In the _Perlesvaus_ the Grail is the same, but the working out of the scheme is much more complex; a son of Joseph of Arimathea, Josephe, is introduced, and we find a spiritual knighthood similar to that used so effectively in the _Parzival_.
3. GALAHAD.--The _Quête du Saint Graal_, the only romance of which Galahad is the hero, is dependent on and a completion of the _Lancelot_ development of the Arthurian cycle. Lancelot, as lover of Guinevere, could not be permitted to achieve so spiritual an emprise, yet as leading knight of Arthur's court it was impossible to allow him to be surpassed by another. Hence the invention of Galahad, son to Lancelot by the Grail king's daughter; predestined by his lineage to achieve the quest, foredoomed, the quest achieved, to vanish, a sacrifice to his father's fame, which, enhanced by connexion with the Grail-winner, could not risk eclipse by his presence. Here the Grail, the chalice of the Last Supper, is at the same time, as in the _Gawain_ stories, self-acting and food-supplying.
The last three romances unite, it will be seen, the quest and the early history. Introductory to the Galahad quest, and dealing only with the early history, is the _Grand Saint Graal_, a work of interminable length, based upon the _Joseph of Arimathea_, which has undergone numerous revisions and amplifications: its precise relation to the _Lancelot_, with which it has now much matter in common, is not easy to determine.
To be classed also under the head of early history are certain interpolations in the MSS. of the _Perceval_, where we find the _Joseph_ tradition, but in a somewhat different form, e.g. he is said to have caused the Grail to be made for the purpose of receiving the holy blood. With this account is also connected the legend of the _Volto Santo_ of Lucca, a crucifix said to have been carved by Nicodemus. In the conclusion to Chrétien's poem, composed by Manessier some fifty years later, the Grail is said to have _followed_ Joseph to Britain, how, is not explained. Another continuation by Gerbert, interpolated between those of Wauchier and Manessier, relates how the Grail was brought to Britain by Perceval's mother in the companionship of Joseph.