may well have been responsible for the record. Again, we know him to have been closely connected with the locality from which came the writer who refers to the famous story-teller of the same name. I would submit that we have here quite sufficient evidence to warrant us in accepting Bledri ap Cadivor as, at least, the possible author of the romantic Grail tradition. In any case, so far, there is no other candidate in the field.[13]
Shortly after the publication of the second volume of my Perceval studies, I received a letter from Professor Singer, in which, after expressing his general acceptance of the theories there advanced, in especial of the suggested date and relation of the different versions, which he characterized as “sehr gelungen, und zu meiner Alffassung der Entwickelung der Altfranzösischen Literatur sehr zu stimmen,” he proceeded to comment upon the probable character of the literary activity of Bleheris. His remarks are so interesting and suggestive that I venture to submit them for the consideration of my readers.
Professor Singer points out that in Eilhart von Oberge’s Tristan we find the name in the form of Pleherin attached to a knight of Mark’s court. The same name in a slightly varied form, Pfelerin, occurs in the Tristan of Heinrich von Freiberg; both poems, Professor Singer considers, are derived from a French original. Under a compound form, Blihos, (or Blio)-Bliheris, he appears, in the Gawain-Grail compilation, as a knight at Arthur’s court. Now Bréri-Blihis-Bleheris is referred to as authority alike in the Tristan, Grail and Gawain tradition, and Professor Singer makes the interesting suggestion that these references are originally due to Bleheris himself, who not only told the stories in the third person (a common device at that period, v. Chrétien’s Erec, and Gerbert’s continuation of the Perceval), but also introduced himself as eye-witness of, and actor, in a subordinate rôle, in, the incidents he recorded. Thus in the Tristan he is a knight of Mark’s, in the Elucidation and the Gawain stories a knight of Arthur’s, court. Professor Singer instances the case of Dares in the De exidio Trojae, and Bishop Pilgrim of Passau in the lost Nibelungias of his secretary Konrad, as illustrations of the theory.
If this be the case such a statement as that which we find in Wauchier, regarding Bleheris’s birth and origin, would have emanated from Bleheris himself, and simply been taken over by the later writer from his source; he incorporated the whole tale of the shield as it stood, a quite natural and normal proceeding.[14] Again, this suggestion would do away with the necessity for postulating a certain lapse of time before the story-teller Bleheris could be converted into an Arthurian knight–the two rôles, Gewährsmann und Mithandelnden, as Professor Singer expresses it, are coincident in date. I would also suggest that the double form, Blihos-Bliheris, would have been adopted by the author himself, to indicate the identity of the two, Blihis, and Bleheris. It is worthy of note that, when dealing directly with the Grail, he assumes the title of Master, which would seem to indicate that here he claimed to speak with special authority.
I sent the letter in question to the late Mr Alfred Nutt, who was forcibly struck with the possibilities involved in the suggestion, the full application of which he thought the writer had not grasped. I quote the following passages from the long letter I received from him in return.
“Briefly put we presuppose the existence of a set of semi-dramatic, semi-narrative, poems, in which a Bledri figures as an active, and at the same time a recording, personage. Now that such a body of literature may have existed we are entitled to assume from the fact that two such have survived, one from Wales, in the Llywarch Hen cycle, the other from Ireland, in the Finn Saga. In both cases, the fact that the descriptive poems are put in the mouth, in Wales of Llywarch, in Ireland largely of Oisin, led to the ascription at an early date of the whole literature to Llywarch and Oisin. It is therefore conceivable that a Welsh ‘littérateur,’ familiar as he must have been with the Llywarch, and as he quite possibly was with the Oisin, instance, should cast his version of the Arthurian stories in a similar form, and that the facts noted by you and Singer may be thus explained.”
Now that both Professor Singer (who has an exceptionally wide knowledge of Medieval literature), and the late Mr Alfred Nutt, knew what they were talking about, does not need to be emphasized, and the fact that two such competent authorities should agree upon a possible solution of a puzzling literary problem, makes that solution worthy of careful consideration; it would certainly have the merit of simplifying the question and deserves to be placed upon record.
But while it would of course be far more satisfactory could one definitely place, and label, the man to whom we owe the original conception which gave birth and impetus to this immortal body of literature, yet the precise identity of the author of the earliest Grail romance is of the accident, rather than the essence, of our problem. Whether Bleheris the Welshman be, or be not, identical with Bledri ap Cadivor, Interpreter, and friend of the Norman nobles, the general hypothesis remains unaffected and may be thus summarized–
The Grail story is not du fond en comble the product of imagination, literary or popular. At its root lies the record, more or less distorted, of an ancient Ritual, having for its ultimate object the initiation into the secret of the sources of Life, physical and spiritual. This ritual, in its lower, exoteric, form, as affecting the processes of Nature, and physical life, survives to-day, and can be traced all over the world, in Folk ceremonies, which, however widely separated the countries in which they are found, show a surprising identity of detail and intention. In its esoteric ‘Mystery’ form it was freely utilized for the imparting of high spiritual teaching concerning the relation of Man to the Divine Source of his being, and the possibility of a sensible union between Man, and God. The recognition of the cosmic activities of the Logos appears to have been a characteristic feature of this teaching, and when Christianity came upon the scene it did not hesitate to utilize the already existing medium of instruction, but boldly identified the Deity of Vegetation, regarded as Life Principle, with the God of the Christian Faith. Thus, to certain of the early Christians, Attis was but an earlier manifestation of the Logos, Whom they held identical with Christ. The evidence of the Naassene document places this beyond any shadow of doubt, and is of inestimable value as establishing a link between pre-Christian, and Christian, Mystery tradition.
This curious synthetic belief, united as it was with the highly popular cult of Mithra, travelled with the foreign legionaries, adherents of that cult, to the furthest bounds of the Roman Empire, and when the struggle between Mithraism and Christianity ended in the definite triumph of the latter, by virtue of that dual synthetic nature, the higher ritual still survived, and was celebrated in sites removed from the centres of population–in caves, and mountain fastnesses; in islands, and on desolate sea-coasts.
The earliest version of the Grail story, represented by our Bleheris form, relates the visit of a wandering knight to one of these hidden temples; his successful passing of the test into the lower grade of Life initiation, his failure to attain to the highest degree. It matters little whether it were the record of an actual, or of a possible, experience; the casting into romantic form of an event which the story-teller knew to have happened, had, perchance, actually witnessed; or the objective recital of what he knew might have occurred; the essential fact is that the mise-en-scène of the story, the nomenclature, the march of incident, the character of the tests, correspond to what we know from independent sources of the details of this Nature Ritual. The Grail Quest was actually possible then, it is actually possible to-day, for the indication of two of our romances as to the final location of the Grail is not imagination, but the record of actual fact.
