The early 13th century French romance tells of Lancelot's childhood, his arrival at King Arthur's court, and the flowering of his legendary love affair with Queen Guinevere.

"The story of the passionate, adulterous, tragic love of Lancelot and Guenevere is at once the perfect expression of "courtly love" and its inversion. Lancelot, the superhuman stranger in King Arthur's court, sacrifices everything in service of his king, and yet also falls secretly in love with Arthur's queen, the most beautiful woman in all of Britain. That this spotless knight, who repeatedly saves Arthur and his world from destruction, should also be the fateful underminer of the king's self-confidence and, ultimately, a terrible weapon in the hands of Arthur's great adversary Galehaut, is a contradiction that has fascinated the Western mind for hundreds of years." "The Arthurian legend that most of us know comes from Malory and The Once and Future King. But there are also several books of Old French romance, the most detailed of which, the thirteenth-century "Book of Galehaut," gives a surprising and unfamiliar version. It is a double love story - the tale not only of Lancelot's love for Guenevere, but also the love of Galehaut, the Lord of the Distant Isles, for Lancelot. It is the achievement of Patricia Terry and Samuel N. Rosenberg, both seasoned translators of medieval romance, to tease out from the French sources the essential story of Lancelot, Guenevere, Galehaut, and Arthur, and, without distorting the original, retell it for today's reader. Their rich, subtle, and deeply moving narrative is complemented by evocative wood engravings by Judith Jaidinger, the most distinctive visual interpreter of Arthurian legend since Arthur Rackham and Howard Pyle."--BOOK JACKET.

This translation of Lancelot del Lac was published in 1929 to present easily the essential parts of the history of Sir Lancelot from three thirteenth century romances - "Le livre de Lancelot del Lac," "Le queste del saint graal," and "La mort le roi Artus. "The translator summarises the sections not fully translated to link the sections together. This was the first serious attempt to produce a modern English rendering of the French material, as Malory used a relatively small portion of the French trilogy in writing "Morte Darthur."

New age teachings on self-awareness and enlightenment are explored in an Arthurian-age story of two siblings' journey to enlightenment after they discover Sir Lancelot living as a hermit and uncover his knowledge of the Holy Grail. Alura and Frith, abandoned at an abbey as children, have grown up in social isolation and are desperate for a new life. Sir Bedivere, desolate over the knights' abandonment of the Round Table after the fall of Camelot, has come up with a plan. Sir Lancelot, abandoned by his once-adoring public, has found enlightenment while living as a hermit. Their lives converge when Frith leads Sir Bedivere to Lancelot’s hermitage. There, they learn that Lancelot has found the Holy Grail – within himself. Bedivere tries, without success, to persuade Lancelot to come help him rebuild the Knights of The Round Table. After Bedivere departs, Frith begs Lancelot to teach him, hoping to become a knight. Soon Alura joins them, hoping to snare herself a husband. Lancelot, torn between a desire to be left alone and an obligation to pass his knowledge on, agrees to teach them, but soon realizes that everyone simply wants to use him. Yet, seeing the spark of awareness growing in Alura and Frith, he persists and leads them on a quest to penetrate the barriers in themselves that keep them from attaining the Grail. Then Alura falls in love with Lancelot and incites an angry mob. Bedivere urges Lancelot to flee, but Lancelot stays, struggling to finish his work with Alura and Frith in the little time he has left. Under Lancelot's tutelage Alura and Frith come of age, but the ideas presented in Lancelot's Grail invite the reader to reconsider what coming of age really means.

Follows Sir Launcelot of the Round Table as he rescues Queen Guinevere, fights in the tournament at Astolat and pursues other adventures.