3

ISLANDS OF THE GRAIL

Any who carefully studied its detail would never be puzzled by it if truly loved by God. Here was the basis of faith; the beginnings of religion … and the way we must act to enter paradise.

…

Sone de Nansay

Even the most superficial reading of the Sone text demonstrates a number of elements within the story that are unique to the Grail myth. Some are familiar—such as the wounding of the king, the existence of a wasteland, and the story of Joseph of Arimathea. These can be found (amongst others) in the Conte del Graal of Chrétien de Troyes, the Joseph of Robert de Boron, and the anonymous Quest del Saint Graal and Perlesvaus. But the combination of these elements with some highly original additions makes this an extremely important and unjustly neglected work. As we shall see, the description of the Grail castle and the mysterious Square Island bring an entirely new dimension to the story, which gives a unique insight into the Grail mysteries.

We should be aware from the start that Sone is not truly an “Arthurian” romance. None of the traditional figures are in it (with the exception of two minor characters, whose roles we shall examine below) or are even mentioned; there are no references to Arthur’s court or the Round Table fellowship. However, the links to the Grail cycle and through these to the Matter of Britain74 are still present.

Our commentary follows the same division of the text as those in chapter 2, making it convenient to look back and refresh your memory regarding the individual sections of the poem. We have not commented on those parts that are not related to the central theme of this book; for this we refer the reader to the work of Claude Lachet, the premier scholar of the work, listed in the bibliography at the end of this book.

The Prologue

From the start we have a sense of a different approach to the subject to that normally expected in a medieval romance. To begin with, the prologue is unusual in that it begins in the first person in the voice of a woman, who is directing the author of the text to write an account of her own ancestor, Sone. This gives a level of veracity to the text, though the “historical” aspects of the story are very clearly fictional. The name of the woman—Fane of Beyrouth, the chatelaine of Cyprus—suggests factors to which we shall return later. We also learn that the author is a clerk of the Lady of Beyrouth, named Branque, who is 105 years old and learned in a variety of skills, including logic, medicine, canon law, astronomy, and geometry. Nothing further is known of him, though it is assumed that he is an invention of the anonymous author, but Branque may well be intended to recall another mysterious source of Grail lore: Flegetanis, the Arabic scribe mentioned in the Parzifal of Wolfram von Eschenbach as being “learned in star lore” as well as many other things. He, according to Wolfram, passed on the mysteries of the Grail to a troubadour named Kyot, who is in turn the source of Wolfram’s own poem.

Such ancient masters are not unusual in medieval works. The authors often liked to give their stories veracity and weight by claiming an older and more mysterious source. Thus Geoffrey of Monmouth, who penned one of the first properly Arthurian works in his Historia Regum Britanniae, published in 1136, claimed that he had been lent a “certain ancient book in the British tongue ” by his friend Walter the Archdeacon of Oxford. The fact that no such book has yet been discovered does not, of course, mean that it did not exist, but Geoffrey’s use of it, as with Wolfram’s invoking of Flegetanis and Kyot and the Sone author’s Branque lend a suitably “ancient” feel to their stories.

Though the introduction to the poem is short, it contains sufficient enigmatic information to cause Moritz Goldschmidt, the first academic to attempt its publication back in 1899, to include the prologue at the end rather than the beginning of the text.

The prologue is presented in two parts, beginning with an overall tour through Sone’s family history, chronicling both his antecedents and successors, all set within an elaborate pseudo-
historical time frame. The shorter part purports to be written by an aristocratic lady who describes herself as the Lady of Beirut and chatelaine of Cyprus—an unlikely sounding combination; both locations still exist but remain far apart, one as a coastal town in Lebanon, the other as an island tucked in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean.

However, any history of the First and Third Crusades that claims to cover 140 years, as the prologue seems to do, will feature them both. The town of Beirut was taken by the crusaders on May 13, 1110, in a mopping-up operation a decade after the fall of Jerusalem, only to be lost back to the Saracens on August 6, 1187, after the disastrous Battle of Hattin sparked the Third Crusade. (Of the Second Crusade, the less said the better, since it fizzled out following a domestic row between Eleanor of Aquitaine and her husband in 1148.)

During the period of almost eighty years of Crusader occupation, there was time enough for the predominantly French ruling classes to award themselves various titles, which they retained as titular honorifics even after being physically deprived of them. Hence, perhaps, the lady’s claim to be “la dame de Beyrouth” more than a hundred years later.

As one of his first acts during the Third Crusade, Richard Coeur de Lion captured Cyprus, even though it belonged to the Byzantine Empire, and in 1192 he sold it to Guy of Lusignan. After Guy’s death, his brother Aimery swore fealty to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in exchange for being regarded as a king. And when, by force of circumstance, minor relatives became heirs to the throne, the powerful Ibelin family was first in line to provide regents, and it so happened that they, like Fane, could also claim titular connections to Beirut.

There was also an otherworldly element in that Guy’s family, the Lusignans, could boast descent from the faery Melusine, which may have encouraged Fane to claim relationship with the legendary Knight of the Swan, along with her eponymous hero Sone de Nansay and the initial rulers of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, Godefroy and Baudouin de Bouillon.75 There could be some doubt about this, but at least she produced an intriguing family tree in an attempt to prove it.

Figure 1 • Sone de Nansay’s Family Tree

One of the most interesting aspects of the prologue is the name of the lady herself. Fane can be translated as “temple” or “shrine,” from the Latin fanum, often found in a Late Middle English context. Although not in the Hebrew Bible, Baruch is found in the Septuagint and the Vulgate Bible, as well as the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible, and also in the version of the Old Testament arranged by the Hellenistic Jewish scholar Theodotion, who compiled a Greek version of the texts around AD 150. It is also a title—according to both the Parzifal of Wolfram von Eschenbach and The Later Titurel, Parsifal’s father, Gamuret, is himself described as having served the “Baruch of Bagdad.” However, according to Arabic scholar Paul Kunitzch, the word is not Arabic but Hebrew, baruk meaning “blessed.” This means that Gamuret served “the blessed one’.” With this in mind, it seems more than possible that the author of Sone was making a punning reference to the theme of the sacred temple within his work. Fane of Baruch may well be translated simply as “Temple of the Blessed One.”

The presence of these exotic references, along with others to be discussed later, show the level of learning and awareness of other cultures possessed by the anonymous author (or his alter ego Branque). Beyrouth is almost certainly the modern Beirut in present-day Lebanon. The fact that Fane names herself chatelaine of Cyprus is also not without significance. The ancient culture of this island kingdom, a striking blend of Christian and Muslim, again testifies to a strand of multiculturalism that extends throughout Sone. As we saw in chapter 1, there are aspects of the Grail story as told by Chrétien that seem to have been borrowed from Hebrew traditions, while in Sone we learn that two of the candles which illumine the Grail once burned before the tomb of Mohammed in Medina.

The remainder of the prologue deals with Sone’s family and his earliest experiences. He is, we learn, the grandson of Count Anselm of Brabant, who marries Aèlis, daughter of Ernoul, Count of Flanders, by whom he had two sons, Renaut and Henri. The latter marries Ydoine, the daughter of a German lord of Mélone, and Sone is the younger of their two sons. The elder, also named Henri, is a dwarf—despite, we are told, both parents being of normal height, while Ydoine is unusually tall. We learn that Sone himself received an excellent education, having four tutors—something that at once marks him out as coming from a very rich and powerful family. He learned chess, mathematics, geometry, fencing, and everything about dogs and birds, presumably as part of the noble pursuit of hunting. He also had a beautiful singing voice and at age twelve sang better than most.

The presence of the name Ernoul, designated Count of Flanders, Sone’s maternal grandfather, is of particular interest. Under an alternate spelling of this name—Arnoul—we saw in the Chronicle of Lambert d’Ardres how another man with this name was responsible for the creation of a Grail Temple in the heart of France in the twelfth century. The similarity may be no more than coincidental, but it is equally possible that the author of Sone knew of Arnoul’s copy of the Solomonic Holy of Holies.

Meanwhile, at the tender age of thirteen—when to the medieval world he would have been considered a man—Sone visits the castle of Doncheri, home to the Baron Eudes. Here he meets and falls head over heels in love with Yde, the sister of Eudes, becoming so enamored of her that he is unable to eat or sleep. Unfortunately, the lady shows no interest—or at least shows a kind of high-handed response, which would, in other texts, have earned her the title Orgellous, or “haughty.” Returning home, Sone’s sadness is noticed by his brother, who enquires after the reason. Not for the last time Sone refuses to speak of the matter but instead declares his intention of distracting himself by seeking service with someone skilled in arms. He sets out despite all his family’s efforts to dissuade him, recalling the simple Perceval, who leaves home to seek service at Arthur’s court in Chrétien de Troyes’s Conte del Graal. The prologue ends with a flourish, with Branque declaring that he has brought these matters up here “because the story does not say any more about it.” He then lists a number of Sone’s descendants, including kings of Sicily and Norway, a king of Jerusalem, and a pope of Rome.

