[THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA]

The Holy Grail

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 "agr�er" (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.

(See also WOLFRAM VON ESCHENBACH.)

ARTHUR F. J. REMY
Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas
In memory of Hattie Ratajezak

Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an effort aimed at placing the
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