- A chalice
The Cup was the cup used at the last
supper from which wine was drunk as a
symbol of Jesus' blood. It is also the
cup which Joseph of Arimathea used to
collect the actual blood of Jesus after
his crucifixion while preparing the body
for burial. Other informations in the
essay "An Introduction to
Current Theories about The Sangraal"
- A Stone
The story of the angels fighting in
heaven gives us yet another theory about
the Grail. The story tells how Lucifer (although
this name is commonly used to represent
the Devil now, at one time it had no such
association and meant simply The Light
Bringer) lead one third of the
heavenly host in a revolt against God but
that he was defeated. As Lucifer was cast
down out of heaven, a large emerald fell
from his crown. This emerald is said to
have been the source of his power. It is
interesting to note that the Grail has
been depicted as a stone in the early
Arthurian legends. It is this stone,
fallen to earth, which has been suggested
is the Grail. Other informations in the
essay "An Introduction to
Current Theories about The Sangraal"
- Philosophers' Stone
Some extraordinary powers of Grail
suggest it would be the mythical
Philosophers' Stone. Wolfram von
Eschenbach defined Grail as Lapis
Exillis. The name could be a
corruption of the name Lapis Elixir,
the Philosophers' Stone. Other
informations in the essay "An
Introduction to Current Theories about
Sangraal"
- Ark of Covenant
According to Graham Hancock, Grail would
be the Ark of Covenant. His theories are
founded on logical connections between
Grail and Lost Ark, found on Bible and
Graalian Texts. See his book "The
Sign and the Seal - A Quest for the Lost
Ark of Covenant".
- Jesus' Book
According to medieval text Grand-Saint-Graal,
Grail would be a Book, associated to an
astonishing light. It would start with
the words "Here the reading about
Holy Grail starts", and it would be
written by Jesus himself. It would
contain his genealogy.
- A Mutant Object
In Perslevaus Grail is described
as a mutant object, able to assume
different shapes:
- A chalice;
- A Tailleoir, a silver
dish;
- A broken sword;
- A lance;
- A secret book.
The chalice collected Jesus' blood,
the silver dish supported John the
Baptist's head, the sword cut Baptist's
head, the lance belonged to Longino, the
Roman soldier who transfixed Jesus'
chest, the book was the secret Gospel
written by Jesus himself.
- A cup for perfum
According to Graham Phillips, Grail would
be the cup used by Mary of Magdala to
perfume Jesus' feet. In England a little onix cup has been
found. According to the writer, it would
be Mary's chalice, called "Marian
Chalice".
- Holy Shroud
In an interesting essay, Daniel C.
Scavone suggests that Grail would be
Turin's Shroud. Both the objects are
connected with Joseph of Arimathie and
Jesus' blood and both Grail and Shroud
share rituals and a "secret",
deriving from the most probable etymology
of grail: Latin gradalis or "by
degrees". In Grail rituals the
secret was its gradual revelation. In
Edessan and Contantinopolitan rituals,
the image on the burial Shroud was
revealed to congregations only gradually,
by raising it section by section. The
essay is available at the section "The Shroud and
the Grail".
- The Gold box containing
the Holy Shroud
Professor Baima Bollone, in his italian
book Sindone o no? wrote that "There
are [...] connections between Grail, its
legend and Shroud. Grail wouldn't be a
cup, but the container of Holy Shroud. In
each case, we know after 1307 the Shroud
was kept by Templars in England, near
Glastonbury, the old abbey connected with
Grail's legends."
- A round ball of glass
Lady Flavia Anderson presented a totally
new theory about the Grail in her book The
Ancient Secret. In this book she
claims that the Grail is a round ball of
glass filled with water. This is held in
a tree like stand. These she claims are
the Jewish objects the Thummim and the
Urim. These objects were made to light
fires from the light of the sun. Other
informations in the essay "An
Introduction to Current Theories about
The Sangraal"
- A Celtic Cauldron
Many notable writers have shown the
similarity between the Celtic folklore
tales and the stories of King Arthur.
There were many cauldrons in Celtic tales
and some had very similar properties to
the Grail as described in the Arthurian
tales.
A famous welsh poem, The Preiddeu Annwn,
describes Arthur and his men venturing
into the Celtic underworld to steal the
Cauldron of Annwn which had pearls and is
blown on by nine maidens. It has the
ability to restore life to dead warriors.
