Lancelot
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.
Literary and legendary, not a cult deity: he has no temple, feast or offering in any period, and he does not exist in the earliest Welsh material at all. The Christian redaction is explicit in his case — the Cistercian-influenced Queste del Saint Graal refuses him the Grail because of his sin, a theological verdict on a character Chretien invented without one. The tension between the courtly love that makes him admirable and the monastic morality that condemns him is the actual content of the cycle and should not be resolved by a modern system. The planetary, zodiac, tarot and sabbat correspondences are modern Western overlays.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Mars
Offerings
- Offerings
- 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
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- Lancelot du LacLanzelotThe Knight of the CartThe Best Knight in the World
- Gender Expression
- Masculine
- Titles
- The Best Knight in the WorldKnight of the CartChampion of the QueenLord of Joyous Gard
- Symbols
- The lakeThe cartThe unbroken swordThe black shieldJoyous gardThe monk s habit
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneDisciplined sorrowful directAddressLancelotLancelot du LacThe Best KnightKnight of the CartRelationshipThe best man in the room who ruined the thing he lovedWarningHe is excellent at everything except the one thing asked of himResonanceThose who have broken a loyalty those who train those who do penance
- 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.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- Martial excellenceCourtly loveLoyaltyFriendshipPenanceThe lakeSingle combat
- 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.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsWhiteRedSilverScentsSandalwood whiteRoseFrankincense boswellia sacraMetalsSteelSilverAnimalsLionHorseSwan
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