Editing Holy Grail (section)

==Modern interpretations==

=== Scholarly hypotheses ===
Scholars have long speculated on the origins of the Holy Grail before Chrétien, suggesting that it may contain elements of the trope of magical [[Cauldron|cauldrons]] from [[Celtic mythology]] and later [[Welsh mythology]], combined with Christian legend surrounding the [[Eucharist]],<ref>Weston 1993, p. 74, 129.</ref> the latter found in [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian]] sources, conceivably in that of the [[Byzantine Rite|Byzantine Mass]], or even Persian sources.<ref>Jung, Emma and von Franz, Marie-Louise. ''The Grail Legend'', Sigo Press, Boston, 1980, p. 14.</ref> The view that the "origin" of the Grail legend should be seen as deriving from Celtic mythology was championed by [[Roger Sherman Loomis]] (''The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol''), [[Alfred Nutt]] (''Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail'', available at Wikisource), and [[Jessie Weston (scholar)|Jessie Weston]] (''[[From Ritual to Romance]]'' and ''The Quest of the Holy Grail''). Loomis traced a number of parallels between medieval Welsh literature and Irish material, and the Grail romances, including similarities between the ''[[Mabinogion]]''{{'}}s [[Bran the Blessed]] and the Arthurian Fisher King, and between Bran's life-restoring cauldron and the Grail.

The opposing view dismissed the "Celtic" connections as spurious, and interpreted the legend as essentially Christian in origin. Joseph Goering identified sources for Grail imagery in 12th-century wall paintings from churches in the Catalan [[Pyrenees]] (now mostly moved to the [[Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya]]), which present unique iconic images of the [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]] holding a bowl that radiates tongues of fire, images that predate the first literary account by Chrétien de Troyes. Goering argues that they were the original inspiration for the Grail legend.<ref>Goering, Joseph (2005). ''The Virgin and the Grail: Origins of a Legend''. Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-10661-0}}. [http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=0300106610]</ref><ref>Rynor, Micah (October 20, 2005). [http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/051020-1720.asp "Holy Grail legend may be tied to paintings"]. www.news.utoronto.ca.</ref>

Psychologists [[Emma Jung]] and [[Marie-Louise von Franz]] used [[analytical psychology]] to interpret the Grail as a series of symbols in their book ''The Grail Legend''.<ref name="Barber2482">Barber 2004, p. 248–252.</ref> They directly expanded on interpretations by [[Carl Jung]], which were later invoked by [[Joseph Campbell]].<ref name="Barber2482"/> Philosopher [[Henry Corbin]], a member of the [[Eranos]] circle founded by Jung, also commented on the esoteric significance of the grail, relating it to the [[Iranian Islam|Iranian Islamic]] symbols that he studied.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carey |first=John |title=Henry Corbin and the Secret of the Grail |url=https://www.temenosacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/JOHN-CAREY-Henry-Corbin-and-the-Secre-of-the-Grail_Optimized-Copy-Copy.pdf |publisher=The Temenos Academy |publication-place= |page=159-178 |access-date=|journal=Temenos Academy Review|issue=14|year=2011}}</ref>

Daniel Scavone (1999, 2003) argued that the "Grail" originally referred to the [[Image of Edessa]].<ref>D. Scavone: "Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and the Edessa Icon," ''[[Arthuriana]]'' vol. 9, no. 4, 3-31 (Winter 1999) ([http://www.shroud.it/SCAVONE1.PDF Article] and [http://www.shroud.com/scavone2.htm abstract]); Scavone, "British King Lucius, the Grail and Joseph of Arimathea: The Question of Byzantine Origins.", Publications of the Medieval Association of the Midwest 10 (2003): 101-42, vol. 10, 101-142 (2003).</ref> According to [[Richard Barber]] (2004), the Grail legend is connected to the introduction of "more ceremony and mysticism" surrounding the sacrament of the Eucharist in the high medieval period, proposing that the first Grail stories may have been connected to the "renewal in this traditional sacrament".<ref>Barber 2004.</ref> Goulven Peron (2016) suggested that the Holy Grail may reflect the [[Cornucopia#In mythology|horn]] of the river-god [[Achelous]], as described by [[Ovid]] in the ''[[Metamorphoses (Ovid)|Metamorphoses]]''.<ref name="Peron, Goulven 2016, p. 1132">Peron, Goulven. L'influence des Metamorphoses d'Ovide sur la visite de Perceval au chateau du Roi Pecheur, ''Journal of the International Arthurian Society'', Vol. 4, Issue 1, 2016, p. 113-134.</ref>