Note that in the Christian tradition, the
Cup is always carried or guarded by women
and that it has life restoring
capabilities.
Another cauldron, the Cauldron of Awen
had a potion brewed in it which could
bestow all knowledge. A youth, Gwion, was
set to stir this by the goddess Ceridwen.
He spilled three drops onto his fingers
and put them into his mouth. He gained
all knowledge. Note too that the Grail in
Arthurian legend could bestow knowledge.
Many authors have thus tried to show that
the celtic cauldrons are in some sense a
forerunner to the modern Grail image.
This, together, with the derivation of
some Arthurian heros, such as Kay and
Bedivere, from celtic ones has been
explored in many texts. The author wishes
to point out that although the celtic
derivations are popular in theory, they
by no means explain all events and
descriptions within the cycles. Nor, do
they explain the sudden interest at the
time of Chretien in the Grail. Although
the celtic cauldron derivation theory has
good grounds it is by no means a complete
explanation for the Grail cycles. Other
informations in the essay "An
Introduction to Current Theories about
The Sangraal"
- Jesus' blood line
The word used for the Grail changed
subtley many times. One of these words is
sangreal. The word sangreal has been
split to mean Holy Grail (San Greal).
However, some theories have been put
forward which support a different
splitting of the word : Sang Real (Royal
blood). The reasoning behind this theory
is that Jesus Christ had a child (or
children) by Mary Magdalene. The lineage
of the Royal Blood was thus continued and
in some theories exists to the present
day. Most notable recently, this Royal
Blood theory has been presented in a book
called The Holy Blood and the Holy
Grail. In this book it is
claimed that Christ was married to Mary
Magdalene and that Christ did not die on
the cross. The authors present much
historical evidence to support their
claim and try to show how several secret
societies have guarded the secret of this
blood line down the ages to the present
day. They associate historical characters
and places with those found in the
earliest Medieval Grail texts and
demonstrate how the blood line from
Christ has been involved in world affairs.
Other informations in the essay "An
Introduction to Current Theories about
The Sangraal" Grail
could also be:
- Alladin's Lamp
- The Golden Fleece
- The Baphomet
"An
Introduction to Current Theories about The
Sangraal" Article by Father Thomas Christianson
The confusion
arises because the word Grail is derived
from the word graal which first appeared
in turn of the first millenium (A.D.) prose and
poetry. There is no confusion over the meaning of
the word Graal, which was a dish or
platter brought to the table at various stages
during a meal. However, the things that the graal
or grail has come to represent has changed
from story to story throughout the words history.
The first story in which the word appears was
written by Chrétien de Troyes - "Le Conte
del Graal". Chretiens' story was almost
certainly based on an earlier one, but it is
unknown what his actual source was or his meaning
of the word Graal. Chretien did not finish his
story and continuations and rewrites of the story
are then free to embellish and invent as much as
the authors saw fit. Now the Grail represents
many different things to many different people.
No one meaning seems to explain all the strange
events in the Grail stories. The reader will not
find a definitive answer. Nor will he read all
theories as some are obscure and not yet
encountered in detail by the author.
It is fair to say
that to most people in the western world the
Sangraal is a cup or goblet associated in
some way with Jesus Christ. This image was
popularised by such writers as Sir Thomas Malory
in his "Morte D'Arthur". It is however
not the only object that has been linked to the
Grail. Indeed, it has been claimed that the Grail
is not a physical object of any type but is a
blood line or even a spiritual ideal presented in
metaphor. One thing is certain, despite (or
perhaps because of) its elusive qualities, the
Grail has held and continues to hold a great
fascination. The Grail promises mystery, secrecy,
adventure and the obtaining of a prize or
knowledge available to all but found only by a
few.
The Cup of
Christ.
- When Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade opened to packed houses, it
was apparent that the legend of the Grail
was not dead. The film on the surface
perpetuates the Grail in the Cup of
Christ image. If we examine the script a
little closer some evidence of the Grail
as knowledge or a path to God can be seen.
Note in particular Professor Jones reply
to the question "What did you find
?'' "Illumination" and
Professor Brodies line "The search
for the Cup of Christ is the search for
the Divine in all of us".
