Galahad, << GAL uh had >>, Sir, was the noblest and most virtuous knight in the legends of King Arthur’s Round Table in medieval Britain. Galahad first appears in the Vulgate Cycle, a group of French prose Arthurian romances dating from about 1215. He is primarily a figure in the quest of the Holy Grail, when he arrives at Arthur’s court and sits in the Siege Perilous. This seat was reserved for the knight so pure that he would someday find the Holy Grail, often depicted as the cup or dish used by Jesus at the Last Supper. See Round Table.
Galahad was the illegitimate son of Sir Lancelot, one of the greatest knights of the Round Table, and King Pelles’s daughter, sometimes known as Elaine of Corbenic. Galahad was also supposedly the last descendant of Joseph of Arimathea, a follower of Christ.
On the feast of Pentecost, Galahad and other knights of the Round Table saw a brief vision of the Holy Grail. The Grail appeared suspended in the air and covered with a cloth. This vision stirred Galahad and other knights to search for the castle where the Grail was kept. After a number of years and many adventures, Galahad and several other knights found the castle. For the story of their search, see Holy Grail (The search for the Grail).
The story of Galahad also appears in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur (1470). Galahad became popular in later English literature largely because of his depiction in a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The poem includes the famous lines, “My strength is as the strength of ten/Because my heart is pure.”
