Looking for the Holy Grail
Richard Barber explores the origin of the Holy Grail story, its significance in its own time and its wider impact in subsequent centuries.
‘It is dusk. A young knight is riding through a deserted countryside, seeking shelter for the night. He has seen no one all day, save a fisherman who has told him of a castle nearby where he will be made welcome.
Just as he has given up hope of finding it, he sees it hidden in a valley, and makes his way down to it.
He is made welcome by the lord, who proves to be the fisherman he had met earlier; but he is shy in such company. He has little experience of society, for he has been brought up by his mother in the depths of the forest in the hope that he will escape the fate of his father and brothers, slain in jousts or battles. A rich feast is prepared, but as the company sit down, a procession appears: a boy bearing a spear whose tip runs with blood, two other boys bearing candlesticks, and then a girl bearing a grail, which shines so brightly that the candlesticks seem pale beside it. The grail is made of gold, and set with precious stones. The procession vanishes into an inner chamber. The young knight watches amazed and baffled, but, hesitant as ever, does not turn to his host and ask what all this might mean.’
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