Nonetheless, the film is a good example
of how most people see the Grail as the
Cup of Christ. The Cup was the cup used
at the last supper from which wine was
drunk as a symbol of Jesus' blood. It is
also the cup which Joseph of Arimathea
used to collect the actual blood of Jesus
after his crucifixion while preparing the
body for burial. The legend then follows
many differing stories about Joseph and
the Cup. The most well known is that
Joseph and his sister and her husband
left Jerusalem and sailed to France. Here
Joseph left his sister and his brother-in-law
and sailed to England where he set up the
first Christian church at Glastonbury.
Some legends claim that he left the cup
in the care of his brother-in-law in
France while most stories tell of him
bringing the Cup to Glastonbury which to
this day is still associated with the
Grail legends. The Arthurian stories now
include stories of the Cup of Christ. It
was not always so. Something called the
Graal was in early Arthurian stories but
it wasn't until later that this was
Christianised and became the Cup of
Christ. The Graal was a mysterious object
which was not described in detail. The
earliest story, to mention the Grail in
some form, by Chretien de Troyes was left
incomplete, enabling many writers since
to place their own interpretation on the
story. It ought to be pointed out that
these legends are considered by
historians to be, at best pseudo-history,
and at worst complete romantic
fabrications. The cup has certain powers
associated with it. These are : Healing
and restorative ability. Communication
with God or knowledge of God.
Invisibility to evil or unworthy eyes.
Ability to feed those present.
Immortality. Ability to call those to it
who were worthy.
The Urim and
the Thummim.
- Lady Flavia Anderson presented a totally
new theory about the Grail in her book
"The Ancient Secret". In this
book she claims that the Grail is a round
ball of glass filled with water. This is
held in a tree like stand. These she
claims are the Jewish objects the Thummim
and the Urim. These objects were made to
light fires from the light of the sun.
Her book shows how man has revered light
in religion and fire made from direct
sunlight, through a crystal or glass ball
or the like, has long thought to be holy
in some sense. Often perpetual fires were
kept alight in Holy places by virgins
using such methods. She also demonstrates
how many metaphors for light and rays of
light (such as the spear and the sword)
appear time and again in Arthurian legend.
Not only this but the Grail is often
depicted as a stone and there is constant
reference to a Grail tree. Further it was
often women who were in charge of fires
created from objects such as these and it
is women who are depicted as Grail
guardians in Arthurian legend.
Undoubtedly such objects existed and it
is likely that the Jews at the time of
Solomon used such objects. The theory
goes on to state that these objects were
buried along with the Ark of the Covenant
in a cave system somewhere in Jordan.
Interestingly, the final sequences of
Indiana Jones III are filmed in the
ancient ruined city of Petra in Jordan
and not in Egypt as is claimed in the
film itself.
The Blood Line
of Christ.
- The word used for the Grail changed
subtley many times. One of these words is
sangreal. The word sangreal has been
split to mean Sangraal (San Greal).
However, some theories have been put
forward which support a different
splitting of the word : Sang Real (Royal
blood). The reasoning behind this theory
is that Jesus Christ had a child (or
children) by Mary Magdalene. The lineage
of the Royal Blood was thus continued and
in some theories exists to the present
day. Most notable recently, this Royal
Blood theory has been presented in a book
called `Holy Blood - Holy Grail'. In this
book it is claimed that Christ was
married to Mary Magdalene and that Christ
did not die on the cross. The authors
present much historical evidence to
support their claim and try to show how
several secret societies have guarded the
secret of this blood line down the ages
to the present day. They associate
historical characters and places with
those found in the earliest Medieval
Grail texts and demonstrate how the blood
line from Christ has been involved in
world affairs. Another notable Grail
seeker, Walter Stein, also investigated
this theory for some time. His theories
were discredited because of his one time
association with the Nazis. He was,
however not a Nazi himself and indeed was
Sir Winston Churchills advisor on Nazi
occult activity for a time.
The Celtic
Cauldrons.
- Many notable writers have shown the
similarity between the Celtic folklore
tales and the stories of King Arthur.
There were many cauldrons in Celtic tales
and some had very similar properties to
the Grail as described in the Arthurian
tales. A famous welsh poem, The Preiddeu
Annwn, describes Arthur and his men
venturing into the Celtic underworld to
steal the Cauldron of Annwn which had
pearls and is blown on by nine maidens.
