The Holy Grail and Arthurian legend

“Four Hundred and Fifty Years Have Passed Since The Passion Of Our Lord Jesus Christ: And On The Day Of Pentecost This Seat Shall Find Its Master.”

  

Without a doubt the most famous, and probably one of most endearing story that comes from Arthurian literature is the quest for the Holy Grail.

I have to admit, I have been a little bit cautious about posting about the Grail, as it is generally, a very delicate and thought provoking subject - which encourages very strong opinions and emotions. I am going to approach this post by explaining how The Holy Grail came to be connected with Arthurian Legend.

Firstly...what is The Holy Grail?

The Holy Grail is said to have been the cup that Jesus used during the Last Supper - which, incidentally, was the last meal Jesus ever had with his disciples before he was crucified. The Grail, it is said, was also used to catch the blood of Jesus when he was stabbed in the side while hanging from the cross. But no one knows what happened to it after that.

There is a story that Joseph of Arimathea bought the Grail cup to Briton and hid it. It's hiding place remained a secret for centuries. The hunt for the Grail became the principle quest for Arthur and his knights. Yes, they rescued maidens from villeins, battle dragons and Green Knights, and rode around the country doing great deeds, but it was the Grail that was at the forefront of the the knights minds. 

Who would be the one to find it?

Many of the stories we take as truth can be linked back to a French poet, Chrétien de Troyes.

Troyes's work was incredibly influential - it is Troyes that introduced us to Lancelot and the love triangle. It is Troyes that first introduced the idea of the knights quest for the Holy Grail and the knight that would find it - Percival.

 

If nothing else, Troyes certainly sparked the imagination of the populace, for what could be more romantic than these chivalrous, heroic knights, searching for the sacred cup of their religion?

Robert de Boron goes into even more detail when he takes up the story. He explains that the Grail was this holy cup - or Chalice - used by Jesus at the last supper and at the crucifixion.

But it was Vulgate Cycle (Lancelot-Grail), which was written in the 13th Century by an unknown author that really cemented the Grail quest with Arthur and his knights.

The central character of the story is Lancelot. And instead of Percival being the ultimate Grail hunting knight, it is Lancelot's son, Galahad.

Let me tell you the very abridged version of events.

Whitsunday (the eve of Pentecost), Camelot.

 When a beautiful woman comes to Arthur's castle and asks Lancelot to take a walk with her into the woods, who was he to say no? She leads Lancelot to a nunnery - I guess that wasn't quite how he thought this date was going to go, but there you are. Waiting for him, at the convent is his two cousins, Sir Bors and Sir Lionel. The nuns then present a young, handsome man and ask if Lancelot would be so kind as to knight him. Goodness knows what was going on in Lancelot's head as these strange events unfolded, but who was he to disagree with the nuns? He knights the youth. Bors, remarks that the young man look remarkably similar to Lancelot. Lancelot takes a closer look and concludes that this is his child.

 

Arthur summons all of his knights to the Round Table. There is a chair at the table that is not to be sat on (the Siege Perilous), for it is waiting for that one special knight who would find the Holy Grail.  The chair was waiting for Galahad and now Galahad is here, he can take his place among these chosen few.

An image of the Grail appears and floats above the table. It was time for Arthur's knights to find the Grail. It is the greatest of quests and many knights die along the way. At all times Galahad is hailed as the purest of best knight of them all.

Galahad spends much of his time alone, hunting for the Grail, but he does finally meet up with Bors and Percival. Percival's sister shows them where the Grail ship is, but unfortunately she dies and Bors offers to take her body back home.

Galahad has a vision and he sees things that no mere mortal man could ever imagine. He now knows where the Grail is and what he has do with it. He explains that the Grail is in Britain, but despite the code of chivalry, Camelot is unworthy of it. The Grail has to be taken to Sarras in the Middle East - this is a command from God and must be obeyed.

The Grail is on the ship, waiting for them, and they take it to Sarra's. They watch in amazement as the cup is lifted to the heavens.

Galahad, after seeing the Grail, makes a rather odd request that he may be allowed to die at a time of his choosing. After a visit with Joseph of Arimathea which is truly glorious, he makes his request to die. He says goodbye to Percival and Bors and the angels take him to heaven.

The Grail has never been seen on earth, from that day to this. 

What did the church think of this story?

The idea of a magic cup - cauldron - was a very common theme in Celtic myths, not so much the Bible.

It was, in short, a pagan tale that was rewritten by a French poet.

So over to you...what do you make of it?

Sir Percival

"Shall we begin like David Copperfield? "I am born...I grew up." (Anne Rice Interview with a Vampire (movie quote))

I know this is a strange quote to start a blog on a famous Knight of the Round Table, but hey, I like it, and Percival does not do anything particularly remarkable as a child....he didn't pull a sword out of a stone, for example.

Percival was the son of someone noble - two names are often put forward as Percival's father -  Alain le Gros and King Pellinore. But I can not tell you if either of these men have a claim on this remarkable boy. He may have been a son of a knight, Sir Percival senior perhaps? And he was probably Welsh.

Or, shock horror, he may be just another fictional character.

What? Surely not?! I hear you gasp.

I am afraid it is highly plausible...He seems to be the invention of the French poet, Chrétien de Troyes's and is first mentioned in de Troyes unfinished story Perceval, the Story of the Grail.

Back to the story...

Percival's father died, he was possibly killed by the Red Knight, and his mother, heartbroken and determined that her son will not share the fate of his father, runs to the safety of the forest, where she raises him alone and away from worldly temptations.

"In the woods should he be.

There should he nothing see

But the leaves on the tree

And the groves so gray,

And with the wild beasts play."

(Page-Esquire-Knight Marion Lansing)

Percival becomes an exceptional tracker and hunter.

But, Percival is destined for great things. When he was 15 years old, he caught sight of some of Arthur's noble knights riding through the wood. He had never seen a knight before, he had probably never seen a horse before either. He knew nothing of the outside word, for his mother had sheltered him from it.

But he was intrigued by these knights, they looked so chivalrous and he so wanted to be one of them. He leaves his mother...the poor woman had tried so hard to shield her son from the glamour of court, but like his father, Percival heard the call and had to answer it. It is said that she died of heartbreak.

Tom Hopper played Percival in the BBC adaptation Merlin

Percival's dream comes true and he is knighted, but he is not just any ordinary knight. In the story, Perceval, the Story of the Grail, Percival meets the crippled Fisher King and becomes a welcomed guest at his castle. Percival sees a vision of the Grail procession and he is curious as to what it means, but he has been told that it is rude to ask too many questions. Unfortunately, the only way the Fisher King can be cured is if Percival asks questions...oh the irony! Realising his mistake, he vows to find the Grail and fulfil his quest.....And that is where the story breaks off.  But it is all right, because Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the German poet, takes it up again, as does a whole host of other poets and storytellers.

 In Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Percival is one of the three Grail knights....the others being Galahad and Bors. In later text such as Tennyson's The Holy Grail, Percival gives way to Galahad as the top Grail Knight, but he still holds onto his place as one of the chosen few who get to see the Grail.

He has even made it into Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal.

He was portrayed as a strong, but loyal subject of King Arthur, in the BBC drama, Merlin. After a noble, selfless act, Arthur knights him - despite the long tradition of Knights having to be of noble birth.

All in all, he didn't do too badly, for a man bought up in a woods and away form civilisation.