Temple of the Grail: The Search for the World’s Greatest Relic

Matthews, a historian of Arthurian legends, and Knight, a researcher of Western magical traditions, team up again (after Arthurian Magic) in this piquant exploration of the Holy Grail and what has happened to those who tried to find it. They center their discussion around three specific retellings of the Grail legend: two 13th-century epics, Sone de Nansay (French) and Der Jüngere Titurel (German), and a 10th-century document purporting to be a letter from the fantastic “Prester John,” the Christian monarch of an unspecified Far Eastern kingdom. (The core of the book is the translation and explication of the three documents.) Matthews and Knight begin with a brief discussion of the history of the home of the Grail as “sacred” or otherwise special space that can be found only by very particular individuals in very particular circumstances. The authors go to great lengths to situate these stories as part of the larger history of the Grail, tying in Arthurian legend, the history of the Crusades, and the Templar knights as they go, making their scholarly examination of literature feel like an attempt to convince readers that the Grail is real. Any reader intrigued by the Holy Grail’s historical trail will love this. (June)