Arthur
Traditionally king of Britain, historically perhaps a 5th‐ or 6th‐century Romano‐British chieftain or general. His life and court have become the focus for many romantic legends in various languages, ...
Camelot
The seat of King Arthur's court, is said by Malory to be Winchester. It may be Camelford in Cornwall, the name actually given it by Laзamon; following Drayton's Poly‐Olbion, it is identified as South ...
Chrétien de Troyes
(fl. 1170–90),regarded as the greatest of the writers of courtly romances (see Courtly Love), which he wrote in French. Four complete romances survive, all written in octosyllabic rhyming couplets: ...
Fisher King
Name given the Grail keeper in Arthuriana; he has no specific Celtic antecedent. Variously identified as Amfortas, Alain, Bron, Pelles, or Pellinore. In Chrétien de Troyes (12th cent.) he is ...
Galahad
The noblest of King Arthur's knights, son of Sir Lancelot, renowned for immaculate purity and destined to find the Holy Grail.
Gawain
In Arthurian legend, one of the knights of the Round Table who sought for the Holy Grail. He is Arthur's nephew, and is the hero of the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Grail, Holy
In medieval romances, a vessel possessing spiritual powers and affording, under certain conditions, mystical benefits to its beholders. It is sometimes identified with the cup used by Christ at the ...
Guinevere
In Arthurian legend, the wife of King Arthur and lover of Lancelot. In the Arthurian cycle she is seen through her love for Lancelot as one of the key figures in the ultimate destruction of Arthur's ...
Lancelot
In Arthurian legend, the most famous of Arthur's knights, father of Galahad; he is one of the most significant figures of the cycle, since it is the revelation of his adulterous love for Guinevere ...
Perceval
A legendary figure dating back to ancient times, found in French, German, and English poetry from the late 12th century onwards. He is the father of Lohengrin and the hero of a number of legends, ...
Sir Launfal
By Thomas Chestre, a late 14th‐cent. Breton lay. It is one of the two English versions of Marie de France's Lanval. Launfal is a knight of the Round Table who leaves the court, affronted by tales of ...
