Dolorous Stroke

by Brian Edward Rise

The blow by which Balin wounds Pellam with the Holy Lance. This is the reason, in the Suite du Merlin, for the reduction of Logres to the Wasteland. This is divine judgment for the sacrilege of using the Lance as a weapon. Malory also adapts this story. The wounded king is himself ill for many years until cured by Galahad.

❧