Q 01/05

In Arthurian legend, the Holy Grail is most often described as what kind of object?

A) A drinking vessel or dish

B) A jewelled sword

C) A golden crown

D) A woven cloak

Answer · why

A) A drinking vessel or dish

Some versions make it a cup, others a serving dish, and Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival makes it a stone.

Q 02/05

The Grail became identified with the vessel Jesus used at which event?

A) The Sermon on the Mount

B) The Last Supper

C) The wedding at Cana

D) The feeding of the five thousand

Answer · why

B) The Last Supper

That identification came from Robert de Boron around 1200; the earliest grail story a decade earlier had no explicit Christian meaning at all.

Q 03/05

Which biblical figure is said to have used the Grail to catch Christ's blood at the crucifixion?

A) Nicodemus the Pharisee

B) Simon of Cyrene

C) Mary Magdalene

D) Joseph of Arimathea

Answer · why

D) Joseph of Arimathea

In the legend he is later imprisoned, visited by Christ, and finally carries the vessel west to Britain.

Q 04/05

Which French poet wrote the earliest surviving story to feature a 'grail', around 1190?

A) Chrétien de Troyes

B) Marie de France

C) Wace

D) Guillaume de Lorris

Answer · why

A) Chrétien de Troyes

He never finished the poem, and four different continuators tried to complete it after him.

Q 05/05

The earliest grail romance is named after which knight?

A) Tristan

B) Gawain

C) Perceval

D) Lancelot

Answer · why

C) Perceval

The full title is Perceval, the Story of the Grail; the naive young hero sees the grail but fails to ask about it.