The
Holy Grail
The Tradition: The Holy Grail was a
vessel used by Christ at the Last Supper. Given
to his grand-uncle, St.
Joseph of Arimathea, it was used by
him to collect Christ's blood and sweat while
Joseph tended him on the Cross. After Christ's
death, Joseph was apparently imprisoned in a rock
tomb similar to the one he had given for the body
of his grand-nephew. Left to starve, he was
sustained for several years by the power of the
Grail which provided him with fresh food and
drink every morning. Later, St. Joseph travelled
to Britain with his family and several followers.
He settled at Ynys Witrin (Glastonbury), but the
Grail was taken to Corbenic
where it was housed in a spectacular castle,
guarded always by the Grail Kings, descendants of
Joseph's daughter, Anna (Enygeus) and her
husband, Brons.
Centuries later, the location of the Great
Castle of Corbenic became forgotten. At the Court
of King Arthur, however, it was prophesied that
the Grail would one day be rediscovered by a
descendant of St. Joseph: the best knight in the
land, the only man capable of sitting in the
mysterious Siege Perilous. When such a man
arrived in the form of Galahad, the son of
Lancelot, along with a miraculous, though brief,
vision of the Grail itself, a quest to find this
holiest of relics began. Through many adventures
and many years, the Knights of the Round Table
crossed Britain from one end to another in their
search. Perceval (Peredyr) discovered the castle
in a land that was sickly like its spear-wounded
King. When entertained by this "Fisher"
or "Grail King", however, he failed to
ask of the grail and left empty-hand. Lancelot
next reached Corbenic, but was prevented from
entering because of he was an adulterer. Finally
Galahad arrived. He was permitted entry to the
Grail Chapel and allowed to gaze upon the great
cup. His life became complete and together grail
and man were lifted up to heaven.
The Names: The Holy Grail first
appears as simply "a grail" in the
works of Chrétien de Troyes. The word is
probably derived from the Old French word graal
meaning a "broad and capacious dish or
salver". Though usually thought of as being
a cup or chalice, the Grail has indeed been
variously described as a platter, dish, a
cornucopia, horn of plenty or even a book or a
stone.
The name of the Castle of Corbenic has
competing explanations. Old Welsh Cors, meaning
"Horn," the Horn of Plenty as the Grail
is sometimes described may have become confused
with the Old French Corps, producing Corps-Benoit
meaning "Holy Body," ie. the Body of
Christ. More likely, however, is the suggestion
that Corbenic stems from Corbin-Vicus. The ending
is almost certainly derived from the Latin for
"Settlement," while Corben is a French
translation of the word Crow or Raven: Bran in
Welsh. This was also a man's name and, as Brons,
he appears as St. Joseph's son-in-law, one of the
first Grail Kings. Hence Corbenic was
"Bran's Settlement". It may be
identical to the home of Lancelot's father,
Caer-Benwick.
Ancient
Origins: The quest
for a divine vessel was a popular theme in
Arthurian legend long before medieval writers
introduced the Holy Grail to British mythology.
It appears in the Mabinogion tale of Culhwch and
Olwen, but particularly well-known is the story
of the Preiddeu Annwfn or "Spoils of the
Otherworld" as recounted by Taliesin. Arthur
and his warriors sail off to the Celtic
Otherworld to capture the pearl-rimmed Cauldron
of Annwfn: like the grail it was a giver of
plenty, but also of prophecy. It was at last
discovered at Caer-Siddi (or Wydyr), an island
bound castle of glass, where it was guarded by
nine divine maidens; but the ensuing perils were
too much for even Arthur's men. The mission was
abandoned and only seven of their number returned
home.
Celtic
Cauldrons were used in ceremonial feasting as
early as the Late Bronze Age. Ritual deposits in
Llyn Fawr (Glamorgan) included such vessels,
though the best known example is the Gundestrup
Cauldron found in the peat bogs of Jutland
(Denmark). Highly decorated with portraits of
many Celtic deities, this vessel would once have
held up to twenty-eight and a half gallons of
liquid. These finds clearly point to the
religious importance of cauldrons, as found in
the Arthurian stories and even older Celtic
mythological parallels.
The magic
Otherworld vessel was the Cauldron of Ceridwen,
the Celtic Goddess of Inspiration. She is
remembered today in the archetypal hideous
cauldron-stirring witch. She once set about
brewing a drink of knowledge and wisdom for her
hideous son, but her kitchen-boy, Gwion,
accidentally tasted the concoction, preventing
anyone else from benefitting from its affects. A
great battle of wills ensued, for Gwion now held
all the knowledge to escape the Goddess' wrath.
The two changed themselves into various animals
in an attempt to outwit each other before Gwion
was swallowed whole as a grain of wheat. He was
eventually reborn as the great bard, Taliesin!
The cauldron
then reappears in the story of Bran Fendigaid
(the Blessed), not only as a vessel of knowledge
and plenty, but also of rebirth. The great Celtic
warrior God, Bran, obtained his life-giving
vessel from a giantess (or thinly veiled
Ceridwen) who had been expelled from a Lake in
Ireland. The Emerald Isle here personifies the
Celtic Otherworld. The magic vessel would restore
to life the body of any dead warrior placed
within it: a scene apparently depicted on the
Gundestrup Cauldron. Bran's sister marries the
King of Ireland and they are given the cauldron
as a wedding gift. However, when hostilities
between the two countries break out, Bran travels
across the ocean to regain this dangerous prize.
He is eventually successful, but is wounded by a
poisoned spear and, like Arthur, only seven of
his men return home. The name, the castle
(already discussed), the wound, the mystic
vessel, the journey: Bran Fendigaid is clearly
Brons, the Grail King, son-in-law of Joseph of
Arimathea.
Grail Candidates
Corbenic Candidates