2: Sone’s Early Adventures in Chivalry and Love

Sone’s search for a suitable tutor in arms leads him to the court of the Count Vandémont-en-Saintois, famed for his devotion to chivalry. Once the count learns the young man’s excellent pedigree, he is happy to welcome him into his household—in fact, so impressed is he that he insists Sone accompany him everywhere, including tournaments. At one of these Sone rescues the count from a melee, this making himself even more popular, especially with count’s daughter Luciane, who becomes the second of Sone’s many romantic conquests. But Sone is still thinking only of Yde and begs leave to go and visit his friends.

Back at Doncheri, Sone finds Yde even more irresistible. He declares his love to her in front of a room full of people but is greeted so scornfully that Sone leaves again, returning to the count’s home at Saintois.

Naturally, Luciane is desperately happy to see him, and seeing which way the wind blows, the count and countess offer him the hand of their daughter in marriage. But all Sone can think of is Yde, who meanwhile is considering her recent actions as perhaps too harsh. Wavering between humility and pride, she decides to keep silent, though her thoughts remain with Sone and she wishes him well.

Soon after this a tournament is to be held at Saintois, to which each baron sends a squire to test his skills. At his master’s bidding, Sone attends this, bringing Luciane and her women with him, each wearing a red dress. At the same time he secretly sends a message to Yde, begging her to attend.

The tournament is a splendid affair, with many knights and nobles attending. In the midst of a field next to the lists is a tent containing a chair for the lady who will be crowned as queen of the tournament according to the prowess of her champion. Needless to say, Sone is impressively successful in the jousts, and Luciane is duly crowned as queen of the games and seated in the tent in her red gown. This is duly noted by Yde’s servants, who attended the jousts in order to observe Sone’s prowess and report back to their mistress.

This episode is reminiscent of Chrétien’s story of Erec and Enide,76 where the eponymous hero takes part in a contest against a faery knight named Mabonagrain. There, too, is a woman in a red tent, seated upon a golden chair, surrounded by a garden full of apple trees and a fence decorated with the heads of fallen champions. This whole episode is known as the Joy of the Court, and aspects of it reoccur later in Sone during the visit to the Square Island.

Most of the story of Erec and Enide is taken up with an account of the relationship problem between the eponymous hero and heroine. But the last part of the story takes a different turn. In the version found in the Welsh collection of myths known as the Mabinogion,77 where the hero is called Geraint and his wife Enid, they come to a place called Raven Castle, ruled over by Earl Owain. Everyone on the road warns Geraint not to go there, for all who did so must play a perilous enchanted game if they accept hospitality from Owain, whose mother’s kin were of otherworldly stock. This only made Geraint spur forward more eagerly, while Enid trailed patiently behind. Owain greeted them warmly. After supper, he saw how Geraint was pale and withdrawn. “Say but the word and you shall not have to enter the enchanted games,” he offered. But Geraint responded firmly: “Show me what I have to do.”

Owain showed him a high hedge with stakes about it. On each of the stakes was a man’s head. Beyond the hedge all was blanketed in thick mist, beyond which lay a fair orchard where fruit was always available, even in winter. There also was set a red tent next to an apple tree, from which hung a horn. Geraint went through the mist and inside the tent found a woman sitting in a golden chair with a vacant seat beside her. She warned Geraint against sitting in it because its owner never permitted this. However, he sat down and at once a well-armoured knight appeared and challenged him. They fought, and Geraint overcame his adversary. As he was about to behead him, the knight begged for mercy, promising to do Geraint’s will. “I wish these games to cease for all time and for the mist to be dispersed!” cried Geraint. The woman of the tent bade him blow the horn, and when he had done so, she told Geraint that he must “announce the Joy of the Court to the world. Seek your lady’s forgiveness and be as true to her as you have been strong in your deeds.” And this Geraint did.

The faery knight had once been a mortal champion of great strength called Mabonagrain. He had served in the world of Faery for twenty years, and now the blowing of the horn caused him to regain his mortality. He had entered the enchanted gardens as a young man; now he was past his prime. Geraint accordingly took him into his service and made him steward of his lands.

This story appears in a slightly different form in other romances of the period, including an anonymous prelude to Chrétien’s Grail romance known as The Elucidation.78 The Joy of the Court probably derives from a confusion (or a deliberate pun) to the French words for horn (cor), body (corps), and court, so that it could be translated as “joy of the horn,” “joy of the body,” or “joy of the court.” The woman in the garden has been shown to represent an aspect of Sovereignty,79 a goddess who holds the burden of the land in her remit. This story falls largely outside the scope of the present book, but its presence here suggests that not only was the author of Sone familiar with Chrétien’s work (there are other references, as we shall see), but that he was pointing ahead to the importance of Sone’s family as guardians of sacred relics, which included the Grail, and all of which are linked to the power of the land. The fact that in the garden fruit grows at all times of the year shows that it is a type of earthly paradise, common to most descriptions of the setting for the temple of the Grail.

Back at Vandémont-en-Saintois, Sone receives news that his brother is ill and heads back to Nansay. Henri is soon better and again tries to keep Sone from leaving, this time by offering him lands and riches. But nothing will deter the young man, who leaves for Doncheri as soon as possible. There he once more declares his love for Yde, who has of course heard of his success in the tournament. But she still rejects him, telling him that he should declare his love for the one who was crowned in the tent—in other words, Luciane. Perhaps here again we may see the author hinting at Sone’s relationship with Sovereignty, as his future life will attest.

Sone returns to Nansay, where he finds a maiden reading a lay composed for him by Luciane. Sone leaves again immediately, saddling his good horse Moriel and heading for England.

3: Sone’s Journey to England and Scotland

Sone arrives in England but passes through to Scotland. There he is well received by the queen because of his lineage and prowess in the recent tournament, as witnessed by one of the Scottish knights. However, the rest of the court behaves boorishly, and Sone determines to leave again. He asks if there are any wars being fought at the time, and the queen tells him that one is brewing between the kings of Ireland, Scotland, and Norway, in which her husband will support Ireland. She asks Sone to remain until the king returns, but he is offended by the uncouth courtiers and departs.

The section describes Sone acting as a sudoyer—a paid mercenary—a common enough occupation for younger sons of families at a time when eldest sons generally inherited all. It also happens to be the occupation that Joseph of Arimathea held under Pontius Pilate, according to the romance—one of a number of parallels underlined by the author between Sone and Joseph.

4: Sone’s Arrival in Norway and
His Service to the King

Sone now sets out for Norway. The king of that land, whose name is Alain, hears reports of his coming and goes forth to meet him. Liking what he sees, he invites Sone to the court to join in a great banquet, given as part of the preparations for war with Scotland and Ireland. The description of the hall and the actions of the king’s daughter Odée, who is to become Sone’s greatest love and his future wife, offer some intriguing possibilities to our understanding of the poem. The fact that the King of Norway is called Alain is interesting, as this is also the name of one of the most prominent Grail kings. Sometimes called Alain le Gros, he is listed amongst the ancestors of the Grail knight Perceval and as a descendent of Joseph of Arimathea.

To begin with, Sone is somewhat confused by the behaviour of the court, who are noisy and boastful. However, it has been pointed out that this scene, in which table manners of the Norwegians causes Sone some discomfort, could be a more or less faithful image of a heitstrenging—a sumptuous feast given by the king on the eve of a battle in the course of which the warriors in arms pronounce solemn vows and boasts.80

The scene in which the king’s daughter offers a cup to certain knights, including Sone, and afterwards brings forth swords and spears, which she hands out to the same men, seems to prelude the later revelations of the Grail. It is also reminiscent of a scene of Geoffrey in Monmouth’s Historia Regum Brittaniae (“History of the Kings of Britain”) who was the first author to introduce the story of Arthur into the literature of the Middle Ages. In this scene Rowena, the daughter of the Saxon leader Hengist, offers a cup to the British King Vortigern. It is the beginning of a planned seduction that ends with Vortigern marrying Rowena and thus ensuring a claim to the British throne by the Saxons. In Sone the gesture seems to echo the Grail feast (though no one there is offered a drink from the sacred vessel save for the Wounded King) and indicate that in due course Sone will himself marry into the Norwegian royal family and become a guardian of the Grail.

5: War and Single Combat

Both Scotland and Ireland are preparing for war, while in Norway castles and cities are provisioned. The Scots and Irish arrive at the harbour of St. Joseph with 60,000 poorly equipped and half-naked men, and Sone, together with the king’s sons, Houdiant and Thomas, leads a force against the invaders. They surprise the invading army and slaughter 10,000 of the Irish, taking many more prisoners; but in the maelstrom both of King Alain’s sons are killed.

Having lost so many of his allies, the King of Scotland proposes a single combat to decide the outcome of the war, thus avoiding further deaths. Mourning his dead sons, King Alain accepts, and the date is set for twenty days hence. The Scots choose Aligos, an eleven-foot giant, to be their champion. Sone immediately volunteers and is accepted as champion of Norway.

