Chapter I: Front Matter

The Folk-Lore Society,
FOR COLLECTING AND PRINTING
RELICS OF POPULAR ANTIQUITIES, &c.
ESTABLISHED IN
THE YEAR MDCCCLXXVIII.

PUBLICATIONS
OF
THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
1888.
XXIII.

List of Officers of the Society.

1887-1888.

PRESIDENT.

THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF STRAFFORD.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

ANDREW LANG, M.A.
W. R. S. RALSTON, M.A.
EDWARD B. TYLOR, LL.D., F.R.S.

DIRECTOR.

G. L. GOMME, F.S.A., 1, Beverley Villas, Barnes Common, S.W.

COUNCIL.

THE HON. J. ABERCROMBY.
A. MACHADO Y ALVAREZ.
THE EARL BEAUCHAMP, F.S.A.
EDWARD BRABROOK, F.S.A.
DR. G. B. BRINTON.
JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S.
LOYS BRUEYRE.
MISS C. S. BURNE.
EDWARD CLODD.
PROFESSOR D. COMPARETTI.
G. LAURENCE GOMME, F.S.A.
A. GRANGER HUTT, F.S.A.
SIR JOHN LUBBOCK, BT., F.R.S.
REV. DR. RICHARD MORRIS.
ALFRED NUTT.
EDWARD PEACOCK, F.S.A.
Z. D. PEDROSO.
PROFESSOR A. H. SAYCE, M.A.
CAPTAIN R. C. TEMPLE.
HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A.

AUDITORS.

G. L. APPERSON.
JOHN TOLHURST, F.S.A.

LOCAL SECRETARIES.

IRELAND: G. H. KINAHAN, R.I.A.
SOUTH SCOTLAND: WILLIAM GEORGE BLACK, ESQ.
NORTH SCOTLAND: Rev. WALTER GREGOR.
INDIA: CAPTAIN R. C. TEMPLE.
CHINA: J. STEWART LOCKHART.

HONORARY SECRETARIES.

A. GRANGER HUTT, F.S.A., 8, Oxford Road, Kilburn, N.W.
J. J. FOSTER, 36, Alma Square, St. John's Wood, N.W.

STUDIES ON THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY GRAIL.

_Works by the same Author._

=The Aryan Expulsion and Return Formula among the Celts.=--_Folk-Lore Record_, Vol. IV. 10_s._ 6_d._

"Interessante étude de mythographie comparée."--_Revue Celtique._

=Mabinogion Studies, I. The Mabinogi of Branwen, daughter of Llyr.=--_Folk-Lore Record_, Vol. V. 10_s._ 6_d._

"Eingehendes und sehr beachtenswerthes Studium."--Prof. ERNST
WINDISCH, in _Ersch und Gruber_.

"These careful and searching studies deserve to be honourably
mentioned."--Mons. HENRI GAIDOZ, in the _Academy_.

STUDIES ON THE
LEGEND OF THE HOLY GRAIL

_WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE HYPOTHESIS_
OF ITS CELTIC ORIGIN.

BY ALFRED NUTT.

"Welchem Volke das Märchen (von Parzival's Jugendgeschichte)
angehörte, welches die schriftliche oder mündliche
Ueberlieferung mit der Gralsage in Verbindung brachte, ist
schwer zu bestimmen, doch würde dasjenige Volk den meisten
Anspruch darauf haben, bei welchem sich dies Märchen ausserhalb
jenes Zusammenhangs nachweisen liesse."--K. SIMROCK.

"The Celtic hero who in the twelfth century became Perceval le
Chercheur du basin ... in the end became possessed of that
sacred basin le Saint Graal, and the holy lance which, though
Christian in the story, are the same as the talismans which
appear so often in Gaelic tales ... the glittering weapon which
destroys, and the sacred medicinal cup which cures."--J. F.
CAMPBELL.

"In all the Fenian stories mention is made of Fionn's healing
cup ... it is the same as the Holy Grail of course."--J. F.
CAMPBELL.

London:
DAVID NUTT, 270-71, STRAND.
1888.

