(3.7) “Galahad and the Grail” – The Wasteland, Section 3
(3.7) “Galahad and the Grail” – The Wasteland, Section 3.
Book Three: “The Achievement of the Grail“ (by “book” is meant a large section in this installment of Guite’s Arthuriad).
Stave Seven: “The Wasteland” (a “stave” is an old-fashioned term for the stanza of a poem, a verse in a song, or a chapter in a long story; this chapter has three sections: Galahad and Gawain; Into the Wasteland; and Three Trials).
“The King Arthur mythical tales echo something real about sin, redemption, and the hope that was broken in us and in the world that can be made whole again.” (Malcolm Guite).
What is a ‘Wasteland’ in the King Arthur legends? The Wasteland was a stretch of land that was haunted by a curse, a bewitched place where creation was broken, not functioning as the Creator intended. The Wasteland is a place where creation is groaning and yearning to be healed. Dr. Guite describes the Wasteland this way in this chapter of his book… “A cursed place full of horrors, dried up springs, madness everywhere, without hope, love or grace;” “A wasted land where every field lay grey and barren, all unhealed;” “There was scarce a blade of grass, where noxious fumes choked its travelers;” “Where there were withered and leafless trees with hollow trunks;” Where sterile silence reigns and without birdsongs;” “A Kingdom of the Dead, as though kind nature left her throne, and for the kinship once we’d known left nothing but a heap of stone and left us all, all alone in dreariness and dread;” “Where all is silent and bleak, and cannot tell the living from the dead;” “It seemed the sun shrunk to a disc around which dark grey fog swirled.” So the Wasteland was a place of lifeless devastation, a desolate region in which nothing was green or growing. The Wasteland was a mirror opposite of Shalom, which is a place where there is flourishing, completeness and wholeness, a land where there is natural harmony, fulfillment, health, and abundant well-being; a place that enjoys the vitality needed to thrive and flourish; a land of tranquility, freedom from disquiet and disorder, reconciliation, and integrity where everything functions together as it should.
Section 2: Three Trials:
The First Trial: The Demon. So the three Knights of the Grail set off once again, and the dark fog continued to make their journey difficult. The horses were plodding along in good spirits, even though the knights’ sense of dread returned in the midst of the murky air. Suddenly some flickering lights were near them, almost like evil spirits were burning in the air just out of reach. And then in full view ahead there was a strange flame in the form of an eyeless face that sneered at them, and a hollow voice claimed that they were hell-bent sinners and it’s too late for them to escape judgment. Galahad light-heartedly told this apparition that its words were wasted on them, since they were forgiven by the Lord and were students of His good Word. Galahad went on to say that their path had been restored by Oak, Ash and Thorn. This apparent demon then warned the knights that it would run them through with his spear, and his fiery archers will pierce them with their flaming arrows.
The Oaken Shield. At this point, Galahad asked Bors to produce the oak leaf, and sure enough the fiery darts flew past them, heating the very air they breathed. Bors’ leafy branch had transformed into an oaken shield. The three Knights continued holding up the shield while they stood well-protected behind it. Eventually they discovered that the oaken shield had deflected every demonic arrow, and the shield shrunk to a branch in Bors’ hand once again.
The Second Trial: A Demon Queen. As they rode onward, the fog began to clear, even though the land surrounding them remained barren. Percivale sensed an evil spirit, and at once another demonic presence fell near them, this time in the form of a fair queen. This evil spirit had flaming red hair, a crown of ice, and a stern, cruel expression that demanded their attention. She wore chain-linked mail covering over her breasts, and held an evil whip with a deadly stinger at the end. This spirit shouted at them, “Stop now, or I will freeze your blood! I am the Queen of the Wasteland, and every knight I’ve ever seen has loved, despaired, and died.” The demon queen then turned her attention to Percivale, and accused him of lust, not love, and that his fire of lust will never be quenched. Percivale was shaken at these words, but then he smelled the Heaven-sent fragrance of the Thorn blossoms, and rebuked the demonic spirit of lust, speaking to her of the true love as sign of a better day when there will be love everywhere, filling everything in Heaven’s eternity. Then Percivale held up the Hawthorne blossom, and told the demon that he will keep forever that flower of love, and will always wield the Thorn. At that moment a sharp thorn grew into a great spear that Perivale thrust into the evil apparition. The demon spirit immediately dwindled to nothing and disappeared.
The Third Trial: The Doors of Dread. As night approached, the three Knights saw a dark castle tower ahead with the gates flung wide open. Above the gates these words were engraved on the blackened stone: “Through me the world will pass at last, through doors of dread to fire and frost. Abandon hope from first to last who pass beneath this stone.” Percivale was dismayed, but Galahad felt the courage to repeat the parting words from Ash about this path running through the “doors of dread.” So all three of them agreed to dismount and lead their horses through the gates into a darkened hall. Suddenly the huge gates clanged shut and they were in the deepest darkness imaginable. They then heard a voice that spoke of their hopeless predicament, that they were doomed to die in that place like so many others. Galahad took in hand the Ash tree seed, at which time the seed grew wings, flew circles in the air, all the time revealing its beautiful light. As the winged seed dropped to the ground, it became a key that would not unlock the magic gate. After many hours of quiet despair, and following Galahad’s unusual loss of courage, Sir Bors remembered that their road runs “through” the door of dread, not “back” through them again. So Galahad took the golden key that had its own light, and they slowly moved into the other parts of the mysterious castle through the fearful darkness. They began to walk upon the broken armor and dried bones of others who had perished before them, crackling with every step. Finally they glimpsed the dimly lighted outline of an old oak door. And through the door’s keyhole came fresh air and daylight. Even as the demonic voice continued to mock them, they prayerfully turned the key and pushed the door open into freedom. And they were met with joys of blinding sunlight.
The Trees Offer their Parting Words. The narrow door was just wide enough for each knight to squeeze through with his horse, and then they heard the blessings and warnings of the three Trees: “Farewell, you three good knights, the friends of Oak and Ash and Thorn. You crossed the Wasteland and are blessed. Our healing waits on your success. But with this warning, ride in quest: If someday men forget again to treat the woods and streams as friends and share in equal courtesy, in woven mutuality, our spirit will withdraw and flee – the Wasteland will return. So tell this tale all down the years, and let your children learn that woods and streams and earth and air are kin and friends and fellow heirs, not slaves or tools, and let them share God’s bounty and be thankful there for Oak and Ash and Thorn. Now ride, good friends, into the light. Ride on! Fulfill hour quest. And by the fields and streams and trees be loved and always blest.”
The three Knights of the Holy Grail rode onward into green grass and rich valleys, until they witnessed the great joy before them of the Castle of the Grail. Galahad remembered it well… its lighted towers and shining turrets, its delightful playgrounds, the fluttering banners, and the glittering sea beyond its marble walls. “At last! At last!” cried Galahd… “Dear friends who with me roam, at last, after so many trials – tested by demons’ evil wiles, after so many weary miles – At last I can come home!”