Galahad

The story of Galahad and his quest for the Holy Grail is a relatively late addition to the Arthurian legend. Galahad does not feature in any romance by Chrétien de Troyes, or in Robert de Boron's Grail stories, or in any of the continuations of Chrétien's story of the mysterious castle of the Fisher King. He first appears in a 13th-century Old French Arthurian epic, the interconnected set of romances of unknown authorship, known as the Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) Cycle. His name (but not his character) could have been derived from the Welsh name Gwalchavad (Gwachafed), meaning "Falcon of Summer". , its red and white colors symbolizing bloodshed and purity (through chastity)|left The original conception of Galahad, whose adult adventures are first recounted in the fourth book of the Vulgate Cycle (Vulgate Queste), may have come from the mystical Cistercian Order. According to some interpretations, the philosophical inspiration of the celibate and otherworldly character of Galahad came from this monastic order set up by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Cistercian-Bernardine concept of Catholic warrior asceticism that distinguishes the character of Galahad also informs St. Bernard's projection of perfect chivalry in his work on the Knights Templar, the Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae. Galahad is furthermore associated with a white shield with a vermilion cross, similar to the emblem given to the Knights Templar by Pope Eugene III. Nevertheless, even those considering the Templar connections to Galahad (and the Grail Quest literature more generally) may see him as representing the authors' ideal of a secular knight, not a monastic one. The Saint George's Cross symbol was soon picked by the French and English secular crusaders, and eventually became the flag of England by the 16th century (meanwhile having lost its Catholic roots to turn into an English Protestant symbol). ==Medieval literature==

Conception and descent in Jasper, Alberta The circumstances surrounding Galahad's conception derive from the earlier parts of Grail prose cycles. It takes place when King Arthur's greatest knight, Lancelot, mistakes Princess Elaine of Corbenic (originally known as Heliabel or Amite in the Vulgate Cycle) for his secret mistress, Queen Guinevere. Lady Elaine's father, King Pelles, has already received magical foreknowledge that Lancelot will give his daughter a child and that this little boy will grow to become the greatest knight in the world, the knight chosen by God to discover the Holy Grail. Pelles also knows that Lancelot will only lie with his one true love, Guinevere. Destiny will have to be helped along a little; therefore, a conclusion which prompts Pelles to seek out "one of the greatest enchantresses of the time," Dame Brusen, who gives Pelles a magic ring that makes Elaine take on the appearance of Guinevere and enables her to spend a night with Lancelot. On discovering the deception, Lancelot draws his sword on Elaine, but when he finds out that they have conceived a son together, he is immediately forgiving. However, he does not marry Elaine or even wish to be with her anymore and returns to Arthur's court, though they eventually reunite years later. In effect, Lancelot is an absent father to his son, while Galahad placed in the care of his great aunt, who is an abbess at a nunnery, to be raised there. According to the 13th-century Old French Prose Lancelot (part of the Vulgate Cycle), "Galahad" was Lancelot's baptismal name. The latter was named as King Ban's wife Queen Elaine in the Vulgate Lancelot, where Galahad's ancestry on the paternal side had been limited to Galahad the elder > Lancelot the elder > Ban > Lancelot the younger, also descended from Joseph (just like in the case of Pelles and his daughter Amite on his maternal side). The original Galahad (Galaad) is described as the first Christian king of Wales. Grail Quest and ascension (1879)|alt=|left Upon reaching the medieval definition of adulthood at 15 years old, Galahad is finally united with his father Lancelot, who had never met him before that. Lancelot knights Galahad after having been bested by him in a duel, the first and only time that Lancelot ever lost in a fair fight to anyone. Galahad is then brought to King Arthur's court at Camelot during Pentecost, where he is accompanied by a very old knight who immediately leads him over to the Round Table and unveils his seat at the Siege Perilous, an unused chair that has been kept vacant for the sole person who will succeed in the quest of the Holy Grail. For all others who have aspired to sit there, it has proved to be immediately fatal. Galahad survives this test, witnessed by Arthur who, upon realising the greatness of this new knight, leads him out to the river where a magic sword lies in a stone with an inscription reading "Never shall man take me hence but only he by whose side I ought to hang; and he shall be the best knight of the world." (The embedding of a sword in a stone is also an element of the legends of Arthur's original sword, the sword in the stone. In Malory's version, this is the sword that had belonged to Balin.) Galahad accomplishes this test with ease, and Arthur swiftly proclaims him to be the greatest knight ever. Galahad is promptly invited to become a Knight of the Round Table, and soon afterwards, Arthur's court witnesses an ethereal vision of the Grail. The quest to seek out this holy object is begun at once. All of the Knights of the Round Table set out to find the Grail. It is Galahad who takes the initiative to begin the search for the Grail; the rest of the knights follow him. Arthur is sorrowful that all the knights have embarked