When King Solomon learned through a vision that his descendant, Galahad, would be a marvelously good and pure knight, he and his wife made a ship for this descendant to find. The wife, although called an “evil” woman, first advised making this ship and seems to have done most of the planning. The ship was fashioned of the best and most durable wood, covered with rot-proof silk, and stocked with wonderful items:
- King David’s sword and scabbard.
- Girdles of hemp for the sword and scabbard.
- Three spindles: one white, one red, one green (see below).
- le Lit – A great rich bed, covered with silk, to hold all the above.
- A purse containing a writ to explain the origin of everything.
The night after the ship was completed, an angel came to sprinkle it with water from a silver vessel and wrote words on the sword hilt and ship. The words written on the ship were:
Thou man that wilt enter within me, beware that thou be full within the faith, for I ne am but Faith and Belief.
Or, according to another version:
Thou man, which shall enter into this ship, beware thou be in steadfast belief, for I am Faith, and therefore beware how thou enterest, for an thou fail I shall not help thee.
Solomon beheld the angel in a dream-vision. On awakening and reading the words on the ship, he himself feared to enter it, and so the vessel was shoved into the sea to move rapidly away of itself.
Solomon’s would appear to be the same ship that picks up Galahad and his two companions again three days after they leave Carbonek and takes them to Sarras. This time, when they come on board, they found the Grail, covered with red samite, standing there on its silver table.