(European mythology)

Sangreal, the Holy Grail. One of the most widespread legends of the Middle Ages. The Grail was said to be the vessel of the Last Supper and, at the Crucifixion, the one that received the blood which flowed from the spear thrust in Christ's side. Brought to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea, the rich man who buried Christ and founded the Christian settlement at Glastonbury, the Grail was later lost and its quest preoccupied King Arthur's knighs. It was still in Britain, poets were quite sure, but in a mysterious castle surrounded by desolate lands and stretches of water. The custodian of the Grail was the Fisher King, who lay wounded and immobile, neither living nor dead. The recovery of the Fisher King, and the renewal of his blighted domain, was thought to depend on the successful completion of the quest. Only Sir Galahad, however, had a vision of the whole Grail.

The Church was always uneasy about the legend. It so patently retained links with the insignia and utensils of pre-Christian rites. In the background stood the Celtic cauldron, whether the one used by the hag Ceridwen to prepare the three drops of inspiration, or the one capable of restoring the dead to life, the cauldron of rebirth discovered at the bottom of an Irish lake.

A Dictionary of World Mythology. Copyright © Arthur Cotterell 1979, 1986, 2003. All rights reserved.