Dolorous Stroke

The Dolorous Stroke is a trope in Arthurian legend and some other stories of Celtic origin.

In its fullest form, it concerns the Fisher King (King Pellehan or Anfortas), the guardian of the Holy Grail, who falls into sin and consequently suffers a wound from a mystical weapon (often the Spear of Destiny from Christian eschatology). He becomes the Maimed King, and his kingdom suffers similarly, becoming the Wasteland: neither will be healed until the successful completion of the Grail Quest.

The stroke is usually described as being to the king's thighs: this has been taken as a euphemism for the genitals, which are explicitly stated to be the location of Anfortas's wound in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival. In the Post-Vulgate Cycle, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and later works based on those, the stroke is delivered by Sir Balin, a knight of the Round Table. He ignores an "unearthly voice" warning him off and strikes the king when he is deprived of his weapon and thinks his stroke is 'justified'.

References

Richard W. Kaeuper, Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe, 1999.

King Arthur and the Matter of Britain

Key people	King Arthur Constantine Sir Ector Gawain Gorlois Queen Guinevere Igraine Iseult Lady of the Lake Lancelot King Lot King Mark Merlin Mordred Morgan le Fay Morgause Percival Tristan Uther Pendragon

Knights of the Round Table	Agravain Bagdemagus Bedivere Bors Breunor (La Cote Mal Taillée) Calogrenant Caradoc Dagonet Dinadan Ector Elyan the White Erec Gaheris Galahad Gareth Geraint Griflet Hector de Maris Hoel Kay Lamorak Leodegrance Lionel Lucan Maleagant Marhaus Palamedes Pelleas Pellinore Safir Sagramore Segwarides Tor Uriens Ywain Ywain the Bastard

Other characters	Sir Balin Sir Balan King Ban Claudas Culhwch Dindrane Elaine of Astolat Elaine of Corbenic Fisher King Galehaut Hellawes Black Knight Green Knight Red Knight Lohengrin Emperor Lucius Olwen Questing Beast Rience Tom Thumb

Objects	Excalibur Holy Grail Round Table Siege Perilous

Places	Astolat Avalon Brocéliande (Paimpont) Caerleon Camelot Celliwig Corbenic Glastonbury Logres Lyonesse Sarras Tintagel

In media	Books Films Various media

Topics	Battle of Badon Battle of Camlann Dolorous Stroke King Arthur's family Historicity of King Arthur King Arthur's messianic return

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