Introduction to Holy Grail
Twelfth century Europe was a time of unprecedented
spiritual awakening. The Crusades to the Holy Land had
returned with new esoteric secrets from the East. The
heretical Cathars were challenging the authority of a
divided and corrupt Church of Rome and women were at last
accorded a new power and position, forming their own Courts
of Love. Out of this extraordinary new age arose a legend
which was to surpass all previous Western myths - that of a
mystical object called the Holy Grail and a knightly Quest
in search of it.
Between 1190 and 1220, there was an outpouring of stories
about this sacred artifact. Deemed heretical by the Church
and yet said to hold the blood of the crucified Christ, the
Grail chalice was supposedly brought to Britain two
thousand years ago. And although the legend is set in the
Arthurian Britain of the sixth century, tradition traces
the cup of the last supper to a Cathar stronghold in the
Pyrenees, under the guardianship of the Knights of the
Temple of Jerusalem.
The legend of the Holy Grail is not one story, but many,
and this pages explores the major, and very different,
accounts which appeared within a thirty-year span. The
legends of the Quest are taken from many sources including
the earliest pagan tales of the Celtic Peredur, the
unfinished, courtly epic of Chétien de Troyes, Le Conte del
Graal, and a little-known poetic gem called the Diu Crone,
or the Jeweled Crown.
The great Cistercian epic of the Vulgate Cycle which
includes the Queste del San Graal, is probably the account
known best to Western readers.
This tought-provoking site bridges an eight-hundred-year
gap with living legend. But... at the end, what is the Holy
Grail?
Let's read the its description, taken from "The Catholic
Encyclopedia" by Arthur F. J. Remy:
[Holy Grail is] the name of a legendary sacred vessel,
variously identified with the chalice of the Eucharist or
the dish of the Pascal lamb, and the theme of a famous
medieval cycle of romance. In the romances the conception
of the Grail varies considerably; its nature is often but
vaguely indicated, and, in the case of Chrestien's Perceval
poem, it is left wholly unexplained. The meaning of the
word has also been variously explained. The generally
accepted meaning is that is given by the Cistercian
chronicler Helinandus (d. about 1230), who, under the date
of about 717, mentions of a vision, shown to a hermit
concerning the dish used by Our Lord at the Last Supper,
and about which the hermit then wrote a Latin book called
"Gradale." "Now in French," so Helinandus informs us,
"Gradalis or Gradale means a dish (scutella), wide and
somewhat deep, in which costly viands are wont to be served
to the rich in degrees (gradatim), one morsel after another
in different rows. In popular speech it is also called
'greal' because it is pleasant (grata) and acceptable to
him eating therein" etc. The medieval Latin word "gradale"
because in Old French "graal," or "greal," or "greel,"
whence the English "grail." Others derive the word from
"garalis" or from "cratalis" (crater, a mixing bowl). It
certainly means a dish, the derivation from "grata" in the
latter part of the passage cited above or from "agréer" (to
please) in the French romances is secondary. The
explanation of "San greal " as "sang real" (kingly blood)
was not current until the later Middle Ages. Other
etymologies that have been advanced may be passed over as
obsolete.
When we come to examine the literary tradition concerning
the Grail we notice at the outset that the Grail legend is
closely connected with that of Perceval as well as that of
King Arthur. Yet all these legends were originally
independent of each other. The Perceval story may have a
mythical origin, or it may be regarded as the tale of a
simpleton (Fr., nicelot) who, however, in the end achieves
great things. In all the versions that we have of it, it is
a part of of the Arthurian legend, and, in almost all, it
is furthermore connected with the Grail. So the
reconstruction of the original Grail legend can be
accomplished only by an analytical comparison of all extant
versions, and is a task that has given rise to some of the
most difficult problems in the whole range of literary
history.
The great body of the Grail romances came into existence
between the years 1180 and 1240. After the thirteenth
century nothing new was added to the Grail legend. Most of
these romances are in French, but there are versions in
German, English, Norwegian, Italian, and Portuguese. These
are of very unequal value as sources, some are mere
translations or recasts of French romances. Now all of
these romances may be conveniently divided into two
classes: those which are concerned chiefly with the quest
of the Grail, and with the adventures and personality of
the hero of this quest; and those that are mainly concerned
with the history of the sacred vessel itself. These two
classes have been styled respectively the Quest and the
Early History versions.