HARRISON AND SONS,
PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY,
ST. MARTIN'S LANE, LONDON.

DEDICATION.

To the Memory
OF
J. F. CAMPBELL,
FROM WHOM
I FIRST LEARNT TO LOVE CELTIC TRADITION.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Description of the leading forms of the Romance: Conte del
Graal--Joseph d'Arimathie--Didot-Perceval--Queste del Saint
Graal--Grand Saint Graal--Parzival--Perceval le Gallois--
Mabinogi of Peredur--Sir Perceval--Diu Crône--Information
respecting date and authorship of these works in the MSS. page 1

CHAPTER II.

Summaries--Conte du Graal: Pseudo-Chrestien, Chrestien,
Gautier de Doulens, Manessier, Gerbert--Wolfram--Heinrich von
dem Türlin--Didot-Perceval--Mabinogi of Peredur--Thornton MS.
Sir Perceval--Queste del Saint Graal--Grand Saint Graal--
Robert de Borron's poem, Joseph of Arimathea page 8

CHAPTER III.

The legend formed of two portions: Early History of Grail,
Quest--Two forms of each portion distinguished--Grouping of
the various versions--Alternative hypotheses of development--
Their bearing upon the alleged Celtic origin of the Grail--
Closer examination of the various accounts of the Grail: The
first use made of it and its first possessor; its solace of
Joseph; its properties and the effect produced by it; its
name; its arrival in England; the Grail-keeper and his
relationship to the Promised Knight--Three different stages
in the development of the Queste--The work and the
qualification of the Promised Knight--Conclusions: Priority
over Early History of Quest--Chronological arrangement of the
versions page 65

CHAPTER IV.

SKETCH OF THE LITERATURE CONNECTED WITH THE GRAIL CYCLE.

Villemarqué--Halliwell--San Marte (A. Schulz)--Simrock--
Rochat--Furnivall's reprint of the Grand St. Graal and of
Borron--J. F. Campbell--Furnivall's Queste--Paulin Paris--
Potvin's Conte du Graal--Bergmann--Skeat's Joseph of
Arimathea--Hucher: Grail Celtic, date of Borron--Zarncke, Zur
Geschichte der Gralsage; Grail belongs to Christian
legend--Birch-Hirschfeld develops Zarncke's views: Grand St.
Graal younger than Queste, both presuppose Chrestien and an
earlier Queste, the Didot-Perceval, which forms integral part
of Borron's trilogy; Mabinogi later than Chrestien; various
members of the cycle dated--Martin combats Birch-Hirschfeld:
Borron later than Chrestien, whose poem represents oldest
stage of the romance, which has its roots in Celtic
tradition--Hertz--Criticism of Birch-Hirschfeld page 97

CHAPTER V.

Relationship of the Didot-Perceval to the Conte du Graal--The
former not the source of the latter--Relationship of the
Conte du Graal and the Mabinogi--Instances in which the
Mabinogi has copied Chrestien--Examples of its independence--
The incident of the blood drops in the snow--Differences
between the two works--The machinery of the Mabinogi and the
traces of it in the Conte du Graal--The stag hunt--The
Mabinogi and Manessier--The sources of the Conte du Graal and
the relation of the various parts to a common original--Sir
Perceval--Steinbach's theory--Objections to it--The counsels
in the Conte du Graal--Wolfram and the Mabinogi--Absence of
the Grail from the apparently oldest Celtic form page 127

CHAPTER VI.

The Lay of the Great Fool--Summary of the Prose Opening--The
Aryan Expulsion and Return Formula--Comparison with the
Mabinogi, Sir Perceval, and the Conte du Graal--Comparison
with various Gaelic märchen, the Knight of the Red Shield,
the Rider of Grianaig--Originality of the Highland tale--
Comparison with the Fionn legend--Summary of the Lay of the
Great Fool--Comparison with the stag hunt incident in the
Conte du Graal and the Mabinogi--The folk-tale of the twin
brethren--The fight against the witch who brings the dead to
life in Gerbert and the similar incident in the folk-tale of
the Knight of the Red Shield--Comparison with the original
form of the Mabinogi--Originality of Gerbert page 152