Over the following 50 years multiple different poets attempted to continue the story begun by Chrétien.[1][6]
First Continuation
The First Continuation added 9,500 to 19,600 lines (depending on the manuscripts, with three known distinct versions) to the romance.[1] It was once attributed to Wauchier de Denain, and is sometimes called the Pseudo-Wauchier Continuation for that reason (another title is Continuation-Gauvain). It exists in a short, a mixed, and a long version; the short was the earliest and the most loosely linked to Chrétien's work, while the mixed is considered to be the latest, drawing on both earlier versions. Roger Sherman Loomis believed that the short version, which was added to an existing Perceval manuscript ten or twenty years later, represents a version of the story that was originally independent of Chrétien's.[7]
The First Continuation picks up the narrative of Gawain's adventures where Chrétien left off and focused on the adventures of Gawain and several other knights of the Arthurian universe. All versions include six "branches" (major episodes), more or less connected, which may have been inspired by independent tales pre-existing the composition of this continuation: "Guiromelant" which ends the episode begun in Chrétien's book as Gawain, his mother and grandmother are reunited with Arthur, and Gawain's sister Clarissant marries Guiromelant; "Brun de Branlant" which tells of a war of King Arthur against a rebellious vassal; "Caradoc" which tells the story of Caradoc Briefbras, an illegitimate son of the enchanter Eliavrés and King Caradoc's wife (and Arthur's niece) Ysaive; "Castle Orgueilleux" which tells of a tournament between the people of this castle and those of King Arthur; "Gawain at the castle of the Grail"; and "Guerrehet", the first known story of Gareth. As this continuation does not return to the adventures of Perceval and as Gawain does not pass the test of the Castle of the Grail, it does not propose an actual end for the text of Chrétien.
In the long version, Gawain opposes the marriage and rides off in anger, reaching the Grail Castle. After further adventures he rejoins Arthur (and the long version rejoins the short) and helps him besiege a rebel's castle. The long version inserts several additional episodes in the thread of the text, especially in the first branch and the third. Some of these episodes revisit the events of The Story of the Grail. Some medievalists have seen in this a desire by the editor of this version to correct the shortcomings of the short version, which leaves out Gawain fulfilling his promise to rescue the damsel of Montesclaire, winning the Sword with the Strange Straps (which once belonged to Judas Maccabeus), and bringing back the Bleeding Lance to the sons of the King of Escavalon.
The First Continuation is notable for its cavalier approach to the narrative agenda set by Chrétien. In particular it includes a seemingly independent romance, which in the long version spans over 6,000 lines: the Livre de Caradoc, starring Arthur's knight Caradoc, which explains how the hero got his nickname "Briefbras", or "Short Arm".[8] All versions of the First Continuation describe Gawain's visit to a Grail castle unlike Chrétien's, a scene that introduces the motif of a broken sword that can only be mended by the hero destined to heal the Fisher King and his lands. Gawain is not this hero and he fails. The final episode recounts the misadventures of Gawain's brother Guerrehet who is humiliated by a dwarf knight before avenging himself and a mysteriously murdered stranger. In the closing scene, he returns to court asleep on a swan boat.
Second Continuation
Shortly after the First Continuation was completed, another author added 13,000 lines to the total. This Second Continuation, also known as just the Perceval Continuation, has been sometimes attributed to Wauchier de Denain as well. Making extensive use of motifs and themes drawn from Chrétien and the First Continuation, its story has Perceval returning to the Grail Castle and repairing his sword, but a hairline fissure that remains in the blade symbolizes his still-flawed psyche.[1]
Third Continuation
The Third Continuation, also known as Manessier's Continuation, added 10,000 lines and an ending.[1] Manessier wrapped up many of the loose ends from the previous authors, and includes several episodes from other works, including the "Joie de la Cour" adventure from Chrétien's Erec and Enide[9] and Calogrenant's death as told in the Queste del Saint Graal section of the Lancelot-Grail cycle.[10] The tale ends with the Fisher King's death and Perceval's ascension to his throne. After seven peaceful years, Perceval goes off to live as a hermit in the woods, where he dies shortly after. Manessier proposes that he took the Grail, the Lance, and the silver plate with him to Heaven.[1]
Fourth Continuation
The Fourth Continuation, or Gerbert's Continuation, added 17,000 lines.[1] The author, usually considered to be Gerbert de Montreuil, composed his version independently of Manessier, and probably around the same time. He tried to tie up loose ends left by Chrétien and the other continuations and creates his own additions, notably a complete Tristan episode. Gerbert's Continuation seems not to have enjoyed great popularity; it survives in only two manuscripts, one of which is heavily damaged, as an interpolation between the Second and Manessier Continuations. It is likely Gerbert wrote an ending for the story, but it has been excised from both surviving copies to facilitate its position between the two other continuations.
Elucidation
The Elucidation is an anonymous Old French poem of the early 13th century, which was written to serve as a prologue to Chrétien's Perceval. The poem counts 484 lines and cites one Master Blihis as a source for its contents.[11]
Bliocadran
Another prologue to Perceval consisted of 800 verses preserved in two 13-century manuscripts. In the poem, Perceval's father (who is left unnamed in Chrétien's original) is called Bliocadran.[12]
Perlesvaus
Perlesvaus, also called Li Hauz Livres du Graal (The High History of the Holy Grail), is an Old French Arthurian romance dating to the first decade of the 13th century. It purports to be a continuation of Perceval, the Story of the Grail, but it has been called the least canonical Arthurian tale because of its striking differences from other versions. It survives in three manuscripts, two fragments, and two 16th-century printings.[13][14]
