Editing Lancelot

{{short description|Arthurian legend character}}
{{other uses|Lancelot (disambiguation)|Sir Lancelot (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Lancelot du Lac|the film|Lancelot du Lac (film){{!}}''Lancelot du Lac'' (film)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Lancelot
| series = [[Matter of Britain]]
| image = File:lancelot.png
| first = ''[[Erec and Enide]]''
| creator = Possibly [[Chrétien de Troyes]]
| based_on = [[#Name and origins|Uncertain origins]]
| title = Prince, Sir
| alias = [[White knight|White Knight]], [[Black Knight (Arthurian legend)|Black Knight]], Red Knight, Wicked Knight
| occupation = [[Knight-errant]], [[Knights of the Round Table|Knight of the Round Table]]
| family = [[King Ban|Ban]], [[Elaine (legend)#Elaine of Benoic|Elaine of Benoic]], [[Lady of the Lake]], [[Hector de Maris]]
| relatives = [[Sir Lionel|Lionel]], [[Bors]], [[Bleoberis]]
| significant_other = [[Guinevere]]
| children = [[Galahad]]
| religion = [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|Christian]]
| origin = Benoïc (in today's northeastern France)
| home = The Lake, [[Camelot]], [[Joyous Gard]]
| nationality = Either [[Celtic Briton]] or [[French people|French]]
| weapon = Secace (Seure),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAnoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA136|title=Encyclopedia of Mythological Objects|first=Theresa|last=Bane|year= 2020|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476639208 |via=Google Books}}</ref> [[Beves of Hamtoun (poem)#Aroundight|
Aroundight]]<ref>{{Cite book |editor1-last=Ellis |editor1-first=George |editor1-link=:en:George Ellis (poet) |chapter=Sir Bevis of Hamptoun |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsM3AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA165 |title=Specimens of early English metrical romances<!--, chiefly written during the early part of the fourteenth century; to which is prefixed an historical introduction, intended to illustrate the rise and progress of romantic composition in France and England--> |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme |year=1805 |url=https://archive.org/details/specimensofearly00elli/page/164/mode/2up?q=Aroundight |pages=165–166<!--93–168-->}}</ref><!--"Arondight" is the unexplained misspelling committed by Brewer's (which probably consulted Ellis), and the misspel is propagated by unreliable tertiary refernces such as Theresa Bane's book <ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RAnoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA22|title=Encyclopedia of Mythological Objects|first=Theresa|last=Bane|date=8 June 2020|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476676883 |via=Google Books}}</ref>-->
}}

'''Lancelot du Lac''' (French for '''Lancelot of the Lake'''), alternatively written as '''Launcelot''' and other variants,{{efn|Such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago'', and Welsh ''Lawnslot y Llyn''.}} is a popular character in the [[Matter of Britain|Arthurian legend]]'s [[chivalric romance]] tradition. He is typically depicted as [[King Arthur]]'s close companion and one of the greatest [[Knights of the Round Table]], as well as a secret lover of Arthur's wife, [[Guinevere]].

In his most prominent and complete depiction, Lancelot is a beautiful orphaned son of [[King Ban]] of the lost kingdom of Benoïc. He is raised in a [[fairy]] realm by the [[Lady of the Lake]] while unaware of his real parentage prior to joining Arthur's court as a young knight and discovering his origins. A hero of many battles, quests and tournaments, and famed as a nearly unrivalled [[Swordsmanship|swordsman]] and [[Jousting|jouster]], Lancelot soon becomes the lord of the castle [[Joyous Gard]] and personal champion of Queen Guinevere, to whom he is devoted absolutely. He also develops a close relationship with [[Galehaut]] and suffers from frequent and sometimes prolonged fits of violent rage and other forms of madness. After [[Elaine of Corbenic|Lady Elaine]] seduces him using magic, their son [[Galahad]], devoid of his father's flaws of character, becomes the perfect knight that succeeds in completing the greatest of all quests, achieving the [[Holy Grail]] when Lancelot himself fails due to his sins. Eventually, when Lancelot's [[adultery|adulterous]] affair with Guinevere is publicly discovered, it develops into a bloody civil war that, once exploited by [[Mordred]], brings an end to Arthur's kingdom.

Lancelot's first datable appearance as main character is found in [[Chrétien de Troyes]]' 12th-century French poem ''[[Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart]]'', which already centered around his [[courtly love]] for Guinevere. However, another early Lancelot poem, ''[[Lanzelet]]'', a German translation of an unknown French book, did not feature such a motif and the connections between the both texts and their possible common source are uncertain. Later, his character and story was expanded upon Chrétien's tale in the other works of Arthurian romance, especially through the vast ''[[Lancelot-Grail]]'' prose cycle that presented the now-familiar version of his legend following its abridged retelling in ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]''. Both loyal and treasonous, Lancelot has remained a popular character for centuries and is often reimagined by modern authors.

==History==
[[File:324 The Romance of King Arthur.jpg|thumb|Lancelot slays the dragon of [[Corbenic]] in [[Arthur Rackham]]'s illustration for ''Tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'', abridged from ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' by [[Alfred W. Pollard]] (1917)|alt=|left]]

===Name and origins===
There have been many theories regarding the origins of Lancelot as an [[Arthurian romance]] character. In those postulated by [[Ferdinand Lot]] and [[Roger Sherman Loomis]], Lancelot's figure is related to Llenlleog (Llenlleawc), an Irishman in the early Arthurian Welsh tale ''[[Culhwch and Olwen]]'' (which associates him with the "headland of Gan[i]on"), and the Welsh hero Llwch Llawwynnauc (most likely a version of the [[Euhemerism|euhemerised]] Irish deity [[Lugh|Lug[h] Lonbemnech]], with "''Llwch''" meaning "Lake" in [[Welsh language|Welsh]]), possibly via a now-forgotten epithet such as ''Lamhcalad'',<ref name=":0">Bruce, ''The Arthurian Name Dictionary'', pp. 305–306.</ref> suggesting that they are the same figure; their similarities beyond the name include wielding a sword and fighting for a cauldron in ''Culhwch'' and ''[[Preiddeu Annwn]]''. Loomis also linked Lancelot to the Welsh mythological hero [[Lleu Llaw Gyffes]], while [[T. Gwynn Jones]] claimed links between Lancelot and [[Eliwlod]] (Eliwlad), a nephew of Arthur in the Welsh legend.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V70nCDxlFgEC&pg=PA37|title=The British Sources of the Abduction and Grail Romances|first=Flint|last=Johnson|date= 2002|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=9780761822189 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Proponents of the [[Scythia]]n origins of Arthurian legend have speculated that an early form might have been ''Alanus-à-Lot'', that is "[[Alans|Alan]] of the river [[Lot (river)|Lot]]",<ref>{{cite book | last1=Littleton | first1=C.S. | last2=Malcor | first2=L.A. | title=From Scythia to Camelot: A Radical Reassessment of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the Holy Grail | publisher=Garland | series=Arthurian Characters and Themes | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-8153-3566-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9v0FaIgEFEC&pg=PA96 | access-date=2020-08-17 | page=96}}</ref> and those looking for clues in classical antiquity see elements of Lancelot in the [[Ancient Greek]] mythical figures of Askalos and Mopsus (Moxus).<ref>{{cite book | last=Anderson | first=G. | title=King Arthur in Antiquity | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2004 | isbn=978-1-134-37202-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4bZ3HqdHutMC&pg=PA93 | access-date=2020-08-17 | page=93}}</ref>

