The Quest of the Holy Grail (Author Unknown)

Monty Python did a movie about it, Indiana Jones sought it, and a great many real people have, too.  The Holy Grail is based in history but tales concerning it are mostly of Medieval legend.  The Grail was the cup used by Christ at the last supper (Matthew 26:26-29).  In some versions of later tales spun over the centuries, it was also used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch the Savior's blood while on the Cross (this is nowhere in Scripture).

The legend of the Holy Grail was weaved into Arthurian legend in Medieval times (the literary history is somewhat convoluted; see here for an overview).  So, on to today's review.  Written in the early 1200's in France by an author lost to history, The Quest of the Holy Grail fused Christian symbolism into the Arthurian court.  Here, the Holy Grail was sought by King Arthur's knights- in fact, its pursuit breaks up the fellowship of the Round Table.  In the story, the Grail symbolized 'the secret and hidden wisdom of God' (as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 2:6-10), and knights sought to attain it by virtue.  Each encountered many 'adventures' (we'd think of them as trials) along the way, and all fell short save for one destined to achieve it (name withheld to avoid spoilers).  Many of the adventures were close parallels to stories in Scripture; in fact, often a handy hermit or priest would explain the meaning or symbolism of an adventure to the participants after the fact.

As later Arthurian works discuss the Grail, I was interested in this, one of the earlier ones, and certainly the longest treatment of the subject.  It was pretty good.  I especially enjoyed the Penguin Classics edition; the translator did an excellent job with explanatory notes, walking the reader through the Christian symbolism which pervades this book and pointing the reader to referenced or relevant Scripture passages along the way.  It's clearly meant to instruct.  Of most interest to me was the aspects of Medieval theology we can infer from this.  Here, one virtue (mentioned perhaps more than any other) is chastity- sex was viewed as bad, even (apparently) in marriage.  Perhaps this betrays the author as being a celibate clergyman.  Another common theme is earning merit through virtue (or works)*.  The Reformation (hundreds of years in the future) would address this and give a counter-claim that only by the unmerited favor- or grace- of Christ, in reliance upon His works, can one be saved.  There are other examples; time and space preclude full exploration.  In closing, this is a worthy and insightful addition to the Arthurian saga.

Rating: B+

*Though, to be fair, the only knight who ends up being worthy of the Grail may be symbolic of Christ- the only one who was worthy- so this may be saying that we as sinful humans cannot merit salvation, which would align with Reformation thought.