The convention of the guiding damsel, with its overtones of love between the guided and the guide, reappears here in idealized form: Percival and his friends are guided by Percival's sister, whose saintly love has nothing to do with
eros.
Experiences of Arthur's worldly court which helped to define his worldly code have echoes here and define a higher code. As Gawain mercilessly struck off the head of a lady who threw herself over her knight, Lionel strikes off the head of a holy man who throws himself over a knight to prevent a murder. As Pellanor sinned against the worldly code through the haste of his quest, Gawain sins against the higher code by haste: he cannot stop for counsel from a holy man. Parallels of this sort, though not necessarily schematic, are numerous.
The fundamental idea behind the Grail section is spelled out in the passage entitled "The Miracles." For all their loyalty to King Arthur, Launcelot and all worldly knights are guilty, finally, of "treason": the true king is Christ, and the true knightly code is not Arthur's, but God's — chastity (at best, virginity), charity and abstinence (as opposed to covetousness), and humility (as opposed to knightly pride).