Alfred Anscombe proposed in 1913 that the name "Lancelot" came from Germanic *''Wlancloth'', with roots in the [[Old English]] ''wlenceo'' (pride) and ''loða'' (cloak),<ref>Alfred Anscombe (1913), "The Name of Sir Lancelot du Lake", ''The Celtic Review'' '''8'''(32): 365–366.</ref> in connection with [[Vinoviloth]], the name of a [[Goths|Gothic]] chief or tribe mentioned in the 6th-century ''[[Getica]]''.<ref>Alfred Anscombe (1913), "Sir Lancelot du Lake and Vinovia", ''The Celtic Review'' '''9'''(33): 77–80.</ref> According to more recent authors, such as [[Norma Lorre Goodrich]], the name, if not just an invention of the 12th-century French poet [[Chrétien de Troyes]], may have been derived from [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s character Anguselaus, probably a Latinised name of Unguist, the name of a son of the 6th-century [[Picts|Pictish]] king Forgus; when translated from Geoffrey's [[Latin]] into [[Old French]], it would become ''Anselaus''.<ref name=origins>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V70nCDxlFgEC&pg=PA39|title=The British Sources of the Abduction and Grail Romances|first=Flint|last=Johnson|date=2002|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=9780761822189|via=Google Books}}</ref> Other 6th-century figures proposed in modern times as candidates for the prototype of Lancelot include the early French saint Fraimbault de Lassay;<ref>{{cite book | author=International Arthurian Society | title=Bulletin bibliographique de la Société internationale arthurienne | issue=v. 33–34 | year=1981 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_p1MAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA192 | language=fr | access-date=2020-08-17 | page=1–PA192}}</ref> [[Maelgwn Gwynedd|Maelgwn]], king of [[Gwynedd]];<ref>{{cite book | last=Ashley | first=M. | title=The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens | publisher=Little, Brown Book Group | series=Mammoth Books | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-4721-0113-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OqdBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 | access-date=2020-08-17 | page=149}}</ref> and Llaennog (Llaenauc), father of [[Gwallog ap Llaennog|Gwallog]], king of [[Elmet]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHfDDAEACAAJ|title=Pennine Dragon|first=Simon|last=Keegan|date=17 May 2016|publisher=New Haven Publishing, Limited|isbn=9781910705407|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Lancelot may have been the hero of a popular folk tale that was originally independent but was ultimately absorbed into the Arthurian tradition. The theft of an infant by a water [[fairy]], the appearance of the hero at a tournament on three consecutive days in three different disguises, and the rescue of a queen or princess from an [[Celtic Otherworld|Otherworld]] prison are all features of a well-known and widespread tale, variants of which are found in numerous examples collected by [[Theodore Hersart de la Villemarqué]] in his ''[[Barzaz Breiz]]'', by [[Emmanuel Cosquin]] in his ''Contes Lorrains'', and by [[John Francis Campbell]] in his ''Tales of the West Highlands''.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Lancelot|volume=16|page=151|first=Jessie Laidlay|last=Weston|author-link=Jessie Weston (scholar)}}</ref> As for his name, ''Lancelot'' may be a variant of the French name Lancelin (the word likely meaning [[javelin]] in Old French<ref>[[Frédéric Godefroy]], ''Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle'', édition de F. Vieweg, Paris, 1881–1902, p. 709b.</ref>) as proposed by [[Gaston Paris]] in 1881, later supported by [[Rachel Bromwich]].<ref>Goulven Péron, "La légende de Lancelot du Lac en Anjou". ''Les Cahiers du Baugeois'', n°92 (March 2012), pp. 55–63, {{ISSN|0999-6001}}.</ref> It is also possibly derived from the Old French word ''L'Ancelot'', meaning "Servant" (the hypothesis first put forward by de la Villemarqué in 1842); Lancelot's name is actually written this way in several manuscripts.<ref name=origins/> It is furthermore reminiscent of an uncommon Saxon name Wlanc, meaning "The Proud One".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUZnAAAAMAAJ|title=Arthur: Roman Britain's Last Champion|first1=Beram|last1=Saklatvala|first2=Henry|last2=Marsh|year= 1967|publisher=David & Charles|isbn=9780715352014 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Stephen Pow has recently argued that the name "Lancelot" represents an Old French pronunciation of Hungarian "[[László]]" (Ladislaus) as inspired by the historical King [[Ladislaus I of Hungary]]. In the early 1180s, King [[Béla III of Hungary]] was pursuing Ladislaus' canonization as a saint (approved 1192) and a marriage alliance with France through [[Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary|Margaret of France]] (whom he married 1186). Margaret was the half-sister of Chrétien's patroness, [[Marie de Champagne]], and the creation of Lancelot would thus meant to honor the Hungarian king around the time of his marriage to a member of the French royal house.<ref>Stephen Pow, [https://ams.ceu.edu/2018/Pow.pdf "Evolving Identities: A Connection between Royal Patronage of Dynastic Saints' Cults and Arthurian Literature in the Twelfth Century"], ''Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU'' (2018): 65–74.</ref>

===Chrétien and Ulrich===
{{Main|Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart|Lanzelet}}

[[File:The book of romance; (1902) (14566092039).jpg|thumb|220x220px|''Lancelot Brings Guenevere to Arthur'' in [[Andrew Lang]]'s ''The Book of Romance'' (1902)|alt=]]

Lancelot's name appears third on a list of knights at King Arthur's court in the earliest known work featuring him as a character: Chrétien de Troyes' Old French poem ''[[Erec and Enide]]'' (1170). The fact that his name follows [[Gawain]] and [[Erec]] indicates the presumed importance of the knight at court, even though he did not figure prominently in Chrétien's tale. Lancelot reappears in Chrétien's ''[[Cligès]]'', in which he takes a more important role as one of the knights that Cligès must overcome in his quest.<ref name=":0" />

It is not until Chrétien's ''[[Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart]]'' (''Le Chevalier de la charrette''), however, that he becomes the protagonist and is given the full name Lancelot du Lac (Lancelot of the Lake),<ref>William Farina, ''Chretien de Troyes and the Dawn of Arthurian Romance'' (2010). p. 13: "Strictly speaking, the name Lancelot du Lac ("Lancelot of the Lake") first appears in Chrétien's Arthurian debut, ''Erec and Enide'' (line 1674), as a member of the Roundtable."</ref> which was later picked up by the French authors of the [[Lancelot-Grail]] and then by [[Thomas Malory]].<ref>Elizabeth Archibald, Anthony Stockwell Garfield Edwards, ''A Companion to Malory'' (1996). p. 170: "This is the book of my lord Lancelot du Lac in which all his deeds and chivalric conduct are contained and the coming of the Holy Grail and his quest (which was) made and achieved by the good knight, Galahad."</ref> Chrétien treats Lancelot as if his audience were already familiar with the character's background, yet most of the characteristics and exploits that are commonly associated with Lancelot today are first mentioned here. The story tells of Lancelot's mad love for Arthur's wife Queen Guinevere, culminating in his rescue of her after she is abducted by Prince [[Maleagant|Meliagant]] (also in love for her, but entirely unrequited) to the otherworldly and perilous land of Gorre.

In the words of [[Matilda Bruckner]], "what existed before Chrétien remains uncertain, but there is no doubt that his version became the starting point for all subsequent tales of Lancelot as the knight whose extraordinary prowess is inextricably linked to his love for Arthur's Queen."<ref>{{cite book |title=A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle |first=Carol |last=Dover |date=2003 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |contribution=Redefining the Center: Verse and Prose Charrette |pages=95–106 |jstor=10.7722/j.ctt9qdj80.15 |isbn=9780859917834 |contributor-first=Matilda Tomaryn |contributor-last=Bruckner |contributor-link=Matilda Bruckner |contribution-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt9qdj80.15 }}</ref> According to of the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]], "the character of Lancelot, as imagined by Chrétien, is a superb image of the [[courtly love]]r pushing the love he bears for his lady to the point of exaltation and ecstasy ... governed by love, Lancelot no longer knows how to see the world around him, he no longer knows who he is."<ref name=bnf/>

