Back Perceval o el Conte del Graal Catalan Li Contes del Graal German Perceval o el cuento del Grial Spanish Pertzeval, Grialaren ipuina Basque Perceval ou le Conte du Graal French Perceval ou le Conte du Graal Galician Perceval eða Sagan um gralinn Icelandic Perceval o il racconto del Graal Italian ペルスヴァルまたは聖杯の物語 Japanese Perceval ou le Conte du Graal Dutch
| Perceval, the Story of the Grail | |
|---|---|
 Perceval arrives at the hermitage in a 15th-century illustration of Perceval | |
| Original title | French: Perceval ou le Conte du Graal |
| Author(s) | Chrétien de Troyes |
| Patron | Philip I, Count of Flanders |
| Dedicated to | Philip I, Count of Flanders |
| Language | Old French |
| Date | between 1182 and 1190 |
| Genre | Chivalric romance |
| Verse form | Octosyllable rhyming couplets |
| Length | 9,000 lines |
| Subject | Arthurian legend |
Perceval, the Story of the Grail (French: Perceval ou le Conte du Graal) 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,[1] as well as other related texts. Perceval is the earliest recorded account of what was to become the Quest for the Holy Grail[2] but describes only a golden grail (a serving dish) 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.
- ^ Grigsby, John L. (1991). "Continuations of Perceval". In Norris J. Lacy, The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, pp. 99–100. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
- ^ O'Gorman, Richard (1991). "Grail". In Norris J. Lacy, The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, pp. 212–213. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.