The Complete Story of the Grail: Chrétien de Troyes’ Perceval and Its Continuations by Chrétien de Troyes (review)

The Quest for the Holy Grail is an iconic story in Western culture. The first writer to set it down in literature was Chrétien de Troyes, the twelfth-century French trouvère poet associated with the courts of Marie of Champagne and Philip of Flanders. It is believed to be the latter patron who commissioned the creation of Chrétien’s last great work, Perceval, the tale of the Grail knight. Author of several Arthurian works including Yvain, The Knight of the Lion and Cligés, Chrétien is considered the preeminent poet of chivalric culture. His Grail manuscript breaks off, and it is commonly thought that its unfinished state can be attributed to his death. What remains is of such rare quality that it became a medieval obsession, with continuations by no fewer than four subsequent poets and prequels by two additional writers. BBC Producer and former head of drama at Marlborough College Nigel Bryant has translated and gathered all of the versions into one volume, The Complete Story of the Grail, published by Boydell & Brewer imprint D. S. Brewer and edited by noted Arthurian authority Norris J. Lacy, professor emeritus of Pennsylvania State University. Bryant himself is the translator of numerous books including Perlesvaus and Perceforest and the author of more including a forthcoming biography of William Marshal. This fine edition of the Grail story surrenders many treasures to a close read. Bryant capsulizes the seminal Chrétien version and the continuations in the introductory section, providing a helpful guide through the nearly six hundred pages that follow.

The book begins with a presentation of the facts. Perceval was likely written in the 1180s not long before Philip of Flanders died in the Third Crusade. The continuations appear over the following years, with the last possibly written as late as the 1230s. Perceval survives in fifteen manuscripts, some of which contain only the original and others which also incorporate one or more of the continuations in various redactions. Bryant addresses some scholarly appraisal of the continuations as being of lesser consequence than other medieval works by utilizing the example of modern entertainment franchises as a comparison. One of the objections to the continuations has been their divergence from Chrétien’s original and their lack of continuity. Bryant comments that modern viewers do not necessarily expect perfect continuity in film serials, nor did the medieval audience demand it in their romances. His roots as a dramatist are on display as he stresses that the works were clearly intended to be read aloud. Created in an era of limited literacy, he calls them “scripts for performance” and notes their merits as such. Bearing that in mind, it’s easy to see that Chrétien at least, a master storyteller, used words to paint a visual picture of astounding beauty for his audience. He employed color as the primary means to invoke the imagination: the green forest, the Red Knight, and the blood drops on the white snow that transport Perceval into a transcendent state recalling the feminine fairness of his love Blanchefleur. Other tools he deftly wielded to activate the capacity of visualization are symbols that even today speak to the unconscious: the Grail, the lance, the quiet of the glade and the panoply of the tournament. Perceval himself is an archetype, the Holy Fool who personifies innocence of the profane. He is also a genius of chivalry, descended from a line of notable knights, and such a quick study once introduced to the knightly concept that he seems like a superhero. It’s almost as if something encoded in his DNA is activated by the energies of the other men, and he bursts into bloom by subtle instinct. His interactions with others reveal both his initial raw edges and his ability to learn. The laughing girl and the fool at court come to...