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• Married to the landwhat happens to the King happens to the land and its people
– If the King suffers, the land suffers
– If the King heals, the land prospers
• Depending on the author’s goal, some texts highlight the king aspect and some texts highlight the fisher aspect.
• Note: More than one fisher king is possible in a single text/work
The Fisher King
The Fisher • Fisherman:
– Spiritual aspect – The fish as Christian
symbol—spiritual wealth, heavenly kingdom, fisher of men
– Healer heals the kingdom
The Wound – causes terrible pain / agony – renders the King impotent or
sterile, incapable of leading his people and
– serves as a reminder of greed or misguided priorities and contributes to the infertility of the land, hindering the progress of his people or culture.
The Wasteland • Sterility of the king reflected in the land
– The sterile king espoused to the land results in a barren land.
• A “dead” land, filled with suffering and despair.
Ypres, Belgium, March 1919
The Red Knight • The obstacle to
healing • Symbolizes
danger in the form of repressed emotions (anger, fear, loss, grief, etc.)
Helper • May be
– young and naïve—a metaphorical fool – an actual “fool” in some texts – a knight that saves the king and the land
The Abode
• A castle in traditional texts
• Often made of gray stone
• Place associated with the grail
The Hallows
• Spear: double-edged; both wounds and heals • Sword: destroys; may be broken/re-forged;
associated with the masculine • Platter: assumes many different forms: a stone,
platen, table, dish (with severed head upon it) • Grail: a cup that holds healing powers;
associated with the feminine
The Grail • Associated with
immortality • Prize that must be
possessed to restore fertility or order
• Tolkien suggests this is not possible dystopian LotR not a Grail Quest, but an anti-Quest.
Indulgence and Redemption • Indulgence
– Often represented by hedonistic partying where food and/or wine are consumed to excess
• avoid responsibilities by indulging
• Redemption – Healing of the wound and restoration of the
kingdom • a brighter future
Modern Incarnations • The Fisher King: CEO, president, famous
person)
• The Wasteland: – a metaphor for modern apathy
– a symbol of social and moral decay
– A symbol of the psychological wounding of a culture (ex., the Lost Generation).