and Ceridwen's cauldron of inspiration", but especially the "Cauldron of the Head of Hades" (Cauldron of Yr Echwyd), which is "the object of Arthur's quest in ... "The Spoils of Annwn" (Preiddau Annwn)". In the "Preface" to the 1955 edition of A Glastonbury Romance Powys describes the Grail as referring "us to things beyond itself and to things beyond words", and that it is "older than Christianity", "older than the orbits of the stars", "a symbol of beyond-life", a symbol of "a lapping up of one perfect drop of noon-day happiness". For Geard it is "a fragment of the Absolute", "a little nucleus of eternity". Fisher King In Arthurian legend, the Fisher King also known as the Wounded King or Maimed King is the last in a long bloodline charged with keeping the Holy Grail. Versions of the original story vary widely, but he is always wounded in the legs or groin and incapable of standing. All he is able to do is fish in a small boat on the river near his castle, Corbenic, and wait for some noble who might be able to heal him by asking a certain question. In later versions, knights travel from many lands to try to heal the Fisher King, but only the chosen can accomplish the feat. This is achieved by Percival alone in the earlier stories; he is joined by Galahad and Bors in the later ones.. The Fisher King appears first in Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail in the late 12th century, but the character's roots may lie in Celtic mythology. He may be derived more or less directly from the figure of Brân the Blessed in the Mabinogion. In the Second Branch, Bran has a cauldron that can resurrect the dead (albeit imperfectly; those thus revived cannot speak) which he gives to the king of Ireland as a wedding gift for him and Bran's sister Branwen. Later, Bran wages war on the Irish and is wounded in the foot or leg, and the cauldron is destroyed. He asks his followers to sever his head and take it back to Britain, and his head continues talking and keeps them company on their trip. The group lands on the island of Gwales, where they spend 80 years in a castle of joy and abundance, but finally they leave and bury Bran's head in London. This story has