Free Downloads

The Grail: From Celtic Myth To Christian Symbol

The medieval legend of the Grail, a tale about the search for supreme mystical experience, has never ceased to intrigue writers and scholars by its wildly variegated forms: the settings have ranged from Britain to the Punjab to the Temple of Zeus at Dodona; the Grail itself has been described as the chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper, a stone with miraculous youth-preserving virtues, a vessel containing a man's head swimming in blood; the Grail has been kept in a castle by a beautiful damsel, seen floating through the air in Arthur's palace, and used as a talisman in the East to distinguish the chaste from the unchaste. In his classic exploration of the obscurities and contradictions in the major versions of this legend, Roger Sherman Loomis shows how the Grail, once a Celtic vessel of plenty, evolved into the Christian Grail with miraculous powers. Loomis bases his argument on historical examples involving the major motifs and characters in the legends, beginning with the Arthurian legend recounted in the 1180 French poem by Chrtien de Troyes. The principal texts fall into two classes: those that relate the adventures of the knights in King Arthur's time and those that account for the Grail's removal from the Holy Land to Britain. Written with verve and wit, Loomis's book builds suspense as he proceeds from one puzzle to the next in revealing the meaning behind the Grail and its legends.

Series: Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology

Paperback: 306 pages

Publisher: Princeton University Press; Revised ed. edition (October 7, 1991)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0691020752

ISBN-13: 978-0691020754

Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #485,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #27 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Arthurian Romance #202 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Genres & Styles > Gothic & Romance #301 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Mythology & Folk Tales > Fairy Tales

After "From Ritual To Romance" caused a sensation (positive and otherwise) among grail scholars in the early part of the 20th century, much scholarship relating to Arthurian myth relates to the discourse over its origins. In "The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol," Roger Loomis convincingly argues (as the title might suggest) that the idea of the Holy Grail has its roots not in apocryphal Christian eschatology but in the Celtic myths of the British Isles. From the knights of the round table to Indiana Jones to Heinrich Himmler and everyone in between, the Grail has been a much sought-after artifact. The only question is "what is it?"According to Loomis, the Holy Grail is not the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, but rather a mistranslation of the archaic compound word "sankgreal," meaning "royal blood" rather than "holy grail." This will sound familiar to anyone familiar with the novel "the Da Vinci Code," but this is more or less where the similarities end. Loomis does not view the Grail as an essentially literal object and says that it refers to a mythical bloodline. He further objects to the characterization of the grail as a cup, showing that before it was identified as a chalice, it had previously been portrayed as a flat dish and even a rock (!). He says that myth of the Fisher King lay in Celtic mythology and that Christian symbolism was later attached to it when the Grail myth hit continental Europe from a French monk and scholar living in Wales. The concept of the grail as an ever-replenishing source of sustenance is based on another linguistic misinterpretation that has an archaic Welsh word for "cup" being mistranslated into French as "body," as in the body of Christ (i.e. a communion wafer).

The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol Lancelot-Grail: 2. The Story of Merlin: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation (Lancelot-Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation) From Round Table to Grail Castle: Twelve Studies in Arthurian and Grail Literature in the Light of Anthroposophy The Irish Wolfhound: Symbol of Celtic Splendor Romance of the Grail: The Magic and Mystery of Arthurian Myth (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell) Realm of the Ring Lords: The Myth and Magic of the Grail Quest The Asheville Celtic Mandolin Collection: Standard Notation, Tablature and Chords for the Celtic Mandolin Celtic Fiddling Made Easy Book/CD Set 20 Favorite Celtic Tunes in Beginning and Intermediate Version Elemental Power: Celtic Faerie Craft & Druidic Magic (Llewellyn's Celtic Wisdom) Ooba Mandolin Essentials: Celtic: 10 Essential Celtic Songs to Learn on the Mandolin Top 25 Celtic Session Tunes for Ukulele: Campanella-style arrangements of 25 of the most popular Celtic session tunes. (Campanella Ukulele) (Volume 1) Celtic Myth and Religion: A Study of Traditional Belief, with Newly Translated Prayers, Poems and Songs Celtic Myth & Magick: Harness the Power of the Gods and Goddesses (Llewellyn's World Religion and Magic Series) The E-Myth Architect (E-Myth Expert) Myth-ion Improbable: Myth Adventures, Book 11 The E-Myth Financial Advisor (E-Myth Expert) Symbol (Mini) Symbol Math - Flash Cards: 57 number and symbol cards, with learning tips GMAT Sentence Correction Grail 3rd edition