called in French "gradalis" or "gradale", wherein costly
meats with their sauce are wont to be set before rich folk
by degrees ("gradatim") one morsel after another in divers
orders, and in the vulgar speech it is called "graalz", for
that it is grateful and acceptable to him that eateth
therein, as well for that which containeth the victual, for
that haply it is of silver or other precious material, as
for the contents thereof, to wit, the manifold courses of
costly meats. I have not been able to find this history
written in Latin, but it is in the possession of certain
noblemen written in French only, nor, as they say, can it
easily be found complete. This, however, I have not
hitherto been able to obtain from any person so as to read
it with attention. As soon as I can do so, I will translate
into Latin such passages as are more useful and more likely
to be true." (9)

A comparison of this passage with the Introduction to the present
work (10) leaves no doubt that Helinand here refers to this "Book
of the Graal", which cannot therefore be of a later date than
that at which he made this entry in his "Chronicle". At the same
time, the difficulty he experienced in obtaining even the loan of
the volume shows that the work had at that time been only lately
written, as in the course of a few years, copies of a book so
widely popular must have been comparatively common. The date,
therefore, at which Helinand's "Chronicle" was written determines
approximately that of the "Book of the Graal".

In its present state, the "Chronicle" comes to an end with a
notice of the capture of Constantinople by the French in 1204,