Editing Knights of the Round Table (section)

=== Arthur the Less ===
[[File:Armes imaginaires de Arthur Le Petit - variante 4.1.svg|thumb|upright|left|The arms of Arthur le Petit]]

'''Arthur the Less''' or '''Arthur the Little''' (''Arthur le Petit'') is an illegitimate son of King Arthur ("Arthur the Great") found only in the [[Post-Vulgate Cycle]]. After Arthur forces himself on a daughter of a knight named Tanas, he orders the child to be named either Guenevere or Arthur the Less.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ufgmo5uY14C&pg=PA221 |title = Lancelot-Grail: The post-Vulgate Quest for the Holy Grail & the post-Vulgate Death of Arthur|isbn = 9781843842330|last1 = Lacy|first1 = Norris J.|last2 = Asher|first2 = Martha|year = 2010| publisher=Boydell & Brewer }}</ref> Having been abandoned and raised by a foster mother, the boy appears at Arthur's court on the eve of the [[Grail Quest]] when his arrival is miraculously prophesied at the [[Round Table]]. He is knighted by [[Tristan]] and soon proves to be superior to even [[Gawain]] and [[Percival]], defeating both of them. However, he is publicly known only as the '''Unknown Knight''', keeping his lineage secret as to not shame his father with the story of his mother's rape. Loyal to King Arthur (who is eventually informed about his son's identity by [[Morgan le Fay|Morgan]]), he fights in the late wars against domestic and foreign enemies, and is one of [[Galahad]]'s companions during the Grail Quest. After his father's death [[Battle of Camlann|at Salisbury]], Arthur the Less is a candidate for the heir of throne of [[Logres]], however, he obsessively hates [[Lancelot]]'s renegade faction, blaming them for the disaster. When soon defeated by [[Bleoberis]] in a duel to the death, he curses the entire kingdom in his dying breath. His curse manifests itself through [[King Mark]]'s devastating invasion which destroys almost all remnants of King Arthur's rule.<ref>{{cite journal
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908131942/http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/GCMS/RMS-2012-02_A._Putter,_Arthur's_Children_in_Le_Petit_Bruit_and_the_Post-Vulgate_Cycle.pdf
| archive-date = 8 September 2020
| url = http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/GCMS/RMS-2012-02_A._Putter,_Arthur's_Children_in_Le_Petit_Bruit_and_the_Post-Vulgate_Cycle.pdf
| title= Arthur's Children in Le Petit Bruit and the Post-Vulgate Cycle
| url-status= unfit
| journal= Reading Medieval Studies
| volume= 38 | year = 2012
| last = Putter | first = Ad
| publisher= University of Reading Press
| pages= 25–42
}}</ref>{{Clear left}}