The Grail legend made its debut in 1190 when Chrétien de Troyes’ wrote a story about a young boy seeking what is known as the Grail. Perceval (the Grail Knight) finds the Grail to be a golden platter on which the blessed host is kept upon. Perceval’s quest to find the Grail is placed upon him by the Fisher King, who was pierced in the thigh by a lance. Due to the King’s injury his whole Kingdom has become a barren wasteland and only by acquiring the Grail and thus being healed by it can his kingdom flourish once again. Perceval encounters many adversaries and goes through many trials and tribulations on his journey seeking the Grail.
Since Chrétien de Troyes’ Perceval, the Grail myth has become a popular story and legend. Nowadays, when thinking of the Grail legend a cup or chalice is imagined as well as images of the Knights of King Arthur. Modern tales and their iconography of the Grail are mere adaptations of Chrétien de Troyes’ original story.
Modern Adaptations of the Grail myth
Two of the most well-known adaptations of the Grail myth are the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade directed by Steven Spielberg and Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Both adaptations differ remarkably to Chrétien de Troyes’ Percival, but they are both still recognisable as Grail stories.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones sets the Grail legend to 1938. The Grail in the film is a cup: Indiana Jones, our hero, is likened to the many brave Knights of the Round Table and will ultimately win the Grail. This film has a very loose interpretation of the Fisher King, represented not only by the rocky relationship between Indiana Jones and his father Henry Jones Sr., but also by Henry Jones’ wound at the end of the film. In Chrétien de Troyes’ novel, the Grail is the single most important object. In Indiana Jones, the film’s primary concern is the relationship between father and son.
Just like the Grail Knights before him, Indiana Jones must prove himself worthy of the Grail, therefore his last test is to recognise it from the many other cups, goblets and chalices. The Grail in many modern stories is usually depicted as a very beautiful golden object, but here the director has taken a different approach to his interpretation of the Grail myth. Indiana Jones identifies the true Grail cup to be a simple, tarnished, insignificant wooden cup. Indiana is able to identify the true Grail from his previous knowledge of Jesus being a carpenter. Here one can see that the Grail cup has been Christianized. It is not just a simple platter, but it is actually a cup which belonged to Jesus Christ.
Though there are obvious changes in the iconography of this film in comparison to Chrétien de Troyes' novel, many of the original elements still appear: the Fisher King, the Knight in search of the Grail, and of course the Grail itself. In most modern stories and films these are the three elements that are still apparent.
The Da Vinci Code
Many modern Grail stories have a tendency to portray the Grail story as a real ‘treasure hunt’. Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, do exactly that. If one looks at Dan Brown’s iconography in The Da Vinci Code, it becomes apparent that this particular story about the Grail is very different to the traditional Grail myth. Dan Brown has taken the fictional elements of the Grail legend and combined them with historical ‘facts’ so as to convince his audience that the Grail is something that exists and could be found. Throughout The Da Vinci Code, Robert Langdon (our Grail Knight) and Professor Leigh Teabing (our Fisher King) talk about iconography, especially that which is connected to the “divine feminine.”
In this version of the Grail myth, the Grail is not a cup, it is not even a platter, as it is in the original tale. Instead, it is applied to three very different things: the ancient bloodline of Jesus Christ, the womb of Mary Magdalene and Mary Magdalene’s sarcophagus. Throughout much of the book and film, Mary Magdalene’s remains are seen as the most attainable Grail. At the very end of the story, both her remains and the last descendant of Jesus Christ’s bloodline are found by the Grail Knight, Robert Langdon.
Various pieces of mythology are picked up by Dan Brown throughout his novel. This novel allows its audience to reinterpret iconology into a different meaning than that most commonly known. The pentagram, for example, is often portrayed as related to devil worship and witchcraft; Robert Langdon asks the audience to re-think how they view this symbol, explaining that the pentagram is associated with Paganism, and is in fact Venus’ symbol – the Roman goddess of love.
Dan Brown investigates not only commonly used iconography, but also iconography in Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, especially that of The Last Supper. In The Da Vinci Code, Professor Leigh Teabing uses many of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings to explain to Sophie Neveu (the ‘Grail’) what the real Grail actually is. He claims that the person on the right side of Jesus Christ, in the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, is not his faithful disciple John, but Mary Magdalene. Robert Langdon also goes on to explain the iconography of the original male and female symbols, claiming that:
“The female symbol...is called the chalice...resembles a cup or vessel, and...the shape of a woman’s womb.”
