LANCELOT – THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE - #BLOGCHATTERA2ZCHALLENGE2022

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Goodreads

Lancelot or Launcelot du Lac was one of the greatest Knights of the Round Table. Those were the days of chivalry and valour, and Lancelot was a close friend of the legendary King Arthur. According to folk lore, he was the orphaned son of King Ban and Queen Elaine of Benwick. When their kingdom was usurped by their enemy, King Claudus, the royal couple fled with their baby son. Elaine had to tend to her husband’s ill health, and in the meantime, an enchantress kidnapped the baby prince. His upbringing was shrouded in mystery. It was rumoured that the ‘Lady of the Lake’ was the one who brought him up. This is how he attained the title ‘du Lac’ meaning ‘the lake’, - “the most handsome lad in the land”.

Lancelot was unparalleled as a swordsman and a jouster, the hero of many a battle. At the age of eighteen he arrived with the Lady of the Lake to King Arthur’s court clad all in silver steel, riding a white horse. He went by the soubriquet ‘The White Knight’. He was knighted by the king, and his foster mother gave him a magic ring that would shield him from all enchantment.

Lancelot was given the duty of being Queen Guinevere’s Knight. King Arthur loved Lancelot enough to trust him with the task, but there was an almost magical attraction between the royal lady and the knight which made them fall madly in love with each other. Lancelot dedicated all the brave tasks that he undertook to the Queen, even going to the extent of rescuing her when she was abducted by Arthur’s enemy, Maleagant.

                                              Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere

Wikipedia

There are accounts of Lancelot losing his mind when he felt that Guinevere doubted his love, or when he was imprisoned by a certain lady named Camille, and on both occasions, he was cured by the Lady of the Lake. Thus, there could have been a darker side to him which was hardly revealed because his chivalric side was more in prominence.

An interesting story describes how Princess Elaine of Corbenic was so madly in love with Lancelot that she used magic to make him believe that she was Guinevere and slept with him. (The story of Ahalya comes to mind!) The liaison resulted in a son, Galahad, and when Guinevere heard about it, she banished Lancelot from Camelot, which caused him to lose his mind once again. Eventually, after years of wandering in the wilderness, he was found by Elaine, who showed him The Holy Grail through a veil and cured him of his madness. Ten years later, he returned to Camelot and Guinevere.

Sadly, their adulterous relationship brought about many upheavals as well as the destruction of the Round Table.

Many films and theatrical productions have revolved around King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In 1953, Robert Taylor played the role of Lancelot, followed by numerous films on the same theme. Richard Gere was Lancelot in First Knight (1995) to Julia Ormond's Guinevere.

                                               Richard Gere and Julia Ormond

alamy

The Mists of Avalon (1982) by Marion Zimmer Bradley, the Warlord Chronicles trilogy (1995-97) by Bernard Cornwell and The Squire’s Tales series (1998-2010) all interpreted Lancelot in different ways.

Malory’s Morte d’Arthur showcased Lancelot as the central figure, a figure who strove for perfection in the form of The Holy Grail, but never attained it because of his relationship with the Queen, a recurrent and enduring theme in poetry, drama, fiction and fiction.

Amazon.in

I am participating in the #Blogchatter A to Z Challenge! Happy Reading and Writing! :)


Comments

  1. Suchita4/14/2022 12:21:00 PM

    Out of all the knights, I have never been a fan of Lancelot and his holier than thou personality. It irritates me to no end!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. deepti menon4/15/2022 07:35:00 AM

      I tend to agree with you, Suchita. He may have been quite a handsome figure, but his personality fell short in many ways.

      Delete
  2. Tomichan Matheikal4/14/2022 03:31:00 PM

    This knight fascinates me. I haven't read the book or any book about him. You have aroused my curiosity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. deepti menon4/15/2022 07:36:00 AM

      I am glad to hear that. His adventures, and those of the other Knights, make for an interesting read. Thank you for going through my post.

      Delete
  3. Manali Desai4/19/2022 11:54:00 PM

    Whenever I come across the name Lancelot I somehow now only recall a joke from my favorite series F.R.I.E.N.D.S. where one of the character nicknamed another character 'sir limps a lot' because they lost a toe. I don't why I was thinking of that while reading this and thought, nah, this is more fun.

    ReplyDelete

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