Lancelot-Grail: 3. Lancelot part I and II

The most comprehensive account of the story of Arthur, the Round Table and the Grail is to he found in the work known as Lancelot-Grail or the litigate Cycle. It tells the story of the Arthurian world from the events of the Crucifixion, where the Grail originated, to the death of Lancelot after the destruction of the Round Table. It draws in many different strands, from the pseudo-historical stories about Arthur to the romances of chivalric adventure and the spiritual quest for the Grail. It consists of five works: the longest is Lancelot, a kind of chivalric history of the Round Table, which leads into the quest for the Grail and Arthur's death. The first two books were added later, and provide an account of events through Arthur's marriage and early military victories. Not long after the cycle was completed, another writer retained the first two books of the Vulgate Cycle but recast the last three books with a rather different emphasis; this version is known as the Bost-Vulgate Cycle, and is one of the main sources used by Sir Thomas Malory.

Lancelot is the central romance of the Vulgate Cycle, in which the chivalric elements in Arthur's court come to the fore. These chivalric elements contain the seeds of Arthur s destruction and the dissolution of the Round Table, as Lancelots love for Guenevere undermines his bond to Arthur; the tension between love, prowess and loyalty is the undercurrent of the long romance which describes the exploits which he performs in her service. It also includes many stories which are chivalric adventures largely unrelated to the main theme, and uses the device of interweaving these stories to form a huge stream of narrative. This series of episodic pictures leads ultimately to the birth of Lancelots son Galahad, who is destined to become the hero of the Grail.

Parts one and two of Lancelot cover Lancelot s boyhood and his admission to Arthur s court, where he falls immediately in love with Guenevere. The adventures and quests which follow, including his friendship with the tragic Galehaut, take us to the point where he becomes a companion of the Round Table.