We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Literature

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

Who is Lancelot?

Tricia Christensen
By
Updated: May 23, 2024
Views: 17,574
Share

Lancelot is considered in many versions of Arthurian tales to be the best and most skilled of the Knights of the Round Table. He is something of a latecomer to tales about Arthur. He is not mentioned by Wolfram von Eschenbach or Geoffrey of Monmouth, but tales of him seem to arise particularly from French Arthurian legends.

By the time Mallory rewrites the Arthurian cycle with approval from the Roman Catholic Church, Lancelot is one of the central characters, and the main reason for the split in the Round Table that ends with Arthur’s death.

According to legend, Lancelot is the son of King Ban and cousin to Sir Lionel and Sir Bors. After spending several years proving himself as a knight, he comes to King Arthur’s court and immediately falls in love with Queen Guinevere. Their adulterous liaison will ultimately prove Arthur’s undoing, as the Round Table becomes split between support for Lancelot and the Queen, and support for Arthur.

Lancelot is also the father of Galahad, the last in the Arthurian cycle to seek and find the Grail. In fact, Lancelot’s guilt at being barred from the sight of the Grail because of his adultery is often a matter of interest. In many versions, Lancelot parenting Galahad is often the result of trickery. Galahad rescues a maiden named Elaine who immediately falls in love with him. She conspires with her maid to send him a note, which implies he will meet the queen for a liaison.

Since it is dark, Lancelot readily makes love to the supposed queen, and is devastated to find he has made love to Elaine instead. This type of story is often surprising to the modern reader, because it is barely credible. Plus it places the woman in the place of temptress and trickster, which is not very flattering to females in general.

In some versions, Guinevere finds out about this affair and bans Lancelot from the court. However, they do reconcile, and Arthur’s nephews, Gawain, Agravaine, and Arthur’s son Mordred discover them. This forces Arthur into a decision to have the queen burned alive.

Lancelot rescues her, but unfortunately slays Gareth, Gawain’s youngest brother. This makes Gawain his enemy, and allows Mordred to slay the king. It is thought Lancelot became a hermit after Arthur’s death, and lived out his life in obscurity.

Though Lancelot does not capture the imagination much in early Arthurian legends, he becomes probably the most identifiable Knight of the Round Table, in treatments of the legends following the Middle Ages. Tennyson, in particular, invested Lancelot with nobility and tragedy.

Perhaps the most interesting modern interpretation of Lancelot is in T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. In White’s version, Lancelot calls himself “le chevalier mal fet” or ill-made knight. He is depicted as extremely ugly, antithetical to most portrayals of him. He is also intensely conflicted in his love for both Arthur and Guinevere. Being unable to perform miracles after he begins his illicit relations with the queen devastates him.

Other modern versions of Lancelot that are fascinating in interpretation include Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon and the 2004 film King Arthur. For mature audiences only, Monty Python and the Holy Grail lampoons Lancelot with great glee.

Share
Language & Humanities is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Tricia Christensen
By Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a Language & Humanities contributor, Tricia Christensen is based in Northern California and brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her writing. Her wide-ranging interests include reading, writing, medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion, all of which she incorporates into her informative articles. Tricia is currently working on her first novel.
Discussion Comments
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a Language & Humanities contributor,...
Learn more
Share
https://www.languagehumanities.org/who-is-lancelot.htm
Copy this link
Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.