It has the ability to restore life to
dead warriors. Note that in the Christian
tradition, the Cup is always carried or
guarded by women and that it has life
restoring capabilities. Another cauldron,
the Cauldron of Awen had a potion brewed
in it which could bestow all knowledge. A
youth, Gwion, was set to stir this by the
goddess Ceridwen. He spilled three drops
onto his fingers and put them into his
mouth. He gained all knowledge. Note too
that the Grail in Arthurian legend could
bestow knowledge. Many authors have thus
tried to show that the celtic cauldrons
are in some sense a forerunner to the
modern Grail image. This, together, with
the derivation of some Arthurian heros,
such as Kay and Bedivere, from celtic
ones has been explored in many texts. The
author wishes to point out that although
the celtic derivations are popular in
theory, they by no means explain all
events and descriptions within the cycles.
Nor, do they explain the sudden interest
at the time of Chretien in the Grail.
Although the celtic cauldron derivation
theory has good grounds it is by no means
a complete explanation for the Grail
cycles. The author states this in order
to warn against the plethora of purely
celtic origin based texts.
The Emerald of
Lucifer.
- The story of the angels fighting in
heaven gives us yet another theory about
the Grail. The story tells how Lucifer (although
this name is commonly used to represent
the Devil now, at one time it had no such
association and meant simply `The Light
Bringer') lead one third of the heavenly
host in a revolt against God but that he
was defeated. As Lucifer was cast down
out of heaven, a large emerald fell from
his crown. This emerald is said to have
been the source of his power. It is
interesting to note that the Grail has
been depicted as a stone in the early
Arthurian legends. It is this stone,
fallen to earth, which has been suggested
is the Grail.
The
Philosophers Stone.
- Alchemy was long thought of as false
science. The basis of alchemy was to
create a stone which would turn all base
metals to gold. It is now often said that
alchemy was a code for spiritual
teachings that were considered heretical.
Due to the Witch Hunts it was necessary
to write in code of some form. The `gold'
in alchemy is presented as being
`enlightenment' or spiritual oneness with
God. The base metal is what each man is
before the process of alchemy, and that
alchemy is a spiritual path to God. The
philosophers stone has thus been
associated with the Grail as it has the
same property of imbuing oneness with God.
It should be stressed that the
philosophers stone is not considered to
be a real stone of any sort but that the
Grail in this case is a metaphor for the
final stage of enlightenment. Sometimes
this theory is tied to the Emerald of
Lucifer theory in suggesting that a real
stone may exist.
The Grail as
Knowledge.
- In his book "The Spear of Destiny",
Trevor Ravenscroft tells the history of
the Lance of Longinus, the spear that
pierced the side of Christ as he hung on
the cross. He traces this spear through
history and shows it to have been in the
possession of some of the most
influencial people in history. His
teacher was Walter Stein (see above) and
so much of the book concentrates on
Hitler and his obsession with this object.
In this book the Grail is presented as
the knowledge to use this spear in some
supernatural way. No evidence is
presented and no cross referencing of any
of the other literature available. It is
simply stated. Ravenscroft claims that
there are two ways to achieve this
knowledge. Either through the use of
"black arts" or by a much
harder route of "learning the abcs
of magic''. These particular quotes are
from the introduction to Wolfram Von
Eschenbachs `Parzival'. Once this
knowledge is obtained some power that is
present in the spear can be used for good
or evil. The use is determined by the
method that the user gained the knowledge
of the Grail. If he used "black
arts'' then he must wield the spear for
evil, if not then he is free to chose.
The Aquarian
Grail.
- One growing source of publications about
the Grail is the New Age theory (or
Aquarian Grail). This sees the Arthurian
legends as somehow allegorical of
spiritual paths to God. The belief is
that the Grail is not a real object but
union with God whilst still on Earth.
Thus a grail seeker attempts through
study of the legends and personal search,
to find the Grail internally. Many books
have been written about this, one notable
writer being John Matthews. The Aquarian
Grail theory says that all religions have
a fundamental core of common truth and
that this is best represented by the
symbol of the Grail. It is part of the
theories of the Grail as a mystical
concept or level of achievement
spiritually and not a real object at all.