{{Quote box
| align = left|On the lyrical model of the astonished lover, paralyzed by his love and losing all his faculties while thinking of his lady, Chrétien makes Lancelot a knight who is entirely taken by his [[passion (emotion)|passion]] for the queen. Overwhelmed by desire, he repeatedly forgets the reality around him. [...] The knight is ready for his lady to suffer the wounds that make him a martyr of love, just as Christ is a martyr of God. The lady here becomes the idol to which the knight worships: Lancelot bows before the bed where the queen awaits him as before an altar, remaining in adoration as before a holy relic in which he places all his faith. The night of love between Lancelot and Guinevere is then evoked as a feast for all the senses, and as an indescribable joy, greater and deeper than that known to all other lovers. But the separation, when day breaks, revives the suffering of the knight who leaves in despair: "The body departs, but the heart remains."<ref name=bnf>{{Cite web|url=https://essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/focus/77f00f63-0679-4f6f-8c83-24a70a965830-lancelot-et-exces-lamour|title=Lancelot et les excès de l'amour|website=BnF Essentiels}}</ref>
}}

Lancelot's love for Guinevere is entirely absent from another early work, ''[[Lanzelet]]'', a [[Middle High German]] epic poem by [[Ulrich von Zatzikhoven]] dating from the very end of the 12th century (no earlier than 1194). Ulrich asserts that his poem is a translation of an earlier work from a "French book" he had obtained, assuring the reader that "there is nothing left out or added compared to what the French book tells." He describes his source as written by a certain Arnaud Daniel in [[Provençal dialect]] and which must have differed markedly in several points from Chrétien's story. In ''Lanzelet'', the abductor of Ginover (Guinevere) is named as King Valerin, whose name, unlike that of Chrétien's Meliagant, does not appear to derive from the Welsh [[Maleagant|Melwas]]. Furthermore, Ginover's rescuer is not Lanzelet, who instead ends up finding happiness in marriage with the fairy princess [[Sebile|Iblis]]. The book's Lancelot is Arthur's nephew, the son of Arthur's sister Queen Clarine, who lost his father King Pant of Genewis to a rebellion. Similar to Chrétien's version, Lanzelet too is raised by a fairy. Here she is elaborated as the aquatic Queen of the [[Land of Maidens|Maidenland]] and is the source of much of his early adventures.<ref>Schultz, James A. (1991). "Ulrich von Zatzikhoven". In Norris J. Lacy, ''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia'', pp. 481–482. New York: Garland. {{ISBN|0-8240-4377-4}}.</ref>

It has been suggested that Lancelot was originally the hero of a story independent of the [[love triangle]] of Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot, perhaps very similar to Ulrich's version.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Lancelot's Wives|author=Cooper, Helen|year=2006|journal=Arthuriana|volume=16|issue=2|pages=59–62|doi = 10.1353/art.2006.0081|jstor = 27870759|s2cid = 162124722}}</ref> If this is true, then the motif of adultery might either have been invented by Chrétien for his ''Chevalier de la Charrette'' or have been present in the (now lost) source provided to him by his patroness, [[Marie de Champagne]], a lady well known for her keen interest in matters relating to courtly love.<ref>''Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages : A Collaborative History'' ed. Roger Sherman Loomis, pub. Oxford University Press 1959, special edition for Sandpiper Books Ltd. 2001, {{ISBN|0 19 811588 1}} pp. 436–439 in Essay 33 ''Hartmann von Aue and his Successors'' by Hendricus Spaarnay.</ref> Chrétien himself abandoned the poem for unknown reason, perhaps because of his personal distaste for the subject, which was then given by him to and finished by his associate [[Godefroi de Leigni]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IjZR4WsQQGkC&pg=PA90 | title=The Continuations of Chrétien's Perceval: Content and Construction, Extension and Ending | isbn=978-1-84384-316-0 | last1=Tether | first1=Leah | date=2012 | publisher=DS Brewer }}</ref>

===Evolution of the legend===
[[File:Lancelot fighting the dragons of the Val without return.png|thumb|left|Lancelot fighting the two dragons guarding the entrance to Morgan's [[Val sans retour|Val Without Return]] in an illumination of a 15th-century French ''[[Lancelot-Grail]]'' manuscript. The arms [[attributed arms|attributed]] to him: [[argent (heraldry)|argent]] with three [[bend (heraldry)|bendlets]] [[gules]]|alt=]]

Lancelot's character was further developed during the early 13th century in the [[Old French]] prose romance [[Vulgate Cycle]], also known as the Lancelot-Grail. There, he appears prominently in the later parts, known as the ''Lancelot en prose'' (Prose ''Lancelot''), the ''Queste del Saint Graal'' (''The Quest for the Holy Grail''), and the ''Mort Artu'' (''The Death of Arthur''). When Chrétien de Troyes wrote at the request of Countess Marie, she was only interested in the romantic relationship between Lancelot and the queen. However, the Prose ''Lancelot'' greatly expands the story: he is assigned a family, a descent from lost kingdom (similar to his backstory in ''Lanzelet''), and many further adventures. Gaston Paris argued that the Guinevere-Meleagant episode of the Prose ''Lancelot '' is an almost literal adaptation of Chrétien's poem, the courtly love theme of which seemed to be forced on the unwilling Chrétien by Marie,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WP8PoYI8p8C&pg=PA166|title=A Companion to Arthurian Literature|first=Helen|last=Fulton|year=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781118234303|via=Google Books}}</ref> though it can be seen as a considerable amplification. Much of the Prose ''Lancelot'' material from the Vulgate Cycle has been soon later removed in the rewriting known as the [[Post-Vulgate Cycle]], where Lancelot is no longer the central protagonist, with the surviving parts being reworked and attached to the other parts of this cycle.

[[File:Edward Coley Burne-Jones - The Earthly Paradise (Sir Lancelot at the Chapel of the Holy Grail).jpg|thumb|''The Earthly Paradise (Sir Lancelot at the Chapel of the Holy Grail)'' by [[Edward Burne-Jones]] (1890s)|alt=]]

Lancelot is often tied to the religiously Christian themes within the genre of Arthurian romance. His quest for Guinevere in ''Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart'' is similar to Christ's quest for the human soul.<ref name="raabe">Raabe, Pamela (1987). ''Chretien's Lancelot and the Sublimity of Adultery.'' Toronto Quarterly. 57: 259–270.</ref> His adventure among the tombs is described in terms that suggest Christ's [[harrowing of Hell]] and [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]]; he effortlessly lifts the lid off the sarcophagus, which bears an inscription foretelling his freeing of the captives.<ref name="Pyle 1993 238">{{Cite book| last = Pyle| first = Howard| title = King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table| publisher = Waldman Publishing Corporation| year = 1993| location = New York City| page = [https://archive.org/details/kingarthurknigh00josh/page/238 238]| isbn = 978-0-86611-982-5| url = https://archive.org/details/kingarthurknigh00josh/page/238}}</ref> Lancelot would later become one of the chief knights associated with the Quest for the [[Holy Grail]], yet Chrétien did not include him at all in his final romance, the unfinished ''[[Perceval, le Conte du Graal]]'' (''Perceval, or the Story of the Grail'') which introduced the Grail motif into medieval literature. [[Perceval]] is the sole seeker of the Grail in Chrétien's treatment; Lancelot's involvement in the Grail quest is first recorded in the prose romance ''[[Perlesvaus]]'', written between 1200 and 1210.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/quest1.html#Perlesvaus|title=Grail Legends (Perceval's Tradition)|last=Joe|first=Jimmy|website=timelessmyths.com|access-date=29 May 2018}}</ref> [[Robert de Boron]]-inspired tradition of the Vulgate Cycle gives Lancelot a Biblical lineage, counting [[King David]] and [[King Solomon]] among his ancient ancestors,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KkBSujrlYRAC&pg=PA63|title=A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle|first=Carol|last=Dover|date=27 April 2003|publisher=DS Brewer|isbn=978-0-85991-783-4 |via=Google Books}}</ref> but also makes him fail in the Grail Quest because of his sins.

