Silver

1. Silver Leg, Man with the

   As the Ferryman of Canguin led Gawaine into the castle proper, they passed a one-legged man sitting on a bunch of rushes (Owen's translation) or gladioli (Cline's) at the foot of the stairs. His missing limb had been replaced with one either made of or coated with silver, decorated with bands of gold and jewels.

   He sat silently whittling on an ashwood stick. After passing him, the ferryman told Gawaine that this one-legged man enjoyed a rich income from his various great properties, and that Gawaine would have heard some disturbing things had the ferryman not been present when they encountered him.

   This curious silver-legged man plays no further role in what Chrétien left us, but he has clearly provided delightful fodder for Chrétien scholars. Is he an otherwordly figure? The shadow of an old Pagan god? Does his missing leg somehow connect him with the maimed Fisher King? Might some old scribal error or mistranslation even have transferred the silver, gold, and jewels to his artificial leg from a chessboard he originally had?

   
   

2. Silver Pipe, Fountain of the

   When Sir Accolon of Gaul awoke after going to sleep on an enchanted ship

   he found himself by a deep well-side, within a half a foot, in great peril of death. And there came out of that fountain a pipe of silver, and out of that ... ran water all on high in a stone of marble.

   From this fountain a dwarf of Morgan's brought Accolon to Sir Ontzlake's manor by a priory, where Morgan prepared the knight for fighting Arthur.

   This fountain, which was apparently near Sir Damas' castle and Ontzlake's manor, seems to have been a "fountain" as we modern think of fountains, rather than a plain brook or spring in the woodland or elsewhere, which is probably the more common meaning of the word "fountain" in the language of Malory's time.

   Turquine's Hill had a fountain suspiciously similar to the one described above. This leads me to belive that the two sits were probably the same, at Cadbury.

   
   

3. Silver Shields, Three

   Three shields sent to Lancelot. [More]

   
   

4. Silver Table
   La Table d'Argent

   In Carbonek, the Grail rested on a silver table. Sometimes it also traveled on this table.