It should be remembered that the stories
of Arthur which include the Grail (after
Chretien de Troyes) were written in a
time when many of the hidden ideas that
this theory presents would have been
considered heretical and dangerous. At
the time the first mix in cultures of the
far east and the west was happening
through such groups as the Knights
Templar. In fact, Wolfram Von Eschenbach
in his Grail epic "Parzival"
describes a group of knights who are the
guardians of the grail. The reader is
left in no doubt that he is alluding to
the Templars. The trouveres and
troubadors (story tellers) of the time
would undoubtedly have had contact with
stories and legends from eastern
religions aswell as western ones for the
first time. Similarly to alchemy, it
would have been heresy to combine these
openly but expression of this union of
religions through story would be a
natural and acceptable outlet
Local Legends - 1001 Grails.
Nearly everywhere
in the world, but especially in the West there
are local legends of Grails. Nearly all these
legends take the Christian Cup principle as a
basis. This is not surprising as people now
associate the Grail with this Cup and thus might
claim legends relating to cups to be Grail
legends.
Here are three Grail legends:
Roslin Chapel, Lothian Scotland.
- The famous Grail Seeker Trevor
Ravenscroft claimed in 1962 that he had
finished a twenty year quest in search of
the Grail at Roslin chapel. There appears
to be a contradiction in that Ravenscroft
claims the Grail to be a form of
knowledge and also to be a real object (Christs
Cup). This is simply explained by the
fact that many people now use Grail to
refer to the Cup of Christ while he
himself may have felt this to not be the
case. He would still have called this cup
the Grail in order to communicate what he
meant. There are quite a few people
looking for the Grail who do not know
what it actually is. They thus follow up
many different theories. Ravenscroft may
have believed in more than one theory.
His claim was that the Grail was inside
the Prentice Pillar (as it is known) in
this chapel. The chapel is often visited
now by Grail Seekers and many references
to the Grail can be found in its stone
work and windows. Metal detectors have
been used on the pillar and an object of
the appropriate size is indeed buried in
the middle. Lord Roslin adamantly refuses
to have the pillar x-rayed.
The Grail in Wales.
- It is said that there was a community in
Wales who existed to guard a terracota
cup which was inside a gold chalice. It
was able to heal and was a powerful tool
for good in the right hands. In 1880 a
group of individuals was set up with the
declared intention of studying esoteric
things such as the Qabalah and Tarot
divination. Their real intention was to
find and destroy the Holy Grail. Over the
next ten years the Grail was moved and
hidden, finally finding a safe place.
However, one of the guardians betrayed
the others and the Grail was taken. A
black mass was said over the Grail to
detroy its power and then it was smashed
into pieces and the pieces scattered.Most
legends of Grails have many
inconsequential details added to them in
order to give a false authenticity.
Names, dates, places and even historical
figures are scattered in the legends.
This is not true in this case and makes
the legend unique and interesting because
of this.
The Narta Monga , Russia.
- In the Caucasus Mountains in Russia is a
small group of people who have stories of
a magical cauldron called the Amonga.
This chalice has properties in common
with the Grail of early Arthurian stories
of serving food, giving knowledge and
being able to chose those worthy to serve
it. The Narts were the heroic race of
these Osettes. The stories of them bare a
striking resemblance to Arthurian legend.
The Chalice Well at Glastonbury, England.
Joseph of Arimathea, so legend tells us,
came to England, to Glastonbury, after
the death of Jesus. With him he brought
the Cup of Christ. Local legend now says
that the Cup is buried somewhere under a
hill called The Tor at Glastonbury. The
Tor is an ancient site of ritual and
religion and is still a place of
pilgrimage today, standing high out of
the Somerset countryside. A well, which
is now a quiet place of sanctuary with
surrounding gardens, flows with water
from deep under The Tor. The rocks
covered by the spring water are reddy in
colour, representing the Blood of Christ,
and the water itself leaves an aftertaste
in the mouth much like blood. The Tor may
have a network of underground tunnels,
long ago sealed, and the Grail is
supposed to be buried in one of these.
Some religions
have built up around the Grail considered as a
spiritual ideal. The author has encountered two
of these in some detail. These religions seem to
draw heavily on Christianity as a basis for moral
and historical teaching, however they do not hold
to the Christian idea of `one true path'.
The Grail Foundation.
- An international charity with bases in
Australia, Britain and America amongst
others. The followers have books written
by a man they hold in very high regard,
Abd Ru Shin. He lived in Germany and died
in the 1950s. They believe that he was
the Grail but the author was unable to
exact any reasoning for this claim. They
wear a special symbol, half covered by
the mens lapels in order to signify that
men are less able to reach a spiritually
high level than are women. The women wear
the symbol openly. They hold public
lectures and their books can be bought in
most major bookstores.