As first told the story preserved its primal character of a composite between Christianity and the Nature Ritual, as witnessed by the ceremony over the bier of the Dead Knight, the procession with Cross and incense, and the solemn Vespers for the Dead. This, I suspect, correctly represents the final stage of the process by which Attis-Adonis was identified with Christ. Thus, in its first form the story was the product of conscious intention.
But when the tale was once fairly launched as a romantic tale, and came into the hands of those unfamiliar with its Ritual origin (though the fact that it had such an origin was probably well understood), the influence of the period came into play. The Crusades, and the consequent traffic in relics, especially in relics of the Passion, caused the identification of the sex Symbols, Lance and Cup, with the Weapon of the Crucifixion, and the Cup of the Last Supper; but the Christianization was merely external, the tale, as a whole, retaining its pre-Christian character.
The conversion into a definitely Christian romance seems to have been due to two causes. First, the rivalry between the two great monastic houses of Glastonbury and Fescamp, the latter of which was already in possession of a genuine Saint-Sang relic, and fully developed tradition. There is reason to suppose that the initial combination of the Grail and Saint-Sang traditions took place at Fescamp, and was the work of some member of the minstrel Guild attached to that Abbey. But the Grail tradition was originally British; Glastonbury was from time immemorial a British sanctuary; it was the reputed burial place of Arthur, of whose court the Grail Quest was the crowning adventure; the story must be identified with British soil. Consequently a version was composed, now represented by our Perlesvaus text, in which the union of Nicodemus of Fescamp, and Joseph of Glastonbury, fame, as ancestors of the Grail hero, offers a significant hint of the provenance of the version.
Secondly, a no less important element in the process was due to the conscious action of Robert de Borron, who well understood the character of his material, and radically remodelled the whole on the basis of the triple Mystery tradition translated into terms of high Christian Mysticism. A notable feature of Borron’s version is his utilization of the tradition of the final Messianic Feast, in combination with his Eucharistic symbolism, a combination thoroughly familiar to early Christian Mystics.
Once started on a definitely romantic career, the Grail story rapidly became a complex of originally divergent themes, the most important stage in its development being the incorporation of the popular tale of the Widow’s Son, brought up in the wilderness, and launched into the world in a condition of absolute ignorance of men, and manners. The Perceval story is a charming story, but it has originally nothing whatever to do with the Grail. The original tale, now best represented by our English Syr Percyvelle of Galles, has no trace of Mystery element; it is Folk-lore, pure and simple. I believe the connection with the Grail legend to be purely fortuitous, and due to the fact that the hero of the Folk-tale was known as ‘The Widow’s Son,’ which he actually was, while this title represented in Mystery terminology a certain grade of Initiation, and as such is preserved to-day in Masonic ritual.[15]
Finally the rising tide of dogmatic Medievalism, with its crassly materialistic view of the Eucharist; its insistence on the saving grace of asceticism and celibacy; and its scarcely veiled contempt for women, overwhelmed the original conception. Certain of the features of the ancient ritual indeed survive, but they are factors of confusion, rather than clues to enlightenment. Thus, while the Grail still retains its character of a Feeding Vessel, comes and goes without visible agency, and supplies each knight with ‘such food and drink as he best loved in the world,’ it is none the less the Chalice of the Sacred Blood, and critics are sorely put to it to harmonize these conflicting aspects. In the same way Galahad’s grandfather still bears the title of the Rich Fisher, and there are confused references to a Land laid Waste as the result of a Dolorous Stroke.
But while the terminology lingers on to our perplexity the characters involved lie outside the march of the story; practically no trace of the old Nature Ritual survives in the final Queste form. The remodelling is so radical that it seems most reasonable to conclude that it was purposeful, that the original author of the Queste had a very clear idea of the real nature of the Grail, and was bent upon a complete restatement in terms of current orthodoxy. I advisedly use this term, as I see no trace in the Queste of a genuine Mystic conception, such as that of Borron. So far as criticism of the literature is concerned I adhere to my previously expressed opinion that the Queste should be treated rather as a Lancelot than as a Grail romance. It is of real importance in the evolution of the Arthurian romantic cycle; as a factor in determining the true character and origins of the Grail legend it is worse than useless; what remains of the original features is so fragmentary, and so distorted, that any attempt to use the version as basis for argument, or comparison, can only introduce a further element of confusion into an already more than sufficiently involved problem.
I am also still of opinion that the table of descent given on p. 283 of Volume II. of my Perceval studies, represents the most probable evolution of the literature; at the same time, in the light of further research, I should feel inclined to add the Grail section of Sone de Nansai as deriving from the same source which gave us Kiot’s poem, and the Perlesvaus.[16] As evidence for a French original combining important features of these two versions, and at the same time retaining unmistakably archaic elements which have disappeared from both, I hold this section of the poem to be of extreme value for the criticism of the cycle.
While there are still missing links in the chain of descent, versions to be reconstructed, writers to be identified, I believe that in its ensemble the theory set forth in these pages will be found to be the only one which will satisfactorily meet all the conditions of the problem; which will cover the whole ground of investigation, omitting no element, evading no difficulty; which will harmonize apparently hopeless contradictions, explain apparently meaningless terminology, and thus provide a secure foundation for the criticism of a body of literature as important as it is fascinating.
The study and the criticism of the Grail literature will possess an even deeper interest, a more absorbing fascination, when it is definitely recognized that we possess in that literature a unique example of the restatement of an ancient and august Ritual in terms of imperishable Romance.
NOTES
CHAPTER II
[1] MS. Bibl. Nat., f. Franç. 12576 fo. 90. [2] Ibid. fo. 90vo, 91.
[3] Diû Crône (ed. Stoll, Stuttgart, 1852). Cf. Sir Gawain of the Grail Castle for both versions.
[4] Cf. MS. B.N. 12576, fo. 154.
[5] Perceval, ed. Hucher, p. 466; Modena, p. 61. [6] Cf. Hucher, p. 482; Modena, p. 82.
[7] Percevel li Gallois, ed. Potvin, ll. 6048-52. [8] Ib. ll. 6056-60.
[9] Potvin, Vol. I. p. 15.
[10] Ib. p. 26.
[11] Ib. p. 86.
[12] Ib. pp. 176, 178.
[13] MS. B.N. 12576, ff. 221-222vo. [14] Mabinogion, ed. Nutt, p. 282.
