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On the Trail of the Holy Grail
Scholars have long known that the Grail is essentially legendary, a mystic symbol forever sought by those seeking Enlightenment, a quest in which the search is as important as the result. Time and again it has been said that the Grail is a construct of mystical Christian ideas and motifs from the ancient oral tradition of the Celtic-speaking peoples of Britain. There is much to commend this view, but now, drawing on decades of research in his native Scotland, in a major new contribution to the Grail legend, the field historian and folklorist Stuart McHardy traces the origin of the idea of fertility and regeneration back beyond the time of the Celtic warrior tribes of Britain to a truly ancient, physical source. This is a physical source as dynamic and awesome today as it was in prehistory when humans first encountered it and began to weave the myths that grew into the Legend of the Holy Grail.
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2006
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About the author
Stuart McHardy
46 books19 followersStuart McHardy is a Scottish writer, broadcaster and storyteller.
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March 22, 2011
Another of this author's Arthurian titles (his 'The Quest for Arthur' was published by Luath Press in 2001) takes him on a quest from the pages of medieval writers to places in the Scottish landscape, and from the early medieval period back into the mists of time. Along the way he encounters folklore and legend, Dark Age warriors and Goddess worship, Pictish symbol stones and natural wonders.
His solution to the interpretation of the Grail is that its origins lie in the Corryvreckan, the whirlpool that lies off the island of Jura just off the West of Scotland: this is a hypothesis that was first advanced by Hugh McArthur and explored by Eileen Buchanan. This is an attractive theory, with much to commend it, but, as McHardy himself admits, the idea of the Grail 'first appeared in the closing years of the 12th century,' and there is therefore a rather large chronological gap between Chrétien's first description of the object and McHardy's speculative celebration of a natural wonder in the prehistoric period.
So whether the Corryvreckan is 'a good candidate for the deepest ideas behind the concept of the Holy Grail as it has developed over the centuries [...] and millennia' really depends how far back you can push the putative links between an early medieval Welsh poem, a French romance, miscellaneous folklore of unknown antiquity and modern reconstructions of ancient pagan beliefs. Myself, I don't give this claim to have finally identified the origins of the grail any credence.
His solution to the interpretation of the Grail is that its origins lie in the Corryvreckan, the whirlpool that lies off the island of Jura just off the West of Scotland: this is a hypothesis that was first advanced by Hugh McArthur and explored by Eileen Buchanan. This is an attractive theory, with much to commend it, but, as McHardy himself admits, the idea of the Grail 'first appeared in the closing years of the 12th century,' and there is therefore a rather large chronological gap between Chrétien's first description of the object and McHardy's speculative celebration of a natural wonder in the prehistoric period.
So whether the Corryvreckan is 'a good candidate for the deepest ideas behind the concept of the Holy Grail as it has developed over the centuries [...] and millennia' really depends how far back you can push the putative links between an early medieval Welsh poem, a French romance, miscellaneous folklore of unknown antiquity and modern reconstructions of ancient pagan beliefs. Myself, I don't give this claim to have finally identified the origins of the grail any credence.
Displaying 1 of 1 review