for it to dwell any more in their midst. It
was then borne off to Sarras, an island city,--presumably located in
the Mediterranean,--where, according to one legend King Evelake
mounted guard over the treasure.

According to another legend, a pilgrim knight laid a golden cross on
the Holy Sepulchre, ardently praying for a son, whom at his birth he
named Titurel and dedicated to the service of the Lord. After this
Titurel had spent years in warfare against the Saracens and in doing
good to the poor, an angel announced to him that he had been chosen to
guard the Holy Grail, which was about to descend once more to earth,
and take up its abode on Montsalvatch. This vision sufficed to send
Titurel off on a quest for the Holy Mountain,--which some authorities
identify with the place of the same name on the east coast of
Spain,--whither he was safely led by a guiding cloud.

After ascending the steep mountain, Titurel was favored with a glimpse
of the Holy Grail, and he and a number of knights--also brought
thither by miraculous means--erected a marvellous temple, whose
foundations were laid by the angels, who labored at the edifice while
the volunteer builders were at rest. In a marvellously short time a
temple of transcendent beauty was thus finished, and, as soon as it
was consecrated, the Holy Grail stole down from heaven on a beam of
celestial light, to abide in its midst. Titurel, king and guardian of
the Holy Grail, always presided at the table around which his knights
gathered, and where one and all were miraculously fed. Besides, there
appeared from time to time on the edge of the sacred vase, in letters
of fire, instructions bidding a knight go out into the world to defend
some innocent person or right some wrong. The Knights of the Holy
Grail, or Templars, as they were indifferently styled, then
immediately sallied forth to fulfil this behest, which according to
their vows had to be accomplished without revealing their name or
origin. Once the command was that Titurel should marry, whereupon he
wooed a Spanish maiden, by whom he had a son and daughter. This son,
marrying in the same way, had in time two sons and three daughters,
one of whom became the mother of Parzival.

Old and weary of reigning, Titurel finally resigned the care of the
Holy Grail, first to his son,--who was slain in war,--and then to his
grandson Amfortas. But the latter proved restless also, went out into
the world, and, instead of serving the