thus, for he discerns that many will never be seen again, dying in their quest. Arthur fears that it is the beginning of the end of the Round Table. This might be seen as a theological statement that concludes that earthly endeavours must take second place to the pursuit of the holiness. Galahad, in some ways, mirrors Arthur, drawing a sword from a stone in the way that Arthur did. In this manner, Galahad is declared to be the chosen one. in an 1890 painting by Edwin Austin Abbey Further uniquely among the Round Table, Galahad is capable of performing miracles such as banishing demons and healing the sick, notably being the only one capable of healing the Fisher King from his grave injury. For the most part, he travels alone during the Grail Quest, smiting and often sparing his enemies (including near-fatally wounding Gawain in Malory's telling), rescuing fellow knights including Perceval, and saving maidens in distress, until he is finally reunited with Bors and Perceval. The relationship between them seems to be based on the English saint Aelred of Rievaulx's Spiritual Friendship (written c. 1164–1167) that framed true friendship as a divine bond between them that connects them with God. Together, the three blessed virgin knights come across Perceval's sister, who leads them to the mystical Ship of Solomon. They use it to cross the sea to an island where Galahad finds King David's sword, which replaces has hitherto-wielded (and cursed) sword of Balin. in an 1895 painting by Edwin Austin Abbey|left|alt= After many adventures, Galahad and his companions find themselves in the mystical castle of Corbenic at the court of King Pelles and his son Eliazarr. Galahad does not reunite with his mother, who had died meanwhile. His grandfather and uncle bring Galahad into a dark room where he is finally allowed to see the Holy Grail. Galahad is asked to take the vessel to the holy island Sarras (which had belonged to his ancestor, the pagan king baptised by Joseph as Nascien His ascension is witnessed by Bors and Perceval. Depending on the telling, Galahad is either physically taken to paradise as he completely vanishes in a bright light or his mortal body is left behind and later buried. In the latter scenario, Galahad is usually laid to rest alongside the body of Perceval's sister and later joined in their grave by Perceval himself. Galahad's success in the search for the Holy Grail was predicted before his birth, not only by Pelles but also by Merlin, who once had told Arthur's father Uther Pendragon that there was one who would fill the place at the "table of Joseph", but that he was not yet born. At first this knight was believed to be Perceval, however it is later discovered to be Galahad. Galahad was conceived for the divine purpose of seeking the Holy Grail, but this happened under a cloak of deception, similarly to the conceptions of Arthur and Merlin. Despite this, Galahad is the knight is destined to find the Holy Grail, while the others are destined to fail. Galahad, in both the Lancelot-Grail cycle and in Malory's retelling, is exalted above all the other knights: he is the one worthy enough to have the Grail revealed to him and to be taken into Heaven. ==Modern culture==

{{multiple image The figure of Galahad was frequently used in British propaganda during both world wars. A 1916 poem recommended by Cecil Harcourt-Smith for war memorials calls the British WWI dead in the fields of Flanders 'Galahads'. Two British warships have been named after Galahad: RFA Sir Galahad (1966) and RFA Sir Galahad (1986). Victorian poetry In Thomas Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', Galahad's incredible prowess and fortune in the quest for the Holy Grail are traced back to his piety. According to the legend, only pure knights may achieve the Grail. While in a specific sense, this "purity" refers to chastity, Galahad appears to have lived a generally sinless life and as a result, he lives and thinks on a level entirely apart from the other knights around him. This quality is reflected in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Sir Galahad": Galahad is able to conquer all of his enemies because he is pure. In the next verse of this poem, Tennyson continues to glorify Galahad for remaining pure at heart, by putting these words into his mouth: Galahad pursues a single-minded and lonely course, sacrificing much in his determination to aspire to a higher ideal: Tennyson's poem follows Galahad's journey to find the Holy Grail but ends while he is still riding, still seeking, still dreaming; as if to say that the quest for the Holy Grail is an ongoing task. Unlike many other portrayals of the legend of Sir Galahad, Tennyson has Sir Galahad speak in the first person, giving the reader his thoughts and feelings as he rides on his quest, rather than just the details of his battles, as in Malory. Tennyson's poem inspired various works of art. In music, these have included Rutland Boughton's musical drama Sir Galahad (1898), Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer's chorus setting Sir Galahad, for Chorus of Mixed Voices and Orchestra (1908), and Carl Busch's Sir Galahad (1921). published in 1858. Unlike Malory and Tennyson's pure hero, Morris creates a Galahad who is emotionally complex, conflicted, and palpably human. In "A Christmas Mystery", written more than twenty years after Tennyson's "Sir Galahad", Galahad is "fighting an internal battle between the ideal and the human", and tries to reconcile his longing for earthly delights, such as the romantic exploits of Sir Palomydes and his father Sir Lancelot, and the "more austere spiritual goal to which he has been called". In the companion piece "The Chapel in Lyoness", a knight