[15] Cf. Peredur (ed. Nutt), pp. 282, 291-92. [16] Parzival, Book v. ll. 947-50.
[17] Ib. Book VI. ll. 1078-80.
[18] Parzival, Book XVI, ll 275-86. [19] Cf. Morte Arthure, Malory, Book XVII. Chap. 18. Note the remark of Mordrains that his flesh which has waxen old shall become young again.
[20] Parzival, Bk. IX. ll. 1388-92. [21] Sone de Nansai (ed. Goldschmidt, Stuttgart, 1899), ll 4775-76. [22] Sone de Nansai, ll. 4841-56.
[23] It is evidently such a version as that of Sone de Nansai, and Parzival, which underlies the curious statement of the Merlin MS. B.N. f. Fr. 337, where the wife of the Fisher King is known as ‘la Veve Dame,’ while her husband is yet in life, though sorely wounded.
CHAPTER III
[1] Cf. Rig-Veda Sanhita, trans. H. H. Wilson, 6 vols. 1854-1888. Vol. I. p. 88, v. 12. 172, v. 8 206, v. 10 Vol. III. p. 157, vv. 2, 5, 7, 8.
[2] Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Geschichte, Vols. XXXVII. and XXXIX.
[3] Cf. Le Théatre Indien, Paris, 1890. [4] Cf. Wiener Zeitsch, für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, Vol. XVIII. 1904.
[5] Leipzig, 1908.
[6] Op. cit. p. 105.
[7] Ib. p. 230.
[8] Ib. p. 292, for sources, and variants of tale. [9] On this point cf. Cornford, Origin of Attic Comedy, pp. 8, 78, for importance of this feature.
[10] Op. cit. pp. 161-170, for general discussion of question, and summary of authorities. Also pp. 297 et seq. [11] Cf. Legend of Sir Peceval, Vol. I. Chapter 3. [12] MS. Bibl. Nat., f. Fr. 12576, fo. 173. Cf. also Legend of Sir Perceval, I. Chap. 4.
[13] Malory, Le Morte Arthure, Book XIV. Chaps. 8 and 9. Potvin, ll. 40420 et seq.
CHAPTER IV
[1] Cf. Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, p. 5. [2] In this connection not only the epoch-making works of Mannhardt and Frazer, which are more specifically devoted to an examination of Folk-belief and practice should be studied, but also works such as The Mediaeval Stage, E. K. Chambers; Themis, J. E. Harrison; The Origin of Attic Comedy, F. Cornford; and Sir Gilbert Murray’s essay on the evolution of the Greek Drama, published in Miss Harrison’s Themis. The cumulative evidence is most striking. [3] A full study of this evolutionary process will be found in Miss Harrison’s Themis, A Study of Greek Social Origins, referred to above. [4] Baudissin, in his exhaustive study of these cults, Adonis und Esmun, comes to the conclusion that Tammuz and Adonis are different gods, owing their origin to a common parent deity. Where the original conception arose is doubtful; whether in Babylon, in Canaan, or in a land where the common ancestors of Phoenicians and Babylonian Semites formed an original unit.
[5] Cf. Tammuz and Ishtar, S. Langdon, p. 5. [6] It may be well to note here the the ‘Life’ deity has no proper name; he is only known by an appellative; Damu-zi, Damu, ‘faithful son,’ or ‘son and consort,’ is only a general epithet, which designates the dying god in a theological aspect, just as the name Adoni, ‘my lord,’ certainly replaced a more specific name for the god of Byblos. Esmun of Sidon, another type of Adonis, is a title only, and means simply, ‘the name.’ Cf. Langdon, op. cit. p. 7. Cf. this with previous passages on the evolution of the Greek idea from a nameless entity to a definite god. Mr Langdon’s remarks on the evolution of the Tammuz cult should be carefully studied in view of the theory maintained by Sir W. Ridgeway–that the Vegetation deities were all of them originally men.
[7] From a liturgy employed at Nippur in the period of the Isin dynasty. Langdon, op. cit. p. 11. Also, Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms, p. 338.
[8] Cf. Langdon, Tammuz and Ishtar, p. 23. [9] What we have been able to ascertain of the Sumerian-Babylonian religion points to it rather as a religion of mourning and supplication, than of joy and thanksgiving. The people seem to have been in perpetual dread of their gods, who require to be appeased by continual acts of humiliation. Thus the 9th, 15th, 19th, 28th, and 29th of the month were all days of sack-cloth and ashes, days of wailing; the 19th especially was ‘the day of the wrath of Gulu.’ [10] Cf. Langdon, op. cit. p. 24.
[11] Cf. Langdon, op. cit. p. 26.
[12] The most complete enquiry into the nature of the god is to be found in Baudissin, Adonis und Esmun. For the details of the cult cf. Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, Vol. II.; Vellay, Adonis (Annales du Musée Guimet). For the Folk-lore evidence cf. Mannhardt, Wald un Feld-Kulte; Frazer, The Golden Bough, and Adonis, Attis and Osiris. These remarks apply also to the kindred cult of Attis, which as we shall see later forms an important link in our chain of evidence. The two cults are practically identical and scholars are frequently at a loss to which group surviving fragments of the ritual should be assigned.
[13] In this connection note the extremely instructive remarks of Miss Harrison in the chapter on Herakles in the work referred to above. She points out that the Eniautos Daimon never becomes entirely and Olympian, but always retains traces of his ‘Earth’ origin. This principle is particularly well illustrated by Adonis, who, though, admitted to Olympus as the lover of Aphrodite, is yet by this very nature forced to return to the earth, and descend to the realm of Persephone. This agrees well with the conclusion reached by Baudissin (Adonis und Esmun, p. 71) that Adonis belongs to “einer Klasse von Wesen sehr unbestimmter Art, die wohl über den Menschen aber unter den grossen Göttern stehen.”
[14] Cf. Vellay, op. cit. p. 93. Dulaure, Des Divinités Génératrices. If Baudissin is correct, and the introduction of the Boar a later addition to the story, it would seem to indicate the intrusion of a phallic element into ritual which at first, like that of Tammuz, dealt merely with the death of the god. The Attis form, on the contrary, appears to have been phallic from the first. Cf. Baudissin, Adonis und Esmun, p. 160. [15] Op. cit. p. 83.
[16] Cf. L. von Schroeder, Vollendung den Arischen Mysterium, p. 14. [17] It may be well to explain the exact meaning attached to these terms by the author. In Professor von Schroeder’s view Mysterium may be held to connote a drama in which the gods themselves are actors; Mimus on the contrary, is the term applied to a drama which treats of the doings of mortals.
[18] Op. cit. Vol. II. p. 647.
