The Holy Grail is well-known today from its appearance in movies such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Monty Python’s Holy Grail, and The Da Vinci Code. All of these derive from late-medieval English versions of the legend. However, centuries earlier, a French version was the first to popularize the legend of the Grail. Chretien de Troyes’ Perceval is the story of a provincial youth who becomes a knight of King Arthur’s court and undertakes a quest to find the mysterious Grail and heal the Fisher King. This version is very different from the ones we are most familiar with today. Notably, the Grail is never called “holy” and its origins are entirely different from the very Christianized object of the later versions. Instead, many have claimed a Jewish or Celtic origin for 5 Chretien’s tale. Chretien also left his story unfinished, leaving us to wonder if Perceval ever completes his quest. We will explore this early Grail text and discuss how Chretien’s surprising depiction of the Grail challenges our modern expectations, the cultural influences that shaped the tale, and the mysteries Chretien leaves us to unravel.
Read: The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes, translated by David Staines