Was Lancelot the greatest knight of them all?
Lancelot is entirely the creation of
Chretien
de Troyes and is as such no part
of historical investigation. Some scholars have tried to tie the story
of Lancelot to various companions and/or opponents of
Arthur. The answer is yes, according to
Chretien
de Troyes. He it was who invented Lancelot
and added him to Arthur's court as a Knight of the
Round
Table. In his four
romances, Chretien portrays
Lancelot as the best of all the knights: skilled in arms and
chivalry and courtly love and all the other qualities that
make a knight successful. He is the king's champion, fighting
challengers and going on quests in the king's name. He is
time and again the symbol of Arthur's justice. Those who
question the queen's fidelity are made to pay by fighting
Lancelot. (Ironic, isn't it?) He is the most famous of the
knights and the most accomplished. And yet, he is not the most perfect. That
honor falls to his son, Galahad. It is interesting to note here that
Lancelot is vilified by some for carrying on an adulterous
affair with Guinevere
while at the same time glorified by others for begetting
Galahad, the perfect knight, from a tryst with
Elaine,
to whom he was not married. (Some stories say they did
marry, but the begetting was before that.) And just as Lancelot had supplanted
Gawain
in being the best knight-at-arms, so does Galahad supplant
Lancelot in being the best knight-in-spirit. As the legend
writers turned to the Holy
Grail, they incorporated the idea
of purity of body and mind; Lancelot did not fill the
bill. His son saw the Grail and
realized the Grail Quest; the father was reduced to
seeing an obscured vision and dying knowing that
his own sin caused his inability to see the
wondrous object. Lancelot was the best at arms but not in
piety. See also
Was
Arthur a king or just a battle commander? Was
Guinevere really an adulteress? Was
Morgan Le Fay really a witch? Was
Morgause to blame for all of Arthur's
troubles?
Explorations in Arthurian History and Legends
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