I not less on earth.’
[130] One of the most explicit instances occurs in the Graal series, in the Queste, when Perceval is informed that the Castle of Maidens is Hell, and the captives therein are the souls that await Christ’s coming; the seven knights that defend the castle being the seven deadly sins (Nutt, Studies, etc., p. 41).
[131] Edited and translated by Mr. W. Stokes in Rev. Celtique, ix.-x., from a version contained in the L.U., parts being completed from later versions. Cf. Voyage of Bran, i. 162-3.
Pars in gramineis exercent membra palaestris;
Contendunt ludo, et fulva luctantur arena, etc.
Virg., Æn., vi. 642-3.
[133] Odyssey, ix. 481 sqq.
[134] David Fitzgerald, ‘Popular Tales of Ireland,’ Rev. Celtique, iv. 189 sqq.
[135] The root conception belongs to the common stock of Celtic tradition. We shall see more of the fiery rampart later on; for the revolving wall, cp. the castle in the Welsh story of Peredur, which spun round faster than the winds.