Of the first class is the "Conte del Graal" of Chrestien de
Troyes and his continuators, a vast poetic compilation of
some 60,000 verses, composed between 1180 qnd 1240, and the
Middle High German epic poem "Parzival" of Wolfram von
Eschenbach, written between 1205 and 1215, and based,
according to Wolfram's statement, on the French poem of a
certain Kyot (Guiot) of Provence, which, however, is not
extant and the very existence of which is doubtful. To
these may be added the Welsh folk-tales or "Mabinogion"
known to us only from manuscripts of the thirteenth
century, though the material is certainly older, and the
English poem "Sir Percyvelle," of the fifteenth century. Of
the Early History versions the oldest is the metrical
trilogy of Robert de Boron, composed between 1170 and 1212,
of which only the first part, the "Joseph d'Arimathie," and
a portion of the second, the "Merlin," are extant. We have,
however, a complete prose version, preserved in the
so-called Didot manuscript. The most detailed history of
the Grail is in the "Grand St. Graal," a bulky French prose
romance of the first half of the thirteenth century, where
we are told that Christ Himself presented to a pious hermit
the book concerning this history. Besides these versions we
have three French prose romances, also from the thirteenth
century, which, though concerned chiefly with the quest,
give also an account of the history of the sacred vessel.
Of these the most notable is the "Queste del St. Graal,"
well known to English readers because it was enbodied
almost entire in Malory's "Morte d' Arthur." The others are
the so-called "Didot Perceval" or "La petite queste" and
the lengthy and prolix "Perceval le Gallois," also known as
"Perlesvaus."
The poem of Chrestien, regarded by many as the oldest known
Grail romance, tells of Perceval's visit to the Grail
castle, where he sees a Graal borne in by a damsel. Its
accompaniments are a bleeding lance and a silver plate. It
is a precious vessel set with jewels, and so resplendent as
to eclipse the lights of the hall. All the assembled
knights show it reverence. Mindful of an injunction not to
inquire too much, Perceval does not ask concerning the
significance of what he sees, and thereby incurs guilt and
reproach. Undoubtly Chrestien meant to relate the hero's
second visit to the castle, when he would have put the
question and received the desired information. But the poet
did not live to finish his story, whether the explanation
of the Graal, offered by the continuators, is that which
Chrestien what the Graal signifies; in his version it has
no pronounced religious character. On the other hand, in
the Early History versions it is invested with the greatest
sanctity. It is explained as the dish from which Christ ate
the Paschal lamb with his disciples, which passed into
possession of Joseph Arimathea, and was used by him to
gather the Precious Blood of Our Saviour, when His body was
taken from the Cross. It becomes identified with the
Chalice of the Eucharist. The lance is explained as the one
with which Longius pierced Our Lord's side, and the silver
plate becomes the paten covering the chalice. The quest in
these versions assumes a mst sacred character, the
atmosphere of chivalric adventure in Chrestien's poem
yields to a militant asceticism, which insists not only on
the purity of the quester, but, in some versions (Queste,
Perlesvaus), on his virginity. In the "Queste" and "Grand
St. Graal," moreover, the hero is not Perceval but the
maiden-knight, Galaad. But the other knights of the Round
Table are made to participate in the quest.
The early history of the Grail is intimately connected with
the story of Joseph of Arimathea. When he is cast into
prison by the Jews, Christ appears to him and gives him the
vessel, through which he is miraculously sustained for
forty-two years, until liberated by Vespasian. The Grail is
then brought to the West, to Britain, either by Joseph and
Josephes, his son (Grand St. Graal), or by Alain one of his
kin (Robert de Boron). Galaad (or Perceval) achieves the
quest; after the death of its keeper the Grail vanishes.
According to the version of the "Perlesvaus" Perceval is
removed, no one knows whither, by a ship with white sails
on which is displayed a red cross. In the Guiot-Wolfram
version we meet with a conception of the Grail wholly
different from that of the French romances. Wolfram
conceives of it as a precious stone, lapsit exillis (i.e.
lapis or lapsi ex caelis?) of special purity, possessing
miraculous powers conferred upon it and sustained by a
consecrated Host which, on every Good Friday, a dove brings
down from heaven and lays down upon it. The angels who
remained neutral during the rebellion of Lucifer were its
first guardians; then it was brought to earth and entrusted
to Titurel, the first Grail king. It is guarded in the
splendid castle of Munsalvaesche (mons salvationis or
silvaticus?) by itself and nourished by its miraculous
food-giving power.
The relationship of the Grail versions to each other,
especially that of Chrestien to those of Robert de Boron
and the "Queste," is a matter of dispute. Nor is their
relative chronology certain. But in all these versions the
legend appears in an advanced state of development, the
preceeding phases of which are not attested by literary
monuments, and therefore, can only be conjectured. The
origin of the legend is involved in obscurity, and scholars
are divided in their views on this point. An Oriental, a
Celtic, and a purely Christian origin have been claimed.
