The Forest Adventurous (Audio: Lecture I.6.5)

Description

We left our two heroes, Percival and Gawain, on their quest, and we now come to the story of the resolutions…. Percival has been wandering for some five years on his steed through this area where he found the Grail castle [but is] now unable to find it. This is the forest adventurous… where we meet our adventures when we are ready for them. The adventure that we meet is the one for which we are ready. —Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell concludes the story of Percival’s exploits. Plagued with doubt, beset with travail, and tormented by temptation, he wanders the wilderness for five years, steadfastly pursuing his quest for the Holy Grail. It is in the forest adventurous, Campbell reminds us, that we meet our adventures when we are ready for them. Our Grail hero is at last united with his brother, succeeds in his quest by virtue of his noble character, and becomes the Grail King. Campbell continues his investigation of the Grail Legend by exploring a central theme, that of the Waste Land, the place where everybody is living an inauthentic life.