A grail, wondrous but not explicitly " holy ", first appears in Perceval le Gallois, an unfinished romance by Chrétien de Troyes: it is a processional salver used to serve at a feast.

* Verses by Rigaut de Barbezieux, a late 12th or early 13th century Provençal troubador, where mention is made of Perceval, the lance, and the Grail (" Like Perceval when he lived, who stood amazed in contemplation, so that he was quite unable to ask what purpose the lance and grail served "-" Attressi con Persavaus el temps que vivia, que s ' esbait d ' esgarder tant qu ' anc non saup demandar de que servia la lansa ni-l grazaus ").

The holy grail among cigarette companies is the quest for a cancer free cigarette.

Although a stable rampant AI is the " holy grail of cybernetics " it is not really known if a rampant AI can become stable.

As agriculture is absent and impossible on the Riverworld, the grails are vital to an individual's survival ( though if they do die, they are resurrected with a new grail ).

A grail is genetically coded to its owner, thus it is impossible for anyone else to open one not coded to them.

Nevertheless, " grail slavery ," the practice in which a person is held captive and the contents of their grail, after being retrieved by the owner, are taken by force by the captor, is not uncommon.

Lancelot found a great, winding staircase, and climbed it until he found a room which was hot as fire and very surreal, and saw a veiled version of the grail wrapped in samite, a heavy silk popular in the Middle Ages, which is mentioned several times throughout the Idylls.

In this story, which introduces the Grail motif in medieval literature, Perceval is the sole seeker of the grail.

The 7tm binding, manufactured by German company Rezotec GmbH, is a commercially successful design that offers " holy grail " features.

This is called a " minimal spanning switch ," and managing it was the holy grail of the Bell Labs ' investigations.

The subject is an illusive one that has been approached tentatively through the centuries -- the mystery of the holy grail ... Occasional pandering to modern taste weakens the fundamental values, perhaps, but insures the larger market.

A side objective commonly appearing in the series is the acquisition of a powerful object called the " ultimate artifact ," ( Heroes I and II ), grail ( III and IV ) or Tear of Asha ( V ), buried under a random tile on the map.

The holy grail of Arthurian legend is sometimes referred to as a " cauldron ", although traditionally the grail is thought of as a hand-held cup rather than the large pot that the word " cauldron " usually is used to mean.

Perceval is the earliest recorded account of what was to become the Quest for the Holy Grail but describes only " a " golden grail ( a serving dish ) in the central scene and does not call it " holy " but treats a lance, appearing at the same time, as equally significant.

Peredur son of Efrawg is associated with Chrétien de Troyes ' unfinished romance Perceval, the Story of the Grail, but it contains many striking differences from that work, most notably the absence of the French poem's central object, the grail.

Chretien's story attracted many continuators, translators and interpreters in the later 12th and early 13th centuries, including Wolfram von Eschenbach, who makes the grail a great precious stone that fell from the sky.

To achieve this aim has been a “ holy grail ” for many years for inventors and car company research departments alike.

A perfect golf swing is regarded as the " holy grail " of the sport, and there are many approaches as to how to achieve " perfection ".

The release itself is the holy grail of Jamiroquai releases for many fans, since two more tracks aside from the album version appear on the promo.

An uncut release with good picture quality, the original audio track, and the original aspect ratio is considered a " holy grail " by many Hong Kong cinema fans.

Another belief held by the group that Gardner found amusing was that a lamp hanging from one of the ceilings was the disguised holy grail of Arthurian legend.

Thus, understanding protein folding is critical to understanding what a protein does and how it works, and is considered a " holy grail " of computational biology.

He produced numerous works of scholarship in his own right, including Studies on the legend of the holy grail, with special reference to the hypothesis of its Celtic origin and his collaboration with Meyer on The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal, to the Land of the Living.

Other artists, including George Frederic Watts and William Dyce also portrayed grail subjects.

The conditions for victory vary depending on the map, including conquest of all enemies and towns, collection of a certain amount of a resource, or finding the grail artifact.

Perceval introduced an enthusiastic Europe to the grail and all versions of the story, including those that made the grail " Holy ", probably derive directly or indirectly from it.

This had been the doctrine and, indeed, the ‘ holy grail ’ of foresters all over the world for more or less two centuries.

In dnd, players create a character and then venture into the multi-level Whisenwood Dungeon ( a portmanteau of the authors ' last names ) in search of two ultimate treasures: the grail and the orb.

It was called the holy grail of comic books as not only was it the first appearance of Superman, it was also one of only two copies known to exist in the 8. 0 grade.

The earliest versions of the grail romance, however, do not call the grail " holy " or mention anything about blood, Joseph or Glastonbury.

In the earliest story about him he is connected to the grail.

In other versions the knight Perceval fails to ask the king about the grail, so he fails to cure the Wasteland.

He stays with this holy man for fourteen days and learns about the hidden meaning of life and the true meaning of the grail, and also is informed that his mother is the sister of the Grail King.

Through his loneliness and through his yearning for the grail and for Condwiramurs he puts himself outside the world of Arthur.

Grace's fame has endured and his large beard in particular remains familiar ; for example, Monty Python and the Holy Grail uses his image as " the face of God " during the sequence in which God sends the knights out on their quest for the grail.

Teeter also proposes and experimentally tests a mechanism for the reported uses and ceremonies associated with these rituals, as well as accounting for the mechanism of the Holy grail and similar bountiful religious artifacts mentioned in historical references.

Moreover, Taylor ( 2001: p. 148 ) conveys the salience of this magical literary identity and contextualizes by making reference to western esotericism, Holy grail, quest, occult secrets, initiations and the Theosophists:

Chrétien refers to his object not as " The Grail " but as " a grail " ( un graal ), showing the word was used, in its earliest literary context, as a common noun.

Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon has the grail as one of four objects symbolizing the four Elements: the Grail itself ( water ), the sword Excalibur ( fire ), a dish ( earth ), and a spear or wand ( air ).

In Chrétien de Troyes ' Perceval, the Story of the Grail, he meets the crippled Fisher King and sees a grail, not yet identified as " holy ", but he fails to ask a question that would have healed the injured king.

In his search for the grail, Merlin suspects something is afoul in Camelot that caused the Grail to depart.