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Launcelot
Sir Launcelot, originally called Galahad, was the son of Ban king of Benwick (Brittany) and his wife Elein.
He was stolen in infancy by Vivienne the Lady of the Lake, who brought him up till he was presented to king Arthur and knighted. In consequence, he is usually called sir Launcelot du Lac. He was in “the eighth degree [or generation] of our Saviour”; was uncle to sir Bors de Ganis; his brother was sir Ector de Maris; and his son, by Elaine daughter of king Pelles, was sir Galahad, the chastest of the 150 knights of the Round Table, and therefore allotted to the “Siege Perilous” and the quest of the holy graal, which he achieved. Sir Laucelot had from time to time a glimpse of the holy graal; but in consequence of his amours with queen Guenever, was never allowed more than a distant and fleeting glance of it. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory
Sir Launcelot was the strongest and bravest of the 150 knights of the Round Table; the two next were sir Tristram and sir Lamoracke. His adultery with queen Guenever was directly or indirectly the cause of the death of king Arthur, the breaking up of the Round Table, and the death of most of the knights.
The tale runs thus: Mordred and Agravain hated sir Launcelot, told the king he was too familiar with the queen, and, in order to make good their charge, persuaded Arthur to go a-hunting. While absent in the chase, the queen sent for sir Launcelot to her private chamber, when Mordred, Agravain, and twelve other knights beset the door, and commanded him to come forth. In coming forth he slew sir Agravain and the twelve knights; but Mordred escaped, and told the king, who condemned Guenever to be burnt to death.
She was brought to the stake, but rescued by sir Launcelot, who carried her off to Joyous Guard, near Carlisle. The king besieged the castle, but received a bull from the pope, commanding him to take back the queen. This he did, but refused to be reconciled to sir Launcelot, who accordingly left the realm and went to Benwick. Arthur crossed over with an army to besiege Benwick, leaving Mordred regent. The traitor Mordred usurped the crown, and tried to make the queen marry him; but she rejected his proposal with contempt. When Arthur heard thereof, he returned, and fought three battles with his nephew, in the last of which Mordred was slain, and the king received from his nephew his death-wound. The queen now retired to the convent of Almesbury, where she was visited by sir Launcelot; but as she refused to leave the convent, sir Launcelot turned monk, died “in the odour of sanctity,” and was buried in Joyous Guard. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory
“Ah! sir Launcelot,” said sir Ector; “thou were head of all Christian knights.” I dare say,” said sir Bors, “that sir Launcelot there thou liest, thou were never matched of none earthly knight’s hand; and thou were the courteoust knight that ever bare shield; and thou were the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrode horse; and thou were the truest lover of sinfull man that ever loved woman; and thou were the kindest man that ever struck with sword; and thou were the goodliest person that ever came among press of knights; and thou were the meekest man and the gentlest that ever eat in hall among ladies; and thou were the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in rest.” Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory.
N.B.—The Elaine above referred to is not the Elaine of Astolat, the heroine of Tennyson’s Idyll. Sir Ector de Maris is not sir Ector the foster-father of king Arthur; and sir Bors de Ganis must be kept distinct from sir Bors of Gaul, and also from sir Borre or sir Bors a natural son of king Arthur by Lyonors daughter of the earl Sanam.
Sir Launcelot and Elaine
The Elaine of Tennyson’s Idyll, called the “fair maid of Astolat,” was the daughter of sir Bernard lord of Astolat, and her two brothers were sir Tirre (not sir Torre, as Tennyson writes the word) and Lavaine (pt. iii. 122). The whole tale, and the beautiful picture of Elaine taken by the old dumb servitor down the river to the king’s palace, is all borrowed from sir T. Malory’s compilaton. “The fair maid of Astolat” asked sir Launcelot to marry her, but the knight replied, “Fair damsel, I thank you, but certainly cast me never to be married;” and when the maid asked if she might be ever with him without being wed, he made answer, “Mercy defend me, no!” “Then,” said Elaine, “I needs must die for love of you;” and when sir Launcelot quitted Astolat, she drooped and died. But before she died she called her brother, sir Tirre (not sir Lavaine, as Tennyson says, because sir Lavaine went with sir Launcelot as his ’squire), and dictated the letter her brother was to write, and spake thus—
“While my body is whole, let this letter be put into my right hand, and my hand bound fast with the letter until that I be cold, and let me be put in a fair bed, with all my richest clothes…and be laid in a chariot to the next place, whereas the Thames is, and there let me be put in a barge, and but one man with me…to steer me thither, and that my barge be covered with black samite.’ …So her father granted…that all this should be done,…and she died. And so, when she was dead, the corpse and the bed…were put in a barge,…and the man steered the barge to Westminster. Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Lancelot and Elaine
The narrative then goes on to say that king Arthur had the letter read, and commanded the corpse to be buried right royally, and all the knights then present made offerings over her grave. Not only the tale, but much of the verbiage, has been appropriated by Tennyson.
