A weapon kept in conditionA truth told before it is forced outA candle for a friend betrayedThe first drink poured for anotherA penance actually performed
Invocation Approach
Tone
Disciplined sorrowful direct
Address
LancelotLancelot du LacThe Best KnightKnight of the Cart
Relationship
The best man in the room who ruined the thing he loved
Warning
He is excellent at everything except the one thing asked of him
Resonance
Those who have broken a loyalty those who train those who do penance
Symbols
The lakeThe cartThe unbroken swordThe black shieldJoyous gardThe monk s habit
Mythology Summary
Lancelot is a creation of Chretien de Troyes, who put him in a cart in the Chevalier de la charrette (c. 1177-81) to reach the abducted queen; the prose Vulgate Lancelot (c. 1215-35) gave him a full biography — stolen as an infant and raised by the Lady of the Lake, the love of Guinevere, the madness, and the failure at the Grail because of his sin. Malory's Morte keeps the love as the most famous and the most ill-fated, and ends him as a priest and then a monk, dying soon after the queen. In the early romances he is one knight at a court; in the prose cycle he is the centre of the world.
Modern Practice
No cult and no rite. What there is, is a literary discipline: keep the weapon or tool in condition, tell the truth before it is dragged out of you, perform the penance rather than declaring it, and pour for someone else first. He is a useful figure for people who are competent and have still wrecked something.