Grails R Us

[Steven Maas (CUTR)]

On Tue, 4 Mar 1997 Don Larsson wrote:
> In answer to John's question, I believe I have heard the idea of the Grail
> migrating to (what is now) southern France.  That all gets blended into
> Arthurian legend via the story of Lancelot (from Chretian de Troyes?).
> 
> I'm no authority on Grail myth, but there seem to be enough variants of
> the story to fit almost any need.  (A not insignificant one is whether the
> Grail is really the Silver Chalice of the Last Supper or something else--
> a model for the alchemists' philospher's stone and so on.)

If I remember correctly, the aforementioned _Holy Blood, Holy Grail_
hypothesizes that the Grail symbolized the _human_ vessel containing
Christ's blood--that is, his descendants.  According to the book, these
were the Merovingians, who were overthrown by the Carolinginans of
Charlemagne fame.  One Merovingian survived the coup and carried on,
culminating in (as was mentioned) a certain "St.  Clair." : ) 

	Steve Maas