The Fisher King’s son, according to Welsh legend, was a blond-haired, gender fluid young man with witch-like powers who guided and mentored his cousin, Sir Peredur, in many of his adventures.

Peredur Reckless in Battle

The Fisher King’s Son (no personal name is ever given) first encountered Peredur in battle. The Fisher King, badly wounded by warrior witches years before, suggested that the youthful would-be knight skirmish with his son to see if he could draw blood. Peredur ended up wounding the Fisher King’s Son in one eye. The Fisher King made Peredur a knight of his realm, revealing for the first time that he was actually the lad’s uncle. As for the Fisher King’s son, he developed an ambivalent loyalty to the young man who’d bested him in battle. 

Shortly thereafter, the Fisher King’s son learned that his auburn-haired brother had been beheaded by nine gwiddonot, the warrior witches of Caer Loyw. These were the same witches who wounded his father and would later train Peredur in the ways of chivalry and war, never revealing what they had done to his cousin. With their expert training, Peredur became one of King Arthur’s knights.

The Fisher King’s son as witch

In the meantime, the Fisher King’s only surviving son must have pursued the acquisition of witch-like powers of his own. When he next appears in the narrative, he is appears to be a dark-skinned hag known only as the Black Maiden who considers Peredur with disdain but nonetheless guides him in learning important lessons. (The racial implications of black skin being associated with witchlike sorcery is a topic worthy of exploration but I could find nothing regarding it in academic literature.) In this guise, the woman had a crooked spine and her belly pointed upward, so high that it touched her chin. One of the Black Maiden’s eyes was greenish blue while the other was sunken in, dark as night, the only telltale sign of her true identity. The only reason the Fisher King’s blond-haired son son decides to assist in Peredur’s various adventures is that he had a vision that only Peredur would later be able to save his father’s kingdom.

So it was that, unbeknownst to Peredur, his blond-haired cousin was following him wherever he went. The knight never inquired about the strange portents that he saw, as the Fisher King had advised him never to ask about anything extraordinary he might encounter.

In the days that followed, the Black Maiden advised Peredur on where to find his enemies and how to dispatch them. Utilizing her advice, he successfully killed the dark men of Ysbidinongyl, a devouring deer and an aged knight with rusty antique armor. On one occasion, the Fisher King’s son appeared as a beautiful woman, similarly providing critical advice. Only after successfully completing these quests did Peredur’s cousin reveal himself, asking for the friendship of the knight. Armed with the knowledge that it was the witches of Kaer Loyw that were his real enemies, Peredur and the other knights of the Round Table succeeded in killing all nine witches and saving the Fisher King’s kingdom.

The Fisher King’s son and Loki: Kindred Spirits?

The Fisher King’s son had the ability to conjure portents and to change his sex. In this, he seems to have something in common with the Norse trickster Loki and other genderfluid northern European shamans. While it is not part of the legend, it is hard not to wonder if the Fisher King’s son developed an attraction to Peredur as well. There is no mention of whether Peredur returned his offer of friendship. In later English versions of Peredur’s adventures he came to be known as Percival.

Mark Carlson-Ghost

References

The featured art of the Fisher King is courtesy of Raine Szramski who specializes in fantasy art and renderings of Dr. Who characters. A link to his facebook page is here. The blond-haired youth was not originally intended to be the Fisher King’s son, but as there is no extant rendition of him, with his blond hair this youth–prior to the injury to his eye–is as close as I could come.

Goodrich, Norma Lorre (1961). The Medieval Myths. New York: Penguin Publishing, pp. 59-61, 64, 72-76.

Jones, Gwyn & Jones, Thomas, trans. (1993). The Mabinogion. London: Everyman, pp. 152-188.