According to medieval legend, the Holy Grail was the vessel from which Jesus Christ drank at the Last Supper, his final meal with his followers before he was crucified. Many works of literature describe the search for the Grail, which was believed to have sacred and mysterious powers.
According to legend, after the Last Supper, the Grail came into the possession of Joseph of Arimathea (pronounced ar-uh-muh-THEE-uh), who caught Christ’s blood in it at the crucifixion. Joseph went to prison, but the Grail kept him alive by supplying daily nourishment. Released from prison, Joseph traveled to France and then to Glastonbury, England, carrying the Holy Grail. Soon, however, the Grail disappeared from the world because people were sinful. Hidden away in a mysterious castle, it was guarded by the descendants of Joseph’s sister.
One of the best-known versions of the Grail’s later history is connected with Arthur, the legendary king of Britain. This account says that the Grail was held somewhere in a wild and lonely part ofBritain in the castle of the Fisher King, a wounded king who lay between life and death. Only if the purest of knights found his way to the castle and caught a glimpse of the Grail would the Fisher King’s torment end and life be restored to his ruined domain.
To the knights who sat around King Arthur’s Round Table, seeing the Holy Grail was the highest and most noble goal. They roamed the nation in search of it. Lancelot nearly achieved the quest, but the sin of his love for Guinevere (pronounced GWEN-uh-veer), Arthur’s queen, kept him from seeing the Grail. A knight named Perceval (pronounced
Nationality/Culture
Romano-British/Celtic,
Christian
Pronunciation
Hoh-lee GRAYL
Alternate Names
Sangreal
Appears In
Medieval Christian myths, tales of King Arthur and his knights
The knights of King Arthur’s Round Table believed that seeing the Holy Grail—the legendary cup that Christ drank from at the Last Sup-per—was the highest and most noble goal. Only Galahad, however, was pure enough to see it. HIP/ART RESOURCE, NY.
PUR-suh-vuhl) saw the Grail but did not understand what it was. Only Galahad (pronounced GAL-uh-had), Lancelot’s son, was pure enough to see it with full understanding of its meaning. He had to travel to a distant land called Sarras to do so, for the Grail had left Britain at some point. The vision of the Grail brought such profound joy that Galahad died moments later.
World History