[19] Op. cit. p. 115. Much of the uncertainty as to date is doubtless due to the reflective influence of other forms of the cult; the Tammuz celebrations were held from June 20th, to July 20th, when the Dog-star Sirius was in the ascendant, and vegetation failed beneath the heat of the summer sun. In other, and more temperate, climates the date would fall later. Where, however, the cult was an off-shoot of a Tammuz original (as might be the case through emigration) the tendency would be to retain the original date.
[20] Cf. Vellay, op. cit. p. 55; Mannhardt, Vol. II. pp. 277-78, for a description of the feast. With regard to the order and sequence of the celebration cf. Miss Harrison’s remark, Themis, p. 415: “In the cyclic monotony of the Eniautos Daimon it matters little whether Death follows Resurrection, or Resurrection, Death.” [21] Cf. Mannhardt, supra, p. —.
[22] Cf. Vellay, op. cit. p. 103. This seems also to have been the case with Tammuz, cf. Ezekiel, Chap. viii. v. 14. [23] Cf. Frazer, The Golden Bough, under heading Adonis. [24] Vellay, p. 130, Mannahrdt, Vol. II. p. 287; note the writer’s suggestion that the women here represent the goddess, the stranger, the risen Adonis.
[25] Cf. Vellay, p. 93.
[26] Vide supra, pp. —. —.
[27] Supra, p. —.
[28] Cf. Potvin, appendix to Vol. III.; Sir Gawain and the Grail Castle, pp. 41, 44, and note.
[29] My use of this parallel has been objected to on the ground that the prose Lancelot is a late text, and therefore cannot be appealed to as evidence for original incidents. But the Lancelot in its original form was held by so competent an authority as the late M. Gaston Paris to have been one of the earliest, if not the very earliest, of French prose texts. (Cf. M. Paris’s review of Suchier and Birch-Hirschfield’s Geschichte der Franz. Litt.) The adventure in question is a ‘Gawain’ adventure; we do not know whence it was derived, and it may well have been included in an early version of the romance. Apart from the purely literary question, from the strictly critical point of view the adventure is here obviously out of place, and entirely devoid of raison d’être. If the origins of the Grail legend is really to be found in these cults, which are not a dead but a living tradition (how truly living, the exclusively literary critic has little idea), we are surely entitled to draw attention to the obvious parallels, no matter in which text they appear. I am not engaged in reconstructing the original form of the Grail story, but in endeavoring to ascertain the ultimate source, and it is surely justifiable to point out that, in effect, no matter what version we take, we find in that version points of contact with one special group of popular belief and practice. If I be wrong in my conclusions my critics have only to suggest another origin for this particular feature of the romance–as a matter of fact, they have failed to do so. [30] Cf. Perlesvaus, Branch II. Chap. I. [31] Throwing into, or drenching with, water is a well known part of the ‘Fertility’ ritual; it is a case of sympathetic magic, acting as a rain charm.
CHAPTER V
[1] Ancient Greek Religion, and Modern Greek Folk-Lore, J. C. Lawson, gives some most interesting evidence as to modern survivals of mythological beliefs.
[2] Wald und Feld-Kulte, 2nd edition, 2 vols., Berlin, 1904. Cf. Vol. II. p. 286. The Golden Bough, 3rd edition, 5 vols. [3] I cite from Mannhardt, as the two works overlap in the particular line of research we are following: the same instances are given in both, buyt the honour of priority belongs to the German scholar. [4] Op. cit. Vol. I. p. 411.
[5] See G. Calderon, ‘Slavonic Elements in Greek religion,’ Classical Review, 1918, p. 79.
[6] Op. cit. p. 416.
[7] Op. cit. pp. 155 and 312.
[8] Op. cit. p. 353.
[9] Op. cit. p. 358.
[10] Op. cit. p. 358.
[11] Op. cit. p. 359. Cf. the Lausitz custom given supra, which Mannhardt seems to have overlooked.
[12] In the poem, besides the ordinary figures of the Vegetation Deity, his female counterpart, and the Doctor, common to all such processions, Laubfrosch, combining the two first, and Horse. Cf. Mannhardt, Mythol. Forsch. pp. 142-43; Mysterium und Mimus, pp. 408 et seq.; also, pp. 443-44. Sir W. Ridgeway (op. cit. p. 156) refers slightingly to this interpretation of a ‘harmless little hymn’–doubless the poem is harmless; until Prof. von Schroeder pointed out its close affinity with the Fertility processions it was also meaningless.
[13] Op. cit. Chap. 17, p. 253.
[14] Cf. Folk-Lore, Vol. XV. p. 374. [15] Op. cit. Vol. V. The Dying God, pp. 17 et seq. [16] See Dr Seligmann’s study, The Cult of Nyakang and the Divine Kings of the Shilluk in the Fourth Report of the Wellcome Research Laboratories, Kkartum, 1911, Vol. B.
[17] Cf. Address on reception into the Academy when M. Paris succeeded to Pasteur’s fauteuil.
CHAPTER VI
[1] Op. cit. Vol. I. p. 94.
[2] The Legend of Longinus, R. J. Peebles (Bryn Mawr College monographs, Vol. IX.).
[3] I discussed this point with Miss Lucy Broadwood, Secretary of the Folk-Song Society, who has made sketches of these Crosses, and she entirely agrees with me. In my Quest of the Holy Grail, pp. 54 et seq., I have pointed out the absolute dearth of ecclesiastical tradition with regard to the story of Joseph and the Grail. [4] Cf. Littaturzeitung, XXIV. (1903), p. 2821. [5] Cf. The Bleeding Lance, A. C. L. Brown. [6] Cf. Brown, op. cit. p. 35; also A. Nutt, Studies in the Legend of the Holy Grail, p. 184.
[7] Cf. Brown, Notes on Celtic Cauldrons of Plenty, p. 237. [8] Cf. Queste, Malory, Book XIII. Chap. 7, where the effect is the same.
[9] Cf. Germanische Elben und Götter beim Estenvolker, L. von Schroeder (Wien, 1906).
[10] I suggested this point in corrspondence with Dr Brugger, who agreed with me that it was worth working out. [11] Before leaving the discussion of Professor Brown’s theory, I would draw attention to a serious error made by the author of The Legend of Longinus. On p. 191, she blames Professor Brown for postulating the destructive qualities of the Lance, on the strength of ‘an unsupported passage’ in the ‘Mons’ MS., whereas the Montpellier text says that the Lance shall bring peace. Unfortunately, it is this latter version which is unsupported, all the MSS., without even excepting B.N. 1429, which as a rule agrees with Montpellier, give the ‘destructive’ version.
