Peredur is frequently alladed to by the Bards of the Middle Ages, in terms illustrative of the high esteem in which his deeds of prowess then were held. Gruffydd ab Meredjdd, who flourished about the end of the 13th century, in his Elegy on Tudur ap Goronwy, one of the ancestors of the House of Tudor, thus mentions him:—
"O Bountiful Creator of the radiant sun and waning moon,
Sad is the fall of the chief of valiant deeds,
Eagle of the battle-charge, equal to Peredur,
Tudor, assaulter of the Angles, he who never shunned the fight."
In the old Romances, as Morte d'Arthur, &c., he is celebrated, under the name of Perceval, as one of those engaged in the quest of the Sangreal, in which character he is also spoken of in the Triads, together with Bort, the son of the King of that name, and Galath, the son of Lancelot du Lac.—Tri. lxi. Myv. Ar. 11. 14.
Like Owain, his exploits were sung by Chrestiens de Troyes, and they also form the subject of romantic compositions in German, and in other languages of Northern Europe. Our own Chaucer alludes to him in his Rime of Sire Thopas, Cant Tales, 1384–5—
"Himself drank water of the well.
As did the Knight, Sire Percivell,
So worthy under wede."
Attending Tournaments.—Page 81.