Grail Castle

The Grail Castle was the enchanted home of the Grail Keeper. The Grail Keeper was sometimes called the Fisher King or Maimed King. According to the Vulgate Cycle and the Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, this Fisher King was King Pelles of Listinoise.

The Grail Castle was often called Corbenic Castle. Corbenic means "Holy Vessel". Within Corbenic are the Church of Notre Dame and the residence of the Fisher King, which was known as the Palace of Adventure.

The Grail Castle was like the Celtic Otherworld, but in the form of a magical castle. Normal rules of the human world did not apply here. Few mortal heroes were allowed in this mysterious castle. Some might be invited into the castle the first time, but might have trouble finding or entering the castle again.

In Chretien's Conte du Graal, Perceval visited the Grail Castle where he saw the Grail. He did not seek out this castle yet he came upon it when the Fisher King invited the hero into his home. Later, when he set out on a quest to find the Grail Castle, Perceval searched for five years but could not find it. No name was ever given to this castle in Chretien's story. It was just known as the castle of the Fisher King.

Similarly, several other heroes saw the Grail at Corbenic (Grail Castle), in the Vulgate's Lancelot. Bors, Lancelot, Gawain, and Perceval all went to the castle and saw the Grail in the castle at one time or another (before the actual quest began). Galahad probably lived at Corbenic with his mother Elaine and his grandfather King Pelles. Yet in the Queste del Saint Graal, why would he or the other knights need to traverse the land on a quest to find the Grail, when each of these knights had already been there before?

It seemed that Castle was not always where it was supposed to be. I suppose that the Otherworld did not obey the normal rule of the human world. It might also require that the heroes who set out on the quest had to pass one test or another, before they could set foot inside the gates of the Grail Castle. It was a form of initiation to the mysteries. In the case of the Queste, the heroes had to seek a spiritual path in order to succeed in the quest.

According to Perlesvaus (c. 1210), the Grail Castle was called Castle of Souls, but originally it was called Eden, and then Castle of Joy, before it received its current name. The Grail and other holy relics were kept in the Grail Chapel.

And according to the German romance, Parzival (1200), this Grail Castle was called Munsalvæsche. It was the home of the Grail family, a secret society to protect the holy vessel from intruders. The castle was guarded by the formidable temple knights. Could Wolfram von Eschenbach be referring to the historical order where these crusading warriors were commonly called Knights Templar?

There have been speculations for centuries that the Knights Templar were hiding and protecting some strange artefacts that they brought back from the Holy Land. Even today, many scholars and theorists have connected the order with the Knights Templar.