Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

351that the Graal was the Cup of the Last Supper and the lance that [407]which had pierced the side of Christ at the Crucifixion; and thatPeredur ultimately makes his way back to the castle, asks thenecessary question, and succeeds his uncle as lord of the castleand guardian of its treasures.Wolfram von EschenbachIn the story as given by Wolfram von Eschenbach, who wroteabout the year 1200—some twenty years later than Chrestien deTroyes, with whose work he was acquainted—we meet with anew and unique conception of the Grail. He says of the knightsof the Grail Castle:“Si lebent von einem steineDes geslähte ist vîl reine . . .Es heizet lapsit [lapis] exillîs,Der stein ist ouch genannt der Grâl.” 244It was originally brought down from heaven by a flight ofangels and deposited in Anjou, as the worthiest region for itsreception. Its power is sustained by a dove which every GoodFriday comes from heaven and lays on the Grail a consecratedHost. It is preserved in the Castle of Munsalväsche [Montsalvat]and guarded by four hundred knights, who are all, except theirking, vowed to virginity. The king may marry, and is indeed,in order to maintain the succession, commanded to do so by theGrail, which conveys its messages to mankind by writing whichappears upon it and which fades away when deciphered. In thetime of Parzival the king is Anfortas. He cannot die in presence ofthe Grail, but he suffers from a wound which, because he receivedit in the cause of worldly pride and in seeking after illicit love, the [408]influence of the Grail cannot heal until the destined deliverer shallbreak the spell. This Parzival should have done by asking the244 “They are nourished by a stone of most noble nature ... it is called lapsitexillîs; the stone is also called the Grail.” The term lapsit exillîs appears to bea corruption for lapis ex celis, “the stone from heaven.”