More likely "Graal" was derived from "Grails", since the English word grail came from the Old French graal. And from http://openjdk.java.net/projects/graal/ htt

More likely "Graal" was derived from "Grails", since the English word grail came from the Old French graal. And from http://openjdk.java.net/projects/graal/ http://openjdk.java.net/projects/graal/ : "The aim of this project is to expose VM functionality via Java APIs. Namely, we want to make it feasible to write in Java a dynamic compiler and interpreter for a language runtime. [...] Building on the compiler, we aim to develop a multi-language interpreter framework. Java will be just one member in the family of supported languages. The use of partial evaluation will allow the framework to deliver competitive performance." This compiler and framework sounds like an attempt to provide a foundation for more Groovy/Grails-style ecosystems to be built on the JVM.