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I read in a (originally) German novel that: "They are continually riding out on sorties in quest of adventure" What are they exactly doing?! Living on booty? If so then how could it be in quest of adventure?

It follows: "Whether they reap trouble or renown, they bear it for their sins" I can understand that one reap trouble for his sin but how is it to reap renown for your sin? I'm probably getting it wrong.

This is the paragraph:

‘It is well known to me,’ said his host, ‘that many formidable fighting-men dwell at Munsalvaesche with the Gral. They are continually riding out on sorties in quest of adventure. Whether these same Templars reap trouble or renown, they bear it for their sins. A warlike company lives there.

Parzifal. Penguin. 1980

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    Sortie is from French and means a military outing. Some warriors think a conquest is sinfully good. Go figure.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 21:27
  • Just spit-balling here...These were very bad people, mostly preying on the common people that paid taxes to the King. Think"Brown-shirts"...
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 22:08
  • It's a medieval epic novel and these men are the Templars. They are not depicted evil but as the guardians of the Holy Graal.
    – Arash BK
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 22:15
  • @YosefBaskin, how about "riding out on", do you think that it's a phrasal verb meaning survive on sth? or "out" should be read as an adverb thus meaning: to go out [on horses] in search of adventurous sorties? Maybe it helps to add that they didn't have any nourishing problem at all thanks to the magical sources of food they had.
    – Arash BK
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 22:31
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    Out means away from home, not riding around town, over to neighbors, or up a hill. They are not riding out on, but (riding out) (on sorties).
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 22:46

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This is not trivial prose to decipher.

sortie = a short, quick attack by a military force, such as a small group of soldiers or an aircraft, made against an enemy position

"A series of sorties was carried out at night by specially equipped aircraft.">

OR = "a short journey to somewhere you have not been before, often with a particular purpose"

Cambridge Dictionary

Hence: "They are always going out to search for adventure".

The second part of the question is "Whether they reap trouble or renown, they bear it for their sins".

reap = to obtain or receive something as a result of your own actions

Cambridge Dictionary

Hence: A sortie may result in trouble for them or it may result in fame. They reap {= receive} either trouble or fame.

bear = to accept, tolerate, or endure something, especially something unpleasant

Cambridge Dictionary

Therefore, whether they reap {= get from their sorties} trouble or fame, they bear {= accept} it as in penance for their sins {=sins they committed at other times}, or perhaps as a consequence of sins they committed during the sorties.

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  • We do not really have a lot of context to go on...
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 22:46
  • @Cascabel Agreed, but one sometimes has to try one's best with limited material, as Henry V might have quipped at Agincourt.
    – Anton
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 22:51
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    @Anton I added the whole paragraph
    – Arash BK
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 23:23
  • @Anton I think Igor also said that....
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Jan 26, 2021 at 21:24
  • @Anton, there is an issue I'd prefer to tell you privately. Could you please send a message to my email: arashbk at hotmail com
    – Arash BK
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 21:31

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