6: The Visit to the Grail Castle

We now come to the heart of the poem, in which much will be revealed concerning both the Grail and the place where it is kept. There are references both to more familiar strands within the Grail romances and to some hitherto unknown aspects that show the author of Sone taking the Grail story into different waters.

The description of the Grail castle (as it very clearly is here) is both similar and different to that of Chrétien’s account of the visit by Perceval. It also very clearly makes reference to the First Temple of Solomon, which, as we saw in chapter 1, is a major source for the depiction of all subsequent Grail Temples. It is also, as noted previously, a point at which the author (or perhaps the clerk Branque) steps to the fore, apparently describing what he sees:

Never had anything more beautiful been seen. It stood in the open sea at a distance where no machine could hurl anything to harm its crenelated walls that rose up out of the living rock. On its outer wall were four towers that looked the finest in the world, and in the centre, midway between them, a greater one surpassing the others. This contained the palace; surely nothing more sumptuous had ever been built.

In every direction it was a hundred feet wide because it was perfectly circular. At the centre of the central tower was a fireplace that rested on four gilded pillars that supported a pure copper pipe, four feet high, decorated with gold coloured mosaics that crossed the reception hall. I am sure no more wondrous place had ever been built.

The description has a number of highly original details not found in any other Grail romance and adding significantly to our understanding of the building created to house this most sacred relic.

It is made clear that the journey to the island is to help prepare Sone for his coming battle with the giant Aligos, but the way there is described as difficult and the king’s party has to journey though mountains and valleys for two days until they reach the coast. There they encounter a road that leads into the sea and is described as having been built “at some time in the past.” Many knights are said to have come to grief in searching for it, but the king knows the way and they arrive at a place where “two rocks formed a gateway that lead into the sea.” Here the king sounds a horn and a small boat approaches, manned by two weeping monks, neither of whom seem at all pleased to see their visitors. The king tells them they will be happy when they see who has come, and when they recognize him, they are “overjoyed.”

This suggests that one of the reasons for the sorrow of the monks is the absence of the king. Although there are other reasons, as we shall see, and despite the fact that there is an abbot ruling over them, ultimately the king is the guardian of the sacred relic they keep watch over, so that his absence can be seen as a kind of abandonment. This is interesting in itself as it has been noted before that Arthur, who rules over the kingdom in which the Grail appears in later romances, knows nothing of the Grail and sends his knights in search of it rather than going himself. For this reason he has been named a roi fainéant, a faint-hearted or do-nothing king, and the eventual destruction of his kingdom can be seen as being brought about by the presence of the Grail and as a cause of the Wasteland.

With increasing delight, the monks row the party across to the island, the author waxing lyrical in his description. He also makes it clear that just to visit there is itself a blessing:

Any who carefully studied its detail would never be puzzled by it if truly loved by God. Here was the basis of faith; the beginnings of religion, of the angel who was sent by God to greet the holy Virgin, of the comportment that God observed in his earthly life, of the way he died and descended into hell to lead out the faithful, and the way we must act to enter paradise. All the good things, of which you may have heard, if it pleases God, were figured there in abundance, rendered in fine gold.

This is an important point, as it tells us clearly that to enter the castle shows how we must act if we are to enter paradise. The castle, or temple, of the Grail is located, more often than not, within an earthly paradise, and there are aspects of the description here that suggest the island itself is the memory of such a place. The details of the measurements of the building and the fireplace with its four gilded pillars and the copper pipe recall descriptions of the Solomonic temple and other sites created to house the Grail.

Entering the castle, the monks are delighted to learn that the king has brought his new champion to see them. A meal is laid ready and a lengthy description of the building is given in elaborate detail. This is worth repeating here, as it is an important indicator of the way in which the home of the Grail is closely associated with other depictions of the earthy paradise.

Tables were placed in a sheltered area that overlooked the outer wall and gave onto the sea. It was bounded by a carved balustrade of white marble upon which no bird, animal, or fish could not be found represented, including ten leopards, each with a gaping mouth, whose heads turned ever to face the wind to produce agreeable harmonies. Whoever wished to contemplate the sea could find no better place.

In the other direction lay woodlands of laburnum, cypress, sycamore, alisier, almond, olive, and other beautiful trees flourishing by the sea. To see stags and deer at play, swans, peacocks, moose, birds diving into fresh or salt water, though with wings that cannot fly far. Some who have seen them say they can be as big as badgers, though not any smaller, and similar to bats in that their wings are covered in fur. They have hair, pointed features, and make such a racket that the woods resound with it.

Three streams of water meet at the castle that well up from the rock and flow into the sea, mixing the fresh water with the salt. There are so many fish gathered here as could never be destroyed by fishing. Search the whole world and you would never find so solid a castle provided with such riches.

This is very clearly a derivative of descriptions of Eden or Eden-like places—of an earthly paradise that borders on the very doors to heaven. The proliferation of creatures—most not native to Norway—along with the three rivers and the sheer golden glory of the place, all point to this. As we saw in chapter 1, there are a number of medieval romances that contain descriptions of such places, and these are a central part of the mythical kingdom ruled over by the mysterious Prester John, who becomes a guardian of the Grail in another of the romances we shall examine later. The placing of the Grail in such a setting happens with greater frequency from this point on.

Having dined, the king requests the opening of “the reliquaries” stored there. They prepare to make their confessions before going to bed, and Sone, in particular, knowing that his life may well end during his fight with the giant, is happy to do so. The relics are not described at this point and may be a reference to the more usual type held in churches throughout the West, such as the bones of saints. The sense of this passage seems to say that the relics will bear silent witness to the confessions of the king and his party.

Next morning they attend Mass, sung by the abbot himself, and when it is time for him to preach to all present, he begins by reminding them that the castle was itself founded by a saint, whose body rests in a coffin before the high altar.

He then announces that this saint is none other than Joseph of Arimathea, whose relationship to Jesus was widely accepted throughout the Middle Ages. A variety of tales dealing with Joseph’s part in the Grail myth itself, mostly revolving around his request to Pontius Pilate for the body of the crucified messiah, the subsequent capturing of Jesus’s blood during the deposition from the cross, and the preparation of the body for burial in Joseph’s own tomb. We shall examine these legends further in chapter 6; for the moment, it is sufficient to say that the links between Joseph and the sacred vessel are traceable to within a few hundred years of the events of the Crucifixion, displaying a remarkable consistency of detail.

The version relayed by the abbot differs in a number of details, however, suggesting either that these were the creation of the author of Sone or that he had access to documents no longer extant. Once again, it is worth repeating parts of the account given by the abbot so that we may examine it in more detail.

Originally from Arimathea, Joseph worked as a bailiff for seven years in the house of Pilate, but ever revered Jesus Christ, who had preached the new religion. Thus after seven years, on conclusion of his service, he asked if he might have the body of Jesus as a gift.

Pilate liked Joseph but thought him mad not to have asked for something better, though he did not refuse. For his part, Joseph felt well paid, for he believed Jesus to be a true king whom he adored in body and soul. Keen to remove it from the cross, he extracted the nails and placed the body in a sepulchre—for which he was accused of going against the religion of the country.

Far from denying this, Joseph continued to call upon God, in whom he believed in all sincerity. But when these accusations were brought to Pilate, although he respected his former bailiff, he did not hesitate to render justice on him. For admitting his Christian faith, Joseph was cast into a deep pit 20 toises deep and swarming with snakes, toads, and spiders that greatly harassed him. Enormous stones were rolled across the top, which was sealed with cement.

Being imprisoned in this terrible place troubled Joseph greatly until Jesus appeared to him and offered him a wonderous vessel. You can safely believe me for you will very soon see it!

It consoled Joseph greatly, for it removed the vermin, caused the stench of the place to disappear, and softened the rock, which from now on was easier to lie on than a fine woolen mattress. The place became fragrant with the true blood of Christ that spread a light as bright as the sun. And when Joseph put the vessel to his lips, he suffered neither hunger nor thirst.

For forty years things continued thus, and he suffered no further torment. Vespasian, the Roman emperor, was a leper. He had once been handsome but was now hideous, until Veronica cured him with her miraculous veil with which she had comforted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion.

Vespasian proclaimed that he now believed in God and Jesus Christ, as he had recovered his health thanks to him. And as God and Jesus Christ had cured him, so he would now fight for him with his army. He thus led his troops towards Jerusalem, and night and day attacked the city and those who dwelt there. At least one starving mother ate her children, and when the city was abandoned, thirty Jews could be bought for a denier.

When all were gone, Veronica and the high priest, Ananias, told Vespasian how Joseph had been incarcerated in the bottom of a cavern forty years ago. “Let us at least have his bones, sir,” they said, “for his flesh will have rotted by now.”

“Take me there,” replied the king. “I have heard about this.” Ananias led him to the cavern, and the emperor had the stones removed and the opening completely cleared. From the cave came a light as bright as if the sun had risen and such a sweet fragrance that all were overcome.

Vespasian looked in and saw Joseph, hailed him in the name of God, and addressed him as a friend.