lies dying in winter "in a bizarre realization of Galahad's nightmare vision of his own fate". Galahad then "saves" the knight with a kiss before he finally expires. It is here that Galahad progresses from "a somewhat self-centered figure" to "a savior capable of imparting grace". Several allusions to Galahad "reinforce Yonge's emphasis on the spirituality of Guy and his growth as a Christian; his achievement of Christ-like qualities mirrors Galahad's achievement of the Grail". • A poem by Thomas de Beverly published in 1925, "The Birth of Sir Galahad", tells of the events leading up to the conception of Sir Galahad, his birth and a visit soon afterwards by Sir Bors, to see Elaine and the baby Galahad. Sir Bors sees a vision of the Holy Grail whilst in a chapel with the baby and his mother. Of the three knights who are untainted by sin – Sir Perceval, Sir Bors, and Sir Galahad – Galahad is the only one predestined to achieve this honor of attaining the Holy Grail. This is similar to God declaring that King David had shed much blood and was not worthy of building the Jerusalem Temple, this honour falling only to his son King Solomon. • John Erskine's 1926 novel Galahad: Enough of His Life to Explain His Reputation follows the story of Galahad's conception and his whole life while underlining the influence of Queen Guinevere on Galahad's knightly training, which ultimately pushed him to exceed all others who surrounded him. Erskine follows Malory's text through Galahad's childhood as he grows up in the court of his mother Elaine, and travels to King Arthur's court to be reunited with his father and to become a knight. When Galahad arrives at the court, Guinevere is upset with Lancelot because he does not want to be her lover anymore, and she takes an interest in the young knight, persuading him to go above and beyond regular knightly duties. At first Galahad seems content with just being an ordinary Knight of the Round Table, going out on quests and saving maidens in distress. Guinevere is the main contributor to Galahad's destiny to seek the Grail. • Edmund Wilson's story "Galahad", published in 1927, presents a humorous story about the attempted seduction of a virginal high school student by a debutante. • James Branch Cabell's story "The Eighth Letter: To Sir Galahad of the Siege Perilous" (1934) according to which "the excessive purity and holiness of the figure makes him an uncomfortable, even dangerous one, both for Arthur's society and for our own." • Matt Cohen satirizes Galahad's character in his 1972 collection of short stories Too Bad Galahad. boxer. It was remade twice, in 1941 and in 1962. • A young Galahad is portrayed by George Reeves in the 1949 film serial Adventures of Sir Galahad in which he and Morgan le Fay work to recover the stolen Excalibur from the Black Knight aided by Merlin and the Saxons. • In 1960, Galahad's story was parodied in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends in the episode "Sir Galahad; or, The Tomorrow Knight". • Galahad is portrayed by Michael Palin in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The movie makes a satire of Galahad's purity as his chastity is put to the test when he finds a castle full of sexually charged nuns. • Galahad and his lady Cecilia, kidnapped by Morgana, play leading roles in the 1991 double-part MacGyver episode "Good Knight MacGyver". • In the 1996 Babylon 5 episode "A Late Delivery from Avalon" the character Marcus Cole identifies with Galahad. In a later episode, he accordingly reveals he is a virgin. Neverland Card Battles (2008), and King Arthur: Legends Rise (2024). • In the 2009 video game Sonic and the Black Knight, Sir Galahad is playable in the multilayer mode, acting as a doppelgänger of Silver the Hedgehog. He also appears in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle and Sonic Dash. • In the 2015 video game The Order: 1886, the main character is an heir to the title of Sir Galahad, and is referred to as such. • The 2016 mobile game Hero Wars has an otherwise unrelated character named Galahad as a starting character, also heavily featured in the game's advertising. • Galahad in a playable hero in the 2022 video game ''King Arthur: Knight's Tale''. His in-game description calls him a "devout believer with a mysterious past – legends claim that he was a heathen savage until he saw a vision that made him a Christian knight and set him after the Grail". • In the 2025 video game Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, Galahad is a title held by Kamelot's representative to the South. Its holder at the time the events of the game take place is known for being violent and ruthless. Music Galahad is an English rock band formed in 1985. • Kid Galahad is an album by Elvis Presley, containing songs from the 1962 version of the above-mentioned film by the same title. • Joan Baez uses the legend metaphorically in her 1970 song "Sweet Sir Galahad", which is about the courtship of her sister. • Rick Wakeman has the song "Sir Galahad" in his 1975 rock opera album The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. • Rick Springfield's song "Guenevere" from his 1984 album Beautiful Feelings has the queen nd Galahad as modern-era lovers. • On his EP To the Yet Unknowing World, Josh Ritter has a song titled "Galahad", which jokes about Galahad's chastity and the 'virtue' of his supposed purity. • In Mili's song "Ga1ahad and Scientific Witchery", Galahad is portrayed as a robotic knight who was reanimated by a witch. • Marty Stuart uses part of the last stanza in the outro of the concept album The Pilgrim. Johnny Cash speaks as God, describing the Pilgrim as a just and faithful knight, before singing the final line of the album. ==See also==