Quest Depends On Damosel

(Conspiracy Nation, 11/19/05) -- "Since to your home a destined errant knight I come, announced by prophet sooth and old, doomed, doubtless, for achievement bold, I'll lightly front each high emprise for one kind glance of those bright eyes." [1]

To slay the dragon, the knight needs must be pure. This is foremost, above all else.

What is "pure"? Better to say what pure is not.

But our King did well at Acre.
And in spite of all the dishonour,

The broken standards, the broken lives,
The broken faith in one place or another,
There was something left that was more than the tales
Of old men on winter evenings.
Only the faith could have done what was good of it,
Whole faith of a few,
Part faith of many.
Not avarice, lechery, treachery,
Envy, sloth, gluttony, jealousy, pride:
It was not these that made the Crusades,
But these that unmade them. [2]

The knight seeks the Grail: unmatched purity. The Grail is within himself, but does not manifest until the proper maiden is beheld.

King Arthur was "first of all the kings who drew the knighthood-errant of this realm and all the realms together..." [3]

I made them lay their hands in mine and swear to reverence the king, as if he were their conscience, and their conscience as their king... [3]

The maiden, projection of the Grail, was of utmost importance. When found, the maiden was least expected.

Weird women we! by dale and down
We dwell, afar from tower and town.
We stem the flood, we ride the blast,
On wandering knights our spells we cast... [1]

It was through the maiden that the knight became invincible. The knight carried a token belonging to his lady into battle. This token reminded the knight of the spiritual, immensely more powerful than the physical. King Arthur is said to have stated, "...for indeed I knew of no more subtle master under heaven than is the maiden passion for a maid, not only to keep down the base in man, but teach high thought, and amiable words and courtliness, and the desire of fame, and love of truth, and all that makes a man." [3]

------- Notes -------
[1] Lady Of The Lake by Sir Walter Scott. 
[2] "Choruses From 'The Rock'". From The Complete Poems and Plays by T.S. Eliot
[3] Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson

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Conspiracy Nation
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