That night, as the knights feasted, there was a tremendous storm outside.  Thunder crashed overhead and lightning flooded the hall with light.  The knights were silenced, and into that silence and strange light came a maiden bearing a vessel covered with a white cloth.  Each knight drank from that vessel.  and then the maiden left, and the unearthly light disappeared. 

"Wht can this mean?" asked King Arthur.

"That vessel was the Holy Grail." said Sir Galahad.   "I will not rest until I have seen it uncovered."

The other knights agreed, "We must find the Grail, which has been lost for so long." 

King Arthur was reluctant to let them go, for he foresaw that this was no ordinary quest, and that many of his knights must fail and perhaps die along the way.  He understood why Merlin had told him that the day the Siege Perilous was filled would be the day that the Felloswhip of the Round Table would begin to crumble.

But the knights set out in all directions, each following his own way.  Their adventures on this, the greatest of all quests, would easily fill a book on their own.  But most of these tales tell of knights who lost their way and became embroiled in fights and love affairs.  The quest for the Holy Grail was not for worldly men such as these, but only for the pure in heart.

Of all the knights of the Round Table, three rode together, free from rivalry, greed, and ambition searching for the Grail with all their hearts and minds.  The were Sir Perceval, Sir Bors, and Sir Galahad.  And behind them rode Sir Lancelot, begging God's forgiveness for falling in love with Guinevere, Arthut's queen.

Sir Perceval, Sir Bors, and Sir Galahad arrived at a seashore and found a magic ship waiting for them.  They stepped on board, and at once the ship set sail.  It took them to the castle of Carbonek, where Sir Galaha's grandfather. King Pelles, rules over a blighted kingdom from his bed of pain.

In King Plelles's bedchamber, the strange, intense light came again.  Two maidens appeared. The first was carrying the Holy Grail, as before, but this time it was uncovered. And it was clear that it was the source of the light.  The other maiden carried a spear that seemed to weep blood from its tip in great drops, which the first maiden caught in the Holy Grail.

"What does this mean?" asked Sir Galahad.

"The spear is the weapon that pierced Our Lord's side as He hung on the Cross. The vessel is the Holy Grail, in which were caught the drops of blood that fell from His wound."

Sir Galahad took the spear and touched King Pelles with its tip.  At once the King was made well again, and his blighted kingdom began to bloom once more.  Then they all went into the chapel and celebrated Mass, but only Sir Galahad drank from the uncovered Holy Grail, for he alone of all the Knights of the Round Table was utterly pure in thought and deed.  When he had done so, he seemed to fill with light until he became one with it.  Then he, the maidens, the spear, and the Grail itself disappeared from the world of men forever.  Sir Bors and Sir Perceval came out of the chapel and found Sir Lancelot  lying exhausted on the ground.  Strength of will had carried him thus far, but, despite repenting all his sins, he was not worthy to enter the chapel and see the Grail uncovered --even though he was the greatest knight who ever bore arms.