“God and Saint Mary be praised!” cried Joseph, “I have heard your voice before, and if you believe in God and Jesus Christ, let it ring out again.”

“My friend, I am a Christian king and wish only the best for you if you have been walled up for believing in God and Jesus Christ.”

“Yes,” replied Joseph, “I believe in him and would not wish for any other religion.”

The emperor arranged straight away to have him pulled up.

Joseph still carried in his arms the vessel given him by God. It was gazed upon by all the people, who desired to kiss it. Any of the sick that touched it were returned to perfect health, exalting their faith. And so Christianity was assured, and its bounds increased.

Much of this comes directly from the story told in two apocryphal gospels, excluded from the canon of the Bible by St. Jerome circa 405. The most familiar of these, and the first to expand the brief mentions of Joseph of Arimathea into something like a biography, is the Evangelium Nicodemi (Gospel of Nicodemus), which also includes a further apocryphal document, the Acta Pilati, or Acts of Pilate. The former is presented as a Hebrew gospel written by Nicodemus, who is mentioned in the Gospel of St. John as a follower of Jesus. We shall examine these more fully in chapter 6.

Other details not found in either of these texts but present in Sone are the pit of spiders, snakes, and toads. This is more usually described as a room within or beneath a tower, where Joseph is imprisoned and the key thrown away. The large stones, sealed in concrete, may be intended to recall the stones placed before the tomb of Jesus.

The appearance of Christ in this noisome place is in line with earlier and later accounts, but the driving away of the vermin, the sweet smell of the Holy Blood overcoming the stink of the place, as well as providing light in the darkness, not to mention the softening of the stones lining the walls and floor of the pit so that they become as comfortable as a woolen mattress, are unique to this text.

Of course the most important aspect of the story is the gift of the sacred vessel to Joseph. Not only does the vessel give forth light and a sweet scent, it also keeps Joseph alive, since to merely touch it with his lips ensures that “he suffered neither hunger nor thirst.”

This miraculous state of suspension lasts forty years, until the Roman emperor Vespasian (AD 9–79) conquers Jerusalem. This did indeed happen in AD 69, when the emperor crushed a Jewish rebellion. When he arrives in Jerusalem, the high priest Ananias tells him how the man who had been given care of the body of Jesus and had given up his own tomb for the messiah had been thrown into a pit. Ananias then asks of he can have the bones of the long-dead man, and Vespasian agrees. He goes in person to the place and has the stones cleared from the entrance. To the amazement of everyone, a great light and sweet scent comes from within, and there is Joseph, hale and hearty as the day he was incarcerated.

Two things in this account suggest some kind of previous connection between Joseph and the emperor, though there are no references in the text or elsewhere. Vespasian says that he has heard the story before, and when the prison is opened, Joseph says he has heard the emperor’s voice before. Whether this refers to a now-lost text or was simply an addition of the author of Sone remains unclear.

At the emperor’s command, Joseph is brought out of the pit. He is carrying the sacred vessel and all there who saw it at once desire to kiss it. On doing so, any who were sick are immediately healed. The first appearance of the sacred relic here thus begins with a series of miracles.

Again, there is no conclusive evidence whether Chrétien de Troyes or Robert de Boron and the author of Sone were independently drawing upon a common source. It seems likely that Chrétien had access to texts that have since vanished, while Robert seems to have drawn upon Christian apocryphal texts then in circulation, including the Acts of Pilate and the Gospel of Nicodemus. The author of Sone almost certainly knew Robert’s Joseph, but the variations between the two texts suggest an independent source.

Perlesvaus

A third medieval story, often described as one of the most unusual and even uncanonical accounts of the Grail, may also have been known to the author of Sone since it contains episodes that appear nowhere else. This text is known as Perlesvaus, attributed (within the text itself) to an author named Josephus, to whom the story was dictated by an angel. The author sets up not one but two significant sources—the angelic and the historical. We are presumably intended to believe that “Josephus” is the Jewish historian Titus Flavius Josephus (AD 37–100), who lived during the reign of Vespasian. Initially an opponent of the Romans, he later became the emperor’s slave and interpreter but was given his freedom when Vespasian became emperor in AD 69. He wrote several important books, including the Antiquities of the Jews,81 in which he claimed that the prophecies of a messiah in fact referred to Vespasian!

If we were to follow the suggestion of the author/scribe of Perlesvaus, this would make Josephus the composer of the first and earliest Grail text. Although this is most unlikely, there are, as we shall see later, some curious correspondences between these historical characters and the story narrated in the Apocrypha, Sone, and The Later Titurel (see chapter 6).

Also known as Li Hauz Livres du Graal (The High History of the Holy Grail, the text was probably composed during the first ten years of the thirteenth century, though much disagreement rages on this detail.82 It purports to be yet another continuation of Chrétien’s unfinished Perceval, though is generally seen as separate from the works of the other continuators because of its many variations from the canon of the Grail romances. It survives in just three manuscripts, two additional fragments, and two sixteenth-century editions. It has had a varied reception from the scholars who have studied it. Some have found it confusing, while at least one described it as “a sort of symbolical New Testament, canonical and apocryphal, employing a system of knightly substitutes for biblical characters.” 83

When the story opens, all is not well in the kingdom of Arthur. Always a noble and honourable knight, the king has fallen victim to a strange malaise that causes him to withdraw from court life, becoming something of a hermit. Only the urgings of Queen Guinevere drive him forth on an adventure in which he is blessed by a vision of the Grail, after which he hears the story of the failure of a certain knight to ask an important question, which caused the Wasteland. Then a Black Knight who carries a flaming lance attacks and wounds Arthur, who is left for dead. A maiden arrives and heals the king, but rebukes him for his negligence when she learns his identity.

This part of the story is unusual and the only time in which Arthur becomes actively involved in the Grail story. It suggests that at one time a now-lost story told that he was himself the Wounded King, which would make the land over which he ruled the Wasteland of the Grail romances. However, in Perlesvaus the story quickly turns to the adventuress of Gawain, Lancelot, and Perceval. Lancelot, in fact, undergoes a form of the Beheading Test, also found later in Sone, as well as elsewhere. Gawain’s many adventures are outside the range of this book. Perceval’s, however, offers some intriguing parallels to our text. However, it is Arthur himself, still caught up in the repercussions of his kingly failure, who comes to the Grail castle, which Perceval has already begun to restore to its former glory.

The description of the building leaves us in no doubt of its ultimate origin:

Behind the castle, the story says, there was a river, by which the castle was supplied with all good things; it was a beautiful river indeed and rich in fish, and Josephus tells us that it came from the Earthly Paradise and ran all around the castle and flowed on into the forest … There its course ended and it vanished into the earth, but wherever it flowed there was a great abundance of all good things.

In the rich Castle … nothing was lacking, and it had three names, the story says. Eden was its first name, another was the Castle of Joy, and another was the Castle of Souls … because the soul of anyone who died there went to Paradise.84

The castle is named Eden, watered by a river that flowed out of an earthly paradise. We are also told that the bells that ring every day to call people to celebrate at the altar of the Grail were made by Solomon—another reference that adds to the accumulation of evidence connecting the biblical king with the Grail. Arthur is also shown the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and richly entertained in the castle, as are King Alain and Sone.

Again and again, we are reminded of Sone and the description of the Grail castle. Though the one in Sone is on an island, it too is fed by a river out of paradise, contains the tomb of Joseph, and is the home of the Grail. Other parallels between the two texts will emerge in a later section of the poem.

The next part of Joseph of Arimathea’s story, narrated by the abbot, is astonishingly original and differs from all other surviving versions. Freshly released from prison, Joseph breaks down a wall and retrieves the Lance of Longinus,85 which he had concealed there previously. Thus armed with two sacred relics, he sets out for Syria, where he spends some time. One day a mysterious ship appears and a voice instructs him to go aboard, bringing the vessel and the Lance with him. This is another correlative with the later Grail romances where a ship built by Solomon at the behest of the Queen of Sheba becomes a kind of floating temple (see chapter 7).

The ship takes him to Gaète, possibly identifiable as a Dutch province of Brabant or a city in Italy. There he finds a horse and armour awaiting him and proceeds on a series of adventures more appropriate to a knight than a holy disciple. Though the author of Sone says he is unable to tell us how, Joseph “increased the faith” of Christianity wherever he went. Finally he reaches Norway, then still a pagan land, and drives out “the Saracens.” This last term is most often used to refer to Muslim opponents of Christianity, but here it may be seen as a more general description of the followers of other gods.

In the context of the poem, we must assume that Joseph has become a renowned warrior, leading an army against pagan forces. Having killed the king of the land that will eventually be known as Norway, he then diverts radically from the norm by marrying the pagan king’s daughter, who was apparently extremely beautiful. Here it seems that Joseph is motivated by human desire rather than the cause he has followed to date. He has the girl baptized—against her will, we are told—but she continues to hate him for killing her father and pays only lip service to Christianity, in which she has no real belief.

