From Ritual to RomanceWeston, Jessie L. (Jessie Laidlay)
Religion
From Ritual to Romance
Weston, Jessie L. (Jessie Laidlay)
Grail -- Legends -- History and criticism; Romances -- History and criticism
Now this can in no sense be considered as a Cup, or Vase, nor is it the
true parallel to a Dish. The connection with the Grail is to be found
solely and exclusively in the food-providing properties ascribed to
both. But even here the position is radically different; the impression
we derive from the Irish text and its analogous parallels is that of
size (it is also called a ‘tub’), and inexhaustible content, it is a
cauldron of plenty.[7] Now, neither of these qualities can be
postulated of the Grail; whatever its form, Cup or Dish, it can easily
be borne (in uplifted hands, _entre ses mains hautement porte_) by a
maiden, which certainly could not be postulated of a cauldron! Nor is
there any proof that the Vessel itself contained the food with which
the folk of the Grail castle were regaled; the texts rather point to
the conclusion that the appearance of the Grail synchronized with a
mysterious supply of food of a choice and varied character. There is
never any hint that the folk feed _from the Grail;_ the only suggestion
of such feeding is in the ‘Oiste,’ by which the father of the Fisher
King (or the King himself) is nourished.
In certain texts the separation of the two is clearly brought out; in
_Joseph of Arimathea_, for instance, the Fish caught by Brons is to be
placed at one end of the table, the Grail at the other. In Gawain’s
adventure at the Grail castle, in the prose _Lancelot_, as the Grail is
carried through the hall “forthwith were the tables replenished with
the choicest meats in the world,” but the table before Gawain remains
void and bare.[8] I submit that while the Grail is in certain phases a
food-supplying talisman it is not one of the same character as the
cauldrons of plenty; also while the food supply of these latter has the
marked characteristic of _quantity_, that of the Grail is remarkable
rather for _quality_, its choice character is always insisted upon.
The perusal of Professor Brown’s subsequent study, _Notes on Celtic
Cauldrons of Plenty and The Land-Beneath-the-Waves_, has confirmed me
in my view that these special objects belong to another line of
tradition altogether; that which deals with an inexhaustible submarine
source of life, examples of which will be found in the ‘Sampo’ of the
Finnish _Kalewala_, and the ever-grinding mills of popular
folk-tale.[9] The fundamental idea here seems to be that of the origin
of all Life from Water, a very ancient idea, but one which, though akin
to the Grail tradition, is yet quite distinct therefrom. The study of
this special theme would, I believe, produce valuable results.[10]
On the whole, I am of the opinion that the treasures of the Tuatha de
Danann and the symbols of the Grail castle go back to a common
original, but that they have developed on different lines; in the
process of this development one ‘Life’ symbol has been exchanged for
another.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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