The most recommended books about the Holy Grail

Who picked these books? Meet our 24 experts.

24 authors created a book list connected to the Holy Grail, and here are their favorite Holy Grail books.
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Book cover of The Quest of the Holy Grail

Graeme Davis Author Of Thor: Viking God of Thunder

From my list on mythology and its impact on the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

Graeme Davis has been fascinated by myth and folklore ever since he saw Ray Harryhausenā€™s creatures in Jason and the Argonauts as a child. While studying archaeology at Durham University, he became far too involved with a new game called Dungeons & Dragons and went on to a career in fantasy games. He has written game sourcebooks on various ancient cultures and their myths, and worked as a researcher and consultant on multiple video games with historical and mythological settings.

Graeme's book list on mythology and its impact on the world

Graeme Davis Why did Graeme love this book?

This is an early example of mythology being used for a deliberate purpose: in this case, the promotion of Christian chivalric virtue. Full of dreamlike images and allegories, it also had a great influence on early fantasy writing, even if those creating early fantasy tales had never read it. And then, of course, thereā€™s Monty Python.

By Unknown, Pauline M. Matarasso (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Quest of the Holy Grail as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Composed by an unknown author in early thirteenth-century France, The Quest of the Holy Grail is a fusion of Arthurian legend and Christian symbolism, reinterpreting ancient Celtic myth as a profound spiritual fable. It recounts the quest of the knights of Camelot - the simple Perceval, the thoughtful Bors, the rash Gawain, the weak Lancelot and the saintly Galahad - as they journey through danger and temptation to reach the elusive Holy Grail. But only one of them is judged worthy to see the mysteries within the sacred vessel, and look upon the ineffable. Enfused with tragic grandeur and anā€¦


Book cover of Romance of the Grail: The Magic and Mystery of Arthurian Myth

Heidi Wedd Author Of Wild Flower Walker: A Pilgrimage to Nature on the Bibbulmun Track

From Heidi's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Plant whisperer Flower lover Nature course facilitator Herbalist Homeopath

Heidi's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Heidi Wedd Why did Heidi love this book?

When wanting to understand the legend of Parzifal and the Grail, you canā€™t do better than Joseph Campbell. 

Not only does he retell the legendary story in an engaging way, but he draws on the different versions of it with ease and grace to bring more understanding, meaning, and context to its place in our own narrative.  

By Joseph Campbell, Evans Lansing Smith (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Romance of the Grail as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first collection of Joseph Campbellā€™s writings and lectures on the Arthurian romances of the Middle Ages, a central focus of his celebrated scholarship, edited and introduced by Arthurian scholar Evans Lansing Smith, PhD, the chair of Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Throughout his life, Joseph Campbell was deeply engaged in the study of the Grail Quests and Arthurian legends of the European Middle Ages. In this new volume of the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, editor Evans Lansing Smith collects Campbellā€™s writings and lectures on Arthurian legends, including his never-before-published masterā€™s thesis on Arthurian myth, Ā“A Study ofā€¦


Book cover of The Quest of the Holy Grail
Book cover of Romance of the Grail: The Magic and Mystery of Arthurian Myth

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