Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/317

Rh about lance and sword, he learned that the lance was that by which Christ's side was pierced, while the sword was that of the Dolorous Stroke by which Logres and all the country was destroyed. Here Gawain fell asleep and next morning found himself on the shore, while the castle had vanished. Nevertheless the land was now fertile, because he had asked about the lance; had he asked about the Grail, it would have been fully restored.

In Chrestien's Perceval there is a procession with a sword, a lance from which a drop of blood runs down, the Grail, shining so as to put out the candles' light, and finally a maiden with a silver plate. The Grail is of gold and precious stones; but in other versions it is the dish or cup of the Last Supper, or a vessel in which Joseph received the Saviour's Blood, or a chalice, or a reliquary, or even something of no material substance, or a magic stone (Wolfram's Parzival). It provides food magically, with the taste which each one would desire, though sometimes it feeds those only who are not in sin. It gives perfume and light, heals the wounded, and, after the successful quest, removes barrenness from the land and cures its guardian or raises him from death. It prevents those who see it from being deceived or made to sin by devils, or it gives the seeker spiritual insight. In Peredur there is no Grail, but the hero sees a procession with a spear from which come three drops of blood, and a salver containing a head.

The Grail and its accompanying objects have a twofold aspect and source, pagan and Christian. The Grail and lance are associated with events of Christian history, but they have pagan Celtic parallels—the divine cauldron from which none goes unsatisfied and which restores the dead, the enchanted cup in tales of Fionn which heals or gives whatever taste is desired to him who drinks from it, and which is sometimes the object of a quest. The head in Peredur recalls Bran's head, the lance and sword the spear which slew him and the sword by which he was decapitated, as well as Lug's unconquerable