Perceval's Sister

Character Name Variants: Percival's SisterBackground Essay Author: Alan Lupack

In the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal, Perceval’s Sister leads Galahad to Solomon’s ship. From her own hair and from gold and silk, she makes a belt for the sword that Solomon left for Galahad. After agreeing to give her blood to cure a leprous woman even though she knows she will die as a result, Perceval’s sister asks to be buried in the city of Sarras because that is where Galahad will be buried. Malory gives a similar account. In Tennyson’s Holy Grail idyll, Percivale’s sister has the "vision"—probably a delusion—that begins the quest for the Holy Grail.

Bibliography

Schichtman, Martin B. "Percival's Sister: Genealogy, Virginity, and Blood." Arthuriana 9.2 (1999): 11-20.

Thornton, Ginger, and Krista May. "Malory as Feminist? The Role of Percival's Sister in the Grail Quest." In Malory: Views and Re-Views. Ed. D. Thomas Hanks, Jr. New York: AMS, 1992. Pp. 43-53.

Traxler, Janina P. "Dying to Get to Sarras: Perceval’s Sister and the Grail Quest." In The Grail: A Casebook. Ed. Dhira B. Mahoney. New York: Garland, 2000. Pp. 261-78.