German romance ''[[Diu Crône]]'' gives Lancelot aspects of [[solar deity]] type hero, making his strength peak during high noon, a characteristic usually associated with Gawain.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MyWvBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT114 | title=Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance | isbn=9781613732106 | last1=Loomis | first1=Roger Sherman | year= 2005 | publisher=Chicago Review Press }}</ref> The [[Middle Dutch]] so-called [[Lancelot Compilation]] (c. 1320) contains seven Arthurian romances, including a new Lancelot one, folded into the three parts of the cycle. This new formulation of a Lancelot romance in the Netherlands indicates the character's widespread popularity independent of the Lancelot-Grail cycle.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Lancelot|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmedi00gerr/page/160 160–70]|last=Brandsma|first=Frank|title=A Dictionary of Medieval Heroes|publisher=Boydell and Brewer|editor1-last=Gerritsen|editor1-first=Willem P.|editor2-last=van Melle|editor2-first=Anthony G.|editor3-last=Guest|editor3-first=Tanis (trans.)|year=1998|isbn=978-0851153810|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmedi00gerr/page/160}}</ref> In this story, ''Lanceloet en het Hert met de Witte Voet'' ("Lancelot and the Hart with the White Foot"), he fights seven lions to get the white foot from a hart (deer) which will allow him to marry a princess.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.literatuurgeschiedenis.org/teksten/lanceloet-en-het-hert-met-de-witte-voet|title=Lanceloet en het hert met de witte voet auteur onbekend, vóór 1291, Brabant|website=www.literatuurgeschiedenis.org|access-date=2021-07-28|language=nl}}</ref> Near the end of the 15th century, Malory's ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' followed the Lancelot-Grail in presenting Lancelot as the best knight, a departure from the preceding English tradition in which Gawain had been the most prominent.<ref>Radulescu, R. (2004). "‘Now I take uppon me the adventures to seke of holy thynges’: Lancelot and the Crisis of Arthurian Knighthood." In B. Wheeler (Ed.), ''Arthurian Studies in Honour of P.J.C. Field'' (pp. 285–296). Boydell & Brewer.</ref>

The forbidden love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere can be seen as a parallel to that of [[Tristan and Iseult]], with Lancelot ultimately being identified with the tragedy of chance and human failing that is responsible for the downfall of the [[Round Table]] in the later works continuing Chrétien's story.<ref>MacBain, Danielle Morgan (1993). ''The Tristramization of Malory's Lancelot''. English Studies. 74: 57–66.</ref> In ''[[Perceforest]]'', the different daughters of the ancient knight Lyonnel and the [[fairy queen]] Blanchete are actually ancestors of both Lancelot and Guinevere, as well as of [[Tristan]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogYk78vHmAgC&pg=PA192 | title=Postcolonial Fictions in the Roman de Perceforest: Cultural Identities and Hybridities | isbn=978-1-84384-104-3 | last1=Huot | first1=Sylvia | date=2024 | publisher=Boydell & Brewer }}</ref>

==Cyclical prose tradition==

===Birth and childhood===
{{Further|Lady of the Lake}}

[[File:The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lakes.png|thumb|left|upright|[[Howard Pyle]]'s illustration for ''[[The Story of the Champions of the Round Table]]'' (1905): "The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lakes."|alt=]]

In his backstory, as told in the Vulgate Cycle, Lancelot is born "in the borderland between [[Gaul]] and [[Brittany]]" as '''Galahad''' (originally written ''Galaad'' or ''Galaaz'', not to be confused with his own son [[Galahad|of the same name]]), son of the [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman]] ruler [[King Ban]] of Bénoïc (English 'Benwick', corresponding to the eastern part of [[County of Anjou|Anjou]]). Ban's kingdom has just fallen to his enemy, [[Claudas|King Claudas]], and the mortally wounded king and his wife [[Elaine (legend)#Elaine of Benoic|Queen Élaine]] flee the destruction of their final stronghold of Trebe or Trébes (likely the historic Trèves Castle in today's [[Chênehutte-Trèves-Cunault]]), carrying the infant child with them. As Elaine tends to her dying husband, Lancelot is carried off by a fairy enchantress known as the [[Lady of the Lake]]; the surviving Elaine will later become a nun. In an alternate version as retold in the Italian ''[[La Tavola Ritonda]]'', Lancelot is born when the late Ban's wife Gostanza delivers him two months early and soon after also dies.

The Lady then raises the child in her magical realm. After three years<ref name=young>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cTY44q6n0MgC&pg=PA33|title=Lancelot-Grail: Lancelot, pt. I|isbn=9781843842262|last1=Lacy|first1=Norris J.|year=2010|publisher=Boydell & Brewer }}</ref> pass in human world, the child Lancelot grows up and matures much faster than he would naturally do, and it is from this upbringing that he earns the name ''du Lac''{{dash}}of the Lake. His double-cousins [[Sir Lionel|Lionel]] and [[Bors#Sir Bors the Younger|Bors the Younger]], sons of [[Bors#King Bors the Elder|King Bors]] of Gaul and Elaine's sister Evaine, are first taken by a knight of Claudas and later spirited away to the Lady of the Lake to become Lancelot's junior companions.<ref>Lacy, Norris J. (Ed.) (1995). ''Lancelot–Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation, Volume 3 of 5''. New York: Garland.</ref> Lancelot's other notable surviving kinsmen often include [[Bleoberis|Bleoberis de Ganis]] and [[Hector de Maris]] among other and usually more distant relatives. Many of them will also join him at the Round Table, as do all of those mentioned above, as well as some of their sons, such as [[Elyan the White]], and Lancelot's own son, too. In the prose ''Lancelot'', the more or less minor [[Knights of the Round Table]] also mentioned as related to Lancelot in one way or another are Aban, Acantan the Agile, Banin, Blamor, Brandinor, Crinides the Black, Danubre the Brave, Gadran, Hebes the Famous, Lelas, Ocursus the Black, Pincados, Tanri, and more<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ufgmo5uY14C&pg=PA25|title=Lancelot-Grail: The post-Vulgate Quest for the Holy Grail & the post-Vulgate Death of Arthur|first=Norris J.|last=Lacy|date= 2010|publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd|isbn=9781843842330 |via=Google Books}}</ref> (they are different and fewer in Malory).

An early part of the Vulgate ''Lancelot'' also describes in a great detail what made him (in a translation by [[Norris J. Lacy]]) "the most handsome lad in the land", noting the feminine qualities of his hands and neck and the just right amount of musculature. Diverging on Lancelot's personality, the narration then adds his proneness to berserk-like combat frenzy to his mental instability already prominent Chrétien's version (where Lancelot is notably relentless on his quest to rescue Guinevere, leaping into danger without thinking and ignoring wounds and pain):

{{quote block|His eyes were bright and smiling and full of delight as long as he was in a good mood, but when he was angry, they looked just like glowing coals and it seemed that drops of red blood stood out from his cheekbones. He would snort like an angry horse and clench and grind his teeth, and it seemed that the breath coming out of his mouth was all red; then he would shout like a trumpet in battle, and whatever he had his teeth in or was gripping in his hands he would pull to pieces. In short, when he was in a rage, he had no sense or awareness of anything else, and this became apparent on many an occasion.<ref name=young/>}}

===King Arthur's court===
{{Further|Knights of the Round Table}}

[[File:Tales of the Round table; based on the tales in the Book of romance (1908) (14580337558).jpg|thumb|upright|An illustration for ''Tales of the Round Table'' (1908), abridged from ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' by Andrew Lang: "Sir Lancelot did not stop, and the archers shot his horse with many arrows, but he jumped from its back and ran past them deeper into the wood."]]

