Lancelot, << LAN suh lot, >> Sir, was a great knight in medieval legends of King Arthur’s Round Table and the central figure in several romances. Lancelot won fame for his bravery and skill in combat and was Arthur’s favorite knight. But he had a love affair with Queen Guenevere, Arthur’s wife, that led to his downfall. The scandal that resulted from their affair contributed to the breakup of the Round Table.
Lancelot was the son of Ban, the king of Brittany. The Lady of the Lake, a woman with magic powers, took Lancelot as an infant to her castle at the bottom of a lake. After he reached manhood, the Lady of the Lake brought him to Arthur’s court. Lancelot had a brief affair with Elaine of Astolat, a British princess. They had an illegitimate son, Galahad, who became a famous knight of the Round Table.
Along with many other knights, Lancelot searched for the Holy Grail, which is often depicted as the cup or dish that Jesus Christ used at the Last Supper. Because he was morally imperfect, Lancelot did not find the Holy Grail. But his son, Sir Galahad, did find it.
Lancelot and Guenevere had fallen in love at Arthur’s court. After Arthur discovered their affair, the lovers fled to Lancelot’s castle, Joyous Garde. Lancelot killed several of his fellow knights after they found him with the queen. Later, Lancelot returned Guenevere to Arthur and left Britain. Arthur pursued Lancelot to France but went back to Britain after learning that Modred had seized his kingdom. According to various accounts, Modred was either Arthur’s nephew or his son. Lancelot returned to Britain after Arthur’s death and learned that Guenevere had become a nun. He became a religious hermit and died shortly after Guenevere did.
Lancelot first appeared as an important character in a French romance written about A.D. 1180 by Chretien de Troyes. Sir Thomas Malory, an English writer, gave the fullest account of Lancelot in English in Le Morte Darthur (about 1470). Lancelot was also a chief character in Idylls of the King, a series of poems by the English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson.
