Dragon and Bear allegory
Shortly after invading Europe, Arthur has a vivid but disturbing dream in which an dragon fights with, and defeats, a bear. He consults his advisors and is told that it may represent an upcoming battle between either the Emperor Lucius and his army or a giant (the bear) and Arthur. Almost immediately afterwards, Arthur receives notice that a giant has raped and murdered one of Weynor's relatives and has taken over the castle. He therefore fights the giant, avenges (but obviously cannot rescue) the lady, and is victorious. He also defeats the Emperor. But instead of being satisfied with defeating Lucius, Arthur moves in to conquer Rome and then sets his sights on the Holy Land. In doing so, Arthur overreaches. His initial battle to defeat Lucius costs him some of his best knights including Cador (Kay) and Bedivere. His remaining campaign, despite the addition of the recently converted Priamus, is with a weakened force that attempts to live off the land but that is gradually deteriorating in power despite its victories in what is now Italy.
The allegorical dream establishes that Arthur is prone to prophetic dreams, which becomes very important later in the story.
Wheel of Fortune symbol
Arthur's second prophetic dream is more explicit than the first. He dreams of a large wheel, the wheel of Fortune or luck, which was a common medieval symbol. A person might be high or low on the wheel, with a person high on the wheel enjoying good luck while a person low on the wheel enjoys bad luck. Wheels turn, of course, and from time to time a person who has had good luck is moved involuntarily to a different position while another person is elevated. The turning of the wheel is outside human control, however since Arthur is favored by God he is granted advance notice of what is to come: his days of glory are numbered.
Unlike some other Arthurian legends, such as Mallory's 1485 "Le Mort Darthur" (or in modern spelling "Le Mort d'Arthur"), the wound Arthur receives is not presented as a consequence of anything Arthur did, so much as an arbitrary decision by higher powers.
Crown as symbol of rulership
Arthur dreams of the crowning of Godfrey de Bouillon as King and ruler of Jerusalem.
The dying Arthur passes his crown to Constantine, who becomes Emperor of Rome. The text presents Arthur as a cousin of Constantine but also a descendant of Hector. This is an interesting piece of political propaganda that reinforces Constantine as a legitimate ruler.
Crusades motif
The manuscript, which draws from other earlier medieval sources such as the Vulgate Cycle, contains several references to the Crusades. The Knight Templar, who appears to tell Arthur about the Giant, is a member of a military order of knights whose duty was to conduct civilian "pilgrims" or colonists to Jerusalem. As a military order they took part in many battles, however after the Europeans were finally defeated and expelled from what is now Israel in about 1312, the Knights Templar returned to Europe and settled primarily in France and Occitan, while their rival order the Knights Hospitaller took up residence in Malta. Because they became a favorite charity, the Templars became extremely wealthy. Out of a desire for this wealth, and a desire to remove the Templars as an effective political and military force, the French King Philip IV and Pope Clement V ordered the Templars disbanded and had many knights arrested and tortured to death on bogus charges of heresy.
This is the only Arthurian manuscript to make references to the Knights Templar. The appearance of a Templar knight is an attempt to place the history of Arthur as having occurred either during or after the Crusades. Arthur's decision to march on the Holy Land and invade it after having successfully conquered Rome is also a Crusade reference.
Religious statements, oaths, and references abound throughout the poem, including the voluntary conversion of the redoubtable Pagan knight Priamus. Conversion of pagans was one of the goals of the original Crusaders.
Mercenaries as symbol of unjust or false ruler
One of the differences between Arthur's supporters and Lucius's is that Arthur's allies willingly travel to fight alongside him because they believe in the rightness of his cause and instinctively defer to him as a leader. The Emperor, however, must pay his supporters. His armies are composed chiefly of mercenaries who fight only for money. The suggestion is that Lucius's cause is so weak, or he is so inept and unpopular as a leader, that he cannot receive military support unless he pays for it. He cannot do as a good feudal king does, and simply command his vassals to follow him. This illustrates a difference in the moral authority of Arthur and Lucius. Late in the poem, when Arthur receives word that Mordred has usurped his throne and returns to reclaim it, Mordred defends his ill-gotten kingdom with mercenaries while Arthur retains the support of the army that went with him to the European mainland. This clearly identifies Mordred as a bad or false leader. Constantine, to whom Arthur leaves his crown and the leadership of Rome, is not identified as having used mercenaries.
