What are the historical and/or literary originas of the characters and names of Galahad and Lancalot?
For example, do they arise through Anglo-Saxon legend? Or are they Norman derivatives?
Curious…
They first appeared in written form in the 12th century, in Historia Regnum Brittaniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth. However, the oral stories had been around since about the 800’s, I believe.
But, according to Plutarch (c. 100 AD), there was a legend among the Britons that the god Kronos slumbered on an island, guarded by Briareus. which evolved into the King Arthur stories we are familiar with today.
They first appeared in written form in the 12th century, in Historia Regnum Brittaniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth. However, the oral stories had been around since about the 800’s, I believe.
But, according to Plutarch (c. 100 AD), there was a legend among the Britons that the god Kronos slumbered on an island, guarded by Briareus. which evolved into the King Arthur stories we are familiar with today.
They first appeared in written form in the 12th century, in Historia Regnum Brittaniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth. However, the oral stories had been around since about the 800’s, I believe.
But, according to Plutarch (c. 100 AD), there was a legend among the Britons that the god Kronos slumbered on an island, guarded by Briareus. which evolved into the King Arthur stories we are familiar with today.
Well I don’t know about Galahad and Lancelot (my WAG is there names are french as the Arthur legends were re-imported from France to England), but King Arthur does appear to be at least based on a real personage. He was a Celtic warlord who won a victory against the Anglo-Saxons at Mons Badonicus (exact location unkown but probably somewhere in the west of England) which was recorded by a British historian of the time.
Damn hamsters.
(Fighting flashback to undergraduate class on Arthurian lit)
A good early Lancelot story is Chretien de Troyes “Knight of the Cart” :
http://camelot.celtic-twilight.com/chretien/lancelot.htm
From here:
http://www.britannia.com/history/timeart2.html
“Chretien de Troyes is remembered as the first writer to give the name of Camelot to Arthur’s headquarters and capital city. He, also, is responsible for the introduction of the famous knights, Lancelot, Gawain and Perceval, into the literature of Arthurian legend.”
-Snowcarpet
Sadly, I don’t have time to research all of this now, but here’s some more background.
Info about Galahad:
http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/galmenu.htm
A good chronology for “what was published when?” :
http://phoenix.marymount.edu/~csnyder/Chronology.htm
And a generally helpful list of links:
http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/links/arthlink.htm
-Snowcarpet
Well, Lancelot may have–but Galahad made his first appearance in the Lancelot/Grail cycle (also called the Vulgate Lancelot).
I’d always been under the impression that Lancelot’s debut was Chretien (12th century). My copy of Chretien’s arthurian romances says he worked in “the second half of the 12th century” and my copy of Geoffrey says he died in 1155. I don’t recall Lancelot appeared in Geoffrey, and a quick scan of my History of the Kings of Britain seems to cofirm my recollection–Lancelot isn’t there, and the adultery is, in fact, with Mordred, and not a main feature of the story.
I think (people who know better will be sure to correct me, I know) that it was The Knight of the Cart that first popularized Lancelot, and Chretien who also popularized the Grail Quest (which did indeed make its first appearance in Chretien’s Cont du Graal), and the Lancelot/Grail cycle was part of this–Galahad was made up by the “architecht” of the Lancelot Grail because he/she wasn’t satisfied with the other possible heroes, they didn’t make the point the author wanted to make–in fact, the other heroes, who achieve the Grail in other stories, are made to fail in very specific ways in the Lancelot Grail. It’s the Lancelot Grail cycle that Mallory was using as a basis for much of his Morte D’Arthur, which is of course the most famous version of the story.
Oh, and re-reading the OP, I gather there’s a good deal of debate over whether Lancelot himself has his origins in French/Norman or Celtic legend. There’s even a bid for the Sarmatian origins of the Arthurian legends and the character of Lancelot specifically. Nobody knows for sure, though–just lots of theories, some more plausible than others.
I see you already mentioned Chretien, Snowcarpet, sorry. But I think that second link is a bit inaccurate–not only is Gawain in Geoffrey (and so earlier than Chretien) he also shows up on the Modena Archivolt, which I think is earlier than both. Hold on, I’ll google for some confirmation/correction–
This site says c 1120-1140
Other sites pretty much seem to agree. Gawain was almost certainly a pre-existing character. If there’s a pre-existing Lancelot or Lancelot-like character, I don’t know.
Bren, you are absolutely correct. What I posted above refers only to the King Arthur legend, not specifically to the characters of Lancelot or Galahad. They appeared in written form in the 12th century, as both you and snowcarpet mentioned.
Chivalry first appeared in the Caucasus Mountain region among the Alans (who are probably descended from the ancient Sarmatians, whose contribution to Arthurian legend was noted above by Bren_Cameron), a people of the North Caucasus area who speak a language belonging to the Iranian language family.
The essential outlines of the Arthurian story were known in Alan legend back in Roman times. There was a legion of Sarmatian soldiers, a tribe called Iazyges, from the steppes just north of the Caucasus who served in the Roman army and were transferred to Britain. The modern-day descendants of the Alans are thought to be the Ossetes.
See this review of From Scythia to Camelot for more information.
I’ve read From Scythia to Camelot (it’s sitting on my bookshelf right now, in fact), and while lots of it was very interesting, I wasn’t wholly convinced by their arguments–particularly the assumption that legends collected in the last century or two are neccesarily innocent of influence from Arthurian lit itself. Still, it’s very interesting, and there may well be some validity to it. From Scythia to Camelot is definitely worth a read. And the Scythians/Sarmatians/Alans are a pretty cool bunch, definitely worth looking up.
Much appreciated. Sincere thanks to all. 