NIGHTBRINGER | The Arthurian Encyclopedia

Grail Table


A precursor to the Round Table, modeled after the table of the Last Supper and used by the followers of Joseph of Arimathea. When the crops of the Grail fellowship failed (signifying unworthiness within the company), Joseph had the table constructed to weed out the sinners among the group. Bron, later known as the Rich Fisher (Fisher King), caught a fish that was multiplied into thousands in the presence of the Grail. The unworthy, however, found themselves unable to physically sit at the Grail Table.

The Grail Table was made of silver. Like the Round Table, it had a Perilous Seat that destroyed anyone who sat in it. It also had a Feared Seat reserved for Josephus, Joseph of Arimathea’s son.

The fate of the Grail Table after Joseph’s time is unclear, but at the conclusion of the Grail Quest, Galahad, Perceval, and Bors were served mass at the table. In an Irish version of the Grail Quest story, the table is last found in the ship that bore Lancelot and the body of Perceval’s sister, Amide.


See also
Escholarz | The Legend of King Arthur

Sources
Joseph d’Arimathie | Robert de Boron, 1191–1202
Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal | 1215-1230
Vulgate Estoire del Saint Graal | 1220-1235