| Fisher King | |
|---|---|
 Sir Balin stabs Pellam in the "Dolorous Stroke" in Lancelot Speed's illustration for James Knowles's The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights (1912) | |
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Other Names |
Bron, Pelles, Pellam, Pellehan |
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First Appearance |
Perceval, the Story of the Grail (12th Century) |
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Created by |
Chrétien de Troyes |
Origin[]
The Fisher King is a figure in Arthurian legend, the last in a long line of British kings tasked with guarding the Holy Grail. The Fisher King is both the protector and physical embodiment of his lands, but a wound renders him impotent and his kingdom barren. Unable to walk or ride a horse, he is sometimes depicted as spending his time fishing while he awaits a "chosen one" who can heal him. Versions of the story vary widely, but the Fisher King is typically depicted as being wounded in the groin, legs, or thigh. The healing of these wounds always depends upon the completion of a hero-knight's task.
Most versions of the story contain the Holy Grail and the Lance of Longinus as plot elements. In some versions, a third character is introduced; this individual, unlike the hero-knight archetype, is ignorant of the King's power, but has the ability to save the king and land, or to doom it. Variations of this third party produce divergent legends.
The Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) prose cycle includes a more elaborate history of the Fisher King. Many in his line are wounded for their failings, and the only two that survived to Arthur's day are the Wounded King, named Pellehan (Pellam of Listeneise in Malory), and the Fisher King, Pelles. Pelles engineers the birth of Galahad by tricking Lancelot into bed with his daughter Elaine, and it is prophesied that Galahad will achieve the Grail and heal the Wasteland and the Maimed King. Galahad is conceived when Elaine gets Dame Brisen to use magic to trick Lancelot into thinking that he is coming to visit Guinevere. So Lancelot sleeps with Elaine, thinking her Guinevere, but flees when he realizes what he has done. Galahad is raised by his aunt in a convent, and when he is eighteen, comes to King Arthur's court and begins the Grail Quest. Only he, Percival, and Bors are virtuous enough to achieve the Grail and restore Pelles.
In the Post-Vulgate cycle and Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, the Fisher King's wound was given to him by Sir Balin in the "Dolorous Stroke", when Balin grabs a spear and stabs Pellam in self-defense. However, the spear is the Spear of Longinus, the lance that pierced Christ's side, and Pellam and his land must suffer for its misuse until the coming of Galahad. The Dolorous Stroke is typically represented as divine vengeance for a sin on the part of its recipient. The nature of Pellam's sin is not stated explicitly, though he at least tolerates his murderous brother Garlon, who slays knights while under cover of invisibility, apparently at random.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of the Fisher King from before January 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Perceval, the Story of the Grail (12th Century)
- Chrétien's Li Contes del Graal
- Perceval, ou Le Conte du Graal (c. 1160–1180)
- Wauchier de Denain's First Continuation (c. 1180–1200)
- Robert de Boron's Didot-Perceval (c. 1191–1202)
- Peredur son of Efrawg (c. 1200)
- Perlesvaus (c. 1200)
- Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival (c. 1217)
- Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur (c. 1400)