The Truth Within a Myth
Sir Thomas Malory described a small fraction of the myth surrounding the Holy Grail, in his book, Le Morte D'Arthur. In the "The Sangreal", Sir Malory gives an in depth account of The Knights of the Round Table's quest for the ever famous gilded cup. However, the tale of the Holy Grail does not begin nor end there. Within Christianity the form of the Grail is debatable, and throughout society the truth of the Grail is questionable.
In Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory describes a quest in which the Knights of the Round Table search and fight for the Holy Grail. This quest is particularly trying. As King Arthur said himself, "My lords… never again shall our complete fellowship be assembled at this castle, for soon you shall depart on the quest of the Holy Grail, from which some of you shall not return" (Baines 364). And many of the knights did not return. They were either to impure or to stricken by the holiness of the object to go on in the physical world. The Grail was said to sit on "an altar covered by a fresh silk cloth, {on this cloth} stood a silver candlestick with six candles all burning. Above, angels were flying; one held a sacred cross, another a brilliant-burning cross" (Baines 422). The Grail itself was not thoroughly explained. To Sir Thomas Malory the Grail was an object that would bring a kingdom together and promote peace. However, religious groups have other perspectives concerning the Grail.
According to the most common Christian interpretations, the Holy Grail is a Chalice that touched Jesus' lips during the Last Supper, and caught His blood while He was being crucified. During the crucifixion "Joseph [of Arimathea] is said to have gathered the blood of the fa...
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... and well being; and all of those factors are similar to the ones that are portrayed by other myths.
Sir Thomas Malory exemplified the most common Grail theme in the Sangreal chapter of his book, Le Morte D'Arthur. However, throughout history the Grail has switched formation and religions various times. Therefore every theory is debatable. The only thing that remains true is that the Grail is something that will bring one closer to the Supreme Being and it takes an ultimate quest to obtain the Grail.
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Works Cited
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Catholic Encyclopedia: Urim and Thummim. 14 October 2001
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Grail Myths. 11 October 2001
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Summary #3 – “Campus Diversity and Student Self-Segregation: Separating Myths from Facts” by Debra Humphreys
Another link between the Legends of Arthur and the Catholic Church is the Holy Grail. The Grail was said to be the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper and at the Crucifixion to have received blood flowing from Christ's side. At the round table there was an extra seat reserved for the finder of the Holy Grail. The grail was an important object in King Arthur’s Court because whoever did find it was considered a great knight. The church also thought the Holy Grail to be an important objec...
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Ralls, Karen. "Legends of the Grail: The Chivalric Vision." Http://www.theosophical.org/publications/1506. Quest Magazine, Nov.-Dec. 2003. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
The Quest for the Holy Grail was the greatest and noblest of all quests for King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. The Holy Grail was believed to be the cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, and it was the cup that caught Christ's blood when he was thrust in the side with a spear at his crucifixion. Joseph of Arimathea, the wealthy man who allowed Christ to be placed in his tomb, is said to have brought the cup with him to Britain, but it was later lost. It was said that the cup disappeared because of the sins of the times, but many believed it to be hidden, and still in England. The Quest for the Holy Grail, led by King Arthur was to find this divine cup.
Lancelot, Bors, and Perceval all strive to become more like Galahad, and the author effectively uses these characters to teach his readers lessons about spiritual chivalry and personal salvation. The author provides each of these knights with a series of monks and hermits who counsel and guide him in the ways of spiritual chivalry, for only the most pure Christian knights have any hope of finding the Grail. The adventures of Perceval are very straightforward and easy to interpret, so he provides readers with a suitable introduction to spiritual chivalry and the importance of virginity, asceticism, and complete faith in God. The author faces Bors with more complicated challenges and visions than anything Perceval must handle; since the author tells Bors' adventures after Perceval's, readers should be more prepared to interpret their meaning and significance with regard to spiritual chivalry and personal salvation. The advice Lancelot receives from his series of monks and hermits shows readers the importance of confession and penance, but the author makes it clear that readers should not emulate Lancelot's life of sin ...
The Holy Grail, according to legend and “Indiana Jones,” is the cup that Jesus and his disciples drank from during the last supper. Later writings also tell that the cup was used to catch Jesus's blood while he was being crucified. While sometimes depicted as a rather fancy, jeweled chalice, it is much more likely that Jesus, the poor son of a carpenter, would have drunk from a simple wooden cup (Ford).