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Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
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Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
  1. Arthurian Legends
    Camelot Age of Chivalry Songs of Deeds Facts & Figures Genealogy Bibliography
  2. Age of Chivalry
    Life of King Arthur Vulgate Cycle Grail Legend Tales of the Knights Sir Gawain Tristan & Isolde
  3. Grail Legend
    Holy Grail Joseph of Arimathea and the Grail The Fisher King and Maimed King Grail Castle Swords The Ship and the Tree Origin of the Grail Perceval's Tradition Galahad's Tradition
  4. Origin of the Grail

Origin of the Grail

Here, you will find two different versions about Joseph of Arimathea and the origin of the Holy Grail - the original poem by Robert de Boron and the later Vulgate version on the history of the Grail, written by an unknown author or authors.

 

Robert de Boron

Joseph d'Arimathie, c. 1200

 

Vulgate Cycle (Lancelot-Grail)

Estoire de Saint Graal, c. 1250

Robert de Boron actually included some major additional events to Chretien's Grail romance, as well as to the early history of King Arthur, based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's work.

As you will see after reading both legends, you will find that the Vulgate romance was only based loosely on Boron's original. The Estoire de Saint Graal was actually based mostly on the original trilogy of the Vulgate romances; namely the Lancelot Propre and the Queste del Saint Graal.

Note, that originally I wasn't going to do a Vulgate version, but there are a number of differences between Boron's and the Vulgate version that merited that both stories should be told.

Joseph of Arimathea (Boron's version)

Joseph of Arimathea (Boron's version)

Vulgate History of the Grail

Vulgate History of the Grail

Genealogy

House of Perceval (Chretien de Troyes' version)

Related Sites

  • Grail Legend (Background)

  • Perceval's Tradition

  • Galahad's Tradition

Jimmy Joe Timeless Myths

By Jimmy Joe

Grail Legend:

  • • Holy Grail
  • • Joseph of Arimathea and the Grail
  • • The Fisher King and Maimed King
  • • Grail Castle
  • • Swords
  • • The Ship and the Tree
  • • Origin of the Grail
  • • Perceval's Tradition
  • • Galahad's Tradition
Perceval's Tradition

Perceval's Tradition

The earliest tales of the Grail quest had Perceval as the hero. The first tale of the Grail was written by Chretien de Troyes, called Le Conte du Graal ("The Story of the Grail") or Perceval le Gallois . Unfortunately, Chretien never finished his ...

April 2nd, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Vulgate History of the Grail

Vulgate History of the Grail

Around 1227-1235, a large compilation of the trilogy about Lancelot and the Grail was completed by an unknown French writer or writers. It originally contained only three texts known as the Vulgate Cycle or the Lancelot-Graal Cycle, and their titl...

May 1st, 2004 • Jimmy Joe
Background

Background

Introduction Difference Between Old and New Post Vulgate Cycle Le Morte d'Arthur Introduction During the twelfth and thirteenth century, several French authors were major contributors to the Arthurian legends. Perhaps the most influential of these...

April 2nd, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Grail Legend

Grail Legend

The quest of the Holy Grail was considered to be the greatest adventure in Arthurian legend. However, the man who first wrote about the grail never completed this story. The great French poet Chretien de Troyes was the first to introduce the grail...

April 2nd, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Arthurian and Grail Sources

Arthurian and Grail Sources

There are hundreds of works on the Arthurian legends in many different languages such as Welsh, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Scandinavian (and maybe in some more languages that I have not come across). The main sources in T...

September 27th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Alternative Accounts

Alternative Accounts

The following articles are about alternative accounts of the grail romances that have Perceval, or even Gawain, as the hero. There are many variations to the legend of Perceval and the Grail. Grail Continuations Robert de Boron and the Didot Perce...

April 2nd, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
3rd Path: Grail Search

3rd Path: Grail Search

Here are some of the graphics I created for another Arthurian theme, namely the Grail. In the Arthurian Legends, I included several pages on the Grail themes. One for the general background of the Grail and other relics. The origin of the Grail , ...

October 6th, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Origin of the Round Table

Origin of the Round Table

In this section of Arthurian Legends, the Round Table contains information and some stories of the Knights of the Round Table. I would not even think of trying to list all the knights in the Round Table, since each writer gives a different list. H...

February 4th, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Le Conte du Graal

Le Conte du Graal

Le Conte du Graal ("The Story of the Grail") or Perceval le Gallois was the first story of the Grail to be written. It was written by French poet named Chretien de Troyes, c. 1180. Though the story is incomplete, I have included the entire story, ...

April 2nd, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Holy Grail

Holy Grail

The Holy Grail became the source of the greatest quests in the Arthurian legends. The Grail was often called Sangreal , and san greal literally means "Holy Grail". However, through arrangement of the letter "g", sang real came to mean, "True Blood...

April 2nd, 2000 • Jimmy Joe

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