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The Grail. Between 1190 and 1240, it formed the central theme of a series of literary works that spoke of, and appealed to, a new social class, that of the knights and warriors and the adventures they encountered on their travels. In recent decades, it unleashed Indiana Jones on one of his death-defying treasure hunts and was the central ingredient of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, one of the biggest bestselling novels ever.
For Richard Barber, in The Holy Grail: The History of a legend, “it is, in all its forms, a construct of the creative imagination”. However, for dozens of other authors, the Grail is not a literary invention, but a veritable treasure, out there, somewhere. Unfortunately, in general, studies trying to identify and trace the physical Grail have taken on flights of fancy. The Grail has been linked with countries from the Middle East to America, as well as with the persecuted Cathars and even extra-terrestrial beings. It has been labelled a code word for the Ark of the Covenant, after the Templars allegedly transported it from the Middle East to a new hiding place in France.

I recently visited the former South of France residence of the legendary Grail hunter Otto Rahn, only to discover that it was scheduled to be demolished, thus ending an era, and prompting this memorial.

I believe Otto Rahn (1904-1939) was a hero; the real Indiana Jones and prototype for Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon character. A tireless explorer, Rahn was a gifted researcher, committed to the quest like no one before, or since. Quite simply, he was a grail hunter extraordinaire.

Rahn was obsessed with the Cathars, and was convinced that their treasure remained hidden in the shadowy crevasses of the Pyrenees. His research led to Montségur, which he believed to be Munsalvaesche, the Mountain of Salvation of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s epic grail romance, Parzival. Not surprisingly, the entire region around Montségur soon became Rahn’s esoteric playground.

Дата: 25? февраля, 1939 (менее, чем за три недели до смерти)

Gruppenfuhrer!

Leider muss ich Sie bitten, bei dem Reichsfuhrer-SS meine sofortige Entlassung aus der Schutzstaffel zu befuerworten. Die Grunde, die mich zu diesem Entschluss und dieser Bitte treiben, sind so schwerwiegender Natur, dass ich Sie Ihnen nur mundlich darlegen kann. Zu diesem Zweck werde ich diesen Tagen nach Berlin kommen und mich bei Ihnen melden.

Heil Hitler!

Otto Rahn,

SS-obersturmfuhrer

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Его почерк просто ужасен))

pulp adventure based on the supposed local exploartions of Nazi archaeologist Otto Rahn

Tom travelled up from Hull, the nightmarish howling of those mysterious black dogs still echoing around his mind. What was Eros playing at this time? What had been the meaning of that bloody sigil scrawled onto the turret wall? Tom’s mind raced and clattered almost as if in time with the train. By the time the carriages pulled into Greenock he was no nearer the truth.
Tom was met on the platform by one of the agencies local operatives, Marianne, a member of the Free French. She in turn had directed him to the parish priest in Saint John’s Port Glasgow. After a friendly dram, the priest told him where to meet his next contact, the Bogle Stone; a huge rock perched at the top of the town, believed by locals to be haunted by an evil spirit.
The rain lashed down on Port Glasgow, as Tom approached the stone. A shadow moved from behind the rock.
“Tom Crow?” asked the shadow.