8. King Arthur Believed the Grail Was In England, Not the Holy Lands
One might at first expect that King Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail might take place mainly in the Holy Lands, seeing as that was the place where Jesus Himself lived, died, was buried, and rose from the dead. However, in virtually all of the stories about Arthur, the knights of the round table, and the grail, he is searching for it in England. There is almost an unspoken precondition that the grail is hidden somewhere in England, not in the Holy Lands. There is, of course, the legend about Joseph of Arimathea bringing the grail to England, but that legend probably emerged after the grail quests became a part of the Arthurian legends.
What is surprising is that the Joseph of Arimathea legend says that he landed at Glastonbury, where he became a missionary and built the first Christian church in England. Arthurian legends maintain that King Arthur was buried at Avon, a site that was later identified as Glastonbury. One possible explanation is that the grail quests served as a means of legitimizing the divine kingship of Arthur, showing that his reign came from God. Another possible answer is that these legends drew heavily from Celtic stories that already existed in the area. There is no historical reason to believe that the grail may have arrived on the shores of England, at least not until later in the Middle Ages.