Perceval, the Story of the Grail

Perceval, or the Story of the Grail is an unfinished epic poem from the late 12th century by Chrétien de Troyes, one of the most famous troubadours in medieval France. It is a significant member of the early corpus of Arthurian tales. Perceval follows the adventures of its titular character from his humble beginnings as a rustic, ignorant youth to an adventuring knight attached to King Arthur’s court. It also traces the adventures of another knight, Gawain, and deals with elements that would become common features of the Arthurian legends, such as the meaning of chivalry and the quest for the Holy Grail. The epic remains unfinished, suggesting that it might have been cut short by Chrétien’s death in 1191 or by an earlier period of infirmity. Several other writers attempted to finish the narrative of Perceval after Chrétien’s death, and the book quickly became a celebrated piece of medieval European literature, ultimately serving as the inspiration for works ranging from Wolfram von Eschenbach’s 12th-century Parzival to Richard Wagner’s 19th-century opera Parsifal.

This study guide uses the 1983 verse translation by Ruth Harwood Cline, published by the University of Georgia Press.