Prophecy of Melkin

The Prophecy of Melkin is a medieval text about an alleged hidden grave of Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury in England, containing the Holy Grail. It is contained in a local chronicle (Cronica sive antiquitates Glastoniensis ecclesiae) written by John of Glastonbury in the mid-14th century, who attributes it to an alleged Celtic bard named Melkin, said to have lived "before Merlin". It is thought to have been created in the context of legends that linked Joseph of Arimathea with the mythical Avalon, Glastonbury and the court of King Arthur, which had arisen in England in the mid-13th century.

Extant sources
The legend may have been partly based on an older narrative of how the discovery of the alleged grave of King Arthur at Glastonbury, in c. 1191, had been foretold by an ancient Welsh bard, mentioned by Gerald of Wales around 1193.

Later references to Melkin are found in a chronicle of John Hardyng in the mid-15th century, and in writings of John Leland in the 16th century. Leland claimed that Melkin was a famous and erudite ancient British writer and a bard, of Welsh origin, and that he was the author of a "History of Britain" (Historiola de Rebus Britannicis), of which Leland had seen ancient fragments in Glastonbury. Other 16th- und 17th-century writers such as John Bale and John Pitts placed Melkin in the mid-6th century, the time associated with King Arthur.

It has been conjectured that the name of Melkin may have been based on that of the 6th-century Welsh king Maelgwn of Gwynedd, who also had a reputation as a bard and prophet.

Text
A modern English translation of the Latin text of the prophecy, by J. A. Robinson, runs as follows: Amid these Joseph in marble Of Arimathea by name Hath found perpetual sleep And he lies on a two-forked line Next the south corner of an oratory Fashioned of wattles For the adoring of a mighty Virgin

In his sarcophagus Two cruets, white and silver Filled with blood and sweat Of the Prophet Jesus When his sarcophagus Shall be found entire, intact In time to come, it shall be seen

And shall be open unto all the world Thenceforth nor water nor the dew of heaven Shall fail the dwellers in that ancient isle For a long while before The day of judgment in Josaphat Open shall these things be And declared to living men.