The mysterious origins of the Holy Grail

(Read at the magazine ‘Think in English’ long time ago)

A cultural icon

Carl Jung (1875-1961) considered the Holy Grail to be one of the most important myths of Western Civilization. If we consider that it has been an important influence on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Lord of the Rings and The Da Vinci Code it would be hard to refute the Swiss psychologist's words judging from the popular culture that has emerged in the half century since be said so. Yet the GraiI is elusive; it is one of the key props of the Arthurian Legends - along with the sword-in-the-stone, the Round Table and Excalibur - but its precise nature, form and symbolism are difficult to determine.

The Arthurian Grail

The Holy Grail was not part of the early legends of King Arthur. Arthurian Legends began to accumulate from the 6th Century onwards but it wasn't until the late 12th Century that the Holy Grail made its appearance. Moreover, the link is tenuous to say the least. The story goes that after acquiring the cup used at the Last Supper, Joseph of Arimathea used it to collect the blood of Christ during or after his crucifixion. Joseph was then put in prison until 70AD and then, on being released, the old man took a ship to southern Britain bringing the Holy Grail with him - the story (except for the British ending) comes from the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. This legend is a classic case of translatio studii et imperii - desperate attempts by western European countries to link themselves to Classical and Biblical predecessors - other examples include the founding of Britain by Brutus the Trojan, myths about the Mary Magdalene emigrating to southern France and 'St. James's Tomb' in Santiago de Compostela, Spain-.

So, how did the Holy Grail get tied into the Arthurian Legends? French poets Chrétien de Troyes and Robert de Boron were the first people to link the Holy Grail and Arthur around 1190. The moment in history was important.

On the one hand, Welsh legends about Arthur could be channelled directly into continental Europe for the first time through the Norman occupation of England after 1066. Previously, the AngloSaxons - who were hostile to Welsh culture - had stood between Wales and Continental Europe. Secondly, mythic ideas had been flowing into Western Europe from the Near East as a result of the Crusades and crusading orders, such as the Knights Templar - before the 12th Century Joseph of Arimathea’s epic voyage would not have seemed credible-. Such heterodox beliefs were tolerated in Languedoc (= southern France) where the Albigensian heresy was well rooted. Moreover, the image of the questing Christian soldier was also a reflection of the 12^th century crusader (the Third Crusade provoked by the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, was contemporary with the first French Holy Grail Legends). Finally, interest in a 'magical' cup was growing and would culminate a few years later in the doctrine of Transubstantiation defined at the Lateran Council (1215).

Magic receptacles

To say that the Holy Grail first appeared in the Arthurian Legends in the 12th Century is not to say that the magic receptacle was invented then. The Ancient Greeks had transformative chalices such as the Cup of Dionysos. However, 'Celtic' containers - such as the Irish Cauldron of the Dagda – seem to be the most direct source for the Holy Grail. Magic cauldrons appear in the same Welsh sources as the original Arthurian Legends, for Instance in The Mabinogion. The jump from cauldron to chalice should not seem too dramatic; it should be remembered that, in most early versions of the legends, the Grail was made of stone and only later became the metal cup we think of today. Indeed, the word 'grail' comes (via French) from mediaeval Latin gradalis - meaning a dish or bowl - and other mediaeval sources describe it as a platter rather than a cup. If we allow for a somewhat amorphous receptacle, legends of dangerous quests for sacred vessels containing the blood of a deity are relatively common in world mythology.

Welsh magic cauldrons

According to the poem Preiddeu Annwfn, there was once a magic cauldron that was studded with pearls. This vessel was kept boiling by nine priestesses so that it would give forth its oracles. It also inspired poets, healed wounds and provided eternal youth. However, none of these benefits were given to cowards or oath breakers. The cauldron was kept in a square revolving fortress made of glass protected by 6000 silent sentinels. The castle had a strong door but, as the fortress revolved, few could find the entrance. This was the castle of the king of Annwn /a'nuin/, the Otherworld of the Ancient Welsh. Annwn was an island in the West.

The great king Arthur determined that he must have the cauldron of Annwn and he took three boatloads of warriors to seize the prize. The struggle to win the cauldron was long and hard and when Arthur finally escaped from Annwn in his magical ship, Prydwen, he was one of only seven heroes to make it out alive. If you wish to read the original (highly esoteric) poem in Modem English (and Old Welsh) and listen to it in Old Welsh, visit http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/annwn.htm

Bran the Blessed gave a similar magic cauldron - perhaps the same one - to his new brother in law when Bran's sister, Branwen, married Matholwch of Ireland. However, once he was back in Ireland Matholwch began to mistreat Branwen, beating her and making her work in the kitchen like a common woman. Alter three years of suffering Branwen trained a little bird to take a message to Wales to inform her brother of how she was being mistreated. When Bran the Blessed heard of his sister's plight, he took a great army to Ireland to rescue her. The Welsh hero was victorious against the Irish but Matholwch used the cauldron to resuscitate his soldiers. In the end Bran rescued his sister and vanquished the Irish by destroying the cauldron. However, Bran was wounded in the foot by a poisoned arrow and only seven of his men were left alive. Knowing that he would not recover, Bran ordered his men to cut his head off and take it with them on a seven year journey until they came to the White Mount. The seven warriors did as they had been commanded and took Bran's head and his sister back to Britain. But when Branwen saw the death and destruction that the Welsh and the Irish had suffered in her name her heart broke and she died.

The Fisher King

In the French Grail Legends many of Arthur’s knights - including Gawain and Lancelot - try and fail to find the Holy Grail. Perceval comes to the wasteland ruled by the Fisher King - guardian of the Holy Grail - but fails to ask the vital question, "What is the Grail and who does it serve?" This would have healed the Fisher King and restored fertility to the land. Percival, Bors and Galahad take the Grail to the Holy Land where only Galahad is pure enough of heart to discover the divine truth in the Grail. However, the epiphany kills him. The Fisher King of the French Legends may be based on the Welsh king Bran the Blessed.