there is no trace whatever of these symbols having any Christian signification.
Pheredur signifies, according to M. de la Villemarqué[1], “The Companion of the Basin,” and is a synonym of Perceval; Per being a basin, and Këval and Këdur having alike the meaning of companion.
Pheredur is mentioned as well in the Annales Cambriæ, which extend from the year 444 to 1066. Geoffrey of Monmouth also speaks of the reign of Peredure, “who governed the people with generosity and mildness, so that he even excelled his other brothers who had preceded him[2];” and the anonymous author of the “Life of Merlin” speaks of him as the companion and consoler of the bard[3]. Aneurin, the contemporary of Hengst and Horsa, the author of the Gododin, terms him one of the most illustrious princes of the Isle of Britain[4].
Taliesin ben Beirdd, the famous poet of the same age, speaks of the sacred vessel in a manner which connects it with bardic mythology. “This vessel,” he says, “inspires poetic genius, gives wisdom, discovers the knowledge of futurity, the mysteries
