The book offers a comparative study arguing that medieval romance motifs derive from ancient ritual and vegetation cults rather than solely from Christian legend or loose folklore. Close readings of medieval narratives identify a recurrent quest wherein a hero must heal a wounded sovereign to lift a blight on the land, linked to rites of freeing waters and restoring fertility. The author traces parallels in Vedic, Near Eastern, and classical dying-and-revivifying deities, examines ritual drama and symbolic imagery such as water and fish, and proposes a ritual-resurrection origin that unifies disparate elements of the tradition.