It is easy to understand why the hero ceased to be considered Perceval's son--the opening lines of the poem describe the situation perfectly; but I do not think it has been sufficiently realised that precisely the same causes which would operate to the suppression of this relationship would equally operate to the suppression of that of the _Parzival_. Perceval, the virgin winner of the Grail, could not have a _liaison_ with a Moorish princess, but neither could Perceval's father, the direct descendant of Joseph of Arimathea, and hereditary holder of the Grail. The _Early History_ of that talisman, as related by Robert de Borron, once generally accepted, the relationship of _brother_ was as impossible as that of _son_. It seems clear that if a genuine tradition of a Moor as near kinsman to Perceval really existed--and I see no reason to doubt that it did--it must have belonged to the Perceval story prior to the development of the Grail tradition, _e.g._, to such a stage as that hinted at by the chess-board adventure of the "Didot" _Perceval_ and Gautier's poem, when the hero was as ready to take advantage of his _bonnes fortunes_ as other heroes of popular folk tales. Further, judging from these stories it would seem probable that the requisite modification began with the earlier generation, _i.e._, Perceval himself still retaining traces of his secular and folk-tale origin, while his father and mother have already been brought under the influence of the ecclesiasticised Grail tradition. That this would be the case appears only probable when we recall the vague and conflicting traditions as to the hero's parentage; it was Perceval himself, and not his father or his mother, who was the important factor in the tale; hence the change in his character was a matter of gradual evolution. Thus I am of opinion that the Moor as Perceval's brother is likely to be an earlier conception than the Moor as Perceval's son. It is, I think, noticeable that the romance containing this feature, the _Parzival_, also, contrary to the _Early History_ versions, connects him with the Grail through his mother, instead of through his father. The _Morien_ is for me a welcome piece of evidence in support of the theory that sees in the poem of Wolfram von Eschenbach the survival of a genuine variant of the _Perceval_ story, differing in important particulars from that preserved by Chrétien de Troyes, and based upon a French original, now, unfortunately, lost.