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.

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."

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

"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.

Relates tales of Sir Lancelot, the bravest knight in King Arthur's court.