Beyond The Grail

Rooted in folklore, medieval ideals of chivalry, and the last gallant strugglesof the British against the Saxon invaders, the legends of King Arthur have been told in song and story since the middle ages. When Percival comes to Camelot and Galahad sits in the Seat Perilous, as Merlin foretold, the quest for the Holy Grail scatters Arthur's Knights far and wide, bringing death to many and bitter disappointment to the great Lancelot . . .

Monty Python’s Flying Circus aired from 1969 until 1974, but the conclusion of the series did not mark the end of the troupe’s creative output. Even before the final original episodes were recorded and broadcast, the six members began work on their first feature-length enterprise of new material. Rather than string together a series of silly skits, they conceived a full-length story line with references to the real and imagined worlds of the mythical King Arthur, the lives of medieval peasants, and the gloomy climate of 1970s Britain. Released in 1975, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a modest success but has since been hailed as a modern classic. In A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail:All the References from African Swallows to Zoot, Darl Larsen identifies and examines the cultural, historical, and topical allusions in the movie. In this entertaining resource, virtually every reference that appears in a scene—whether stated by a character, depicted in the mise-en-scène, or mentioned in the print companion—is identified and explained. Beyond the Arthurian legend, entries cover literary metaphors, symbols, names, peoples, and places—as well as the myriad social, cultural, and historical elements that populate the film. This book employs the film as a window to both reveal and examine “Arthurian” life and literature, the historical Middle Ages, and a Great Britain of labor unrest, power shortages, and the common man. Introducing the reader to dozens of medievalist histories and authors and connecting the film concretely to the “modern” British Empire, A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail will appeal to fans of the troupe as well as medieval scholars and academics who can laugh at themselves and their work.

A retelling of the adventures of King Arthur's knights, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, Sir Bors, and Sir Percival, as they search for the Holy Grail.

The real truth about the Grail, as this entertaining and informative book makes clear, is more exciting than the most fantastic adventure novel. Tracing the Grail's story from its earliest appearance in myth through history, literature, and popular entertainment, this comprehensive illustrated book explores the Grail's secret history and reveals why it continues to fascinate us today. The book unearths the earliest versions of the Grail in myth, examines the part the Grail plays in the events of Christ's Passion, and reveals the truth about the secret societies that "guard" the Grail mysteries. As readers will discover, the Grail also made a mysterious appearance in Arthur's Camelot and disguised itself as the holy bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalen, as the philosopher's stone, and as a touchstone of transformation for Jungian psychologists. The book also introduces us to modern Grail seekers and reveals why even the Nazis sought the Grail. This riveting account sets readers straight about the mysterious relic's meaning and purpose. As we discover what the Grail has meant to the men and women of the past, we come to understand the power of this ancient idea in our own life and why we continue to seek it.

In this fascinating work, Barber traces the history of the legends surrounding the Holy Grail, beginning with Chrtien de Troyes's great romances of the 12th century and the medieval Church's religious version of the secular ideal.

This is the extraordinary story of the discovery of the ultimate secrets of some of the world's most enigmatic mysteries - including the Holy Grail, the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher's Stone.

The first English translation of the book that reveals the Cathar stronghold at Montségur to be the repository of the Holy Grail • Presents the history of the Papal persecution of the Cathars that lies hidden in the medieval epic Parzival and in the poetry of the troubadours • Provides new insights into the life and death of this gifted and controversial author Crusade Against the Grail is the daring book that popularized the legend of the Cathars and the Holy Grail. The first edition appeared in Germany in 1933 and drew upon Rahn’s account of his explorations of the Pyrenean caves where the heretical Cathar sect sought refuge during the 13th century. Over the years the book has been translated into many languages and exerted a large influence on such authors as Trevor Ravenscroft and Jean-Michel Angebert, but it has never appeared in English until now. Much as German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann used Homer’s Iliad to locate ancient Troy, Rahn believed that Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval epic Parzival held the keys to the mysteries of the Cathars and the secret location of the Holy Grail. Rahn saw Parzival not as a work of fiction, but as a historical account of the Cathars and the Knights Templar and their guardianship of the Grail, a “stone from the stars.” The Crusade that the Vatican led against the Cathars became a war pitting Roma (Rome) against Amor (love), in which the Church triumphed with flame and sword over the pure faith of the Cathars.