[12] Cf. Dulaure, Des Divinités Génératrices, p. 77. Also additional chapter to last edition by Van Gennep, p. 333; L. von Schroeder, Mysterium und Mimus, pp. 279-80, for symbolic use of the Spear. McCulloch, Religion of the Celts, p. 302, suggests that it is not impossible that the cauldron==Hindu yoni, which of course would bring it into line with the above suggested meaning of the Grail. I think however that the real significance of the cauldron is that previously indicated.
[13] It is interesting to note that this relative position of Lance and Grail lingers on in late and fully Christianized versions; cf. Sommer, The Quest of the Holy Grail, Romainia, XXXVI. p. 575. [14] My informant on this point was a scholar, resident in Japan, who gave me the facts within his personal knowledge. I referred the question to Prof. Basil Hall Chamberlain, who wrote in answer that he had not himself met with the practice but that the Samurai ceremonies differed in different provinces, and my informant might well be correct. [15] This explanation has at least the merit of simplicity as compared with that proposed by the author of The Legend of Longinus, pp. 209 et seq., which would connect the feature with an obscure heretical practice of the early Irish church. It would also meet Professor Brown’s very reasonable objections, The Bleeding Lance, p. 8; cf. also remarks by Baist quoted in the foot-note above. [16] Cf. my Legend of Sir Perceval, Vol. II. pp. 314-315, note. [17] Mr A. E. Waite, who has published a book on the subject, informs me that the 17 cards preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi (Bibl. Nationale?) as specimens of the work of the painter Charles Gringonneur, are really Tarots.
[18] Falconnier, in a brochure on Les XXII Lames Hermetiques du Tarot, gives reproductions of these Egyptian paintings. [19] Journal of the Gipsy-Lore Society, Vol. II. New Series, pp. 14-37.
[20] From a private letter. The ultimate object of Magic in all ages was, and is, to obtain control of the sources of Life. Hence, whatever was the use of these objects (of which I know nothing), their appearance in this connection is significant.
CHAPTER VII
[1] Mysterium und Mimus, p. 50. This work contains a most valuable and interesting study of the Maruts, and the kindred groups of Sword Dancers.
[2] Op. cit. pp. 47 et seq.
[3] Rig-Veda, Vol. III. p. 337.
[4] Mysterium und Mimus, p. 48.
[5] Op. cit., Indra, die Maruts, und Agastya, pp. 91 et seq. [6] Rig-Veda, Vol. III. pp. 331, 334, 335, 337. [7] Mysterium un Mimus, p. 121.
[8] Vollendung des Arische Mysterium, p. 13. The introductory section of this book, containing a study of early Aryan belief, and numerous references to modern survivals, is both interesting and valuable. The latter part, a panegyric on the Wagnerian drama, is of little importance.
[9] Mysterium und Mimus, p. 131.
[10] Cf. Röscher’s Lexikon, under heading Kureten. [11] Op. cit.
[12] Cf. Preller, Graechishe Mythologie, p. 134. [13] Quoted by Preller, p. 654.
[14] Themis, A Study in Greek Social Origins (Cambridge, 1912), pp. 6 et seq.
[15] Mysterium un Mimus, p. 23.
[16] Themis, p. 24.
[17] Cf. Mysterium und Mimus, section Indra, die Maruts, und Agastya specially pp. 151 et seq.
[18] Cf. von Schroeder, op. cit. pp. 141 et seq. for a very full account of the ceremonies; also, Themis, p. 194; Mannhardt, Wald und Feld-Kulte, and Röscher’s Lexikon, under heading Mars, for various reasons.
[19] Folk-Lore, Vols. VII., X., and XVI. contain interesting and fully illustrated accounts of some of these dances and plays. [20] The Mediaeval Stage, Vol. III. p. 202. It would be interesting to know the precise form of this ring; was it the Pentangle? [21] Cf. also Mysterium und Mimus, pp. 110, 111, for a general description of the dance, minus the text of the speeches. [22] Pp. 186-194.
[23] Cf. Folk-Lore, Vol. XVI. pp. 212 et seq. [24] I would draw attention to the curious name of the adversary, Golisham; it is noteworthy that in one Arthurian romance Gawain has for adversary Golagros, in another Percival fights against Golerotheram. Are these all reminiscences of the giant Goliath, who became the synonym for a dangerous, preferably heathen, adversary, even as Mahomet became the synonym for an idol? [25] Cf. Mannhardt, Wald und Feld-Kulte, Vol. II. pp. 191 et seq. for a very full account of the Julbock (Yule Buck). [26] Cf. Folk-Lore, Vol. VIII. ‘Some Oxfordshire Seasonal Festivals,’ where full illustrations of the Bampton Morris Dancers and their equipment will be found.
[27] Cf. The Padstow Hobby-Horse, F.-L. Vol. XVI. p. 56; The Staffordshire Horn-Dance, Ib. Vol. VII. p. 382, and VIII. p. 70. [28] Cf. supra, pp. —, —, —.
[29] Cf. Legend of Sir Perceval, Vol. II. p. 264. [30] See English Folk-Song and Dance by Frank Kidson and Mary Neal, Cambridge, 1915, plate facing p. 104. A curious point in connection with the illustration is that the Chalice is surmounted by a Heart, and in the Tarot suits Cups are the equivalent of our Hearts. The combination has now become identified with the cult of the Sacred Heart, but is undoubtedly much older.
CHAPTER VIII
[1] Cf. supra, Chap. 5, pp. — —; Chap. 7, pp. —, —. [2] Mysterium und Mimus, p. 369, Der Mimus des Medizinmannes. [3] Cf. Chap. 5, pp. —, —.
[4] Op. cit. p. 371
[5] Op. cit. pp. 78 et seq.
[6] I would draw attention to the fact that while scholars are now coming to the conclusion that Classic Drama, whether Tragedy or Comedy, reposes for its origin upon this ancient ritual, others have pointed out that Modern Drama derives from the ritual Play of the Church, the first recorded medieval drama being the Easter Quem Quaeritis? the dramatic celebration of Our Lord’s Resurrection. Cf. Chambers, The Mediaeval Stage, where this thesis is elaborately developed and illustrated. It is a curious fact that certain texts of this, the ‘Classical’ Passion Play, contain a scene between the Maries and the ‘Unguentarius’ from whom they purchase spices for the embalmment of Our Lord. Can this be a survival of the Medicine Man? (Cf. op. cit. Vol. ii. p. 33.)