The Silver Chalice.
- A small group of people who gather
regularly in Edinburgh claim that the
stories of Arthur and his knights are
about a people who tapped into energies
around us all but that only a few find.
Each energy has a colour and the colour
of the Grail energy is silver. The "silver
chalice" as they refer to it is the
set of blood vessels in the neck and the
base of the skull which feed the brain.
The silver energy can be used to increase
the usefulness of the brain thus giving
people able to tap into this energy
almost super-human power. They claim to
have documented proof of strange silver
deposits on the insides of human skulls
but the author was not shown these.
The
Grail and Psychology.
C.G. Jung was
fascinated by the Grail and alchemy. Although he
did not write on the Grail himself, his wife and
one of his close friends did. Jung approaches the
Grail legend as a story with many symbols from
the unconcious mind used to express the religious
attitude of the people at the time. He treats the
main characters such as Merlin and Arthur as
archetypes of the collective unconcious and the
Grail Hallows (that is : spear, sword, cup and
stone) as very potent symbols of religion from
the collective unconcious. Jung believed that
something fundamental was missing from
Christianity as a world religion and that the
Christianised versions of the Grail stories
filled this gap. To him the Grail in the form of
the Cup of Christ was a psychological progression
in the completion of the development of
Christianity. He also shows that alchemy and the
Grail legends which developed around the same
time had many symbols, colours , and spiritual
teachings in common. Further to this, many events
in the Grail cycles have been closely analysed in
terms of Jungian psychology. Jung showed that the
writers understood or at least unconciously
expressed many fundamental elements of his
psychology in the events they placed in the
stories.
Other
Strange Theories...
There are many
more theories. Some of these are presented in
short here :
- The vegetation theory was put
forward in 1906 by J.L. Weston. She
showed similarities between eastern
vegetation rituals and stories in
Arthurian legend.
- Onomastic theories are concerned
with showing the derivation of the word
Grail in history. Most of these are
unsuccessful and very unconvincing.
- The Shroud of
Turin may have been guarded by
the Templars. They are also associated by
implication with the Grail through
`Parzival'. It has been suggested that
the Shroud is the Grail.
- The tree of life is a Qabbalists
way of depicting the spiritual universe.
On this tree are ten spheres which have
certain values or traits associated with
them. A few authors have attempted to
place Arthurian places and people onto
this tree, most notably, Gareth Knight in
his book `The Secret Tradition in
Arthurian Legend'.
- A few people such as Mary Caine and
Katherine Maltwood have used zodiacal
theories about the Grail. They place
Arthurian characters and places on the
Zodiac and have even placed characters
from the zodiac and legend on ordinance
survey maps of the south of Britain,
particularly around Glastonbury.
- Jessie Weston showed the Grail Hallows (these
are sword, spear, stone and cauldron or
cup) to be similar to the suits in Tarot
cards. Today a few decks exist such
as The Arthurian Tarot and the Merlin
Tarot which associate Tarot directly with
the Grail legends.
-
There can be
little doubt that the Grail is an elusive idea.
It has taken, and will continue to take, many
different forms in peoples minds. No one theory
as yet has been able to explain all the details
in the Grail mystery. Now, when we say "Grail",
we need to clarify what we mean in detail to
avoid the question "But which Grail do
you mean?". It seems that each idea has
merits and problems. Perhaps all are true in some
sense. There is no reason why the Aquarian Grail
and The Urim and Thummim theories are
incompatible. The use of the word "Grail"
to describe these very different concepts does
not invalidate the concepts themselves. "...Above
all (the Grail) is a symbol of symbolism itself.
It represents the very potency by which a symbol
symbolizes." by P.L. Wilson in Angels.
Perhaps though we
should ask what Chretien de Troyes meant by the
"Graal". Unfortunately this question
appears unanswerable as we only have one
document, and that unfinished, to study.
It would be foolish to hope that an ending be
found. Documents from that time were often
destroyed. What of Chretiens source? Many writers
have claimed a source for their stories on the
Grail. None have been produced. Again the same
fate may have befallen such documents or perhaps
the writers of ancient literature knew the value
of a mystery source as much as todays journalists.