Nacien

Also known as: Nacien, the hermit · Role: hermit · First appears: Book XIII, Chapter V

In Book XIII, Nacien the hermit sent King Arthur word that he would receive “the greatest worship that ever befell king in Britain.” Later in the same book, Joseph revealed that Galahad would bear the shield after it was placed where Nacien would be buried, and that Galahad would come there on the fifteenth day after receiving knighthood. Book XV names a second Nacien in remembrance of his grandsire and says that Jesu Christ dwelled in him.

In Book XVI, Sir Gawaine and Sir Ector came to Nacien’s hermitage, where he gathered worts beside a poor house and chapel after having tasted no other meat for a great while. He heard their confessions and interpreted their visions, identifying the three white bulls as Galahad, Sir Percivale, and Bors de Ganis, and declaring that one would return while the other two never would.

In Book XVII, Nacien, the brother-in-law of Mordrains, was carried by divine command to the Isle of Turnance, more than fourteen days’ journey from his country. On the ninth day he praised a sword and broke it, then leapt from the ship and slew the giant threatening him; as he went over the board, he was struck on the right foot. At the Port of Perilous Rock, Mordrains restored the broken sword and returned it to its sheath.