The Fisher King
Great Britain- fisher king
The story of the Fisher King is not necessarily the story of one particular king and is often tied into the quest for the Holy Grail. The theme usually involves a kingdom in the throes of a serious problem—sometimes it’s a financial problem, sometimes the land is too barren to grow crops, and sometimes a disease has ravaged the people of the land. The king himself, in these legends, is also ill or weakened and it is suggested that the two problems are inextricably intertwined. The king hardly has the power to fix the problem himself, but is instead stuck waiting for a knight in shining armor to come to the rescue. The knight may find some relic—such as a grail—and use that to fix the problem, or he may need to discuss something with the king in just the right way. This theme has been used heavily in Arthurian legend. In some forms of the tale, King Arthur didn’t really want his knights running off on a quest to find the Grail because he believed that sending your knights far away from the kingdom they need to defend is generally a bad idea. However, due to being afflicted by the Fisher King malady, he sends them off with his blessing to find the cure and thus save all those who depend on him. But although it’s used widely in Arthurian legend, the tale of the Fisher King is not unique to those stories and could just be an allegory for government in general. If the government is not well, the people will not be either, and vice versa.
Great Britain- fisher king
The story of the Fisher King is not necessarily the story of one particular king and is often tied into the quest for the Holy Grail. The theme usually involves a kingdom in the throes of a serious problem—sometimes it’s a financial problem, sometimes the land is too barren to grow crops, and sometimes a disease has ravaged the people of the land. The king himself, in these legends, is also ill or weakened and it is suggested that the two problems are inextricably intertwined. The king hardly has the power to fix the problem himself, but is instead stuck waiting for a knight in shining armor to come to the rescue. The knight may find some relic—such as a grail—and use that to fix the problem, or he may need to discuss something with the king in just the right way. This theme has been used heavily in Arthurian legend. In some forms of the tale, King Arthur didn’t really want his knights running off on a quest to find the Grail because he believed that sending your knights far away from the kingdom they need to defend is generally a bad idea. However, due to being afflicted by the Fisher King malady, he sends them off with his blessing to find the cure and thus save all those who depend on him. But although it’s used widely in Arthurian legend, the tale of the Fisher King is not unique to those stories and could just be an allegory for government in general. If the government is not well, the people will not be either, and vice versa.
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