to more secular romances. Structure, history and synopsis The Lancelot-Grail Cycle can be divided into three main branches (some categorizations have either the Mort or both the Queste and the Mort regarded as separate sections independent of the Lancelot for the total of five branches). The last one (or the last three within the other system) was actually the first to be written (beginning c. 1210–1215). The first two, serving as prequels, joined them later (before c. 1235). Compared to the 12th-century tradition of Arthurian romances in verse, the original so-called "short version" of the cycle has a narrative structure closer to the modern novel, in which multiple events develop in parallel and intertwine through to the technique known as interlace, which is most prominent in the Queste. History of the Holy Grail The Vulgate Estoire del Saint Graal (Story of the Holy Grail) is the religious tale of early Christian Joseph of Arimathea and how his son Josephus brought the Holy Grail to Britain from the Holy Land. Set several centuries prior to the main story, it is derived from Robert de Boron's poem Joseph d'Arimathie with new characters and episodes added. History of Merlin The Vulgate Estoire de Merlin (Story of Merlin), or just the Vulgate Merlin, concerns Merlin and the early life of Arthur. It is a redaction of the Prose Merlin, itself a conversion of Robert de Boron's poem by the same title. It can be divided into: The Vulgate Merlin propre (Merlin Proper), also known as the Roman de Merlin (Novel of Merlin), directly based on Robert's Merlin. The Vulgate Suite du Merlin (Continuation of Merlin) / Suite Vulgate du Merlin / Vulgate-Suite, also known as Les Premiers Faits [du roi Arthur] (The First Acts of King Arthur) or the Vulgate Merlin Continuation, drawing from a variety of other sources, adds more of Arthur's and Gawain's early deeds in which they are being aided by Merlin, in particular in their early wars of internal struggles for power and against foreign enemies (Saxons and Romans), ending in Arthur's marriage with Guinevere and the restoration of peace, as well as the disappearance of Merlin caused by the Lady of the Lake. It is roughly four times longer than the first part. A distinctively alternate revision of the Suite du Merlin found in a single, unfinished manuscript (BNF fr. 337), written at the end of the 13th century,