Editing Lancelot (section)

===King Arthur's court===
{{Further|Knights of the Round Table}}

[[File:Tales of the Round table; based on the tales in the Book of romance (1908) (14580337558).jpg|thumb|upright|An illustration for ''Tales of the Round Table'' (1908), abridged from ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' by Andrew Lang: "Sir Lancelot did not stop, and the archers shot his horse with many arrows, but he jumped from its back and ran past them deeper into the wood."]]

Initially known only as the nameless White Knight (''Chevalier Blanc''), clad in silver steel on a white horse,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FY3P_DUGTyAC&pg=PA56 |title=Arthurian Literature XXV |date=2008 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=9781843841715 |language=en}}</ref> the young Lancelot (claiming to be 18 years old, although it is later revealed that he is really only 15<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oV967qQ0qiEC&pg=PA52 |title=The Lancelot-Grail Cycle: Text and Transformations |isbn=9780292786400 |last1=Kibler |first1=William W. |date=2010|publisher=University of Texas Press }}</ref>) arrives in Arthur's kingdom of [[Logres]] with the Lady of the Lake to be knighted by the king at her behest. The Lady equips him a powerful magic ring able to dispel any enchantment (as does his anonymous fairy foster mother also does in Chrétien's version; later parts of the Vulgate ''Lancelot'' instead [[retcon]] this as given to him by Guinevere<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQSkzRstpJYC&pg=PA148 |title = Lancelot-Grail: Lancelot, pt. III |isbn = 9781843842354 |last1 = Lacy |first1 = Norris J. |year = 2010|publisher = Boydell & Brewer }}</ref>). She also provides Lancelot with other enchanted items with various magical abilities, including a lance, a sword, a tent, and a mirror. The Lady, or her damsels, continue to aid him throughout the Vulgate ''Lancelot''. He later assumes the name of his grandfather, King Lancelot, upon discovering his identity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Highlights in the Story |website=www.lancelot-project.pitt.edu |url=https://www.lancelot-project.pitt.edu/LG-web/TheStory-Summary.htm |access-date=2019-06-09}}</ref>  

Lancelot is eventually convinced<ref name=arts/> to become a member of King Arthur's elite order of the [[Round Table]] after freeing the Arthur's nephew [[Gawain]] from captivity in the Dolorous Tower episode. He then becomes one of Arthur's closes and most trusted friends, and his greatest knight. As such, he plays a decisive role in the war against the [[Saxons]] in [[Lothian]] (Scotland), when he again rescues Gawain as well as Arthur himself from Castle Saxon Rock and captures the Saxon witch-princess Camille. Single-handedly, he saves Arthur's kingdom from conquest by the half-giant [[Galehaut]] and convinces the latter to join Arthur.

Expanding on the account from the [[Alliterative Morte Arthure|Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'']], Malory also has his Lancelot act as one of the chief leaders in Arthur's Roman War, including personally saving the wounded [[Bedivere]] during the final battle against [[Lucius Tiberius|Emperor Lucius]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lumiansky |first1=R. M.|date= 2019 |title=Malory's Originality: A critical study of ''le Morte Darthur'' |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=9781421433110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BK9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70}}</ref> Since much of ''Le Morte'' was not composed chronologically, the Roman episode actually takes place within Malory's Book II, prior to Book III that relates Lancelot's youth.