The Grail Island

The grail romance tell us how the Grail first arrived on the island.

'Joseph and his company prepared their fleet and entered without delay, and did not end their voyage till they reached the land which God had promised to Joseph. The name of the country was the White Isle, well I know that thus it was called. One part belongs to England, which is enclosed and locked by the sea. There they made port and went ashore, built lodges there and whatever else they needed.'

(Perceval trans.) Loomis; The Grail; from Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol

"We have seen the Guardians of the Grail assuming more and more distinctly the forms of the Welsh gods, Manawyd, Myrddin, Bran, Avallach, Gwair, Beli, and Llwch; and the castle of the Grail as distinctly rearing its crystal walls and phantom towers on  Lundy."

"He saw a castle set upon an island in the sea." - Perlesvaus

In the 'Sone de Nansai' the Grail is held on an island with four towers.

"'The description of the island of the immortal elders in Perlesvaus reflects as we have seen, with remarkable fidelity the description of Kaer Sidi in the Harryings of Annwn; we found there the four-cornered island fortress, the fountain, the two aged immortals, the silent sentry in the glass tower, the feasting and drinking, and the prisoner."

"'Sone de Nansai'- 'Its correspondence in a number of features to the 'Perlesvaus' and the 'Harrying of Annwn' proves its authenticity. In the 'Sone de Nansai' the Grail abides in an island, with four towers, - apparently at the corners, -under the guardianship of holy men: we hear of three streams issuing from a rock, and of a great feast.-Sone de Nansai provides parallels to the Perlesvaus on the following points: the hero arrives at the island, is entertained there lavishly, finds besides the two holy men **** a company garbed in white *** , departs for a time, but returns to be crowned king of the land." from 'Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance.

 "The island of the immortal elders in Perlesvaus is but a partial Christianization of legends concerning Annwn and its lords, the pagan deities." from 'Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance.'

*** "The fact which most clearly accounts for the transformation of the sacred islands of the gods into the dwellings of monastic communities is the actual occupation of these sacred islands off the British coast by Christian monks. Stories told about the divine inhabitants of these islands were naturally transferred to the human but still hallowed successors...In fact many a hermit, anchorite, and venerable figure in religious garb who crosses our path in Arthurian romance may be legitimately suspected of being a god or goddess in disguise."  from 'Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance.'