Perceval, the Story of the Grail
Perceval, the Story of the Grail is the unfinished fifth verse romance by Chrétien de Troyes, written by him in Old French in the late 12th century. Later authors added 54,000 more lines to the original 9,000 in what are known collectively as the Four Continuations, as well as other related texts. Perceval is the earliest recorded account of what was to become the Quest for the Holy Grail but describes only a golden grail in the central scene, does not call it "holy" and treats a lance, appearing at the same time, as equally significant. Besides the eponymous tale of the grail and the young knight Perceval, the poem and its continuations also tell of the adventures of Gawain and some other knights of King Arthur.
Perceval arrives at the hermitage in a 15th-century illustration of Perceval
The story's scene of Gawain on the Perilous Bed (Gauvain au lit périlleux) engraved in a 14th-century ivory
The opening lines of the 14c Welsh language Peredur from the Red Book of Hergest; Jesus College, Oxford (MS 111) version
Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including Erec and Enide, Lancelot, Perceval and Yvain, represent some of the best-regarded works of medieval literature. His use of structure, particularly in Yvain, has been seen as a step towards the modern novel.
Engraving considered to be a representation of Chrétien de Troyes in his work studio (1530)