The Holy Grail: From Romance Motif to Modern Genre

Folklore, Oct, 2000 by Juliette Wood

The motif first appeared in an unfinished romance Perceval ou Le conte du Graal by Chretien de Troyes dated to about 1190. Chretien's romance was written at the behest of his patron, Count Philip of Flanders, a crusader knight. The fall of Jerusalem occurred in 1187 just before the first appearance of the grail as a literary motif. The historical crusades, their effect on Europe generally and on the nobility in particular, form an important backdrop to this material, although it is equally important to distinguish between the social and economic effects of the crusades on the medieval world and the mystical speculations about Templars and such which are a part of later grail speculation.

In Chretien de Troyes's romance, Perceval sees the grail during a feast at a mysterious castle presided over by a lame man called the Fisher King whom he had met the day before. Chretien calls the object simply "un graal," and its appearance is just one of the unusual events which takes place during the feast. Indeed at this time Perceval is also shown a broken sword which must be mended. The two objects together, sword and grail, are symbols of Perceval's development as a true knight.

Chretien de Troyes died before finishing this romance, but the story was completed by other writers. The Continuations, as they are referred to in critical literature, expand several themes and the grail gradually acquires a more "sacramental" character. The First Continuation is also incomplete and the author is unknown, but it can be dated before 1200. Besides Perceval, Gawain also has a grail adventure (the womanising Gawain is the type of the perfect worldly knight and regularly forms a contrast to Perceval in these romances). During a procession which Gawain sees, the "rich grail" (as it is now called) floats about the hall and provides food for all; the bleeding lance is later identified as the Lance of Longinus (beginning the trend to see these objects as relics); and the broken sword belongs to a dead knight who is laid out on a bier. He who mends the sword will know the secrets of the grail castle (thereby strengthening the link between sword and grail). A new adventure, the Chapel of the Black Hand, is added in which a mysterious hand snuffs out the candles in the chapel.

The Second Continuation, written by Gauchier de Donaing (c. 1200), is also unfinished but pushes the story even farther into the realms of mysterious supernatural happenings. Perceval plays with a magical chess board; and a lady offers him a hunting dog and white stag's head, which he loses and has to recover before returning to the grail castle. He fails to mend the sword completely. The Third Continuation (c. 1230), written by Manessier, completes the story of Perceval and Gawain. The Fisher King explains the items in the grail procession: the spear was used by Longinus to pierce Christ's side at the Crucifixion; the cup belonged to Joseph of Arimathea; the trencher covered the cup to protect the blood; and the sword wounded both the Fisher King and his brother. Perceval undergoes the adventure of the Chapel of the Black Hand. When the sword is mended, Perceval as grail ruler heals the land. After seven years, he retires to a hermitage, and when he dies the grail, lance and dish go with him.