Galahad, as substitute for Perceval, the earlier hero of the quest, had been established by some one work of merit, which we possess only in the form of the developments to which it gave rise; but as recasts give small idea of originals, it will be safest to assume that no notion can be obtained respecting the nature of such supposititious story.
The complication of the extant romances is still further increased by indications that in addition to the Queste as now preserved existed other French versions of the history. An example of such an independent narrative is furnished by a Portuguese work entitled "Demanda do Santo Graall," doubtless the rendering of a lost French original. The "Demanda" has only in part been printed; so far as accessible, it makes the impression of a story yet more sophisticated than the Queste, and exhibiting still further advance in the evolution of the cycle. In any case, the existence of such a production goes to make clear the extent to which each successive editor indulged his fancy, his alterations being limited only by his powers of invention and adaptation.
Setting aside questions of origin, and regarding the Queste as a much edited conglomerate, in which the material was finally brought into a form deemed suitable for incorporation in the Lancelot romance, it still appears possible to decipher the motives presiding over the construction, The Holy Grail being considered as representing the central mystery of the faith, the eternal self-sacrifice of Christ, as represented in the ceremony of the mass, it was necessary that the possessor of the vessel should exhibit a character in conformity with the ecclesiastical ideal of the Christian life. This ideal of excellence was that belonging to monastic asceticism; for such presentation the figure of Perceval, as it had been drawn by Crestien, was too human; it therefore was thought necessary to invent a new hero, who should more perfectly answer to the conventional conception of laudable piety. For the sake of popularity, as well as of artistic contrast, this person was made a son of the admired Lancelot, to whose unlawful passion he offered the most complete opposition. In order not to break too violently with a form of the tale still accepted, it was considered worth while to associate Perceval as a subordinate hero of the quest; to avoid awkward duplication, and secure a symbolic trinity, Bohor, cousin of Lancelot, was added to the group. Lancelot, though rejected with the pride of the churchman who sets foot on the magnificence of the world, was yet treated with the respect due to his office as main hero of the long narrative in which the story of the quest was to be only an episode. Other knights of the Round Table were introduced merely for the purpose of expressing reprobation of secular splendor. In the por-
