have the honor of occupying this “Siege Perilous.”  From Marseilles, by gradual stages, and meeting with every kind of adventure on the way, Joseph, or his descendants, conveyed the Holy Grail to Glastonbury in England, where it remained visible until people became too sinful for it to dwell any more in their midst.  It was then borne off to Sarras, an island city,—­presumably located in the Mediterranean,—­where, according to one legend King Evelake mounted guard over the treasure.

According to another legend, a pilgrim knight laid a golden cross on the Holy Sepulchre, ardently praying for a son, whom at his birth he named Titurel and dedicated to the service of the Lord.  After this Titurel had spent years in warfare against the Saracens and in doing good to the poor, an angel announced to him that he had been chosen to guard the Holy Grail, which was about to descend once more to earth, and take up its abode on Montsalvatch.  This vision sufficed to send Titurel off on a quest for the Holy Mountain,—­which some authorities identify with the place of the same name on the east coast of Spain,—­whither he was safely led by a guiding cloud.

After ascending the steep mountain, Titurel was favored with a glimpse of the Holy Grail, and he and a number of knights—­also brought thither by miraculous means—­erected a marvellous temple, whose foundations were laid by the angels, who labored at the edifice while the volunteer builders were at rest.  In a marvellously short time a temple of transcendent beauty was thus finished, and, as soon as it was consecrated, the Holy Grail stole down from heaven on a beam of celestial light, to abide in its midst.  Titurel, king and guardian of the Holy Grail, always presided at the table around which his knights gathered, and where one and all were miraculously fed.  Besides, there appeared from time to time on the edge of the sacred vase, in letters of fire, instructions bidding a knight go out into the world to defend some innocent person or right some wrong.  The Knights of the Holy Grail, or Templars, as they were indifferently styled, then immediately sallied forth to fulfil this behest, which according to their vows had to be accomplished without revealing their name or origin.  Once the command was that Titurel should marry, whereupon he wooed a Spanish maiden, by whom he had a son and daughter.  This son, marrying in the same way, had in time two sons and three daughters, one of whom became the mother of Parzival.

Old and weary of reigning, Titurel finally resigned the care of the Holy Grail, first to his son,—­who was slain in war,—­and then to his grandson Amfortas.  But the latter proved restless also, went out into the world, and, instead of serving the Holy Grail, lived a life of pleasure and adventure.  Wounded by a thrust from a poisoned lance,—­some authors claim it was the one which wounded the Saviour’s side,—­Amfortas sadly returned to Montsalvatch, where the mere thought of the veiled Holy Grail increased his pain by intensifying his remorse.  There, one day, he read on the rim of the cup, that his wound was destined to be healed by a guileless fool, who would accidentally climb the mountain and, moved by sympathy, would inquire the cause of his suffering and thereby make it cease.