The Slaying of the Sorceresses of Gloucester is the revenge episode in which Peredur learns that the Sorceresses of Gloucester killed his cousin and lamed his uncle. A yellow-haired youth identifies himself as Peredur’s cousin and connects that family history to several earlier marvels; the revelation turns Peredur’s scattered adventures into a foretold reckoning.

Revelation and Prophecy

At the castle, the youth kneels before Peredur and asks for his friendship. He explains that he had appeared in several forms and episodes: as the black maiden at Arthur’s Court, in connection with the chessboard Peredur overturned, and alongside the black man of Ysbidinongyl, the stag, and the black man beneath the cromlech. He also identifies himself as the source of the bloody head on the salver and the lance streaming with blood. The head belonged to Peredur’s cousin, he reveals, and the sorceresses had killed him and lamed Peredur’s uncle. The youth then discloses that a prophecy assigns Peredur the task of avenging these wrongs, giving the earlier wonders a common cause and a clear destination.

The Reckoning

Peredur and Gwalchmai took counsel and sent to Arthur and his household, asking them to come against the Sorceresses of Gloucester. During the fighting, one sorceress slew a man before Peredur. He bade her stop, but when she slew a second man after his warning, he again intervened without drawing his sword. Only after she killed a third man before him did Peredur strike, splitting her helmet. The three deaths and his repeated warnings mark the point at which he moves from witness to active avenger.

The sorceress called to the others to flee, identifying Peredur as the man who had learned chivalry among them and was destined to destroy them. Arthur and his household then attacked and slew every one of the sorceresses. The episode thus fulfills the prophecy through a collective victory: Peredur initiates the decisive action, while the assembled company completes the reckoning.

Closure and Narrative Function

The closing notice, “And thus is it related concerning the Castle of Wonders,” marks the slaying as the resolution of the preceding marvel-filled sequence rather than the beginning of a new adventure. The narrative then opens a separate tale about Geraint, returning to Arthur’s court at Caerlleon upon Usk. This sharp transition gives the revenge episode a bounded shape: the revelations and family reckoning bring the Castle of Wonders story to its close, while the larger collection moves on to another branch of Arthurian narrative.

Recognition at the Castle

The reckoning emerges from a chain of encounters that brings Peredur back into company: after the black man beneath the cromlech disappears with both horses, Peredur reaches a castle where Gwalchmai and a lame, grey-headed man are waiting. Peredur’s horse is there too, in the same stall as Gwalchmai’s. In this setting, the yellow-haired youth’s approach and request for friendship connect the recovered horse and the earlier marvels to the family history that gives the episode its purpose.