Article Outline
Lancelot, knight in Arthurian legend, who falls in love with Queen Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur. Their love affair is a major cause of the ruin of Arthur’s court at Camelot and the destruction of the Round Table community, Arthur’s inner circle of knights.
Lancelot is the son of King Ban of Brittany, but when he is a child, the fairy Vivienne, known as the Lady of the Lake, steals him. After Lancelot reaches manhood, the Lady of the Lake takes him to Arthur’s court, where he becomes a knight. Lancelot and Queen Guinevere fall in love, and while under the spell of a potion, Lancelot lies with the lady Elaine, thinking that she is Guinevere. Elaine bears a son, Galahad. Arthur discovers Lancelot and Guinevere’s love affair when Agravain, brother of the knight Gawain, reveals it. Arthur’s system of justice then demands that he condemn Guinevere to death.
Lancelot escapes with Guinevere to his own castle. Arthur and Gawain lay siege, forcing Lancelot to return the queen and flee. Arthur and Gawain then pursue Lancelot to Brittany. During the king's absence, his illegitimate son Mordred seizes the kingdom and attempts to marry Guinevere. Arthur then returns and drives Mordred back into the west of England. In their final battle on Salisbury Plain, Arthur kills Mordred but is grievously wounded and is taken away to the island of Avalon. Lancelot then returns to England, but after finding that Guinevere has withdrawn to an abbey, he himself takes religious vows and has visions confirming his destiny in heaven. Lancelot and Elaine’s son, Galahad, eventually completes the quest for the Holy Grail, the sacred cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper.
French poet Chrétien de Troyes introduced Lancelot in his romance Lancelot, ou le chevalier de la charrette (Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart, 1170?). In Le morte d’Arthur (The Death of Arthur, 1469-1470), English writer Sir Thomas Malory drew together the many strands of Arthurian legend into one cohesive story and devoted much attention to Lancelot’s role. In his series of poems Idylls of the King (1859-1885), English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson concentrates on Lancelot’s love for Guinevere and the trouble that it brings to the kingdom. Lancelot also plays an important role in the 20th-century works Lancelot (1920) by American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson and The Once and Future King (1938-1958) by English author T. H. White. American writer Walker Percy adapted the character to modern times in his 1977 novel Lancelot.
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