[7] Bibl. Nat., fonds Français, 12577, fo. 40 [8] Bibl. Nat., f. F. 1453, fo. 49. Parzival, Bk. x. ll, 413-22. [9] Lanceloet, Jonckbloet, Vol.II. ll. 22271-23126. [10] Op. cit. ll. 22825-26.
[11] Op. cit. Vol. 1. ll. 42540-47262. [12] Op. cit. ll. 46671-74.
[13] Op. cit. ll. 46678-80.
[14] Cf. Loth, Les Mabinogion, Vol. ii. p. 230, and note. The other two are Riwallawn Walth Banhadlen, and Llacheu son of Arthur. [15] The only instance in which I have found medicine directly connected with the knightly order is in the case of the warrior clan of the Samurai, in Japan, where members, physically unfitted for the task of a warrior, were trained as Royal Doctors, the Folk Doctors being recruited from a class below the Samurai. Cf. Medizin der Natur-Völker, Bartels, p. 65.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VIII
[1] Cf. OEuvres de Ruteboeuf, Kressner, p. 115. [2] My attention was drawn to the poem by references to it in The Mediaeval Stage, Chambers.
CHAPTER IX
[1] Cf. my Sir Gawain and the Grail Castle, pp. 3-30. The best text is that of MS. B.N., fonds Franç. 12576, ff. 87vo-91. The above remarks apply also to the Elucidation, which is using a version of the Bleheris form.
[2] B.N. 12577, fo. 136vo.
[3] Cf. Sir Gawain at the Grail Castle, pp. 33-46. [4] Cf. B.N. 12576, ff. 220-222vo and fo. 258. [5] Hucher, Le Saint Graal, Vo. I. pp. 251 et seq., 315 et seq. [6] Cf. Modena MS. pp. 11, 12, 21, etc.; Dr Nitze, The Fisher-King in the Grail Romances, p. 373, says Borron uses the term Rice Pescheur, as opposed to the Roi Pescheur of Chrétien. This remark is only correct as applied to the Joseph.
[7] Modena MS p. 61 and note.
[8] Ibid. p. 63.
[9] The evidence of the Parzival and the parallel Grail sections of Sone de Nansai, which appear to repose ultimately on a source common to all three authors, makes this practically certain. [10] This is surely a curious omission, if the second King were as essential a part of the scheme as Dr Nitze supposes. [11] Cf. Chapter 2, p. —.
[12] I cannot agree with Dr Nitze’s remark (op. cit. p. 374) that “in most versions the Fisher King has a mysterious double.” I hold that feature to be a peculiarity of the Chrétien-Wolfram group. It is not found in the Gawain versions, in Wauchier, nor in Manessier. Gerbert is using the Queste in the passage relative to Mordrains, and for the reason stated above I hold that heither Queste nor Grand Saint Graal should be cited when we are dealing, as Dr Nitze is here dealing, with questions of ultimate origin.
[13] Cf. my Legend of Sir Lancelot, pp. 167 and 168. [14] Cf. Heinzel, Ueber die Alt-Franz. Gral-Romanen, pp. 136 and 137. [15] Cf. Legend of Sir Perceval, Vol. II. p. 343, note. These three kings are found in the curious Merlin MS. B.N., f. Franç. 337, fo. 249 et seq.
[16] Vide supra, pp. —. —.
[17] Op. cit. p. 184.
[18] Cf. Chapter 5, p. —, Chap. 7, p. —. [19] Diû Crone, ll. 17329 et seq.
[20] In the Parzival Titurel is grandfather to Anfortas, Frimutel intervening; critics of the poem are apt to overlook this difference between the German and French versions.
[21] Cf. Chapter 2, p. —.
[22] Cf. here my notes on Sone de Nansai (Romania, Vol. XLIII. p. 412). [23] In connection with my previous remarks on the subject (p. —) I would point out that the Queste and Grand Sainte Graal versions repeat the Maimed King motif in the most unintelligent manner. The element of old age, inherent in the Evalach-Mordrains incident, is complicated and practically obscured, by an absurdly exaggerated wounding element, here devoid of its original significance. [24] Heinzel, op. cit. p. 13.
[25] For an instance of the extravagances to which a strictly Christian interpretation can lead, cf. Dr Sebastian Evans’s theories set forth in his translation of the Perlesvaus (The High History of the Holy Grail) and in his The Quest of the Holy Grail. The author places the origin of the cycle in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, and treats it as an allegory of the position in England during the Interdict pronounced against King John, and the consequent withholding of the Sacraments. His identification of the character with historical originals is most ingenious, an extraordinary example of misapplied learning.
[26] For a general discussion of the conflicting views cf. Dr Nitze’s study, referred to above. The writer devotes special attention to the works of the late Prof. Heinzel and Mr Alfred Nutt as leading representatives of their respective schools. [27] R. Pischel’s Ueber die Ursprung des Christlichen Fisch-Symbols is specifically devoted to the possible derivation from Indian sources. Scheftelowitz, Das Fischsymbolik in Judentem und Christentum (Archiv für Religionswissenschaft, Vol. XIV.), contains a great deal of valuable material. R. Eisler, Orpheus the Fisher (The Quest, Vols. I and II.), John, Jonas, Joannes (ibid. Vol. III.), the Messianic Fish-meal of the Primitive Church (ibid. Vol. IV.), are isolated studies, forming part of a comprehensive work on the subject, the publication of which has unfortunately been prevented by the War. [28] Mahâbhârata, Bk. III.
[29] Cf. Scheftekowitz, op. cit. p. 51. [30] Cf. The Open Court, June and July, 1911, where reproductions of these figures will be found.
[31] Op. cit. p. 403. Cf. here an illustration in Miss Harrison’s Themis (p. 262), which shows Cecrops, who played the same rôle with regard to the Greeks, with a serpent’s tail. [32] Ibid. p. 168. In this connection note the prayer to Vishnu, quoted above.
[33] Cf. Eisler, Orpheus the Fisher (The Quest, Vol. I. p. 126). [34] Cf. W. Staerk, Ueber den Ursprung der Gral-Legende, pp. 55, 56. [35] Df. S. Langdon, Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms, pp. 301, 305, 307, 313.
[36] Cf. Eisler, The Messianic Fish-meal of the Primitive Church (The Quest, Vol. IV.), where the various frescoes are described; also the article by Scheftelowitz, already referred to. While mainly devoted to Jewish beliefs and practices, this study contains much material derived from other sources. So far it is the fullest and most thoroughly documenté treatment of the subject I have met with. [37] Cf. Eisler, op. cit. and Scheftelowitz, pp. 19. 20. [38] Cf. Eisler, op. cit. p. 508.
