387 



purest traditions of the Gallo-Breton legends, opens, like the Hook of .Job, 

 with a council-meeting held in the internal regions by the spirits of darkness. 

 S;it an declares that he cannot hope to counterbalance upon earth the influence 

 of Christ, unless he can cause to be born of an immaculate virgin a man- 

 demon. This man-demon is Merlin, who takes under his protection King 

 Arthur, and who, after having rendered him great services, is buried alive in 



Fig. 313. Death of Joseph of Arimathea. After a Miniature from the " History of Saint 

 GraU." Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century. In the National Library, Paris. 



a stone tomb by the Lady of the Lake, who has inherited some of his super- 

 natural power (Fig. 312). 



The " Book of the Grail " is an evocation of the old religious legends of 

 Brittany. According to a pretended gospel, attributed to St. Joseph of 

 Arimathea, the latter was said to have been the original possessor of the 



