the Round Table was split into two factions – Gawain's and Lancelot's. The circle of the Round Table was broken (figuratively speaking, of course; the table was not physically broken).

In the case with the Fisher King, the health and virility of the king were tied to the land. If he were debilitated, then the land would suffer from drought and famine.

Pelles resided in Corbenic, the Grail Castle, with his family. Pelles had a son named Elyzer and a beautiful daughter named Elaine.

Elaine duped Lancelot into thinking that he was sleeping with Queen Guinevere. From their union, Galahad was born. Galahad was destined to be the hero of the Quest. It would be Galahad who healed his great-grandfather, Parlan (Pellam).

There was one story written by the monks of Glastonbury (1200-1210) called Le Haut Livre du Graal or Perlesvaus, where Perceval failed in his quest because the Fisher King died before he could be healed. The Grail vanished with Fisher King's death. Perceval's quest changed to a search for a gold circlet, instead of the Grail.