===Pseudohistory and conspiracy theories===
Since the 19th century, the Holy Grail has been linked to various conspiracy theories. In 1818, Austrian pseudohistorical writer [[Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall]] connected the Grail to contemporary myths surrounding the [[Knights Templar]] that cast the order as a secret society dedicated to mystical knowledge and relics. In Hammer-Purgstall's work, the Grail is not a physical relic, but a symbol of the secret knowledge that the Templars sought. There is no historical evidence linking the Templars to a search for the Grail, but subsequent writers have elaborated on the Templar theories.<ref>Wood 2012, p. 70, 73–74.</ref>

Starting in the early 20th century, writers, particularly in France, further connected the Templars and Grail to the Cathars. In 1906, French esoteric writer [[Joséphin Péladan]] identified the Cathar castle of Montségur with [[Munsalväsche]] or Montsalvat, the Grail castle in Wolfram's ''Parzival''. This identification has inspired a wider legend asserting that the Cathars possessed the Holy Grail.<ref>Wood 2012, p. 75–76.</ref> According to these stories, the Cathars guarded the Grail at Montségur, and smuggled it out when the castle fell in 1244.<ref>Wood 2012, p. 74–76.</ref>

[[File:Parsifal1933.jpg|thumb|The Grail depicted on a 1933 German stamp]]

Beginning in 1933, German writer [[Otto Rahn]] published a series of books tying the Grail, Templars, and Cathars to modern German nationalist mythology. According to Rahn, the Grail was a symbol of a pure Germanic religion repressed by Christianity. Rahn's books inspired interest in the Grail within [[Occultism in Nazism|Nazi occultist]] circles, and led to the SS chief [[Heinrich Himmler]]'s abortive sponsorship of Rahn's search for the Grail, as well as many subsequent conspiracy theories and fictional works about the Nazis searching for the Grail.<ref>Wood 2012, p. 76–77.</ref>

In the late 20th century, writers [[Michael Baigent]], [[Richard Leigh (author)|Richard Leigh]], and [[Henry Lincoln]] created one of the most widely known conspiracy theories about the Holy Grail. The theory first appeared on the [[BBC]] documentary series ''[[Chronicle (UK TV series)|Chronicle]]'' in the 1970s, and was elaborated upon in the bestselling 1982 book ''[[Holy Blood, Holy Grail]]''.<ref name=Wood77/> The theory combines myths about the Templars and Cathars with various other legends, and a prominent [[hoax]] about a secret order called the [[Priory of Sion]]. According to this theory, the Holy Grail is not a physical object, but a symbol of the [[bloodline of Jesus]]. The blood connection is based on the etymological reading of ''san greal'' (holy grail) as ''sang real'' (royal blood), which dates to the 15th century.<ref name=Wood77/> The narrative developed is that [[Jesus]] was not divine, and had children with [[Mary Magdalene]], who took the family to France where their descendants became the [[Merovingians|Merovingian]] dynasty. Supposedly, while the Catholic Church worked to destroy the dynasty, they were protected by the Priory of Sion and their associates, including the Templars, Cathars, and other secret societies.<ref>Wood 2012, p. 77–82.</ref> The book, its arguments, and its evidence have been widely dismissed by scholars as pseudohistorical, but it has had a vast influence on conspiracy and [[alternate history]] books. It has also inspired fiction, most notably [[Dan Brown]]'s 2003 novel ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'' and its 2006 [[The Da Vinci Code (film)|film adaptation]].<ref>Wood 2012, p. 77, 81–82.</ref>

===Music and painting===
[[File:Frederick Sandys - King Pelles Daughter.jpg|thumb|upright|''King Pelles' Daughter Bearing the Sancgraal'' by [[Frederick Sandys]] (1861)|alt=]]

The combination of hushed reverence, chromatic harmonies and sexualized imagery in [[Richard Wagner]]'s final music drama ''[[Parsifal]]'', premiered in 1882, developed this theme, associating the Grail – now periodically producing blood – directly with female fertility.<ref>Donington, Robert (1963). ''Wagner's "Ring" and its Symbols: the Music and the Myth''. Faber</ref> The high seriousness of the subject was also epitomized in [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]]'s painting in which a woman modeled by [[Alexa Wilding]] holds the Grail with one hand, while adopting a gesture of blessing with the other.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/dante-gabriel-rossetti-461|title=Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828–1882|website=Tate}}</ref>

A major mural series depicting the Quest for the Holy Grail was done by the artist [[Edwin Austin Abbey]] during the first decade of the 20th century for the [[Boston Public Library]]. Other artists, including [[George Frederic Watts]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/230160?position=8|title=Sir Galahad &#124; Harvard Art Museums|website=harvardartmuseums.org}}</ref> and [[William Dyce]], also portrayed grail subjects.<ref>Shichtman, Martin B.; Carley, James P., (eds.) ''Culture and the King: The Social Implications of the Arthurian Legend'', SUNY Press, Albany, N.Y., 1994, p. 264.</ref>

===Literature===
The story of the Grail and of the quest to find it became increasingly popular in the 19th century, referred to in literature such as [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]]'s Arthurian cycle ''[[Idylls of the King]]''. A sexualised interpretation of the grail, now identified with female genitalia, appeared in 1870 in [[Hargrave Jennings]]' book ''The Rosicrucians, Their Rites and Mysteries''.<ref>Writing of the Order of the Garter ceremonies Jennings writes on page 323:- The whole refers to King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table; set round as sentinels ('in lodge') of the Sangreal, or Holy Graal--the 'Sacrifice Mysterious', or 'Eucharist'. But how is all this magic and sacred in the estimate of the Rosicrucians?' an inquirer will very naturally ask. The answer to all this is very, ample and satisfactory; but particulars must be left to the sagacity of the querist himself, because propriety does not admit of explanation. Suffice it to say, that it is one of the most curious and wonderful subjects which has occupied the attention of antiquaries. That archaeological puzzle, the 'Round Table of King Arthur', is a perfect display of this whole subject of the origin of the 'Garter'; it springs directly from it, being the same object as that enclosed by the mythic garter, 'garder', or 'girther.'</ref>