Initially known only as the nameless White Knight (''Chevalier Blanc''), clad in silver steel on a white horse,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FY3P_DUGTyAC&pg=PA56 |title=Arthurian Literature XXV |date=2008 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=9781843841715 |language=en}}</ref> the young Lancelot (claiming to be 18 years old, although it is later revealed that he is really only 15<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oV967qQ0qiEC&pg=PA52 |title=The Lancelot-Grail Cycle: Text and Transformations |isbn=9780292786400 |last1=Kibler |first1=William W. |date=2010|publisher=University of Texas Press }}</ref>) arrives in Arthur's kingdom of [[Logres]] with the Lady of the Lake to be knighted by the king at her behest. The Lady equips him a powerful magic ring able to dispel any enchantment (as does his anonymous fairy foster mother also does in Chrétien's version; later parts of the Vulgate ''Lancelot'' instead [[retcon]] this as given to him by Guinevere<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQSkzRstpJYC&pg=PA148 |title = Lancelot-Grail: Lancelot, pt. III |isbn = 9781843842354 |last1 = Lacy |first1 = Norris J. |year = 2010|publisher = Boydell & Brewer }}</ref>). She also provides Lancelot with other enchanted items with various magical abilities, including a lance, a sword, a tent, and a mirror. The Lady, or her damsels, continue to aid him throughout the Vulgate ''Lancelot''. He later assumes the name of his grandfather, King Lancelot, upon discovering his identity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Highlights in the Story |website=www.lancelot-project.pitt.edu |url=https://www.lancelot-project.pitt.edu/LG-web/TheStory-Summary.htm |access-date=2019-06-09}}</ref>  

Lancelot is eventually convinced<ref name=arts/> to become a member of King Arthur's elite order of the [[Round Table]] after freeing the Arthur's nephew [[Gawain]] from captivity in the Dolorous Tower episode. He then becomes one of Arthur's closes and most trusted friends, and his greatest knight. As such, he plays a decisive role in the war against the [[Saxons]] in [[Lothian]] (Scotland), when he again rescues Gawain as well as Arthur himself from Castle Saxon Rock and captures the Saxon witch-princess Camille. Single-handedly, he saves Arthur's kingdom from conquest by the half-giant [[Galehaut]] and convinces the latter to join Arthur.

Expanding on the account from the [[Alliterative Morte Arthure|Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'']], Malory also has his Lancelot act as one of the chief leaders in Arthur's Roman War, including personally saving the wounded [[Bedivere]] during the final battle against [[Lucius Tiberius|Emperor Lucius]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lumiansky |first1=R. M.|date= 2019 |title=Malory's Originality: A critical study of ''le Morte Darthur'' |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=9781421433110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BK9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70}}</ref> Since much of ''Le Morte'' was not composed chronologically, the Roman episode actually takes place within Malory's Book II, prior to Book III that relates Lancelot's youth.

===Guinevere and knight-errantry===
{{Further|Guinevere}}

[[File:Edmund blair leighton accolade.jpg|thumb|left|''Accolade'' (also known as ''Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot''<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3C_hGEGdqcIC&pg=PA668 | title=A Bibliography of Modern Arthuriana (1500–2000) | isbn=978-1-84384-068-8 | last1=Howey | first1=Ann F. | last2=Reimer | first2=Stephen Ray | date=2006 | publisher=Boydell & Brewer }}</ref>) by [[Edmund Blair Leighton]] (1901)]]

Almost immediately upon his arrival, Lancelot and the young Queen Guinevere fall in love through a strange magical connection between them, and one of his adventures in the prose cycles involves saving her from abduction by Arthur's enemy [[Maleagant]]. The exact timing and sequence of events vary from one source to another, and some details are found only in certain sources. The Maleagant episode actually marked the end of the original, non-cyclic version of the Prose ''Lancelot'' (before the later much longer versions), telling of only of the hero's childhood and early youth.<ref>{{cite book |first=Luke |last=Sunderland |date=2010 |section=Metaphor, metonymy and morality: The Vulgate cycle |title=Old French Narrative Cycles: Heroism between Ethics and Morality |pages=63–100 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=9781846158063 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/old-french-narrative-cycles/metaphor-metonymy-and-morality-the-vulgate-cycle/FBA7A495C066A0B0BA32F159F9A5ED16}}</ref> In the Prose ''Lancelot'', he is actually knighted by Guinevere instead of by Arthur.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v40auRW-8C4C&pg=PA63 | title=The Knight Without the Sword: A Social Landscape of Malorian Chivalry | isbn=978-0-85991-603-5 | last1=Kim | first1=Hyonjin | date=2000 | publisher=Boydell & Brewer }}</ref>

In Malory's abridged telling in ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', Lancelot's knighting is performed by the King, and both Lancelot's rescue of the Queen from Meleagant and the physical consummation of their relationship is postponed for years. As described by Malory, after having broken through the iron bars of her prison chamber with his bare hands, "''Sir Launcelot wente to bedde with the Quene and toke no force of his hurte honed, but toke his plesaunce and hys lyknge untyll hit was the dawning of the day.''"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Archibald |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Edwards |first2=Anthony Stockwell Garfield |date=1997 |title=A Companion to Malory |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=9780859915205 |language=en |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oqUDKCX7bzYC&pg=PA22}}</ref> This transgression takes place late in Malory's  telling, following Lancelot's failure in the [[Grail Quest]]. Nevertheless, just as in Malory's "French book" source, his Lancelot too devotes himself to the service of Guinevere early on in his tale. Several (far from all) of Lancelot's initial [[knight-errant]] style adventures from the Vulgate Cycle did make their way into Malory's compilation. These episodes range defeating the mighty villain Turquine who had been holding several of Arthur's knights prisoner, to slaying a duo of giant knights (in the Vulgate, the locals then declare Lancelot their lord and try to make him stay with them<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9bQxHyxm3pIC&pg=PA76|title=Malory's Library: The Sources of the Morte Darthur|first=Ralph C.|last=Norris|date=27 April 2008|publisher=DS Brewer|via=Google Books}}</ref>). He also emerges victorious from a number of tournaments, among them once when fighting on behalf of Maleagant's father [[King Bagdemagus]].

Lancelot dedicates his deeds to his lady Guinevere, acting in her name as her knight. At one point, he goes mad when he is led to believe that Guinevere doubts his love until he is found and healed by the Lady of the Lake.<ref>{{cite web |title=La légende du roi Arthur |website=BnF – expositions.bnf.fr |language=fr |url=http://expositions.bnf.fr/arthur/grand/fr_114_352.htm |access-date=7 October 2018}}</ref> Another instance of Lancelot temporarily losing his mind occurs during his brief imprisonment by Camille, after which he is cured by the Lady of the Lake as well. The motif of his recurring fits of madness (especially "in presence of sexually charged women"<ref>{{cite journal |author=Plummer, John F. |year=1996 |title=Frenzy and females: Subject formation in opposition to the other in the prose ''Lancelot'' |journal=Arthuriana |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=45–51 |doi = 10.1353/art.1996.0027 |jstor = 27869221 |s2cid = 161934474}}</ref>) and suicidal tendencies (usually relating to the false or real news of the death of either Gawain or Galehaut) return often throughout the Vulgate and sometimes in other versions as well. He also may harbor a darker, more violent side that is usually suppressed by the [[chivalric code]] but can become easily unleashed during the moments of action.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jesmok, Janet |year=2007 |title=The double life of Malory's Lancelot du Lac |journal=Arthuriana |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=81–92 |doi = 10.1353/art.2007.0042 |jstor = 27870873 |s2cid = 161443290}}</ref> Nevertheless, the Vulgate ''Lancelot'' notes that "for all the knights in the world he was the one most unwilling to hurt any lady or maiden."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQSkzRstpJYC&pg=PA138 | title=Lancelot-Grail: Lancelot, pt. III | isbn=9781843842354 | last1=Lacy | first1=Norris J. | year=2010 | publisher=Boydell & Brewer }}</ref>

At one point, Lancelot (up to then still going as just the White Knight) conquers and wins for himself a castle in Britain, known as [[Joyous Gard]] (a former Dolorous Gard), where he learns his real name and heritage, taking the name of his illustrious ancestor Lancelot as his own. With the help of King Arthur, Lancelot then defeats Claudas (and his allied Romans in the Vulgate) and recovers his father's kingdom. However, he again decides to remain at Camelot, along with his cousins Bors and Lionel and his illegitimate half-brother Hector de Maris (Ector).

