The original Book of the Grail was written early in the 13th century, but only fragments of the manuscript survive. Originally titled The High History of the Holy Graal, this book was compiled in 1866 from a 16th-century copy of the original that was written in French by an anonymous author. This is the most complete version of the Grail story and is an essential addition to the library of anyone who is interested in this most enduring of legends about Perceval de Gallois and his sacred quest. Here is the most popular of all the ancient romance legends of the hero-king Arthur, the knights of the Round Table, the mysterious coming of the Holy Grail, the crown of thorns, the king who is a fisher of men (the fisher king), the reputed visit of Joseph of Arimathea (the Jerusalem tin-merchant whose tomb in that city was used by Jesus after his crucifixion), to the English town of Glastonbury. Is this book an allegory for the sacred blood lineage of Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth? A rare and important book.

The original story of Sir Perceval and the Holy Grail, whole and incorrupt as it left the hands of its first author. translated in 1898 by Sebastian Evans from a 13th century manuscript written in Old French by an unknown author, the work concludes with the claim that: "The Latin from whence this history was drawn into Romance was taken in the Isle of Avalon, in a holy house of religion that stands at the head of the Moors Adventurous, there where King Arthur and Queen Guinevere lie, according to the witness of the good men religious that are therein, that have the whole history thereof, true from the beginning even to the end."

Composed by an unknown author in early thirteenth-century France, The Quest of the Holy Grail is a fusion of Arthurian legend and Christian symbolism, reinterpreting ancient Celtic myth as a profound spiritual fable. It recounts the quest of the knights of Camelot - the simple Perceval, the thoughtful Bors, the rash Gawain, the weak Lancelot and the saintly Galahad - as they journey through danger and temptation to reach the elusive Holy Grail. But only one of them is judged worthy to see the mysteries within the sacred vessel, and look upon the ineffable. Enfused with tragic grandeur and an aura of mysticism, The Quest is an absorbing and radiant allegory of man's perilous search for divine grace, and had a profound influence on later Arthurian romances and versions of the Grail legend. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Some fifty years before Chrétien de Troyes wrote what is probably the first and certainly the most influential story of the Holy Grail, images of the Virgin Mary with a simple but radiant bowl (called a “grail” in local dialect) appeared in churches in the Spanish Pyrenees. In this fascinating book, Joseph Goering explores the links between these sacred images and the origins of one of the West’s most enduring legends. While tracing the early history of the grail, Goering looks back to the Pyrenean religious paintings and argues that they were the original inspiration of the grail legend. He explains how storytellers in northern France could have learned of these paintings and how the enigmatic “grail” in the hands of the Virgin came to form the centerpiece of a story about a knight in King Arthur’s court. Part of the allure of the grail, Goering argues, was that neither Chrétien nor his audience knew exactly what it represented or why it was so important. And out of the attempts to answer those questions the literature of the Holy Grail was born.

Vivid translation of one of the earliest and most important Grail romances.