* [[T. S. Eliot]]'s poem ''[[The Waste Land]]'' (1922) loosely follows the legend of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King combined with vignettes of contemporary British society. In his first note to the poem, Eliot attributes the title to Jessie Weston's book on the Grail legend, ''[[From Ritual to Romance]]''. The allusion is to the wounding of the Fisher King and the subsequent sterility of his lands. A poem of the same title, though otherwise dissimilar, written by [[Madison Cawein]], was published in 1913 in [[Poetry (magazine)|''Poetry'']].<ref>{{cite web |title=January 1913 : Poetry Magazine |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?volume=1&issue=4&page=4 |access-date=25 November 2024 |publisher=Poetryfoundation.org}}</ref>
* In [[John Cowper Powys]]'s ''[[A Glastonbury Romance]]'' (1932), the "heroine is the Grail,"<ref>"Preface" to ''A Glastonbury Romance''. London: Macdonald, 1955, p. xiii.</ref> and its central concerns are with the various myths and legends, along with the history associated with Glastonbury. It is also possible to see most of the main characters as undertaking a Grail quest.<ref>Krissdottir, Morine. ''Descent of Memory: The Life of John Cowper Powys''. London: Overlook Press, 2007, pp. 252-3.</ref>
* The Grail is central in [[Charles Williams (UK writer)|Charles Williams]]' novel ''War in Heaven'' (1930) and his two collections of poems about [[Taliesin|Taliessin]], ''Taliessin Through Logres'' and ''Region of the Summer Stars'' (1938).
*''[[The Silver Chalice]]'' (1952) is a non-Arthurian historical Grail novel by [[Thomas B. Costain]].
* A quest for the Grail appears in [[Nelson DeMille]]'s adventure novel ''The Quest'' (1975), set during the 1970s.
* [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s Arthurian revisionist fantasy novel ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]'' (1983) presented the Grail as a symbol of water, part of a set of objects representing the four [[classical elements]]. 
* The main theme of [[Rosalind Miles (author)|Rosalind Miles]]' ''Child of the Holy Grail'' (2000) in her ''Guenevere'' series is the story of the Grail quest by the 14-year-old Galahad.
* The Grail motif features heavily in [[Umberto Eco]]'s 2000 novel ''[[Baudolino]]'', set in the 12th century.
* It is the subject of [[Bernard Cornwell]]'s historical fiction series of books ''[[The Grail Quest]]'' (2000–2012), set during the [[Hundred Years War]]. In his earlier series ''[[The Warlord Chronicles]]'', an adaptation of the Arthurian legend, Cornwell also reimagines the Grail quest as a quest for a cauldron that is one of the [[Thirteen Treasures of Britain]] from Celtic mythology.
* Influenced by the 1982 publication of the ostensibly non-fiction ''[[The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]]'', Dan Brown's ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'' (2003) has the "grail"  taken to refer to Mary Magdalene as the "receptacle" of Jesus' bloodline (playing on the ''sang real'' etymology). In Brown's novel, it is hinted that this Grail was long buried beneath [[Rosslyn Chapel]] in Scotland, but that in recent decades, its guardians had it moved to a secret chamber embedded in the floor beneath the [[La Pyramide Inversée|Inverted Pyramid]] in the entrance of the [[Louvre|Louvre museum]].
* [[Michael Moorcock]]'s fantasy novel ''[[The War Hound and the World's Pain]]'' (1981) depicts a supernatural Grail quest set in the era of the [[Thirty Years' War]].
*German history and fantasy novel author [[Rainer M. Schröder]] wrote the trilogy ''[[:de:Die Bruderschaft vom Heiligen Gral|Die Bruderschaft vom Heiligen Gral]]'' (''The Brotherhood of the Holy Grail'') about a group of four Knights Templar who save the Grail from the [[Siege of Acre (1291)|Fall of Acre]] in 1291 and go through an odyssey to bring it to the [[Square du Temple|Temple in Paris]] in the first two books, ''Der Fall von Akkon'' (2006) and ''Das Amulett der Wüstenkrieger'' (2006), while defending the holy relic from the attempts of a Satanic sect called Iscarians to steal it. In the third book, ''Das Labyrinth der schwarzen Abtei'' (2007), the four heroes must reunite to smuggle the Holy Grail out of the Temple in Paris after the [[trials of the Knights Templar]] in 1307, again pursued by the Iscarians. Schröder indirectly addresses the Cathar theory by letting the four heroes encounter Cathars – among them old friends from their flight from Acre – on their way to Portugal to seek refuge with the King of Portugal and travel further west.
* The 15th novel in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' series by [[Jim Butcher]], [[Skin Game (The Dresden Files)|''Skin Game'']] (2014), features [[Harry Dresden]] being recruited by Denarian and longtime enemy Nicodemus into a heist team seeking to retrieve the Holy Grail from the vault of [[Hades]], the lord of the Underworld. The properties of the item are not explicit, but the relic itself makes an appearance and is in the hands of Nicodemus by the end of the novel's events.
* The Holy Grail features prominently in [[Jack Vance]]'s ''[[Lyonesse Trilogy]]'', where it is the subject of an earlier quest, several generations before the birth of King Arthur. However, in contrast to the Arthurian canon, Vance's Grail is a common object lacking any magical or spiritual qualities, and the characters finding it derive little benefit.
* ''Grails: Quests of the Dawn'' (1994), edited by [[Richard Gilliam]], Martin H. Greenberg, and Edward E. Kramer is a collection of 25 short stories about the grail by various science fiction and fantasy writers.
* In Robert Bruton's ''Empire in Apocalypse'' (2023), the Holy Grail appears as General Belisarius's Vandal chalice, recovered with other treasures the Vandals had stolen during the sacking of Rome.

