Lancelot of the Lake was the mostfamous knight of the Round Table. A major part of his fame was that he becamethe lover of Queen Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur. However his manyadventures as a knight of the Round Table were famous throughout the history ofKing Arthur.
Lancelot was the son of KingBan of Banoic and Helen or Elaine, his mother was usually referred toElaine of Banoic. According to the Grail legend Lancelot was thedescendant of the noble line of King David of Israel. The first time, Lancelot became the loverof Guinevere was when Lancelot had to rescue Guinevere from her abductornamed Meleagant.
Though he played a prominent partin the Quest of the Holy Grail, he failed to win the Grail, because of hislove for Guinevere, Arthur's wife. Adultery was considered a mortal sin. Theknight was required the knight to be free of sins, and either chaste or avirgin.
His father, King Ban, haddied of grief when he lost his kingdom to Claudas, king of the Waste Land. Lancelot'smother, became a nun, when her infant son Lancelot vanished with the Lady ofthe Lake.
The Lady of the Lake, whowas a fay or faerie from the Otherworld, brought up Lancelot. The hero stayedwith the Lady of the Lake until he was old enough to become a knight.
Lancelot helped Arthur to defeat Claudas. Arthurgave Gaul to Lancelot, including the kingdoms of Banoic and Gaunes, thatClaudas had acquired. When the friendship ended between him and the Arthur andGawain, Lancelot gave the kingdoms of Banoic and Gaunes to his cousins, Borsand Lionel, while he gave the kingdom of Gaul to Arthur.
Lancelot’s early adventure afterbeing knighted, was when became lord of Dolorous Guard, which he had conquered.Dolorous Guard was renamed to Joyous Guard, after he lifted the curse andenchantment from the castle.
Elaine, the daughter of KingPelles of Listenois, the Fisher King, tricked Lancelot into sleeping with her.Lancelot thought he was sleeping with Guinevere. This resulted in the birthof Galahad, the future hero of the Grail quest.
At this stage, Lancelot becamethe greatest knight in the world. However, during the search for the HolyGrail, Lancelot failed, due to his adulterous love for Guinevere, the queen andwife of Arthur. It was his son Galahad who completed the quest for the grail.
His affair with Guinevere becameone of the most popular romances in Arthurian literature. After the Grail quest,their love caused the destruction of Arthur's kingdom and the dissolution ofthe fellowship of the Round Table.
Their adultery, itresulted in the death of Gawain's three brothers, where Lancelot earnedGawain's hatred. Two disastrous battles, between Arthur and Lancelot, Gawainbecame mortally wounded by his former friend Lancelot. Mordred, Arthur's illegitimate son andhalf-brother of Gawain, to committed treason; Mordred had crowned himself kingof Logres and was attepting to force Guinevere to become his wife.
When news reached Lancelot ofArthur's death in battle, Lancelot became a monk. When he died, he was buriedat Joyous Guard.
More than any other knights, Lancelotpreferred to win in his adventures, through various disguises. He was known asthe White Knight, the Black Knight and the Red Knight. He used these disguises by changing his armor;allowing him to go from one adventure to another, without anyone recognizinghim. In the Quest of the Holy Grail Merlin had foretold Lancelot's son,Galahad, would surpass his father,
Though, Arthur and Round Tablegained fame and prestige through the adventures of Lancelot, Lancelot did inthe name of love. Lancelot's great feat of arms was all done for Guinevere.These early adventures before the quest of Grail, earned him the reputation ofthe greatest knight in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment