Page:Studies on the legend of the Holy Grail.djvu/15

1. in Celtic literature: the gear of the Tuatha do Danann; the cauldron in the Ultonian cycle; the Mabinogi of Branwen; vessel of balsam and glaive of light in the contemporary folk-tale—The sword in Celtic literature: Tethra; Fionn; Manus—Parallels to the Bespelled Castle; the Brug of Oengus, the Brug of Lug, the Brug of Manannan Mac Lir, Bran's visit to the Island of Women, Cormac Mac Art, and the Fairy Branch; Diarmaid and the Daughter of King Under the Waves—Unspelling stories: The Three Soldiers; the waiting of Arthur; Arthur in Etna; the Kyffhäuser Legend, objections to Martin's views concerning it—Gawain's visit to the Magic Castle and Celtic parallels; The Son of Bad Counsel; Fionn in Giant Land; Fionn in the House of Cuana; Fionn and the Yellow Face—The Vanishing of the Bespelled Castle—Comparison with the Sleeping Beauty cycle—The "Haunted Castle" form and its influence on Heinrich's version—The Loathly Grail Messenger

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2.  

   CHAPTER VIII.

3. The Fisher King in the Conte du Graal, in the Queste, and in Borron and the Grand St. Graal—The accounts of latter complete each other—The Fish is the Salmon of Wisdom—Parallel with the Fionn Saga—The nature of the Unspelling Quest—The Mabinogi of Taliesin and its mythological affinities—Brons, Bran, Cernunnos—Perceval's silence: Conte du Graal explanation late; explanation from the Fionn Saga—Comparison of incident with geasa; nature of latter; references to it in Celtic folk-tales and in old Irish literature, Book of Rights, Diarmaid, Cuchulainn—Geasa and taboo ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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4.  

   CHAPTER IX.

5. Summing up of the elements of the older portion of the cycle—Parallelism with Celtic tradition—The Christian element in the cycle: the two forms of the Early History; Brons form older—Brons and Bran—The Bran conversion legend—The Joseph conversion legend, Joseph in apocryphal literature, the Evangelium Nicodemi—The Bran legend the starting point of the Christian transformation of the legend—Substitution of Joseph for Bran—Objection to this hypothesis—Hypothetical sketch of the growth of the legend ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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6.  

   CHAPTER X.

7. The Moral and Spiritual import of the Grail-Legend universally recognised—Popularity of the Arthurian Romance—Reasons for that Popularity—Affinities of the Mediæval Eomances with early Celtic Literature; Importance of the Individual Hero; Knighthood; the rôle of Woman; the Celtic Fairy and the Mediaeval Lady; the Supernatural—M. Renan's views—The Quest in English Literature, Malory—The earliest form of the Legend,