The Holy Grail

The legend of the Grail combines Christian lore with the Celtic myth of a cauldron endowed with special powers. It was Chretien de Troyes who first introduced the Grail to Arthurian Legend.

The Grail is first featured in Perceval, le Conte du Graal (The Story of the Grail) by Chrétien de Troyes, and was written sometime between 1180 or 1191 and is actually incomplete. The poem tells the tale of how Perceval finds the Grail while dining at the home of the Fisher King. By the nineteenth century, tales of quests to find the Grail became particularly popular and it is referred to in Tennyson's 'Idylls Of The King.' In cinema, John Boorman's Excalibur shows the most traditional Arthurian quest for the chalice, but their is also Robert Bresson's acclaimed film, Lancelot du Lac, which features a grittier retelling of the legend.