God, we are now told, had decided to tempt Joseph with the Saracen princess, and was so displeased with the outcome that he punished his warrior by wounding him “in the reins and below”—a term referring to the kidneys and genitals—after which Joseph “endured terrible suffering.”

All of this differs profoundly from the more familiar story told in the work of Robert de Boron and the anonymous authors of the Lancelot-Grail cycle. In Sone Joseph is a warrior rather than a saintly follower of Jesus, and when he succumbs to the beauty of the pagan princess, he is punished with an unhealing generative wound such as that endured by all subsequent Grail kings—though seldom because of their failure to remain celibate. Before he is thus emasculated, Joseph fathers a child by his newly baptized wife, but he gives the infant into the care of others to be raised since he himself is no longer able-bodied.

From here on Joseph “could not … use his limbs, feed himself, or move about, but remained lying down.” However, he possessed

a boat in which, after celebrating Mass, he went fishing, aided by a sailor who guided the boat to wherever he wanted to go. The fishing and the company of the sailors pleased him. Here he could forget his terrible suffering, for such pain could kill many a man. And because he thus fished, his popular name spread everywhere: he was called the Fisher King—a name that is still well known.

After this bold excursion into unfamiliar waters, the author brings us back to Chrétien’s story of a king wounded so grossly that he spends all his time fishing. He tells us that it was during this time—while the king remained in a state of woundedness—that the castle was built,

situated in the open sea free from assault. No ship could reach it by sea for fear of being cast on hidden rocks. And as the fresh water flows and strikes the walls here, there is always a profusion of fish of all kinds.

Thus the king leads a life of suspended animation until, we are told, “a knight came that could cure him; and afterwards he was … powerful through the practice of arms.” After this the king “lived a very long time, during which the faith was exalted.” Finally, when on his deathbed, Joseph “appointed thirteen monks to serve in the tradition of the named apostles, and we remain thirteen in this castle.”

The number thirteen is not without significance. This is, as stated, the number of disciples who sat with Jesus at the table of the Last Supper. It is also the original number of Knights of the Round Table and of the later Grail knights—though there were at first only twelve, with an empty place for the seat of Judas, until the coming of Galahad, who will in time replace Perceval as the achiever of the Grail.

The abbot concludes with another striking passage:

In that time the country was called Logres, a name of suffering, renowned for its tears and weeping. It very much merited being renowned for suffering since one can grow neither beans nor wheat, no child be born, no young girl find a husband, no tree bear leaves, no grass regrow, no bird have chicks, no beast have young since the king was mutilated and until he had expiated his sins …

There is a certain degree of confusion over the name of the kingdom ruled over by Joseph in Sone. It is not clear in this passage whether the abbot is here saying that Norway was once called Logres or whether this is simply a scribal error and is actually supposed to refer to Arthur’s kingdom. The poet tells us that Normandy was formally called Logres, suggesting that the setting of the story may at one time have been Britain. Norway often features as an otherworldly place in medieval writings, and this may have contributed to the confusion.

Making Sone King of Norway also ties the story in with the reference at the beginning of the Quest del Saint Graal, where the author of the text, having seen Christ in a vision, is instructed to follow a strange beast to the land of Norway, where he will find the book of the Grail. This is not followed up in the Arthurian quest but shows that a link existed between the Grail story and Norway.

The particular description of the suffering land—very clearly the Wasteland described as surrounding the Grail castle during the period of the king’s wounded state—corresponds almost exactly to another text, intended as a prequel to Chrétien’s Grail poem. Known as the Elucidation, this text is another largely overlooked account, which offers variations on the Conte del Graal. It also includes references to the Joy of the Court. Here the anonymous author describes the wounded kingdom of Logres as being

laid waste,

With no wells nor tree in leaf;

The meadows and the flowers dried up,

And the brooks diminished;

Nor could be found from now on

The court of the Rich Fisher … 86

It is difficult at times to establish a timeline in Sone—especially as it relates to the more familiar Arthurian and Grail romances. Here we are told that Joseph of Arimathea was not only the first guardian of the Grail but also the first wounded Fisher King, and that his sad state continued “until he was cured by a knight.” This must refer to either Perceval or one of the other Grail knights, whose principle task it is to cure the Wounded King. We are told that after this Joseph “lived to a great age and founded a community of twelve monks,” from which the current protectors of the Grail and the Spear are descended. This would place the entire Wounded King episode, including the Wasteland, which we are told affected the kingdom of Logres as long as King Joseph remained wounded, before the more normal period of the Grail quest in Arthurian times—in which case it makes Sone a prequel to the main body of Grail romances.

As we shall see, there is a considerable amount of material relating to Joseph of Arimathea and his descendants, which pushes this particular aspect of the Grail back several hundreds of years (see chapter 6). But Sone is unique in taking the life of Joseph into a chivalric period and setting as well as making him a Grail King who suffers a wound that incapacitates him and forces him to seek refuge in fishing.

The fact that the Island of the Grail is called Galoche (a corruption of Wales) suggests that the author may have mixed up accounts of the Island of Gwales off the coast of Wales, which possessed Grail associations, from the account of Merlin hiding the twelve treasures of Britain there (including a Grail-type relic) with an island off the coast of Norway. As we shall see when we examine the nature of the two islands, there are several connections with the older Celtic mythology that underlies many of the Arthurian legends. In particular, the idea of the island where the Grail is housed echoes several references of Celtic tradition in which a sacred vessel is found on an island. The fact that Joseph of Arimathea is presented as the patron saint of Norway (St. Olaf is not referenced) may be seen as a further attempt to establish the country as a suitable resting place for the Grail.

Numerous attempts have been made to correlate the various versions of the Wounded King, the Grail procession, and the Wasteland, but all have failed to observe the most striking parallel present in Sone, Parsifal, Titurel, and Perlesvaus. This common factor is the description of the Grail castle/Temple/Chapel. The specific nature of this ties the romances together and points both to physical sites as well as the mystical reality of the Grail Temple.

When it comes to the Wounded King, the variations in virtually every version of the Grail myth are minor and the essential meaning is the same: the wounding of the king is reflected in the land. The king is no longer perfect in body, and the land suffers accordingly. The parallels between the cause of Joseph’s wound in Sone and that of the various later Grail kings are many. But here—and only here—does Joseph of Arimathea fulfil the role of the Grail King (Fisher King), rather than simply being its guardian. The time element is important also, as it creates a timeline in which the Grail is held by Joseph from the time of Jesus into the thirteenth-century setting of Sone. The point is—was the author of the romance trying to make parallels between mystical time and historic time? The last third of the poem suggests that he was.

Throughout Sone Joseph is seen as an immediate successor to Christ and ultimately as one of the most senior founders of Christianity—second only to St. Peter—as well as being the first to hold the Grail and be its guardian. He is also perceived as the first person to bring Christianity to Europe. The very distinctive establishment of Sone as Joseph’s successor is even more remarkable. It is further emphasized in the description of his wedding to Odée. To begin with, everyone is dressed in white, signifying purity and innocence, and during the celebration of the Mass (sung by no less than an archbishop and two bishops) Sone offers gold, incense, and myrrh, the three sacred substances offered by the Persian magi at the birth of Jesus. Immediately following the service, the Grail and the Spear are brought out, along with a piece of the True Cross and a golden Candelabrum in which are five candles.

The significance of this last object is considerable. In virtually every description of the Grail procession, a Candelabrum containing several candles—the numbers vary from three to ten—is born before or immediately after the Grail itself. In every instance their light is brilliant, said to be brighter than the sun. Here, the light that comes from the Grail itself illumines the entire island. We also learn that “according to the writings of Joseph of Arimathea,” one of the candles had witnessed the birth of Christ, while two more had “burned before the tomb of Mohamed”—a striking and unusual reference to find in a highly Christianized work.

The importance of brilliant light in Christian myth is beyond the scope of this work, but it should be noted that the oldest surviving Christian documents refer to the face of Jesus as bright and shining,87 while we are constantly reminded, throughout the Gospels and in the theology of both Western and Eastern churches, that Jesus is “the light of the world.” Icons dating from the first days of Christianity show Jesus with a light around his head that is more than a simple halo. It has been suggested that the origin of this brilliant corona lies in older mythologies, such as those of classical Rome itself, where the sun god Helios is inevitably portrayed emitting rays of light. The presence of this light around the Grail is a significant reminder of the holiness of the relic and its powerful and continuing association with Jesus of Nazareth.

As noted above, at this point in the narrative when a procession is formed, the four sacred things (again, this number is consistent through most of the Grail romances) are carried in order—the Candelabrum first, followed by the piece of the True Cross, the Spear that drips blood, and finally the Grail, carried by Sone, every inch a Grail King.

This section of the poem ends on a high note, with the abbot promising Sone that God is on his side and that he cannot fail to defeat whoever fights against him. He then summons everyone present to view the Grail and the Spear, which are unearthed from reliquaries. At once

The whole place lit up. At that moment the monks loudly sang, in tears, the Te Deum Laudamus. The vessels no longer existed. On the altar, by the cross, the Graal was replaced by the holy man, friend of God.

