The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol

Roger Sherman Loomis; Roger Sherman Loomis

Book

The Grail

From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol

Roger Sherman Loomis and Roger Sherman Loomis

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2018

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About this book

The medieval legend of the Grail, a tale about the search for supreme mystical experience, has never ceased to intrigue writers and scholars by its wildly variegated forms: the settings have ranged from Britain to the Punjab to the Temple of Zeus at Dodona; the Grail itself has been described as the chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper, a stone with miraculous youth-preserving virtues, a vessel containing a man's head swimming in blood; the Grail has been kept in a castle by a beautiful damsel, seen floating through the air in Arthur's palace, and used as a talisman in the East to distinguish the chaste from the unchaste. In his classic exploration of the obscurities and contradictions in the major versions of this legend, Roger Sherman Loomis shows how the Grail, once a Celtic vessel of plenty, evolved into the Christian Grail with miraculous powers. Loomis bases his argument on historical examples involving the major motifs and characters in the legends, beginning with the Arthurian legend recounted in the 1180 French poem by Chrtien de Troyes. The principal texts fall into two classes: those that relate the adventures of the knights in King Arthur's time and those that account for the Grail's removal from the Holy Land to Britain. Written with verve and wit, Loomis's book builds suspense as he proceeds from one puzzle to the next in revealing the meaning behind the Grail and its legends.

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"In terms of serious scholarship, there has been little that supersedes or countervenes this work from a major Authuriad scholar at the height of his powers."

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Frontmatter
i

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Preface
ix

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
xiii

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List of Illustrations
xiv

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I. The Chief Romances of the Grail: a Preview
1

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II. The Origins and Growth of Arthurian Romance
7

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III. Celtic Myths, their Mutations and Combinations
20

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IV. The First Grail Story, the Conte del Graal of Chrétien de Troyes
28

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V. The Grail Bearer, the Question Test, and the Fisher King
46

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VI. The First Sequel to the Conte del Graal: the Corpse on the Bier and the Broken Sword
65

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VII. Irish Echtrai: the Waste Land and the Bleeding Lance
74

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VIII. Manessier's Sequel and Peredur: the Mission of Revenge
82

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IX. Perlesvaus : Welsh Talismans and a Welsh Elysium
97

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X. Sone de Nansai and the Mabinogi of Branwen
135

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XI. The Prose Lancelot: Combat and Scandal in the Castle of King Pelles
146

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XII. The Queste del Saint Graal: Celtic Story-Patterns in Cistercian Allegory
165

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XIII. Parzival, the Spiritual Biography of a Knight
196

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XIV. Joseph of Arimathea, an Evangelist by Error
223

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XV. Glastonbury, School of Forgery and Isle of Avalon
249

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XVI. The End of the Quest
271

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Appendixes
278

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Index
283

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

November 19, 2018

eBook ISBN:

9780691187198

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691187198

eBook ISBN: 9780691187198

Keywords for this book

Parzival; Perlesvaus; Fisher King; Joseph of Arimathea; Matter of Britain; Poetry; Peredur; Robert de Boron; Cistercians; Branwen; Geoffrey of Monmouth; Biography; Allegory; Galahad; Corbenic; Mabinogion; Echtra; Sarras; Kyot; Gawain; Round Table; Dolorous Stroke; V.; Goliard; The Day of Doom; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; The Earthly Paradise; Serglige Con Culainn; Necromancy; Vindicta Salvatoris; M. R. James; Brennius; Catharism; In Parenthesis; Bretons; Gottfried von Strassburg; Cup of Gold; Manawydan; Celtic mythology; Morgan le Fay; Domesday Book; Logres; Hartmann von Aue; Percival; Sir Galahad (poem); Le Morte d'Arthur; Judas Maccabeus; Pryderi; Absalom; Superiority (short story); The Grail Quest; The Other Hand; Prose Tristan; Enemy of God (novel); Paganism; Thomas Malory; Paschal; Isidore of Seville; Layamon; Erec; T. H. White; Crusades; Brendan; Church Fathers; Uther Pendragon; Knights Templar; Titurel; The Monastery; Narrative; Military art

Audience(s) for this book

For a non-specialist adult audience

The Grail

Overview

About this book

Reviews

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Preface

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

I. The Chief Romances of the Grail: a Preview

II. The Origins and Growth of Arthurian Romance

III. Celtic Myths, their Mutations and Combinations

IV. The First Grail Story, the Conte del Graal of Chrétien de Troyes

V. The Grail Bearer, the Question Test, and the Fisher King

VI. The First Sequel to the Conte del Graal: the Corpse on the Bier and the Broken Sword

VII. Irish Echtrai: the Waste Land and the Bleeding Lance

VIII. Manessier's Sequel and Peredur: the Mission of Revenge

IX. Perlesvaus : Welsh Talismans and a Welsh Elysium

X. Sone de Nansai and the Mabinogi of Branwen

XI. The Prose Lancelot: Combat and Scandal in the Castle of King Pelles

XII. The Queste del Saint Graal: Celtic Story-Patterns in Cistercian Allegory

XIII. Parzival, the Spiritual Biography of a Knight

XIV. Joseph of Arimathea, an Evangelist by Error

XV. Glastonbury, School of Forgery and Isle of Avalon

XVI. The End of the Quest

Appendixes

Index

Bibliographic data