===Film and other media===
[[File:Hollywood Museum - Indiana Jones' Grail Diary (7659583966).jpg|thumb|Grail diary of [[Henry Jones, Sr.]] from the 1989 film ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' at the [[Hollywood Museum]]]]

In the cinema, the Holy Grail debuted in the 1904 silent film ''[[Parsifal (1904 film)|Parsifal]]'', an adaptation of Wagner's opera by [[Edwin S. Porter]]. More recent cinematic adaptations include Costain's ''The Silver Chalice'' made into a [[The Silver Chalice (film)|1954 film]] by [[Victor Saville]] and Brown's ''The Da Vinci Code'' turned into a [[The Da Vinci Code (film)|2006 film]] by [[Ron Howard]].

* The silent drama film ''[[The Light in the Dark]]'' (1922) involves discovery of the Grail in modern times.
* [[Robert Bresson]]'s fantasy film ''[[Lancelot du Lac (film)|Lancelot du Lac]]'' (1974) includes a more realistic version of the Grail quest from Arthurian romances.
* ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'' (1975) is a comedic take on the Arthurian Grail quest, adapted in 2004 as the stage production ''[[Spamalot]]''. 
* [[John Boorman]], in his fantasy film ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'' (1981), attempted to restore a more traditional heroic representation of an Arthurian tale, in which the Grail is revealed as a mystical means to revitalise Arthur and the barren land to which his depressive sickness is connected.
* [[Steven Spielberg]]'s adventure film ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' (1989) features [[Indiana Jones (character)|Indiana Jones]] and [[Henry Jones, Sr.|his father]] in a race for the Grail against the Nazis.
* In a pair of fifth-season episodes (September 1989), entitled "Legend of the Holy Rose," [[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]] undertakes a quest for the Grail.
* [[Terry Gilliam]]'s comedy-drama film ''[[The Fisher King]]'' (1991) features the Grail quest in the modern New York City.
* In the season one episode "[[Grail (Babylon 5)|Grail]]" (1994) of the television series ''[[Babylon 5]]'', a man named Aldous Gajic visits Babylon 5 in his continuing quest to find the Holy Grail. His quest is primarily a plot device, as the episode's action revolves not around the quest but rather around his presence and impact on the life of a station resident.
* The video game ''[[Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned]]'' (1999) features an alternate version of the Grail, interwoven with the mythology of the [[Knights Templar]]. The Holy Grail is revealed in the story to be the blood of Jesus Christ that contains his power, only accessible to those descended from him, with the vessel of the Grail being defined as his body itself which the Templars uncovered in the Holy Lands.
* In ''[[Sailor Moon|Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]],'' the Holy Grail (Sehai in the anime, or Rainbow Moon Chalice) is the magical object with which Sailor Moon transforms in her Super form.
* A science fiction version of the Grail Quest is central theme in the [[Stargate SG-1 season 10|''Stargate SG-1'' season 10]] episode "The Quest" (2006).
* The song "[[Holy Grail (Hunters & Collectors song)|Holy Grail]]" by Australian band [[Hunters & Collectors]] was released in 1993.
* The song "[[Holy Grail (Jay-Z song)|Holy Grail]]" by [[Jay-Z]] featuring [[Justin Timberlake]] was released in 2013.
* In the video game ''[[Persona 5]]'' (2016), the Holy Grail is the Treasure of the game's final Palace, representing the combined desires of all of humanity for a higher power to take control of their lives and make a world that has no sense of individuality.
