Page:Curious myths of the Middle Ages (1876).djvu/637

 out to the Britons the hope that “the Kingdom of Logres (England) shall perish before the bleeding lance;” and five centuries later, Chrétien de Troyes quotes this saying— “Il est écrit qu’il est tme heure, Où tout le royaume de Logres, Qui jadis fut la terre ès Ogres, Sera détruit par cette lance.” This lance was probably a symbol of war.

The first to adapt the druidic mystery to Christianity was a British hermit, who wrote a Latin legend on the subject. Helinandus (d. 1227) says, “At this time (A.D. 720), in Britain, a marvellous vision was shown by an angel to a certain hermit: it was of the basin or paropsis in which the Saviour supped with His disciples; concerning which the history was written by the same hermit, which is called the Gradal.” And he adds, “In French they give the name gradal, or graal, to a large, rather deep vessel, in which rich meats with their gravy are served to the wealthy. ”

The date at which lived this anchorite is not certain, for though Helinandus says he had his vision in 720, Usher places him later than 114O.

After the composition of this legend, the romancers