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What is the Holy Grail? A chalice? A philosophers stone? The bloodline of Christ? In Arthurian romances the quest for the ever-elusive Holy Grail and the secrets therein was the highest spiritual pursuit one could embark on. In today's times it is a mental, rather than a physical, journey, and while not fraught with the danger it once was, it is still, for all practical purposes, an exciting and adventurous journey.
To discover the truth of the identity of the Holy Grail, one must first look to see what it originally was, and how it evolved to become what is commonly known as the Holy Grail today. Many scholars agree that the four hallows carried in the Grail procession are likely derived from the four treasures of the Tuatha de Duncan, the tribe of the great Irish goddess Danu. And there are considerable grounds for the comparison. The treasures of this early Celtic rite were the Sword of Nude, the Lia Fail, the Cauldron of Dagda and the Spear of Light. Compare these to the broken sword, the silver serving dish, the Grail, and the bleeding Lance as found in Chretien, and it becomes apparent that the argument is well-founded. Weston has suggested that the hallows can be reduced to the realm of sexual symbolism, with the male principle of the Blade (the Sword and the Lance) and the female principle of the Chalice (the Platter and the Grail), but as the Oxford medievalist attests in David Lodge's Small World, "This business of phallic symbolism is a lot of rot. " No, it seems clear that an old Irish or Celtic ritual is the true source of the Hallows.
A separate frivolous interpretation also links the four treasures with the suits of the Tarot, where Swords = the Broken Sword, Pentacles = the Serving Dish, Wands = the Bleeding Lance, and Cups = the Grail. The matter of the Sword falls into two main categories, Celtic and Christian. In Celtic lore swords were often believed to possess unique or extraordinary qualities that empowered the hero with superhuman abilities. Magic swords of this type are mentioned in both "The Spoils of Ann" and "Culhwch and Open. " In later Grail stories the sword is frequently broken, whereby the mending of the sword represents one of the tasks used to test the mettle of the Grail Knight. Christian stories tend to identify it with the Sword of David. As we are told in the Quote del San Graal, the Sword of David was placed in a ship by Solomon's wife to be sent down the ages until the Grail knights discovered it.
The last person who unsheathed the sword, King Parian, was less than worthy. Consequently a blight struck his land and he was later wounded in the thighs and made impotent by the lance. And so the Sword of David lies in wait for Galahad, the symbol of sheer perfection, who eventually finds it and uses it to heal the king and land. Another possible alternative is the sword that Gawain is sent to fetch in Perlesvausthe blade used to behead John the Baptist. In Chretien, the second treasure, the Platter, is identified as a tailor, or carving dish, made of silver. But in other versions the platter assumes many different forms.
At various times it appears as a stone, a paten, a table, a dish with a severed head upon it, or even a stone chair. Here the board is symbolic of the land and the pieces which move over its surface are the main characters of the Quest, which would explain Gawain's threefold failure; he is not destined to succeed in his quest. Generally speaking the platter is the most elusive of the four hallows, probably representing a primitive form of the Grail itself. The third treasure, the Holy Grail, is also steeped in ambiguity, though not to the extent of the platter. It is variously described as a cup, chalice, or deep dish.
Part of the mystery surrounding the shape and dimensions of the Grail stems from the fact that the word graal is never explained in the early Grail romances. The monk Helinand defined the similar word grade as meaning stella lata et aliquantulum profunda, or a wide and slightly deep dish. This was definitely the case in the early romances, where the Grail is said to have served a salmon or pike to the Grail king. Later versions, on the other hand, employ the more conventional description, that of a cup or chalice often associated with the one used by Christ at the Last Supper.
The Grail carries with it certain representative traits. One of these properties is the provision of food and drink. When the hero reaches the Grail castle, it is almost always the Grail that provides the sumptuous meal: "The moderate and the gluttonous, both had just enough to eat... Mulberry juice, wine red or white to please the cup of every knight whatever beverage came to mind the knight within his cup would find, all from the Grail's capacity." The occurrence of such a lavish feast in these cases clearly suggests a connection to the horn of plenty or ambrosial cup found in various mythologies. Consequently, the Grail is often perceived as a healing or nurturing vessel.
It clearly sustains the inhabitants of the Grail castle and is further accredited with the longevity of the Fisher King. But the fact of the matter is the Grail destroys as readily as it heals. Those chosen few who pass its rigorous tests are transformed, but those who attempt to grasp its meaning before they are ready are purged. Lancelot and Gawain are found to be flawed men in the later versions and are not allowed to commune with the Ultimate Source that the Grail embodies. Generally speaking, the Grail goes hand in hand with transformation. It is the ultimate life-giving and life-sustaining vessel.
It is the quintessential reward to the most challenging of quests. Which brings me to the last of the four hallows, the Bleeding Spear/Lance, to my mind the most curious of all the sacred relics. Quite early in the development of the story it comes to be identified with the Lance of Longinus. Christian legend maintains that Longinus was the blind centurion who thrust the spear into Christ's side at the crucifixion. Some of Jesus' blood fell upon his eyes and he was healed. In this station the lance links the wound of the Fisher King to that of Christ. "It is indeed, morally, precisely the wounding of the Keeper of the Hallows which then takes place, " writes Charles Williams. "Man wounds himself.
It is an image of the Fall. " And though the Lance/Spear later comes to be synonymous with the wounding of the Fisher King, it is also the greatest healing influence of the four Hallows. The spear has a mysterious double-edged quality; it is a spear which both heals and wounds. As Malcolm Godwin notes: The Celtic spear, within the essential Grail myth, renders impotent whosoever it strikes, leaving him in a strange state in which he can neither be healed nor actually die. This 'Dolorous Blow' lays waste his lands and only a hero of exceptional power s and worthiness is able to lift the burden and heal the sufferer by using the selfsame spear that wounded him. Bibliography: web web web
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