In Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory describes a quest in which the Knights of the Round Table search and fight for the Holy Grail. This quest is particularly trying. As King Arthur said himself, "My lords... never again shall our complete fellowship be assembled at this castle, for soon you shall depart on the quest of the Holy Grail, from which some of you shall not return" (Baines 364). And many of the knights did not return. They were either to impure or to stricken by the holiness of the object to go on in the physical world. The Grail was said to sit on "an altar covered by a fresh silk cloth, {on this cloth} stood a silver candlestick with six candles all burning. Above, angels were flying; one held a sacred cross, another a brilliant-burning cross" (Baines 422).

The Christian Religion has many more interpretations of the true form of the Grail. It could be the onyx cup that Mary Magdalene used to hold the scents that perfumed Christ's feet. Scholars also claim that the Holy Shroud that bears an imprint of Christ's face and the gold box that contains the Shroud may be the Grail. Perhaps it is a mutant object that is able to assume different shapes. "The chalice collected Jesus' blood, the silver dish supported John the Baptist's head, the sword cut Baptist's throat, the lance belonged to Longino, the Roman soldier who transfixed Jesus' chest, the book was the secret Gospel written by Jesus Himself" (Theories about Grail). The proceeding objects converged into one all-powerful object that can heal wounds, extend life, and preserve peace.

However, the Christian religion is not the only sect to believe in a Holy Grail. The Irish, more specifically the Druids, believe that the Holy Grail is a series of cauldrons. "A famous Welsh poem, The Preiddeu Annwn, describes Arthur and his men venturing into the Celtic underworld to steal the Cauldron of Annwn which had pearls and is blown on by nine maidens" (The March of Arthur). According to the poem, the cauldron has life replenishing powers. There is also another cauldron known as Awen. Instead of restoring life, this cauldron contains a potion that grants unsurpassed knowledge. "Many authors have thus tried to show that the Celtic cauldrons are in some sense a forerunner to the modern Grail image" (The March of Arthur). However, the cauldron theory is questionable because the Druids also believed in internal cauldrons. According to their beliefs, "each person was born with three metaphorical cauldrons within his human body" (The Celtic Cauldrons). This line of thinking would suggest that the Holy Grail was not a physical object; rather a plane of enlightenment one reaches depending on their internal balance, and spiritual health.

The Grail itself was not thoroughly explained. To Sir Thomas Malory the Grail was an object that would bring a kingdom together and promote peace. However, religious groups have other perspectives concerning the Grail.

According to the most common Chris

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Approximate Word count = 1485
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)