How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
And Merlin call’d it ‘the Siege Perilous,’
Perilous for good and ill; ‘for there,’ he said,
‘No man could sit but he should lose himself:’
And once by misadvertence Merlin sat
In his own chair, and so was lost; but he,
Galahad, when he heard of Merlin’s doom,
Cried, ‘If I lose myself, I save myself!’
(“The Holy Grail,” 172-178)
Here Galahad expresses the principle by which he lives: “If I lose myself, I save myself.” This maxim is a paradox that expresses the heart of Christian mystical belief: the soul must entirely give up its attachments and individuality in order to be perfectly united with God. Galahad must be willing to “lose himself” to gain salvation.
Quote #5
>[…] ‘My God, the power
Was once in vows when men believed the King!
They lied not then who sware, and thro’ their vows
The King prevailing made his realm.’
(“The Last Tournament,” 643-646)
Isolt precisely expresses the reason faith in Arthur is essential to the continuation of his realm. When men “believe” the king, or hold him true, their vows are true. He serves, in other words, as a guarantor of the truth of all men.
Quote #6
[…] ‘The vows!
O, ay—the wholesome madness of an hour—
They served their use, their time; for every knight
Believed himself a greater than himself,
And every follower eyed him as a God;
Till he, being lifted up beyond himself,
Did mightier deeds than elsewise he had done,
And so the realm was made.’
(“The Last Tournament,” 669-676)
In response to Isolt, Tristram gives his “theory” of how Arthur’s kingship worked, stating that the vows with which Arthur bound his men to him somehow elevated him to the level of a God, enabling him to do godly deeds. But who is it that believes “himself a greater than himself”? Is it Arthur or his knights? Arthur believes his knights’ vows makes them better versions of themselves, so both meanings of “himself” are possible in this passage, although Tristram would probably beg to differ.