Launcelot and Guenever
Sir Launcelot was chosen by king Arthur to conduct Guenever (his bride) to court; and then began that disloyalty between them which lasted to the end.
Gottfried, the German minnesinger (twelfth century) who wrote the tale of sir Tristan [our Tristram], makes king Mark send Tristan to Ireland, to conduct Yseult to Cornwall, and then commenced that disloyalty between sir Tristram and his uncle’s wife, which also lasted to the end, and was the death of both.
Launcelot Mad
Sir Launcelot, having offended the queen, was so vexed, that he went mad for two years, half raving and half melancholy. Being partly cured by a vision of the holy graal, he settled for a time in Joyous Isle, under the assumed name of Le Chevalier Mal-Fet. His deeds of prowess soon got blazed abroad, and brought about him certain knights of the Round Table, who prevailed on him to return to court. Then followed the famous quest of the holy graal. The quest of the graal is the subject of a minnesong by Wolfram (thirteenth century), entitled Parzival. (In the History of Prince Arthur, compiled by sir T. Malory, it is Galahad son of sir Launcelot, not Percival, who accomplished the quest.)
The madness of Orlando, by Ariosto, resembles that of sir Launcelot.
Launcelot a Monk
When sir Launcelot discovered that Guenever was resolved to remain a nun, he himself retired to a monastery, and was consecrated a hermit by the bishop of Canterbury. After twelve months, he was miraculously summoned to Almesbury, to remove to Glastonbury the queen, who was at the point of death. Guenever died half an hour before sir Launcelot arrived, and he himself died soon afterwards. The bishop in attendance on the dying knight affirmed that “he saw angels heave sir Launcelot up to heaven, and the gates of paradise open to receive him”. Sir Bors, his nephew, discovered the dead body in the cell, and had it buried with all honours at Joyous Guard.
When sir Bors and his fellows came to his (sir Launcelot’s) bed, they found him stark dead, and he lay as he had smiled, and the sweetest savour about him that ever they smelled. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory and also Walter Mapes.
N.B.—When sir Launcelot quitted the court of Arthur and retired to Benwick, he intended to found religious houses every ten miles between Sandwich and Carlisle, and to visit every one of them barefoot; but king Arthur made war upon him, and put an end to this intention.
Other particulars of sir Launcelot.
The tale of sir Launcelot was first composed in monkish Latin, and was translated by Walter Mapes (about 1180). Robert de Borron wrote a French version, and sir T. Malory took his History of Prince Arthur from the French, the third part being chiefly confined to the adventures and death of this favourite knight. There is a metrical romance called La Charrette, begun by Chrestiens de Troyes (twelfth century), and finished by Geoffrey de Ligny.
Lancelot du Lac
Lancelot du Lac, by Ulrich of Zazikoven, the most ancient poem of the Arthurian series. It is the adventures of a young knight, gay and joyous with animal spirits and light-heartedness. (See Launcelot.)—One of the minnesongs of Germany (twelfth century).
Lancelot du Lac and Tarquin. Sir Lancelot, seeking adventures, met with a lady who prayed him to deliver certain knights of the Round Table from the power of Tarquin. Coming to a river, he saw a copper basin hung on a tree for gong, and he struck it so hard that it broke. This brought out Tarquin, and a furious combat ensued, in which Tarquin was slain. Sir Lancelot then liberated three score and four knights, who had been made captives by Tarquin. (See Launcelot.)—Percy: Reliques, I. ii. 9.
Lancelot of the Laik, a Scotch metrical romance, taken from the French Launcelot du Lac. Galiot, a neighbouring king, invaded Arthur’s territories, and captured the castle of lady Melyhalt among others. When sir Lancelot went to chastise Galiot, he saw queen Guinevere, and fell in love with her. The French romance makes Galiot submit to king Arthur; but the Scotch tale terminates with his capture. (See Launcelot.)
But, if to recognise the earliest root
Of love in us thou hast so great desire,
I will do even as he who weeps and speaks.
One day we reading were for our delight
Of Launcelot, how Love did him enthral.
Alone we were and without any fear.
Full many a time our eyes together drew
That reading, and drove the colour from our faces;
But one point only was it that o'ercame us.
Dante's Inferno Canto V
"But meanwhile the reader will probably be asking what
evidence there is that apocryphal British kings like Lear and
Lud, and questionable Irish saints like Bridget are really
disguised Celtic divinities, or that the Morte D'Arthur, with its
love of Launcelot and the queen, and its quest of the Holy Grail,
was ever anything more than an invention of the Norman
romance-writers. He will demand to know what facts we really
possess about this supposed Celtic mythology alleged to have
furnished their prototypes, and of what real antiquity and value
are our authorities upon it."
From History of
the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Chapter
XX