The Da Vinci Code has obviously reinterpreted the Grail legend very differently, yet one can still recognise aspects of Chrétien de Troyes' Percival. Robert Langdon goes in search of the Grail, and it is he who ultimately sees it for what it really is, just as Indiana Jones does. Dan Brown’s novel also has a Fisher King: Professor Leigh Teabing - just like our original Fisher King, in Chrétien de Troyes' romance - he too is injured and has “aluminium braces on his legs.” There is of course the Grail itself, which in Dan Brown’s novel can be inferred to be Sophie Neveu - the last descendant of Jesus Christ’s blood line.
Modern Iconography
The idea of a Grail ‘cup’ and Templar Knights and even King Arthur came much later after various different versions of the Grail myth. Due to the fact that Chrétien did not finish Perceval’s adventures, other authors felt the need to finish it. Not only did they add their own endings, they also changed fundamental aspects of the story. It is in the First Continuation, also known as the Gawain Continuation, that the bleeding lance is linked to being the spear which pierced Jesus’ side. This was how the story began to be Christianized. Robert de Boron then linked Joseph of Arimathea and the Cup of Christ’s Last Supper to the Holy Grail. It was also the first time the Grail was described as a cup. In Robert’s Joseph d’Arimathie, it tells how Joseph came to have the Grail and how it was transported to Britain.
This story then evolved into the Queste del Saint Graal, which replaced Percival with Galahad, giving us our traditional Grail hero. It was throughout the Vulgate Cycle, which was written in c.1225-1250 that the Grail story became heavily Christianized. A German Parzifal, by Wolfram, also based upon Chrétien’s story brought up the modern idea of a quest or challenge in order to gain the Grail.
By the 15th century many versions of the Grail myth had appeared, including Thomas Malory’s La Morte d’Arthur. This particular version of the tale took elements from the Vulgate Cycle whilst adopting and adding new scenes wherever the author felt necessary. Percival was replaced with Galahad, though Percival and another Knight named Bors were still involved in the many adventures of the Grail Quest.
It is because of these later authors that we, as a modern day audience, do not visualize a platter with no apparent significant link to Jesus Christ, nor do we even visualize Percival. The modern day audience imagines a golden cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper and which was then used to catch his blood by Joseph of Arimethea, and it is Galahad that is thought of as the pure and worthy Grail Knight. Various authors, painters and film-makers chose the images and iconography they want to portray, and usually it is a wide variety of iconography from Chrétien’s novel as well as many from the vastly different versions.
Pagan versions of the Myth
Although the Grail legend was indeed Christianized over the years, many Grail myth ideas came from Pagan and Celtic myths. Chrétien de Troyes’ own novel may have been based upon a Welsh version of the story called Peredur. Peredur is very similar to Chrétien’s story; the main difference being that the bleeding lance, instead of being in any way related to Christ, was used to slay Peredur’s cousin, and instead of the platter holding a host, it carries the head of Peredur’s cousin, causing Peredur to seek revenge.
Many similarities have also been found between the well-known version of the Grail legend and another Celtic myth called Preiddeu Annwfn (The Spoils of Annwn). In this Celtic myth Arthur goes into the Celtic Underworld and steals a cauldron. This cauldron, like our Grail, has powerful magical abilities and is a potent symbol in Celtic religion. Like the many Grail quests, this journey to the Underworld was also perilous with only seven of Arthur’s warriors returning to the land of the Living. Throughout many different cultures one can probably find many different versions of the Grail myth. Chrétien de Troyes’ and all the versions which followed are but a few examples.
Iconography of the Grail has changed so much over the years that very few people know how the original story began. Authors like Dan Brown are able to convince people that their version of the Grail legend is true as long as they keep identifiable elements of the Grail myth. Although the iconography may have changed over the years, I believe that Chrétien de Troyes’ message is still prevalent today. This message is not about finding a physical object, but of going on a quest to find yourself. Percival started out as a young and very naive boy, who after many challenges and obstacles evolved into a character who had matured and was evidently capable of being the hero.
Sources:
- Chrétien de Troyes, Percival (Le Conte du Graal), Penguin Classics, (1991)
- Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, Corgi, Great Britain, (2004): chapter 56, pg. 321
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, directed by Steven Spielberg (1989)
- www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/g01.html
- www.uidaho.edu/student_orgs/arthurian_legend/celtic/celtic.html
- www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/quest1.html#Perlesvau
- Loomis, R., The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol, Princeton University Press, New Jersey (1991)
- Baigent, M., Lincoln, H., Leigh, R. Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Dell Publishing, Great Britain(1996)
- Nigel Bryant, The Legend of the Grail, Boydell and Brewder, Great Britain(2004)
- The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard (2006)
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail, directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones (1975)
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