HOLY GRAIL 



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HOLY GRAIL 



the Child, in the attitude of blessing, is seated 

 in the Virgin's lap. Later, angels were added 

 as attendants. It was quite late in the Middle 

 Ages when other figures were introduced into 

 the composition. These included Saint Anna, 

 the mother of the Virgin, Saint Joseph, the 

 Infant, John the Baptist and Saint Catherine. 

 A German conception shows the Infant playing 

 with the Twelve Apostles as boys. The Ma- 

 donna and Child was a favorite subject with 

 the Italian painters of the period of the 

 Renaissance. Some of the earliest of these 

 pictures were supposed to have been painted 

 by Saint Luke, and to be endowed with miracu- 

 lous powers; that is, it was once widely be- 

 lieved that to look upon them with the eye 

 of faith would heal disease. See MADONNA. 



HOLY GRAIL, grale, in legend, the sacred 

 cup from which Christ drank at the Last Sup- 

 per with His disciples. . Just when the stories 

 that have been woven about the Holy Grail 

 had their beginning no one knows, but they 

 were first put into literary form by three 

 Norman-French writers at the close of the 

 twelfth century. The first important version 

 of the Grail stories in English literature is the 

 work of Sir Thomas Malory, who lived in the 

 fifteenth century. About 400 years later the 

 legend was given poetic treatment by Alfred 

 Tennyson, whose Holy Grail is one of the most 

 beautiful poems in his Idylls of the King. 

 Tennyson's version has many spiritual ele- 

 ments that are lacking in the older stories. It 

 is essentially as follows: 



As Christ hung upon the cross, Joseph of 

 Arimathea, one of His followers, brought the 

 sacred cup and caught within it the blood 

 which dripped from the wounded side of his 

 Master. In the days of persecution which 

 followed, Joseph was driven out of Palestine 

 and found refuge in Glastonbury, in the island 

 of Britain (England). With him he carried the 

 holy cup, which remained on earth for many 

 years to bless mankind and to heal the diseases 

 of those who looked upon it or touched it. 

 Then in an age of evil, the Grail was taken 

 away to heaven, and during many long, weary 

 years its healing powers were lost to the world. 



In the days of the good King Arthur, who 

 lived at Camelot with his knights of the 

 Round Table (see ARTHUR, KING), a vision of 

 the Holy Grail was granted to Sir Percivale's 

 sister, a sweet and saintly nun. She told her 

 brother of the wonderful sight, and when he 

 had related the story to his brother knights, 

 each took a vow to seek the vision. 



Of the knights, the noblest and purest was 

 Sir Galahad (see GALAHAD, SIR). For him, Sir 

 Percivale's sister cut off her shining hair and 

 braided a strong sword-belt, giving it to him 

 with these words: "Go forth and thou shalt 

 see what I have seen, and break through all, 

 till one crown thee king, far in the spiritual 

 city." 



Then Sir Galahad rode away on a snow- 

 white steed to seek the vision of the Holy 

 Grail. After many adventures he appeared one 

 day before Sir Percivale, all clad in shining 

 armor. As the day began to darken, the two 

 knights came to a great marsh which ran out 

 into a mighty sea, and on this rose a bridge 

 of a thousand piers. Then in wonderment Sir 

 Percivale saw his companion leap upon the 

 gleaming bridge, and as he passed along it 

 every span that he crossed sprang into fire. 



Long afterward Sir Percivale told a wonder- 

 ful story of how three times above Sir Gala- 

 had's head the "heavens opened and blazed 

 with thunder such as seemed shoutings of all 

 the sons of God," while the sacred cup, wholly 

 unveiled, hung in the sky like a burning jewel. 

 Then, far away where sea and sky seemed to 

 blend, there rose a celestial city, into which 

 the knight and the Holy Grail were drawn : 



I saw the spiritual city and all her spires 

 And gateways in a glory like one pearl 

 No larger, though the goal of all the Saints 

 Strike from the sea ; and from the star there shot 

 A rose-red sparkle to the city, and there 

 Dwelt, and I knew it was the Holy Grail, 

 Which never eyes on earth again shall see. 



In the version of Sir Thomas Malory, the 

 Grail is seen by Galahad, Percivale and Bors, 

 who follow it to the Far East. After a vision 

 of the holy vessel is permitted them, Galahad's 

 soul is carried up to heaven by angels. Perci- 

 vale dies in a hermitage and Bors alone returns 

 to Britain. Still another version is that of the 

 German poet, Wolfram von Eschenbach, whose 

 Parzival is one of the finest poems ever writ- 

 ten on the legend. On this Richard Wagner 

 based his great music-drama Parsifal (which 

 see). 



The treatment of the legend in art includes 

 a famous painting of Sir Galahad, by the 

 English artist George F. Watts (which see), 

 and Edwin Austin Abbey's magnificent frieze 

 setting forth the story of the Holy Grail. The 

 latter is one of the glories of the Boston Public 

 Library. B.M.W. 



An illustration of Watts' Sir Galahad appears 

 in the article GALAHAD. Consult Weston's Legend 

 of Sir Perceval. 