===Guinevere's rivals and Galehaut===
{{Further|Galehaut|Elaine of Astolat|Morgan le Fay}}

[[File:Sidney Paget - Lancillotto ed Elena.jpg|thumb|[[Sidney Paget]]'s painting of Elaine of Astolat with the injured Lancelot in her care]]

Lancelot becomes one of the most famous Knights of the Round Table, even attested as the best knight in the world in Malory's own episode of Sir Urry of Hungary, as well as an object of desire by many ladies, beginning with the gigantic Lady of Malehaut when he is her captive early on in the Vulgate ''Lancelot''. An evil sorceress named [[Hellawes (sorceress)|Hellawes]] wants him for herself so obsessively that, failing in having him either dead or alive in Malory's [[chapel perilous]] episode, she soon herself dies from sorrow. Similarly, [[Elaine of Astolat]] (Vulgate's ''Demoiselle d'Escalot'', in modern times better known as "[[the Lady of Shalott]]"), also dies of heartbreak due to her [[unrequited love]] of Lancelot. On his side, Lancelot falls in a mutual but purely [[platonic love]] with an avowed virgin maiden, whom Malory calls Amable (unnamed in the Vulgate).

Lancelot, incognito as the [[Black Knight (Arthurian legend)|Black Knight]]<ref name=":1">{{cite book |author=Bruce, ___ |title=The Arthurian Name Dictionary |page=200}}</ref> (on another occasion he disguises himself as the [[Red Knight]] as well),<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lacy |first=Norris J |title=Lancelot-Grail 10: Chapter Summaries for the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles and Index of Proper Names |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |year=2010 |isbn=9781843842521 |pages=40}}</ref> plays decisive role in the war against the powerful foreign invader, Prince Galehaut (Galahaut). Galehaut is poised to become the victor and conquer Arthur's kingdom, but he is taken by Lancelot's amazing battlefield performance and offers him a boon in return for the privilege of one night's company in the bivouac. Lancelot accepts and uses his boon to demand that Galehaut surrender peacefully to Arthur. Galehaut then becomes Lancelot's self-proclaimed vassal and the king's ally, later joining the Round Table after Lancelot finally does.<ref name=arts/>

The exact nature of Galehaut's passion for Lancelot is a subject of debate among modern scholars, with some interpreting it as intimate friendship and others as love similar to that between Lancelot and Guinevere.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Todd W. |last1=Reeser |first2=Lewis Carl |last2=Seifert |year= 2008 |title=Entre Hommes: French and francophone masculinities in culture and theory |publisher=Associated University Presse |isbn=9780874130249 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x2zd2JyROkAC&pg=PA53 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Galehaut is obsessed with having Lancelot all for himself. Publicly submissive to Lancelot by his own choice, he is constantly acting very possessive of him regarding both Guinevere and Arthur, so much that Gawain comments that Galehaut is more jealous of Lancelot than any knight is of his lady.<ref name=arts>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DtXMstWzw5QC&pg=PA115|title=The Arts of Friendship: The Idealization of Friendship in Medieval and Early Renaissance Literature|first=Reginald|last=Hyatte|date=27 April 1994|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-10018-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref> At first, Lancelot goes to live with Galehaut in his home country of Sorelois. Guinevere joins them there after Lancelot saves her from the bewitched Arthur during the "[[Gwenhwyfach|false Guinevere]]" episode.<ref>{{cite web |title=Will the real Guinevere please stand up? |date=2017-12-17 |website=Medievalists.net |language=en-US |url=http://www.medievalists.net/2017/12/will-real-guinevere-please-stand/ |access-date=2019-06-08}}</ref> After that, Arthur invites Galahaut to join the Round Table. Galahaut is also the one who convinces Guinevere that she may return Lancelot's affection.<ref name=arts/> In the [[Prose Tristan|Prose ''Tristan'']] and its adaptations, including the account within the post-Vulgate ''Queste'', Lancelot himself harbors in his castle the fugitive lovers [[Tristan]] and [[Iseult]] as they flee from the vengeful King [[Mark of Cornwall]].

[[File:Sir Launcelot lay asleep under the apple tree.png|thumb|left|Morgan, Sebile and two other witch-queens find Lancelot sleeping in [[William Henry Margetson]]'s illustration for ''Legends of King Arthur and His Knights'', abridged from ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' by Janet MacDonald Clark (1914)|alt=]]

Faithful to Queen Guinevere, he refuses the forceful advances of Queen [[Morgan le Fay]], Arthur's enchantress sister. Morgan constantly attempts to seduce Lancelot, whom she at once lustfully loves and hates with the same great intensity. She even kidnaps him repeatedly, once with her coven of fellow magical queens including [[Sebile]]. On one occasion (as told in the prose ''Lancelot''), Morgan agrees to temporarily release Lancelot to save Gawain, on the condition that Lancelot will return to her immediately afterwards; she then sets him free under the further condition that he not spend any time with either Guinevere or Galehaut for a year. This condition causes Lancelot to go half mad, and Galehaut to fall sick out of longing for him. Galehaut eventually dies of anguish, after he receives a false rumour of Lancelot's suicide.

===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>

===Conflict with Arthur===
{{Further|Gawain|Mordred}}

[[File:SIR LAUNCELOT AND QUEEN GUINEVERE).jpg|thumb|left|[[James Archer (artist)|James Archer]]'s ''Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere'' (1864)]]

Ultimately, Lancelot's affair with Guinevere is a destructive force, which was glorified and justified in the Vulgate ''Lancelot''  but becomes condemned by the time of the Vulgate ''Queste''.<ref>Dover, ''A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle'', p. 119.</ref> After his failure in the Grail quest, Lancelot tries to live a chaste life, angering Guinevere who sends him away, although they soon reconcile and resume their relationship as it had been before Elaine and Galahad. When Maleagant tries to prove Guinevere's infidelity, he is killed by Lancelot in a [[trial by combat]]. Lancelot also saves the Queen from an accusation of murder by poison when he fights as her [[champion]] against [[Knights of the Round Table#Mador de la Porte|Mador de la Porte]] upon his timely return in another episode included in Malory's version. In all, Lancelot fights in five such duels throughout the prose ''Lancelot''.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=King, David S. |year=2016 |title=Victories foretelling disgrace: Judicial duels in the prose ''Lancelot'' |journal=South Atlantic Review |volume=81 |issue=2 |pages=55–71 |jstor=soutatlarevi.81.2.55}}</ref>

[[File:Tales of the Round table; based on the tales in the Book of romance (1908) (14580312508).jpg|thumb|Lancelot's bloody rescue of Guinevere from the stake in [[Henry Justice Ford]]'s illustration for Andrew Lang's ''Tales of the Round Table'' (1908)]]

However, after the truth about Lancelot and Guinevere is finally revealed to Arthur by Morgan, it leads to the death of three of Gawain's brothers ([[Agravain]], [[Gaheris]] and [[Gareth]]) when Lancelot with his family and followers arrive to violently save the condemned queen from being burned at the stake. During her rescue, the rampaging Lancelot and his companions slaughter the men sent by Arthur to guard the execution, including those who went unwilling and unarmed (as did Lancelot's own close friend Gareth, whose head he crushes in a blind rage). In Malory's version, Agravain is killed by Lancelot earlier, during his bloody escape from Camelot, as well as Florent and Lovel, two of Gawain's sons (Arthur's nephews) who accompanied Agravain and [[Mordred]] in their ambush of Lancelot in Guinevere's chambers along with several other knights from Scotland. In the Vulgate ''Mort Artu'', Lancelot's now-vacated former seat at the Round Table is given to an Irish knight named Elians.

The killing of Arthur's loyal knights, including some of the king's own relatives, sets in motion the events leading to the treason by Mordred and the disappearance and apparent death of Arthur. The civil war between Arthur and Lancelot was introduced in the Vulgate ''Mort Artu'', where it replaced the great Roman War taking place at the end of Arthur's reign in the chronicle tradition. What first occurs is a series of engagements waged against Lancelot's faction by Arthur and the vengeful Gawain; they besiege Lancelot at Joyous Gard for two months and then pursue him with their army into Gaul (France in Malory).

