in the abbey where Nascien is interred, there to await the advent, after four hundred years, of the last of his race (Galahad).
The story concludes by relating the lineage of the Grail hero on the father's and mother's side, in an equal number of generations. Instead of Alein, Josue, brother of Josephe, is substituted as ancestor (so that Galahad comes directly from Joseph of Arimathzea). Josue marries the daughter of a king Alphasan, who builds for the Grail the castle of Corbenic; from the danger of approaching too near the holy vessel, the hall of the castle receives the name of Palais Adventureus (as that of Sarras is called Palais Esperitel). In consequence of the divine wrath resulting from the slaying of Lambor (great-grandfather of Galahad) by a certain Varlan (or Bruillant), the kingdom becomes waste, and takes the name of Terre Gaste instead of Terre Foraine. The son of Lambor is Pellehan, who approaches too near the holy vessel, and is wounded by a divine weapon; it is predicted that he shall be healed only by his grandson (Galahad). His son is Pelles, the Fisher King, whose daughter (unnamed), through Lancelot of the Lake, becomes mother of Galahad. The descendants of Celidoine are enumerated, ending in Lancelot and Galahad; it is stated that the story will be continued in the tale of Merlin.
In spite of its prolixity and involution, the scheme of the elaborate narrative appears sufficiently simple. The whole composition seems intended to pave the way for the advent of a new Grail-hero, who shall be a son of Lancelot of the Lake, as well as a scion of the race of Joseph of Arimathæa. It was thought essential to provide this personage with an ancestry as imposing as that in earlier tales ascribed to Perceval; such end was accomplished by the introduction of a new group, Mordrain, Nascien, and Celidoine, answering to Joseph, Bron, and Alein of the tale of Robert de Boron. The adventures of this trio, although in appearance involved, really constitute an allegory, depicting the trials of new converts, their sustenance by divine grace, their tossing in the agitated waters of the world, and their deliverance in the ship of the church. The poem of Robert naturally falls into two portions, severally reciting his imprisonment and release, and the service and surrender of the Grail; in order to insert the new material, these divisions are separated, and the additional matter intercalated. Designing to derive from his main actors the families of the principal knights of the Round Table, the writer prefers that part of the action shall pass in Britain; in order to accomplish this purpose, it is necessary to represent Joseph of Arimathæa as an evangelist in that island. In accordance with current legend, Robert had described Joseph as a