[39] Cf. Scheftelowitz, op. cit. pp. 337, 338, and note 4. [40] Hucher, Le Saint Graal, Vol. I. pp. 251 et seq., 315 et seq. [41] Cf. A. Nutt, Studies in the Legend of the Holy Grail, p. 209. [42] Cf. Eisler, The Mystic Epitaph of Bishop Aberkios (The Quest, Vol. V. pp. 302-312); Scheftelowitz, op. cit. p. 8. [43] Cf. The Voyage of Saint Brandan, ll. 372, et seq., 660 et seq. [44] Op. cit. ll. 170 et seq., and supra, p. —. [45] Vide supra, p. —.
[46] Op. cit. p. 168.
[47] Cf. The Messianic Fish-meal.
[48] Op. cit. p. 92, fig. 42 a.
[49] Op. cit. p. 23, and note, p. 29. [50] Parzival, Bk. IX. ll., 1109 et seq., Bk. XVI. ll. 175 et seq. [51] Cf. Sir Gawain at the Grail Castle, p. 55. Certain of the Lancelot MSS., e.g., B.N., f. Fr. 123, give two doves. [52] Cf. Scheftelowitz, p. 338. Haven, Der Gral, has argued that Wolfram’s stone is such a meteoric stone, a Boetylus. I am not prepared to take up any position as to the exact nature of the stone itself, whether precious stone or meteor; the real point of importance being its Life-giving potency.
[53] Op. cit. p. 381.
[54] Ibid. p. 376 et seq.
[55] Ibid. p. 20.
[56] Ibid. p. 377.
CHAPTER X
[1] Elucidation, ll. 4-9 and 12, 13.
[2] Potvin, ll. 19933-40. I quote from Potvin’s edition as more accessible than the MSS., but the version of mons is, on the whole, an inferior one.
[3] Potvin, ll. 28108-28.
[4] This is to my mind the error vitiating much of Dr Nitze’s later work, e.g., the studies entitled The Fisher-King in the Grail Romances and The Sister’s Son, and the Conte del Graal. [5] Op. cit. Introduction, p. X.
[6] Rohde, Psyche, p. 293, and Cumont, op. cit. p. 44. [7] Anrich, Das alte Mysterien-Wesen in seinem Verhältniss zum Christentum, p. 46.
[8] Op. cit. p. 136.
[9] Cumont, op. cit. p. 84.
[10] Op. cit. pp. 104, 105.
[11] Cf. Anrich, op. cit. p. 81.
[12] Hepding, Attis, p. 189.
[13] Cumont, Mystères de Mithra, pp. 19 and 78. [14] Ibid. p. 188.
[15] Ibid. pp. 190 et seq.
[16] Vide Hepding, Attis, Chap. 4, for details. [17] Dieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie, p. 174. [18] Hepding, op. cit. p. 196.
[19] Cf. my Legend of Sir Perceval, Vol. II. p. 313. Hepding mentions (op. cit. p. 174) among the sacra of the goddess Phrygium ferrum, which he suggests was the knife from which the Archigallus wounded himself on the ‘Blood’ day. Thus it is possible that the primitive ritual may have contained a knife.
CHAPTER XI
[1] Cumont, op. cit. Introd. pp. XX and XXI. [2] Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. I, p. 195. [3] Op. cit. p. 141.
[4] Op. cit. p. 142.
[5] Op. cit. pp. 146 et seq. Reitzenstein, Die Hellenistischen Mysterien Religionen, Leipzig, 1910, gives the document in the original. There is also a translation of Hippolytus in the Ante-Nicene Library.
[6] Quoted by Mead, op. cit. p. 138. [7] Op. cit. pp. 146, 147.
[8] Op. cit. p. 151.
[9] Op. cit. p. 152. Mr Mead concludes that there is here a lacuna of the original.
[10] Op. cit. p. 181. In a note Mr Mead says of the Greater Mysteries, “presumaby the candidate went through some symbolic rite of death and resurrection.”
[11] Op. cit. pp. 185, 186. I would draw especial attention to this passage in view of the present controversey as to the Origin of Drama. It looks as if the original writer of the document (and this section is in the Pagan Source) would have inclined to the views of Sir Gilbert Murray, Miss Harrison, and Mr Cornford rather than to those championed by their sarcastic critic, Sir W. Ridgeway. [12] Op. cit. p. 190.
[13] Vide supra, p. —.
[14] Cf. Legend of Sir Perceval, Vol. II. Chapters 10 and 11. [15] Cf. my Quest of the Holy Grail, Bell, 1913, Chap. 4, for summary of evidence on this point.
[16] Cf. Heinzel, Alt-Franz. Gral-Romanen, p. 72.
CHAPTER XII
[1] Op. cit. p. 71.
[2] Op. cit. p. 3.
[3] Op. cit. p. 4.
[4] Cumont, op. cit. pp. 129-141 et seq. [5] Op. cit. p. 148.
[6] Dieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie, the text is given with translation and is followed by an elaborate commentary. The whole study is most interesting and suggestive. [7] Cf. Bousset, Der Himmelfahrt der Seele, Archiv für Religionswissenschaft, Vol. IV.
[8] Cumont, op. cit. pp. 199 et seq. [9] Adonis und Esumn, p. 521.
[10] Cf. Mead, op. cit. p. 179, note; Cumont, Mystères de Mithra, p. 183. [11] Cumont, Les Religions Orientales, pp. 160 et seq. [12] Mystères de Mithra, p. 77.
[13] Les Religions Orientales, pp. 166, 167, Mystères de Mithra, p. 57. [14] Mead, op. cit. pp. 147, 148, and note. [15] Without entering into indiscreet details I may say that students of the Mysteries are well aware of the continued survival of this ritual under circumstances which correspond exactly with the indications of two of our Grail romances. [16] The Quest of the Holy Grail, pp. 110 et seq. [17] Professor A. C. L. Brown, Notes on Celtic Cauldrons of Plenty, n. p. 249, translates this ‘wells,’ an error into which the late Mr Alfred Nutt had already fallen. Wisse Colin translates this correctly, berg, gebirge.
[18] I suspect that the robbery of the Golden Cup was originally a symbolic expression for the outrage being offered.
CHAPTER XIII
[1] MS B.N. 12576, ff. 87vo et seq. A translation will be found in my Sir Gawain at the Grail Castle, pp. 13-15. [2] MS B.N. 12576, ff. 150vo, 222, 238vo. [3] Cf. here Prof. Kittredge’s monograph Arthur and Gorlagon. [4] Cf. Malory, Book XVI. Chap. 2.