The eventual result of this is the betrayal of Arthur by Mordred, the king's bastard son (and formerly one of Lancelot's young followers), who falsely announces Arthur's death to seize the throne for himself. Meanwhile, Gawain challenges Lancelot to a duel twice; each time Lancelot delays because of Gawain's enchantment that makes him grow stronger between morning and noon. Lancelot then strikes down Gawain with Galahad's sword but spares Gawain's life (in the Vulgate, despite being urged by Hector to finish him off<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ojpHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT17 | title=The Passing of Arthur: New Essays in Arthurian Tradition | isbn=9781317656913 | last1=Baswell | first1=Christopher | last2=Sharpe | first2=William | year= 2014 | publisher=Routledge }}</ref>). However, Gawain's head wound nevertheless proves to be fatal later, when it reopens during the war with Mordred back in Britain. Upon receiving a desperate letter from the dying Gawain offering him forgiveness and asking for his help in the fight against Mordred, Lancelot hurries to return to Britain with his army, only to hear the news of Arthur's death at [[Salisbury Plain]] (romance version of the [[Battle of Camlann]]).

===Late years and death===
There are two main variants of Lancelot's demise, both involving him spending his final years removed from society as a hermit monk. In the original from the variants of ''Mort Artu'', after mourning his king, Lancelot abandons society, with exception of his later participation in a victorious war against the young sons of Mordred and their Briton supporters and Saxon allies that provides him with partial atonement for his earlier role in the story.<ref>Dover, ''A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle'', pp. 121–122.</ref> It happens shortly after the death of Guinevere, as Lancelot personally kills one of Mordred's sons after chasing him through a forest in the battle at [[Winchester]], but himself goes abruptly missing. Lancelot dies of illness four years later, accompanied only by Hector, Bleoberis, and the former [[archbishop of Canterbury]]. It is implied that he wished to be buried beside the king and queen, however, he had made a vow some time before to be buried at Joyous Gard next to Galehaut, so he asks to be buried there to keep his word. In the Post-Vulgate, the burial site and bodies of Lancelot and Galehaut are later destroyed by King Mark when he ravages Arthur's former kingdom.

There is no war with the sons of Mordred in the version included in ''Le Morte d'Arthur''.<ref name="Pyle 1993 238"/> In it, Guinevere blames all the destruction of the Round Table upon their adulterous relationship, which is the seed of all the dismay that followed, and becomes a nun. She refuses to kiss Lancelot one last time, telling him to return to his lands and that he will never see her face again. Upon hearing this, Lancelot declares that if she will take a life of [[Penance|penitence]], then so will he.<ref>{{cite book |last=Umland |first=Samuel J. |year=1996 |title=The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film: From Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-0-313-29798-4 |page=91 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LE5mGSVCd7wC&pg=PA91}}</ref> Lancelot retires to a [[hermitage (retreat)|hermitage]] to seek redemption, with eight of his kin joining him in a monastic life, including Hector. As a monk, he later conducts [[last rites]] over Guinevere's body (who had become an abbess). In a dream, he is warned that she is dying and sets out to visit her, but Guinevere prays that she might die before he arrives, which she does; as she had declared, he never saw her face again in life. After the queen's death, Lancelot and his fellow knights escort her body to be interred beside King Arthur. The distraught Lancelot's health then begins to fail (''Le Morte d'Arthur'' states that even before this time, he had lost a cubit of height due to his [[fasting]]s and prayers) and he dies six weeks after the death of the queen. His eight companions return to France to take care of the affairs of their lands before, acting on Lancelot's death-bed request, they go on a [[Crusades|crusade]] to the [[Holy Land]] and die there fighting the [[Saracen]]s ("[[Ottoman Empire|Turks]]" in Malory<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roland |first=Meg |date=2006 |title=Arthur and the Turks |journal=Arthuriana |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=29–42 |issn=1078-6279 |jstor=27870787}}</ref>). In the 14th-century romance ''Ysaÿe le Triste'', a hermit uses Lancelot's exhumed skeletal arm to knight the anonymous son of Tristan "by the hand of one of the best knights in the world."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WdvYaKETyykC&pg=PA13|title=Ysaïe le triste: traduction|first=André|last=Giacchetti|date=26 April 1993|publisher=Presses universitaires de Rouen et du Havre|isbn=978-2-87775-888-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref> {{Clear}}

===Gallery===
<gallery widths="200" heights="250" mode="packed">
File:IRHT 305652 2 P.jpg|<small>"How Lancelot fought the six knights of Chastel d'Uter to save the [[Brunor|knight of the badly-cut coat]]." (''[[Tristan en prose]]'' c. 1479–1480)</small>
File:IRHT 094618 2 P.jpg|<small>Lancelot, dressed in brown, living with his companions in a hermit hut at the end of his life (''Tristan en prose'' c. 1450–1460)</small>
</gallery>

<gallery widths="200" heights="250" mode="packed" caption="[[N. C. Wyeth]]'s illustrations from ''[[The Boy's King Arthur]]''">
File:Boys King Arthur - N. C. Wyeth - p38.jpg|Facing Turquine: "I am Sir Launcelot du Lake, King Ban's son of Benwick."
File:Boys King Arthur - N. C. Wyeth - p246.jpg|"Sir Mador's spear broke all to pieces, but his spear held."
File:Boys King Arthur - N. C. Wyeth - p52.jpg|"[Lancelot] ever ran wild wood from place to place"
File:Boys King Arthur - N. C. Wyeth - p316.jpg|"Launcelot saw her visage, he wept not greatly, but sighed."
</gallery>

==Modern culture==
[[File:The Adventures of Sir Lancelot - Broadcasting, October 20, 1958.jpg|thumb|A 1958 advertisement for the television series ''[[The Adventures of Sir Lancelot]]'']]

[[File:Robert Goulet Janet Pavek Camelot 1962.JPG|thumb|A 1962 publicity photo of [[Robert Goulet]] as Lancelot and [[Janet Pavek]] as Guenevere in the musical ''[[Camelot (musical)|Camelot]]'']]

Lancelot appeared as a character in many Arthurian films and television productions, sometimes even as the protagonistic titular character. He has been played by [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]] in ''[[Knights of the Round Table (film)|Knights of the Round Table]]'' (1953), [[William Russell (English actor)|William Russell]] in ''[[The Adventures of Sir Lancelot]]'' (1956–1957), [[Robert Goulet]] in ''[[Camelot (musical)|Camelot]]'' (1960), [[Cornel Wilde]] in ''[[Sword of Lancelot]]'' (1963), [[Franco Nero]] in ''[[Camelot (film)|Camelot]]'' (1967), Luc Simon in ''[[Lancelot du Lac (film)|Lancelot du Lac]]'' (1974), [[Nicholas Clay]] in ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'' (1981), [[Richard Gere]] in ''[[First Knight]]'' (1995), [[Jeremy Sheffield]] in ''[[Merlin (miniseries)|Merlin]]'' (1998), [[Phil Cornwell]] in ''[[King Arthur's Disasters]]'' (2005–2006), [[Santiago Cabrera]] in ''[[Merlin (2008 TV series)|Merlin]]'' (2008–2011), [[Christopher Tavarez]] in ''[[Avalon High (film)|Avalon High]]'' (2010), [[Sinqua Walls]] in ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'' (2012–2015), [[Dan Stevens]] in ''[[Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb]]'' (2014), and Martin McCreadie in ''[[Transformers: The Last Knight]]'' (2017), among others. {{clear left}}

