Composed by an unknown author in early thirteenth-century France, The Quest of the Holy Grail is a fusion of Arthurian legend and Christian symbolism, reinterpreting ancient Celtic myth as a profound spiritual fable. It recounts the quest of the knights of Camelot - the simple Perceval, the thoughtful Bors, the rash Gawain, the weak Lancelot and the saintly Galahad - as they journey through danger and temptation to reach the elusive Holy Grail. But only one of them is judged worthy to see the mysteries within the sacred vessel, and look upon the ineffable. Enfused with tragic grandeur and an aura of mysticism, The Quest is an absorbing and radiant allegory of man's perilous search for divine grace, and had a profound influence on later Arthurian romances and versions of the Grail legend. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The substance of the tale of King Arthur and the Holy Grail has in one form or another intrigued men and women for well nigh a thousand years, not only in Britain but throughout the world. Nothing, it would appear, can kill the Arthurian saga. Generation after generation has been inspired and entertained by the legends of the Hero-King, his Knights of the Round Table, the reputed visit of Joseph of Arimathea, the mysterious coming of the Holy Grail, and the planting of the Holy Thorn. The original Book of the Grail was written in the early 13th Century, although only fragments of the original manuscript survive. This book is a translation of the first volume of Perceval le Gallois ou le conte du Graal, compiled in 1866 from a 16th Century transcript of the original, and is the most complete version of the Grail story. Sebastian Evans' rendering of the tale captures the high cadences of Medieval Romance, and is an essential addition to the library of anyone who shares the continuing fascination with this most enduring of legends. This is the book featured in the Terry Gilliam film The Fisher King (1991), starring Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams.

Some fifty years before Chrétien de Troyes wrote what is probably the first and certainly the most influential story of the Holy Grail, images of the Virgin Mary with a simple but radiant bowl (called a “grail” in local dialect) appeared in churches in the Spanish Pyrenees. In this fascinating book, Joseph Goering explores the links between these sacred images and the origins of one of the West’s most enduring legends. While tracing the early history of the grail, Goering looks back to the Pyrenean religious paintings and argues that they were the original inspiration of the grail legend. He explains how storytellers in northern France could have learned of these paintings and how the enigmatic “grail” in the hands of the Virgin came to form the centerpiece of a story about a knight in King Arthur’s court. Part of the allure of the grail, Goering argues, was that neither Chrétien nor his audience knew exactly what it represented or why it was so important. And out of the attempts to answer those questions the literature of the Holy Grail was born.

Presenting the story of 'Parzival' that was intended as an argument against continued efforts by Latin Christians to regain the Holy Land by force, the author reveals the secrets of the altar stone that inspired Wolfram's work in the diocesan museum of the German city of Bamberg.

An account of the author's discovery of prehistoric man-made ground patterns in the Glastonbury area and their zodiacal significance. In recent years detailed archaeological study has shown that in parts of the world prehistoric man had a far deeper understanding of astronomy than traditional historians were willing to accept. Glastonbury has always been at the heart of legends of chivalry and sanctity dating back for beyond written records, and has long excited the interest of scholars and seers. Yet it was not until the advent of aerial photography that its most dramatic archaeological secrets were revealed. From studying these photographs and comparing them with detailed maps and the evidence of myth, Katherine Maltwood investigates these exciting discoveries and their meanings. In this book, she reveals her discovery of a vast and complex pattern of figures in the contours and landmarks of the area. They form, in fact, a huge land chart of the Zodiac.