Christian/Pagan Influences

The Grail HouseThe Grail Knights

“The Death of Arthur”

Christian/Pagan Archbishop of

Canterbury Christian calendar Religious oaths:

“By grace of God.”

Merlin’s prophecies

Arthur’s dream of dragons and beasts

Hand in the lake Arthur’s

departure to Avalon

The Holy Grail Christ’s chalice from the Last

Supper = spiritual vessel with healing power

*or* Chalice used to catch Christ’s

blood after the Roman centurian Longinus pierced his side with a spear

The Holy Grail Joseph of Arimathea carries the

grail to Britain On Pentecost Galahad assumes

the Siege Perilous Grail magically appears to the

Round Table, feeds them, and vanishes

The Grail Question Along with Perceval and Bors,

Galahad reaches Castle Carbonek, the Grail Castle

Perceval first fails to ask the wounded Fisher King the Grail Question: What is the secret of the Grail?

Whom does it serve?

The Fisher King(s) aka the Maimed King(s)

Descendants of Joseph of Arimathea = Guardians of the Holy Grail

Wounded through the thighs (genitals?) by the Dolorous Stroke

The Fisher King(s) aka the Maimed King(s)

Wound makes his land an infertile Wasteland (impotence)

Vegetation myth = the king and the land are one

The Dolorous Stroke Balin (Balan fratricide) stabbed his

rival Pellam with the Lance of Longinus

Rendered the kingdom a barren Wasteland

The saddest blow since the lance pierced the side of Christ

The Wasteland No king = no God = chaos Lack of fertility = lack of

spirituality Corruption of Edenic verdance Vegetation myth = the king and

the land are one

The Grail HousePellam: maimed by the Dolorous Stroke

First King of the Wasteland

Pelles: Pellam’s son and Elaine’s father

Elaine of Carbonek = the Grail PrincessGalahad’s mother by Lancelot

Galahad: Heals the Maimed KingAchieves the Grail

The Holy Grail The three knights depart in a ship

for Sarras (near Jerusalem?) with the silver Grail Table and the Holy Grail, covered in red silk

Galahad kneels in front of the Grail Table and ascends bodily into heaven

“The Death of Arthur” Vision of spirit Gawain,

accompanied by ladies = Knight of the Goddess

Wheel of Fortune turns fate upside-down

Monsters in the swamp of chaos and the imagination

“The Death of Arthur” Fateful sting of the serpent =

Satan in the Garden of Eden Mortal conflict of father and son Chaos and robbery on the

battlefield = end of the Golden Age

“The Death of Arthur” Bedivere fails Arthur three times

as Peter denied Christ three times Avalon = the Fortunate Island, the

Isle of the Apples Otherworldly, heavenly

Three queens = three Fates, three Marys

“The Death of Arthur” Arthur’s return = Christ’s Second

Coming Future restoration of a Golden Age King = the land = vegetation cycle

“The Death of Arthur” Young Arthur united 11 rulers

against Saxons Quest for the Holy Grail

temporarily restored kingdom fragmented by Mordred

Kingdom is ultimately destroyed by human weakness = Lancelot and Guinevere

Further ResourcesSelect this link for excellent Arthurian resources

The Camelot Project at University of Rochester