* [[T. H. White]]'s novel ''[[The Once and Future King]]'' (1958) portrays Lancelot very differently from his usual image in the legend. Here, Lancelot is immensely ugly and introverted, having difficulty dealing with people.
* Lancelot is played by [[John Cleese]] in the Arthurian comedy film ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'' (1975). He is portrayed as an awkward knight prone to sudden and uncontrolled outbursts of violence in the section "Sir Lancelot the Brave" that shows his misguided bloody rampage to save a princess who turns out to be a prince and who did not really need to be rescued.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://creative-analytics.corsairs.network/the-tale-of-sir-lancelot-833b53c8d740|title=The Tale of Sir Lancelot|date=16 November 2015|website=Creative Analytics|access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref> He is also a principal character in ''[[Spamalot]]'' (2005), a [[stage musical]] adaptation of the film. Lancelot was played by [[Hank Azaria]] in the original Broadway production. In this version, Lancelot is gay and marries Prince Herbert (portrayed by [[Christian Borle]] in the original Broadway production).
* In [[Roger Zelazny]]'s short story "[[The Last Defender of Camelot (short story)|The Last Defender of Camelot]]" (1979), the magically immortal Lancelot finally dies helping [[Morgan le Fay|Morgana]] save the world from the mad [[Merlin]] in the 20th century. He is played by [[Richard Kiley]] in [[The Last Defender of Camelot (The Twilight Zone)|a 1986 episode of ''The Twilight Zone'']] based on the story.
* In [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s novel ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]'' (1982), Lancelet is another name of Galahad, and an estranged son of the Lady of the Lake, Viviane. A handsome and great warrior, he is the protagonist [[Morgan le Fay|Morgaine]]'s cousin and first love interest, himself being bisexual and loving both [[Guinevere|Gwenhwyfar]] and Arthur. He is played by [[Michael Vartan]] in the novel's [[The Mists of Avalon (TV miniseries)|film adaptation]] (2001).
* Lancelot is a major character in [[Bernard Cornwell]]'s ''[[The Warlord Chronicles]]'' trilogy of novels (1995–1997). This version of Lancelot is presented as a self-serving and cowardly prince of the lost kingdom of Benoic, left by him to be destroyed by [[Franks|Frankish]] barbarians. To seize the throne of [[Dumnonia]], Lancelot conspires against Arthur with Guinevere, incites a Christian rebellion, and defects to the invading [[Saxons]], ending up being hanged by his own half-brother Galahad and by the narrator [[Derfel Cadarn (Warlord Chronicles)|Derfel]] (who had lost his daughter to Lancelot's scheming). Lancelot's glowing depictions in legends are explained as merely an influence of the stories invented by the bards hired by his mother.
* A character based on him named Sir Loungelot is one of the main characters in the animated series ''[[Blazing Dragons]]'' (1996), but being adapted as a fat, arrogant and cowardly dragon who is the leader of the Knights of Camelhot.
* Lancelot is a recurring character in ''The Squire's Tales'' series (1998–2010) by [[Gerald Morris]]. In some books he is a major character and in others is a secondary character. This version of Lancelot is initially presented as a talented knight, but somewhat pompous and vain. In later books, filled with regret over his affair with Guinevere, he renounces court and is presented as more humble and wise. He leaves court to become a woodcutter, though he is occasionally swept up in quests to help Arthur and other knights. 
* The video game ''[[Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings]]'' (1999) features Lancelot as a [[paladin]].
* The 2003 novel ''[[Clothar the Frank]]'' by [[Jack Whyte]] is told from the perspective of Lancelot. It follows his journeys, starting as a young child until his arrival in Camelot and his meeting with [[Merlyn]] and [[Arthur Pendragon]].
* Lancelot is played by [[Ioan Gruffudd]] in the non-fantasy film ''[[King Arthur (2004 film)|King Arthur]]'' (2004), in which he is one of Arthur's warriors. He is mortally wounded when he saves the young Guinevere and slays the Saxon chieftain Cynric during the [[Battle of Badon Hill]].
* Thomas Cousseau played Lancelot du Lac in the French comedy TV series ''[[Kaamelott]]'' (2005–2009), in which he is portrayed as the only competent Knight of the Round Table and a classically chivalrous hero unlike all the others, however still ill-fated.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24643427 | jstor=24643427 | last1=Briand | first1=Cédric | title='Kaamelott's' Paradox: Lancelot between Subjugation and Individuation | journal=Arthuriana | year=2015 | volume=25 | issue=1 | pages=22–43 | doi=10.1353/art.2015.0013 | s2cid=166482886 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* [[Jason Griffith]] portrayed him in the video game ''[[Sonic and the Black Knight]]'' (2009). Lancelot's appearance is based on [[Shadow the Hedgehog]].
* Lancelot appears in the light novel and its 2011 anime adaptation ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' as the Servant "Berserker", played by [[Ryōtarō Okiayu]]/[[Kyle Herbert]]. Lancelot also appears in the mobile game ''[[Fate/Grand Order]]'' as a Berserker but also as a Saber class Servant.
* Lancelot is a character in the romance novel Knight Fantasy Night (骑士幻想夜, Qishi Huanxiang Ye) by [[Vivibear]] (2013), adapted into a comic book in Samanhua (飒漫画).
* [[Sophie Cookson]]'s character Roxanne "Roxy" Morton in the film ''[[Kingsman: The Secret Service]]'' (2014) and its [[Kingsman: The Golden Circle|sequel]] uses the code name Lancelot. It was also used by [[Aaron Taylor-Johnson]]'s character Archie Reid in the [[The King's Man|prequel]].
* Lancelot is the primary antagonist in the first season of ''[[The Librarians (2014 TV series)|The Librarians]]'' (2014), portrayed by both [[Matt Frewer]] and [[Jerry O'Connell]]. He gained immortality sometime after the fall of Camelot through magic and has spent centuries seeking to reverse the events that brought about its destruction. As the mysterious Dulaque (a respelling of his name ''du Lac''), he leads the Serpent Brotherhood, a cult that has long opposed the Library's mission to keep magic out of the hands of humans.
*In the video game ''[[Mobile Legends: Bang Bang]]'' (2016), Lancelot is a playable character portrayed as Guinevere's brother.
* [[Giles Kristian]]'s novel ''Lancelot'' (2018) is an original telling of the Lancelot story.
* The immortal Lancelot Du Lac, voiced by [[Gareth David-Lloyd]], is a co-protagonist of ''[[Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death]]'' (2019), an adventure video game set in Victorian London.
* In the illustrated novel ''Cursed'' (2019) by [[Frank Miller]] and [[Tom Wheeler (writer)|Tom Wheeler]] Lancelot is a violent Christian fanatic known as "The Weeping Monk". In the [[Cursed (2020 TV series)|Netflix adaptation of ''Cursed'']] (2020), he is played by [[Daniel Sharman]].
* Lancelot is the major character in the animated series ''[[Wizards: Tales of Arcadia]]'' (2020), voiced by [[Rupert Penry-Jones]].
* Lancelot is featured in the video game ''[[Smite (video game)|Smite]]'' as a horseback assassin armed with a lance.
* Lancelot is one of the titular knights in the manga series ''[[Four Knights of the Apocalypse]]''. He is the son of Ban and Elaine.
* Lancelot is a primary antagonist of [[Lev Grossman]]'s 2024 novel ''[[The Bright Sword]]'', where he is the greatest swordsman in Britain, and seizes the throne after Arthur's death under the name [[Galahad]] (his illegitimate son).

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|colwidth=25em|size=small}}

* {{cite book
 |last=Bruce |first=Christopher W.
 |year=1998
 |title=The Arthurian Name Dictionary
 |publisher=Routledge
 |isbn=978-0-8153-2865-0
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XZFbczeMtYcC
}}

* {{cite book
 |last=Dover |first=Carol
 |title=A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle
 |year=2003
 |publisher=D.S. Brewer
 |isbn=978-0-85991-783-4
 |page=[https://archive.org/details/companiontolance0000unse/page/119 119]
 |url=https://archive.org/details/companiontolance0000unse/page/119
}}

* {{cite book
 |author=Kennedy, E. |author-link=Elspeth Kennedy
 |title=Lancelot of the Lake
 |section=Introduction
 |translator=Corley, Corin
 |series=Oxford World's Classics
 |publisher=Oxford University Press
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lancelot}}
* [http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/theme/lancelot.html Lancelot] at The Camelot Project
* [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.87039/ An English translation of the Prose ''Lancelot''] at the [[Internet Archive]]
* [http://expositions.bnf.fr/arthur/livres/lancelot/index.htm Lancelot digital exposition] at the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] {{in lang|fr}}

{{Arthurian Legend|state=expanded}}
{{Chrétien de Troyes}}

{{Authority control}}

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