[The abbot] went next to bring the holy lance of which you have heard me speak. The abbot and the monks wept so copiously one could say they dissolved into tears. The iron of the lance was magnificent and brilliant. At its point, to the fore, formed a drop of red blood, at which many of them marvelled.

The mysteries of the Grail and the Spear are thus revealed. The phrase “the vessels no longer existed” does not appear to refer to the Grail itself but to the chalices used to celebrate the Mass, which the sacred vessel replaces. However, the Grail itself is “replaced by the holy man, friend of God.” Does this refer to the spirit of Joseph of Arimathea himself, or even to Christ? In the Lancelot-Grail, and later the Morte d’Arthur of Sir Thomas Malory, during the celebration of the Mass with the Grail, Jesus himself appears, and the miracle of the transubstantiation is shown in actuality. Joseph of Arimathea is also present, acting as a psychopomp to the risen lord.88

…

Sone now heads back to Norway and is received with a tumultuous welcome. Having accepted the invitation of the people to become their new king, he declares his intention of being crowned on the Island of the Grail. This is a very significant decision, as it establishes Sone not only as King of Norway, but as King of the Grail also. The abbot confirms this himself by telling Sone he will be the guardian of the Spear and the Grail.

He also awards Sone with the guardianship of the sword belonging to Joseph of Arimathea (also referred to as the sword of Galoche), with which the saint had defended the land against the pagans.

Sone is the only character in the entire Arthurian corpus, other than the Grail maiden and members of her family, who is described as carrying the Grail in his own hands in the procession of the sacred relics described later in the poem. In fact, since Sone passes on the guardianship of the relics to his children at the end of the poem, he is in fact establishing a new Grail “family” separate from those who appear in other Arthurian romances.

In the following section (7), wielding the sword of Joseph of Arimathea, Sone defeats the eleven-foot-tall giant Aligos. His bravery earns him a knighthood and the love of the king’s daughter Odée. Sone is still thinking of Yde, however, and decides to prove himself as a knight errant. He declines to return the sword of Joseph despite the abbot’s request and instead gives it to Odée to keep for him. This she does without telling her father. Sone now sets sail for Ireland. The next few hundred lines (sections 7–16 in our numbered sequence) do not advance the story of the Grail to any degree, except for a curious detail found in section 9, which recounts the mutiny of the sailors aboard the ship carrying Sone and Odée back to Norway. In the ensuing battle—which ends with the overcoming of the crew—the royal pair are both wounded. Sone receives a wound in the thigh, Odée one near the heart. Neither are fatal, but there is a suggestion here that Sone is being given a modified Grail wound, while that of Odée is perhaps a reference to the eternal struggle between human and sacred love.

Sone is now established as a hero par excellence, while much of the story here deals at length with his complex relationships with women.

Section 13 deals with a tournament at Machau organized by the Countess of Champagne, who has taken rather a liking to Sone. She also invites the troublesome Yde, who has continued her rejection of Sone’s advances. Having decided to attend, Yde prepares five lances, each one of a different colour: white, green, blue, red, and gold. She displays these close to her seat at the tournament.

When Sone sees her and the lances, he falls into a kind of stupor and has to be woken from his dream by a herald. He then comes for a lance and Yde sings to him from a ballad that tells him the white lance is for her beloved friend.

Sone, as ever, defeats every opponent, winning each lance from the hand of Yde. She explains the meaning of the lances in symbolic terms, indicating that the white refers to her love for Sone, the green the flowering of that love, the blue a royal colour which brings comfort, the red meaning that she will give her love totally, and the gold the long-term feelings she has had for Sone. Having thus given Sone some hope that his love is returned, she then explains that her resistance to Sone’s love is because, as the goddaughter of his mother, the church forbids their union.

Sone is devastated. He departs for France, where he encounters Luciane and dashes her hopes of capturing his heart. More adventures ensue, each one designed to increase Sone’s fame and to help establish his family through dynastic marriages.

17: Arrivals from Norway and the Lay of Odée

The story picks up its pace again here as Odée, still in love with Sone, writes a lay in which she describes her feelings. She then seeks out a girl named Papagay, a famous singer and harpist, and sends her to France in search of Sone.

Attending this lady is a hideously ugly woman named the Countess Orvale, who seems to be a type known as the loathly or hideous lady. The presence of this character here is intriguing. Originating in Irish myth as a representative of the Goddess of Sovereignty, and later found in Arthurian romances including The Marriage of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnall, she makes a more extended and familiar appearance in several Grail romances, including Chrétien’s Conte du Graal and Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival. In these she acts as a severe agent of the Grail, reminding the heroes on the quest at crucial points when they are about to take a wrong turn or neglect their sacred undertaking.

The presence of this figure at this particular juncture of the story is interesting. Though the Countess Orvale does not have a specific purpose here, beyond her accompaniment of Papagay, the fact that her appearance is followed by a version of the beheading test gives one pause for thought. Did the author of Sone know the stories of Gawain, who also undergoes the beheading game in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and encounters a loathly lady in Gawain and Ragnall or was he simply borrowing from Perlesvaus, where Lancelot faces the same test? In either case, he seems to be suggesting Sone as a Knight of Sovereignty, who passes the beheading test and perhaps that of the loathly lady, thus establishing a link between the pagan story of the Green Knight and the Christian Grail myth.

The text is ambiguous on these matters; however, there are some striking similarities between the description of the loathly lady in Sone and those in the much later fifteenth-century poem of Gawain and Ragnall.

Her face was red, her nose snotty withal,

Her mouth wide, her teethe yellow over all,

With bleared eyes greater then a ball;

Her mouth was not to lack;

Her teethe hung over her lips;

Her cheeks were wide as women’s hips;

A lute she bare upon her back.

Her neck long and thereto great;

Her hair clotted in a heap;

In the shoulders she was a yard broad;

Hanging paps that were an horse’s lode;

And like a barrel she was made;

And to rehearse the foulness of that lady,

There is no tongue may tell, sincerely …

The description also recalls the earlier Irish story of Conn of the Hundred Battles, where the hero encounters a woman of hideous appearance who tests his fitness to become king and who turns out to be the Sovereign Goddess of Ireland. Given that these events take place immediately before Sone himself becomes King of Norway, one cannot help but wonder if the author of the romance was not thinking of this ancient theme.89

The words in which the Countess Orvale upbraids Sone for his previous failure to accept Odée are strikingly modern to our ears: he has stolen her heart, used her body—and her money—and now is the time to behave like a gentleman and marry her. As the loathly lady berates the Grail knights in both Chrétien and Wolfram’s romances, here she castigates Sone for his failure to respond to his love. But it is the lay sent by Odée and sung by the beautiful musician Papagay that is most persuasive. A solemn and lyrical statement of her love for the hero, it causes the French court to decide that Sone should marry her. Finally admitting his own feelings, he agrees.

Sone now returns to Norway amid great rejoicing—especially on the part of Odée, whose love for him knows no bounds and is finally reciprocated. Their wedding takes place in elaborate splendour on the Island of the Grail, and the couple are joined in the presence of the holy relics. The abbot, who performs the ceremony, now tells them that further festivities have been prepared on a second island that lies nearby. Thither they must go.

The striking variations we have seen between the description of the Grail castle in Sone and those found in more familiar texts are not the only surprises this remarkable work has in store for us. As if the author seeks to suggest a mirror-like image of the perfect Island of the Grail, he now presents us with a shocking alternative: the Square Island.

19: The Visit to the Square Island

Sone and the wedding party repair to this other site, apparently in the innocent belief that they are attending a splendid feast. We are told that the island lies just half a league across the sea and that it was built by a pagan king named Tadus. Although the text seems to imply that this figure built the island itself, we can safely assume that the reference is to the huge walls that surround it, which recall the vast walls of the magician Gundebald in the Latin text of Historia Meriadoci (see page 104–page 105).

Tadus is a curious choice of name. There is a reference in the Gospel of St. Mark to a Culpius Tadus, who was appointed governor of Judea in 797. This may be no more than an accidental parallel as there is a better-known character with this name who, though he plays no significant role in any of the romances, has a son and grandson who do.

The Tadus mentioned in Sone is said to have been converted to Christianity and ordered all of his people to be baptized. Later, the island was ruled over by his son Bagdemagus, and after him by Bagdemagus’s own son, Meleagant. Bagdemagus is described as a good and clever ruler, but Meleagant as an evil man. Both of these characters have a history in the Arthurian legends.

Bagdemagus (Bagdemagu) is first mentioned in Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1175.90 There he is described as the King of Gore, a mysterious land connected to Arthur’s realm by a sword bridge—as is the castle on the Square Island.

