As you may know, behind Aeternum is a small business based in Brittany (in southern Finistère, to be precise). And it is well known that this region lives to the rhythm of legends, myths, and magical practices that are more or less well known. So, to shed light on our beautiful region, we will regularly publish little-known legends from Breton history. This week, let us take our place at the Round Table.
When King Arthur was crowned, the lords of Brittany were divided. Each wanted his due, his share of the kingdom, his preeminence. To put an end to disputes over precedence, Arthur received a precious gift from his enchanter, Merlin: a round table.
This table had no head. No guest sat higher than another. All those who took their place there were equal: neither first nor last. Merlin said that this table came from an ancient tradition, passed down by Joseph of Arimathea when he brought the Grail to Breton lands. It was offered to Uther Pendragon, Arthur’s father, and then entrusted to a loyal lord, King Leodegrance of Cameliard. When Arthur married Guinevere, Leodegrance’s daughter, the Round Table became a wedding gift.
Arthur gathered around this table the kingdom’s bravest knights: Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval, Yvain, Bors, Galahad, and many others. Each had sworn an oath of loyalty, courage, justice, and protection of the weak. But more than a circle of war, the Round Table became a circle of quest.
For soon, a vision appeared: that of the Holy Grail, emerging in a heavenly light, covered by a veil. The knights understood that their mission went beyond mere battles. They had to seek this sacred vessel, a symbol of the divine and a bearer of healing and truth.
But not all returned. Some died, while others were lost in the woods of wandering or in the traps of sin. Only the purest were able to glimpse the Grail: Perceval, Bors, and above all Galahad, Lancelot’s son, a knight without blemish or flaw.
Over time, the Round Table lost its knights. The betrayals, forbidden loves, and fall of Camelot brought an end to the ideal it represented. But the legend remains: a circle where everyone is equal to everyone else, devoted not to personal glory, but to a quest greater than oneself.
Par Olivier of Aeternum
Passionate about esoteric traditions and the history of the occult from the earliest civilizations to the 18th century, I share some articles on these topics. I am also co-creator of the online esoteric shop Aeternum.
