A Review of Quest of the Holy Grail Part II

In Chapter Two of the Old French epic adventure: The Lancelot-Grail, Galahad takes refuge at a monastery of the White Monks. There he is given a white shield bearing a red cross. A mysterious knight appears in the area and calls for a local squire, by the name of Melias, to find Galahad. Melias asks for the knight's name, though he refuses to give it. Galahad returns and is told by the mysterious knight of the story of Joseph of Arimathea. The knight continues by saying the cross bears a red cross because Joseph of Arimathea's nose bled on it years ago. Last, the knight also tells Galahad that only a holy man may carry the shield before he vanishes from Galahad's sight.

According to legend, Saint Joseph of Arimathea was the one that held the cup of Christ which contained Christ's Blood. This is scene in the picture above. 

 Meanwhile, Melias begs for Galahad to knight him. Galahad knights the squire at the monastery, whom has agreed to join him on the quest for the grail. As this all happens, the monks tell Galahad that a strange voice arises from one of the tombs at the abbey's cemetery. One of the monks speak of a marvel in the particular strange tomb.

 Galahad approaches the tomb with the company as the strange voice of the tomb tells him to go away, but the knight proceeds towards it anyways. The devil comes out of the tomb but cannot hurt him, as he is protected by angels. The devil flees, and the knight finds a body in the tomb which the monks remove from the grave. Galahad asks the monks the spiritual significance of all of this. The monk then gives a long spiritual explanation, which parallels Galahad to Christ. In the allegory spoken of by the monk, the dead body signifies mankind, men are dead because of their sins, the tomb signifies the hardness of heart of the Jews, the body of the tomb represents the Jews's great sins and deaths. The monk further adds that the voice of the tomb is representing of the Jews when they did cry to Pontius Pilate in Matthew 27: 25 ''His blood shall be on us and our children!''  The monk tells Galahad last that the devil did flee the company of so noble a knight as Galahad as he is without the any sin, and this made the devil fearful.

 Galahad and Melias then set out together but come to a crossroads that sends them different ways. The sign at the crossroads gave warnings of the roads that each knight go to. Galahad takes the right road, and Melias the left.  So ends the second chapter of Quest for the Grail.

 For my personal thoughts, the second chapter really got me interested in this story. I love monks and allegory, and there was a lot of that here! Anyone that knows me, also knows that I love knighthood, and there is a lot of that here too. Purity is shown again and again in Galahad's character, and moral and spiritual lessons are gained chapter by chapter. The creepiness of the tomb particularly interested me also, as did the layer and layer of Spiritual significance behind the story. One cannot understand Medieval Literature without understanding the Holy Scriptures as there is plenty of reference and themes taken from Holy Writ in Medieval Texts and stories. That is a truth I am learning more and more! This book is now among my favorites of Medieval Literature, and one I will reread in the future.

 Fiction has it's own portrayal of knighthood and Medieval Legend however. Most Americans today get their knowledge of history from either liberal textbooks, or Hollywood. A great ignorance of the past, especially of the Medieval era, has caused many to falsely denigrate upon the Middle Ages the ''Dark Ages.'' Some historians have come to clarify common misunderstandings of the Medieval World to modern ears, though the Medievalist movement has still a long way to go.
 Sometimes Hollywood rarely gets history right, and most of the time it doesn't. When it does, it seems to not usually be a box office hit though.

 I mentioned in a previous post that I recently watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I watched this film on ClearPlay, which took out some of the film's crude humor thankfully. I enjoyed this film, and found it to be more historically accurate than Robin Hood: Men in Tights, though I probably found the latter more entertaining. The historical accuracy of Monty Python and the Holy Grail probably had some to do with the fact that one of it's directors: Terry Jones, is a Medieval historian. The film has some good humor and definitely very Medieval like scenes including the film's depiction of Peasants working in the fields in one scene, then later, the peasants trying to kill a witch in another.   

 The 1975 film: Monty Python and the Holy Grail certainly touches aspects of King Arthur and his Knights that no other Arthurian films that I have seen touched on. Albeit, Camelot, with Richard Harris, is a better film about the knights of the round table in my view. The Sword in the Stone is another great film about King Arthur that comes to mind.

To me, the best part of the film was the fight between King Arthur and the Black Knight. I found this scene both funny and entertaining. The fact that the Black Knight's arms are cut off by Arthur during the battle, and he treats it just as a scratch, is enough to give me a good laugh. 

    All that said, I found the film did not portray the pure innocence of Galahad as he had had in the original story. Rather than a pure and wise knight that flees the lust of women, Galahad is more of a vulnerable and naive knight that is caught off guard by the pursuit of Medieval maidens. I don't think the film horribly garnished Galahad's character, though I felt it did not give him his proper due. Some people may respond that the film is a comedy, but even in comedies pure and holy characters should not be treated flippantly. 
 Another disappointing issue I had with the movie, was that the film ends with a modern car interpreting the coming battle. The grail is never found, and Galahad and Lancelot disappear before the film's ending, even though Galahad was the one that found the grail in the stories.

                                                       



    Don't get me wrong, I love Comedy. Arsenic and Old Lace is one of my favorite movies. But to me, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a good film, though one that I think that is quite a bit overrated. I won't even get into the fact that I felt the film was somewhat irreverent in the way it portrays God glaring out of the Sun in the sky when he tells Arthur and his knight to find the grail. There are certainly better Medieval movies I can think of than this, and I was dissapointed that this comedy film did not follow the actual story of The Lancelot-Grail account. Anyhow, if you love the Middle Ages, you may want to see the film, though I would recommend the original story much more.

 ''For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.'' -Matthew 26: 28