1. also Parzival, Perlesvaus, Percyvell, Parsifal, Perceval, Percivale, and possibly the early Welsh Peredur.
As the French Perceval has no real meaning (possibly "pierce the valley"--as to what that means, one can take it as either sexual, or an initiate into the mysteries), it is possible that the hero's original name was the Welsh Peredur--"Hard Spear"?
Perceval is the original hero of the Grail quest, and in later versions, where he is replaced by Galahad, he still is always a part of the elect few who achieve the Grail. He is always a naive figure, often raised in the woods by his widowed mother and is quite alone in the world. He is accidentally exposed to the real world when a group of knights come riding through his backyard, and he decides to go off and become a Knight of the Round Table. From here he has a series of adventures, falls in love, and ends up in the Waste Land at the mysterious court of his uncle, the Fisher King, wherein he sees the Grail and the Bleeding Spear. He foolishly says nothing about what he sees and leaves. He has some more adventures, and in some versions, is able to return and heal the king, restore the land, and become the new grail guardian.
Perceval is the Great Fool of myth and folklore.
2. The last Romance ever written by Chretien de Troyes, it is the first text to give the Grail quest in the form we now know it, and (I think) is the first use of the word "graal" or grail. He attributes his material to a book owned by Philip of Flanders, cousin to Henry II of England. Begun around 1174 and left unfininshed in 1191 (presumably by Chretien's death), it has been completed by several different continuations:
4 direct continuations:
- pseudo-Wauchier: "Gawain continuation"
- Wauchier: "the Perceval continuation" both before 1200. Second continues the first
- Manessier: ca.1214-27 continues the second
- Gerbert de Montreuil: ca.1226-30 continues the second
Perlesvaus: anonymous continuation, ca 1220