In Diu Crone alone, where the Grail-bearer and her maidens are the
sole living beings in an abode of the Dead, is any explanation of the
'Weeping Women' attempted, but an interpolated passage in the Heralds'
College MS. of the Perceval states that when the Quest is achieved,
the hero shall learn the cause of the maiden's grief, and also the
explanation of the Dead Knight upon the bier:

"del graal q'vient apres
E purquei plure tut ades
La pucele qui le sustient
De la biere qu'apres vient
Savera la verite adonques
Ceo que nul ne pot saveir onques
Pur nule rien qui avenist."
fo. 180vo-181.

Of course in the Perceval there is neither a Weeping Maiden, nor a
Bier, and the passage must therefore be either an unintelligent
addition by a scribe familiar with the Gawain versions, or an
interpolation from a source which did contain the features in
question. So far as the texts at our disposal are concerned, both
features belong exclusively to the Gawain, and not to the Perceval
Quest. The interpolation is significant as it indicates a surviving
sense of the importance of this feature.

In the Perlesvaus we have the curious detail of a maiden who has lost
her hair as a result of the hero's failure to ask the question, and
the consequent sickness of the Fisher King. The occurrence of this
detail may be purely fortuitous, but at the same time it is admissible