But the Oriental parallels, like the sun-table of the
Ethiopians, the Persian cup of Jamshid, the Hindu paradise,
Cridavana, are not very convincing, and Wolfram's
statement, that Kyot's source was an Arabic manuscript of
Toledo, is open to grave doubt. It is different with the
Celtic story. There are undoubtly Celtic elements in the
legend as we have it; the Perceval story is probably, and
the Arthurian legend certainly, of Celtic origin, and both
of these legends intimately connected with the quest story.
Talismans, such as magic lances and food-giving vessels
figure prominently in Celtic myths and folk-tales.
According to this theory the "Mabinogion," with its simple
story of vengeance by means of talismans and devoid of
religious significance, would yield the version nearest to
the original form of the legend. Back of the quest-story
would be some pre-Christian tale of a hero seeking to
avenge the injury done to a kinsman. The religious element
would then be of secondary origin, and would have come into
the legend when the old vengeance-tale was fused with the
legend of Joseph of Arimathea, which is essentially a
legend of the conversion of Britain.
Those who maintain the theory of a purely Christian origin
regard the religious element in the story as fundamental
and trace the leading motifs to Christian ideas and
conceptions. It is derived from the apocryphal Gospel of
Nicodemus, which is known to have had a great vogue in the
twelfth century, paricularly in Britain. There we read how
Joseph, whom the Jews had imprisoned, is miraculously fed
by Christ Himself . Additional traits were supplied by the
"Vindicta Salvatoris," the legendary account of the
destruction of Jerusalem. Furthermore, Joseph was confused
with the Jewish historian, Josephus, whose liberation by
Titus is narrated by Suetonius. The food-producing
properties of the vessel can be explained, without
resorting to Celtic parallels, by the association of the
Grail with the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which gives
spiritual nourishment to the faithful. The purely Christian
legend which thus had arisen was brought into contact with
the traditional evangelization of Britain, and then
developed on British soil, in Wales, and thus the Celtic
stamp, which it undeniably bears, is accounted for. In
connection with the legendary conversion of Britain it is
noteworthy that the literary accounts of this event are
connected with the famous Abbey of Glastonbury, which is
also intimately associated with the legend of Arthur,
Glastonbury being identified in William of Malmesbury's
account with the mythic Avalon. So scholars are inclined to
connect this British sanctuary with the origin of the Grail
romances. Possibly Walter Map, who died as Archdeacon of
Oxford in 1210, and to whom is ascribed the authorship of a
Grail-Lancelot cycle, got his information from that abbey.
The first Grail romances was then probably written in Latin
and became the basis for the work of Robert de Boron, who
was an English knight under King Henry II, and a
contemporary of Chrestien and of Map.
The fully developed Grail legend was later on still further
connected with other legends, as in Wolfram's poem with
that of Lohengrim, the swan-knight, and also with that of
Prestor John, the fabled Christian monarch of the East.
Here also the story of Klinschor, the magician, was added.
After the Renaissance the Grail legend, together with most
medieval legends, fell into oblivion, from which it was
rescued when the Romantic movement set in at the beginning
of the nineteenth century. The most famous modern versions
are Tennyson's "Holy Grail" in the "Idylls of the King"
(1869), and Wagner's music -drama, the festival-play,
"Parsifal," produced for the first time at Bayreuth in
1882.
A word as to the attitude of the Church towards the legend.
It would seem that a legend so distinctively Christian
would find favour with the church. Yet this was not the
case. Excepting Helinandus, clerical writers do not mention
the Grail, and the Church ignored the legend completely.
After all, the legend contained the elements of which the
Church could not approve. Its sources are in apocryphal,
not in canonical, scripture, and the claims of sanctity
made for the Grail were refuted by their very extravagance.
Moreover, the legend claimed for the church in Britain an
origin well nigh as illustrious as that of the Church of
Rome, and independent of Rome. It was thus calculated to
encourage and to foster any separatist tendencies that
might exist in Britain. As we have seen, the whole
tradition concerning the Grail is of late origin and on
many points at variance with historical truth.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright © 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright ©
1996 by New Advent, Inc.
As we can notice, the legend of the Grail, more than any
other western myth, has retained the vital magic which
marks it as a living legend, capable of touching both
imagination and spirit. No other myth is so rich in
symbolism, so diverse and often contradictory in meaning.
And as its core there exists a secret which has sustained
the mystical alleal of the Grail fotr the last nine hundred
years, while other myths and legends have slipped into
oblivion and been forgotten.
This site, coming from Turin (Italy), is dedicated to the
most important relic of Christia
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