* In the television series [[Knightfall (TV series)|''Knightfall'']] (2017), the search for the Holy Grail by the Knights Templar is a major theme of the series' first season. The Grail, which appears as a simple earthenware cup, is coveted by various factions including the Pope, who thinks that possession of it will enable him to ignite another Crusade.
* In the ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate]]'' franchise, the Holy Grail serves as the prize of the Holy Grail War, granting a single wish to the victor of the battle royale. However, it is hinted at throughout the series that this Grail is not the real chalice of Christ, but is actually an item of uncertain nature created by mages some generations ago.
* In the ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' video game franchise the Holy Grail is mentioned. In the original game, one Templar refers to the main relic of the game as the Holy Grail, although it was later discovered to be one of many Apples of Eden. The Holy Grail was mentioned again in Templar Legends, ending up in either Scotland or Spain by different accounts. The Holy Grail appears again in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles]]'', by the name of the Chalice, however this time not as an object but as a woman named Adha, similar to the sang rael, or royal blood, interpretation.
* In the fourth series of ''[[The Grand Tour]]'', the trio goes to [[Île Sainte-Marie|Nosy Boraha]] where they accidentally find the Holy Grail while searching for [[Olivier Levasseur|La Buse's]] buried treasure.<ref>"A massive Hunt", [[The Grand Tour]]:
*Hammond: "There's something there!"
*Clarkson: "What's that?"
*May: "What is it?"
*Hammond: "I think it's the Holy Grail."
*May: "Oh cock."
*Clarkson: "And on that terrible disappointment, it's time to end."</ref>
* In the 17th episode of ''[[Little Witch Academia]]'', "Amanda O'Neill and the Holy Grail", the Holy Grail is used as a plot device in which witches Amanda O'Neill and Akko Kagari set out to find the item itself at Appleton School.
* In the 12th episode of season 9 of the American show ''[[The Office (American TV series)|The Office]]'', Jim Halpert sends Dwight Schrute on a wild goose chase to find the Holy Grail. After Dwight completing all the clues to find it, but coming up empty handed, the camera cuts to Glenn drinking out of it in his office.<ref>{{Citation|title=Watch The Office Highlight: The Dunder Code - NBC.com|date=2013-01-25|url=https://www.nbc.com/the-office/video/the-dunder-code/3850902|language=en-US|access-date=2021-12-09}}</ref>
* In the 2022 Christmas special episode of the British TV series ''[[Detectorists]]'', "Special", Lance finds a crockery cup, eyes only, in a field that turns out to be where a historic battle took place and a reliquary containing the Holy Grail was lost. A montage shows how the same crockery cup went from the hands of Jesus at the Last Supper (implied) to being lost in the field.
* The 2023 limited television series ''[[Mrs. Davis]]'' revolves around Sister Simone's quest to find and destroy the Holy Grail, both as the central plot device and also as metacommentary on quests for the Holy Grail, which one character observes might be the "most overused [[MacGuffin]] ever".<ref>{{Citation|title=An Algorithm Could Never Come Up With AI Drama 'Mrs. Davis': TV Review|date=2013-04-18|url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/tv-reviews/mrs-davis-review-betty-gilpin-damon-lindelof-ai-1235579968/|language=en-US|access-date=2023-07-04}}</ref>