The central part of the story is concerned with his son Meleagant’s abduction of Arthur’s queen, Guinevere, who is later rescued by Lancelot. However, we can immediately see a number of parallels with the Square Island. Galoche, as we have seen, is probably derived from Wales; Gore is a corruption of goirre (glass), which gave rise to the name subsequently attached to Avalon, “the Isle of Glass,” in the Life of St. Gildas by Caradoc of Llancarfan.91 This gives us a link with the Grail stories that clustered around the little town of Glastonbury in Somerset from the middle of the twelfth century. In Caradoc’s work we find a believable account of the abduction of Guinevere by Melwas (an older variant of Meliagrance). Another possible variant of the name—Meloas, lord of the Isle of Glass—appears in Chrétien’s Erec and Enide.

This adds to a belief that the author of Sone was familiar with Chrétien’s writings and indeed borrowed from Le Conte del Graal for some of the details of the description of the Grail castle—though this, as we shall see, was by no means his only source, and further evidence suggests a common point of origin for both. Certainly, the cluster of names: Melwas, Meleagant, and Meloas, all of them connected with the Glass Island off the coast of Wales (Galoche), point fairly conclusively to the origin of both islands in Sone.

Even the presence of a frieze of severed heads, said to be of Meleagant’s enemies, which are arranged alongside of the sword bridge recalls a similar palisade bearing its own ghastly decorations, found in Chrétien’s romance of Erec and Enide. There, as we saw earlier, the episode of the Joy of the Court concerns the winning of the hand of a mysterious woman who sits on a chair within a tent at the heart of a garden surrounded by the palisade decorated by severed heads. The suggestion that this was an earthly or otherworldly paradise will be seen to echo several of the Grail-themed palaces and temples we shall discuss later.

Bagdemagus, Meleagant’s father, appears in later romances. In the Lancelot-Grail cycle he is cousin to Gawain and a friend of Lancelot and condemns his son’s evil deeds when Lancelot kills Meleagant. In Malory’s Morte d’Arthur he has become a simple knight of the Round Table and the father/son relationship is dropped when the story of the abduction and rescue of the queen is retold.

The presence of the word magus in the name of Meleagant’s father has lead to speculation as to whether he had at some earlier date been seen as a magician. Perhaps the similarity of the setting to that of the magician Gundebald’s castle in the romance of Meriadoc may have added to the story.

When we look at the description of the Square Island, we can at once see a number of parallels with Celtic myth. Apart from the shape of the island—which may of course refer only to the square palisade built around it—there are other details that suggest the author of Sone was tapping into a much older source than the twelfth-century Grail romances. Celtic tradition is full of references to mysterious islands, some of which are said to revolve of their own volition (a detail we shall return to later when we look at a physical source for the Grail castle and temple) and to contain hallows that parallel those of the Grail.

In one of the oldest surviving accounts of a quest for a sacred vessel, the ninth-century poem Prieddeu Annwn, attributed to the sixth-century poet Taliesin and almost certainly containing material from a still older period, Arthur and his warriors, in search of a mystical cauldron that can bring the dead back to life, visit a number of islands, some of which are guarded by powerful negative forces. One of these is termed “The Island of the Strong Door,” and we are immediately reminded that in Sone the Square Island can only be accessed by a single richly carven door.

Is not my song worthily to be heard

In the four-square Caer, four times revolving!

I draw my knowledge from the famous cauldron,

The breath of nine maidens keeps it boiling.

Is not the Head of Annwfn’s cauldron so shaped?

Ridged with enamel, rimmed with pearl?

It will not boil the cowardly traitor’s portion.92

Here the cauldron, which derives from the underworld in Celtic tradition, replaces the Grail, but the setting may well have inspired the description of the island in Sone. The further mention of a fountain at the centre of the island, with a bronze spout from which cool, clear water issues daily, is once again reminiscent of an earthly paradise, though a very different one to the setting of the Grail castle. Such references are links in the chain leading from Eden to the Temples of the Grail, both real and imaginary.

In his early book Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance, Roger Sherman Loomis suggested two further possible sources for this episode. The first is found in a Christianised tenth-century text known as Imram Snedgusa, one of a type of tale involving a voyage to various islands, mostly with symbolic meanings. Here we find the hero and his companions visiting an island that bears all the signs of having been rewritten from another source.

And they beheld a great lofty island, and all therein was delightful and hallowed. Good was the King that abode in the island, and he was holy and righteous: and great was his host, and noble was the dwelling of that King, for there were a hundred doors in that house, and an altar at every door, and a priest at every altar offering Christ’s body. So the clerics [Snegdus and his crew] entered the house, and each of them [host and guests] blessed the other: and thereafter the whole of that great host, both woman and man, went to communion that the Mass. 93

We can see at once the parallels between this and the Island of Galoche. Variants of this descriptive pattern are to be found in several immrama, including the more familiar Voyage of St. Brendan the Navigator, where the travellers come to an island on which is a monastery. Welcomed by the monks, just as in Sone, their feet are washed and they are given marvelously white bread and wonderfully flavored herbs. The abbot tells them that no one knows the origin of this food, save that it comes from God. Every day the twenty-four monks receive twelve loaves, one between each pair, and on Sundays and Feast Days one loaf each. They have lived there for eighty years, yet neither age nor weakness has affected them.94

We may see here echoes of older stories, such as the Voyage of Maelduin, where the heroes are still pagan and have very different agendas.95 The description in Sone, both of Galoche and the Square Island, not only demonstrate how long-lived such themes can be, they also hint at older themes hidden beneath the glamorous surface of the medieval romance.

The adventures experienced by Sone and his guests now take a darker turn, telling us that all is not well on Square Island. They have barely disembarked when a violent storm blows up, which drives them inland and reduces their ships to matchwood. The palace to which the party now repairs—almost certainly intended to recall the castle of the Grail in the centre of Galoche—is a very different place. To begin with, the abbot of Galoche, who has accompanied the wedding party, puts aside his normal monkish robes and appears dressed in scarlet. This is said to shock many people, but is described as being in line with the custom of the people. The abbot, we are told, is also a count. To further emphasize the topsy-turvy nature of the places, the abbot is served first, before the king and queen. We should perhaps note here that the wearing of scarlet in the Middle Ages was reserved for royalty and very high lords, suggesting that the abbot was of extremely high standing in the world he had left behind to become a monk.

The storm is now unleashed, with blasts of lightning, wind that tears down trees and flings them against the walls of the castle, and giant waves that sweep across the island, carrying all before them and full of goods washed out by the waters. Sone and Odée (hitherto referred to simply as the king and queen) climb to the top of the walls, and Sone holds onto his bride with both arms—without which, we are told, she surely would have died.

The whole scene, described in vivid detail by the poet, seems to be telling us that the very presence of the new Grail King is sufficient to cause a vast upheaval in nature. What happens next confirms this. As the storm abates and the waters recede, a terrible stink overwhelms the whole island, causing hearts to stop beating for a moment. So terrible is the smell that a fleet of rescue ships from Galoche, sent to retrieve the wedding party, is forced to turn back. Only the determined hero Gratian presses on, and on reaching the island seeks out the cause of the foulness. What he discovers is an open grave in the cemetery, apparently struck by a bolt of lightning, with the odor exuding from it. Gratian tosses the body into the sea, and the terrible smell begins to recede. As the rescue ships return, Sone, Odée, and the rest of the party are taken back to Galoche, but the old queen, who had been in their party, dies as a result of breathing in the great stink.

We may, perhaps, be seeing memories of the many plagues that had swept across Europe in the years before Sone was composed (though nothing like the Black Death, which would wipe out millions in the next century). But here the writer has another agenda, for as the story unfolds we find that the body which had “escaped” from its grave is that of the pagan princess married by Joseph of Arimathea, who had never truly believed in Christ and in fact hated Joseph for killing her father.

This is revealed when Sone and the abbot return to the Square Island to discover the truth of the matter. The abbot reads the inscription in the tomb and all is revealed. Unfortunately, the story changes direction here as Sone and Odée, accompanied by the abbott, set forth on a progress through the kingdom, seeking the promise of fealty from the people. We do not hear any more about the Square Island episode despite the fact that it plays so intriguingly with the earlier imagery of Galoche and its sacred bounty. It is almost as if the author is trying to set up an idea of a negative version of the Grail Temple, a place rank with the smell of death, plagued by storms and lightning—very different from the light-filled Grail Temple visited by Sone earlier.

Again, we find both echoes of older Celtic myths of otherworldly islands where nature is often a personification of gods, as well as some intriguing parallels to Perlesvaus, suggesting that either both authors were familiar with each other’s work or were drawing upon the same sources.

In Perlesvaus we initially find Perceval on board a ship that bears him to waters where none of the crew recognizes either stars or sea. Here the hero finds an island crowned with a castle, on which he and the single surviving sailor disembark.

They … entered the castle by the gate facing the sea, and there they beheld the most beautiful halls and most beautiful chambers ever seen. They looked beneath a tall tree with branches spreading wide, and saw the clearest and most beautiful fountain that any man could describe; surrounded it was by rich golden columns, and the sand around it seemed to be of precious stones.96

Beneath the fountain Perceval encounters two ancient men sitting, their beards whiter than snow but their faces seeming young. As soon as they see Perceval, they rise and bow before him, kissing the shield he carries. They tell him that they had known the knight who bore the shield before him, and that they saw him many times “before the crucifixion.” They then reveal that the shield once belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, and Perceval takes it from around his neck and sets it beneath the tree, which is described as “blossoming with the most beautiful flowers in the world.”

