Editing Lancelot (section)

===Elaine, Galahad and the Grail===
{{Further|Elaine of Corbenic|Galahad|Holy Grail}}

[[File:Seduction of Lancelot.jpg|thumb|Seduction of Lancelot in the ''Livre de Lancelot du Lac'' (c. 1401–1425)|alt=]]

Princess [[Elaine of Corbenic]], daughter of the [[Fisher King]], also falls in love with him but is more successful than the others. With the help of magic, Lady Elaine tricks Lancelot into believing that she is Guinevere, and thus makes him sleep with her by deception.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mike Ashley|first=Michael Ashley|title=The Mammoth Book of King Arthur|year=2005|page=582|publisher=Running Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ni119Nfo_QEC&pg=PA582|isbn=978-0-7867-1566-4}}</ref> The ensuing pregnancy results in the birth of his son [[Galahad]], whom Elaine will send off to grow up without a father. Galahad later emerges as the [[Merlin]]-prophesied Good Knight, destined for great deeds, who will find the Holy Grail.

But Guinevere learns of their affair, and becomes furious when she finds that Elaine has made Lancelot sleep with her by magic trickery for a second time and in Guinevere's own castle. She blames Lancelot and banishes him from Camelot. Broken by her reaction, Lancelot goes mad again. He flees and vanishes, wandering the wilderness for (either two or five) years. During this time, he is searched for by the remorseful Guinevere and the others. Eventually, he arrives back at [[Corbenic]], where he is recognised by Elaine. Lancelot, shown the Holy Grail through a veil, is cured of his madness, and then chooses to live with her on a remote isle, where he is known incognito as the Wicked Knight (''Chevalier Malfait'', the French form also used by Malory). After ten years pass, Lancelot is finally found by Perceval and [[Sir Ector|Ector]], who meanwhile have been sent to look for him by Guinevere (the prose ''Lancelot'' narrates the adventures of them and various other knights in the Quest for Lancelot).

[[File:Adoubement de Galaad.png|thumb|Lancelot knighting his son Gilead ([[Galahad]]) accompanied by [[Sir Lionel|Lionel]] and Bohort ([[Bors]]) in the [[Vulgate Cycle]] (BNF fr. 343 ''Queste del Saint Graal'')]]

Upon his return to the court of Camelot, Lancelot takes part in the great Grail Quest. The quest is initiated by Lancelot's estranged son, the young teenage Galahad, having prevailed over his father in a duel during his own dramatic arrival at Camelot, among other acts that proved him as the most perfect knight. Following further adventures, during which he experiences defeat and humiliation, Lancelot himself is again allowed only a glimpse of the Grail because he is an [[adultery|adulterer]] and was distracted from faith in God by earthly honours that came through his knightly prowess. Instead, it is his spiritually-pure son who ultimately achieves the Grail. Galahad's also virgin companions, Lancelot's cousin Bors the Younger and Pellinore's son Perceval, then witness his [[ascension (mystical)|ascension]] into the Heaven. As noted by [[George Brown (medievalist)|George Brown]], while "Galahad is the typological descendant of [[Solomon]] through [[Joseph of Arimathea]], Lancelot is equivalent to [[David]], the warrior-sinner."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://web.stanford.edu/class/engl165b/sangral.htm|title=Malory's Sangrail|website=web.stanford.edu}}</ref>