[5] Cf. Perlesvaus, Branch XV. sections XII.-XX.; Malory, Book VI. Chap. 15; Chevalier à deux Espées, ll. 531 et seq. [6] B.N. 12576, fo. 74vo.
[7] Cf. B.N. MS 1433, ff. 10, 11, and the analysis and remarks in my Legend of Sir Lancelopt, p. 219 and note. [8] Cf. passage in question quoted on p. 137. [9] B.N. 12576, fo. 150vo.
[10] Perlesvaus, Branch I. sections III., IV. [11] Cf. my notes on the subject, Romania, Vol. XLIII. pp. 420-426. [12] Cf. Nitze, Glastonbury and the Holy Grail, where the reference is given.
[13] Vide supra, p. —.
[14] Cf. Legend of Sir Perceval, Vol. II. p. 261. I suggested then that the actual initiation would probably consist in enlightenment into the meaning of Lance and Cup, in their sexual juxtaposition. I would now go a step further, and suggest that the identification of the Lance with the weapon of Longinus may quite well have rpelaced the original explanation as given by Bleheris. In The Quest, Oct. 1916, I have given, under the title “The Ruined Temple,” a hypothetical reconstruction of the Grail Initiation.
[15] Owain Miles, edited from the unique MS. by Turnbull and Laing, Edinburgh, 1837. The Purgatory of Saint Patrick will be found in Horstmann’s Southern Legendary. I have given a modern English rendering of part of Owain Miles in my Chief Middle-English Poets, published by Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, U.S.A. [16] Cf. op. cit. pp. 148 et seq.
[17] Op. cit. pp. 155 and 254.
CHAPTER XIV
The Author
[1] Cf. Mead, Thrice Greatest Hermes, Vol. III. p. 295. On this point the still untranslated corpus of Bardic poetry may possibly throw light. [2] The Quest of The Holy Grail (Quest series, Bell, 1913). [3] On the point that Chrétien was treating an already popular theme, cf. Brugger, Enserrement Merlin, I. (Zeitschrift für Franz. Sprache, XXIX.).
[4] That is, the relationship is due to romantic tradition, not to Mystery survival, as Dr Nitze maintains. [5] Cf. Romania, Vol. XXXIII. pp. 333 et seq. [6] Cf. Legend of Sir Perceval, Vol. I. Chap. 12, for the passages referred to, also article in Romania, XXXIII. [7] Cf. my Quest of the Holy Grail, pp. 110 et seq. [8] Cf. Tristan (Bédier’s ed.), Vol. I. l. 2120. [9] A critic of my Quest volume remarks that “we have as little faith in Wauchier’s appeal to a Welshman Bleheris as source for his continuation of Chrétien’s ‘Perceval’ as we have in Layamon’s similar appeal to Bede and St Austin at the beginning of the ‘Brut.'” The remark seems to me singularly inept, there is no parallel between the cases. In the first place Layamon does not refer to Bede and St Austin as source, but as models, a very different thing. Then the statement is discredited by the fact that we possess the writings of these men, and know them to be of another character than Metrical Chronicles. In the case of Wauchier his reference does not stand alone; it is one of a group, and that group marked by an extraordinary unanimity of statement; whoever Bleheris may have been he was certainly possessed of two definite qualifications–he knew a vast number of tales, and he possessed a remarkable gift of narration, i.e., he was a story-teller, par excellence. Thus he was, a priori, a probable source for that section of Wauchier’s work which is attributed to him, a section consisting of short, picturesque, and mutually independent tales, which formed part of a popular collection. It is misleading to speak as if Wauchier refers to him as general source for his Perceval continuation; the references are clearly marked and refer to Gawain tales. Apart from the fact that Wauchier’s reference does not stand alone we have independent evidence of the actual existence of such a group of tales, in our surviving Gawain poems, certain of which, such as Kay and the Spit, and Golagros and Gawayne are versions of the stories given by Wauchier, while the author of the Elucidation was also familiar with the same collection. If evidence for the identity of Bleheris is incomplete, that for his existence appears to be incontrovertible. Would it not be more honest if such a would-be critic as the writer referred to said, ‘I do not choose to believe in the existence of Bleheris, because it runs counter to my pre-conceived theory of the evolution of the literature’? We should then know where we are. Such a parallel as that cited above has no value for those familiar with the literature but may easily mislead the general reader. I would also draw attention to the fact noted in the text–the extreme improbability of Wauchier, a continental writer, inventing an insular and Welsh source. This is a point critics carefully evade. [10] Cf. Bledhericus de Cornouailles, note contributed by M. Ferd. Lot, to Romania, Vol. XXVIII. p. 336. M. Lot remarks that he has not met with the name in Armorica; it thus appears to be insular. [11] Cf. Revue Celtique, 1911, A note on the identification of Bleheris. [12] Ed. Rhys-Evans, Vol. II. p. 297; cf. also Revue Celtique. [13] In the course of 1915-16 I received letters from Mr Rogers Rees, resident at Stepaside, Pembrokeshire, who informed me that he held definite proof of the connection of Bledri with both Grail and Perceval legends. The locality had been part of Bledri’s estate, and the house in which he lived was built on the site of what had been Bledri’s castle. Mr Rogers Rees maintained the existence of a living tradition connecting Bledri with the legends in question. At his request I sent him the list of the names of the brothers of Alain li Gros, as given in the 1516 edition of the Perlesvaus, a copy of which is in the Bibliothèque Nationale, and received in return a letter stating that the list must have been compiled by one familiar with the district. Unfortunately, for a year, from the autumn of 1916, I was debarred from work, and when, on resuming my studies, I wrote to my correspondent asking for the promised evidence I obtained no answer to my repeated appeal. On communicating with Mr Owen I found he had had precisely the same experience, and, for his part, was extremely sceptical as to there being any genuine foundation for our correspondent’s assertions. While it is thus impossible to use the statements in question as elements in my argument, I think it right in the interests of scholarship to place them on record; they may afford a clue which some Welsh scholar may be able to follow up to a more satisfactory conclusion.
[14] Had Wauchier really desired to invent an authority, in view of his date, and connection with the house of Flanders, he had a famous name at hand–that of Chrétien de Troyes. [15] Cf. Legend of Sir Perceval, Vol. II. p. 307 and note. I have recently received Dr Brugger’s review of Mr R. H. Griffith’s study of the English poem, and am glad to see that the critic accepts the independence of this version. If scholars can see their way to accept as faits acquis the mutual independence of the Grail, and Perceval themes, we shall, at last, have a solid basis for future criticism. [16] Cf. my Notes, Romania, Vol. XLIII. pp. 403 et seq.