Perceval now enters a splendid building and sits at the table where a feast is laid.

One of the masters sounded a gong three times, and into the hall came 33 men, all in one company; they were dressed all in white, and each bore a red cross on his chest; and they all seemed to be 32 years old. Then they went to wash in a rich, golden wash basin, and then sat down at the tables.

As the feast is served, Perceval is watching everything, having by this time learned not to wonder and keep silent.

And while he was looking he glanced up and saw a golden chain descending, laden with the finest jewels, and from the middle hung a golden crown … As soon as the masters saw it descend they opened a great wide pit in the middle of the hall; everyone could see the opening quite clearly, and the moment the pit was uncovered, the greatest and most amendable cries ever heard rose up from below … Perceval heard this grieving and wondered much what it could be, and he saw the golden chain descend to the pit and hang above the opening until the meal was almost over. Then it rose up once more into the air and away, and Perceval did not know what had become of it. 97

His hosts now hurry to cover the pit, and Perceval asks that these mysteries should be explained. He is told this can only happen if he promises to return to the island when he sees a ship with a red cross on its sail. He promises to do this and is told that the crown will be his and that he will rule over the island, which is called the Island of Plenty. If he fails in this, however, he will be sent to the Island of Need, from whence came the cries of those doomed to be there.

When the day comes, much later, Perceval does indeed enter such a ship and is born away, as are the Grail knights in the Lancelot-Grail and le Morte d’Arthur, to a place beyond death—perhaps to the Island of Plenty itself.

The enigmatic Elucidation, to which we have referred before, also has its place of lamentation. Here the cause is Perceval’s failure to ask the all-important questions about the Grail:

For three hours, three times in the day, there was such lamentation that no man who heard it would be so hardy as not to be frightened. Four censers and four rich candelabra hung at the corners of the bier when the service was done. Then all crying ceased and everyone vanished. The hall that was so great and wide remained empty and frightful, and a stream of blood ran from a vase where the lance stood, through a rich silver tube. 98

There is much here that would require another book to unpack, but it is worth noting that the island of the Grail in Sone and the Island of Plenty in Perlesvaus are clearly related, and that the Square Island and the Island of Need are almost certainly the same place. It is probable, given the extremely religious tone of Perlesvaus, that the author is making a fairly direct symbolic comparison between the two islands and heaven and purgatory, but the details are so similar that we are once again forced to the conclusion that the authors of Sone and Perlesvaus were very likely drawing on the same source. There is a sense that the details in Perlesvaus complement and even add to our understanding of the mystery in Sone; to read both is to better understand either text.

Another possible link is found in the medieval Latin romance Historia Meriadoci.99 Though an exact dating of this work remains uncertain, it was almost certainly composed in the first half of the twelfth century, making it possibly earlier than Chrétien’s Conte del Graal. Essentially, it is a dynastic story in which the hero fights to recover his lands, which had been usurped by another man. The important parts of the story relate to two buildings, described in vivid detail, which include the setting of the Grail castle.

The first of these is a splendid palace built of marble and porphyry, with “carved and painted pillars. Lofty paneled ceilings, and inlaid flooring—a deep moat and high wall encircling it all.” This beautiful building appears as if from nowhere in a plain where Meriadoc himself had been hunting only a few days earlier. Within it, at the top of a great porphyry staircase, is a hall ruled over by a mysterious lady who calls Meriadoc by name. She is surrounded by a rich court, including men who play chess and call upon her for blessings at all times. She is thus revealed as the goddess Fortuna, whose interest in Meriadoc charts the course of his subsequent life. It is notable that Fortuna watches over three kingdoms: Cambria (Wales), Albany (Scotland), and Logres (Britain), whose rulers she chooses by lot. This may remind us of the choosing of the Grail families, either by the sacred vessel itself or those who watch over it. There are also clear analogies to the Joy of the Court episode from Chrétien’s Erec and Enide. In a passage that can only recall the scene in Le Conte del Graal where Perceval first finds his way to the castle of the Fisher King, Meriadoc and his companions are invited to a splendid banquet where everyone maintains utter silence. In the end Meriadoc breaks the silence by asking the name of the lady.

As a result of this reversal of the normal Grail question, all hell breaks loose and Meriadoc and his friends must flee into a dark forest where they encounter a second castle every bit as splendid as the one belonging to Fortuna but in this instance owned by the villain of the piece, the magician Gundebald, who lives in a wasteland of mud, tar, and bitumen, known as The-Land-From-Which-No-One-Returns. There, within a fortress that is exactly square, divided in four by specially built roads, Gundebald has his palace—an elaborate affair watered by streams diverted from the surrounding hills and planted with splendid fruit trees. The description here perhaps resembles more the setting for the Throne of Solomon, which we shall examine in depth in chapter 7, while the division of the castle into four parts resembles the design imposed on the forts and cities of the Roman Empire. The existence of two buildings, one bright, the other dark, recalls the two islands in Sone, while the resemblance of the story to the Grail myth shows that traditions predating the Grail romances were still active in the memories of the writers who compiled them.100

…

As noted earlier, the story of Sone de Nansay rather peters out here, at least in terms of the Grail story. There is, in fact, a huge tract of story still to go, narrating Sone’s further adventures, his growing family, and his battles against the Saracens. Finally, in section 30 of the poem, Sone begins to feel his death approaching. Journeying to Rome, where one of his sons, Milon, is now pope, he crowns his other sons and divides his goods (along with his personal qualities as a knight and king) between the surviving members of his family.

To Houdiant he gave the sacred vessel, the sword of Joseph of Arimathea, and his reason; to Henri his valor and the sword of Brudon; Margon received his oliphant, his carbuncle, his charm and his courtesy, and Flori, his warhorse. Finally, to Milon the favour that was always his own, to be ever regarded with affection.

We must assume that the Cup is the Grail, and that, for this time, Houdiant becomes its new guardian. Sone now prepares for death. He is absolved of his sins by his son, the pope, and all things are made straight. He dies holding the wood of the True Cross in his arms, followed almost immediately by his faithful Odée. They are buried side by side in a copper coffin in front of the high altar of St. Peter’s in Rome. Sone’s son Henri becomes emperor, and the romance ends on a note of quiet resolve.

In all of the texts examined here, we find again and again descriptions of the home of the Grail following a broadly similar form. In each case there are details drawn from descriptions of the earthy paradise, while the establishment and maintenance of a lineage of Grail guardians, beginning with Joseph of Arimathea, is strikingly similar. Sone de Nansay is the first to place many of these themes together, drawing upon the writings of Chrétien and Robert de Boron and upon possibly older documents known to all three authors.

We now turn to the second major romance that, like Sone, has been largely neglected but that adds significantly to our understanding not only of the Grail itself but of its ever-blossoming temple.

[contents]

74. The overall title used to describe the Arthurian legends.

75. We shall examine this lineage at greater length in Appendix 1.

76. Translation by Carlton W. Carroll in de Troyes, Arthurian Romances.

77. Davies, The Mabinogion.

78. Matthews et. al., The Lost Book of the Grail: Restoring the Courts of Joy.

79. Matthews, King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land: The Divine Feminine in the Mabinogion.

80. K. Nyrop, “Sone de Nansai et la Norvege,” Romania 35 (1906): 555–569.

81. Whiston, New Complete Works of Flavius Josephus.

82. Bryant, The High Book of the Grail.

83. Carman, “The Symbolism of the Perlesvaus.”

84. Bryant, The Complete Story of the Grail, 195.

85. The terms “lance” and “spear” are used interchangably from text to text.

86. Matthews et. al., The Lost Book of the Grail.

87. This is explored further in the work of David Elkington, currently unpublished. We give our thanks to him for sharing his research.

88. Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur.

89. For a complete breakdown of this theme, see Elizabeth Brewer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

90. De Troyes, Arthurian Romances.

91. Two Lives of Gildas by Cradoc of Llancarfan and the Monk of Ruys, trans. H. Williams (Llanerch Press, 1990).

92. King Arthur’s Raid on the Underworld, trans. Caitlín Matthews (Gothic Image Publications, 2008).

93. “From Cauldron of Plenty to Grail,” trans. A. C. L. Brown, Modern Philology XIV (1916): 394.

94. Ibid.

95. See the new edition of C. Matthews’s The Celtic Book of the Dead (Eddison Books, 2018).

96. Bryant, The High Book of the Grail, 250.

97. Bryant, The High Book of the Grail, 251.

98. We may notice the presence of the rich silver tube, not unlike the copper tube described in Sone. The translation is from lines 261–76 of the Elucidation by Matthews et. al. from The Lost Book of the Grail.

99. Day, Meriadoc, King of Cambria.

100. See M. L. Day, “The Goddess Fortuna as Mistress of Destiny in Historia Meriadoci” (unpublished paper).