Was the Holy Grail guarded by the Templars?
This was first suggested by Wolfram von Eschenbach in the beginning of the 13th century, is featured in Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and has since become part of grail lore. It should be noted, however, that Wolfram uses the term templeisen, which favors the translation “templer” (temple dweller) instead of Templar. We shall see at a later point that Isidor’s “etymologies” were widely read during the Middle Ages, and that poets like Chrtien and Wolfram took their choice of words quite seriously. It would be wise not to underestimate these so-called “poets” either! In a world without books, newspapers, TV, and Internet, these traveling bards were the information network of their time. A good example is Wolfram’s ambiguous choice of l’aschantiure as an etymological key to identify his informant Kyot. Books have been written about this mysterious figure, because Wolfram credits him for having discovered the grail secrets. The popular translation into the French “le chanteur” (singer or troubad
