King Arthur's Round Table.

"This table belonged to the ancient kings of Camelot. A round table afforded no man more importance than any other. They believed in equality in all things. So, it seems fitting that we revive this tradition now."

                                                                                                         Merlin : The Coming of Arthur - Part 2

King Arthur had a Round Table - we are all familiar with that theme...am I right?

But what was the significance of a Round Table and is there any truth in it? Let's see, shall we...

 King Arthur presides at the Round Table with all of his Knights.

The origins of the Round Table came from a Norman poet ( who was actually born in Jersey, but who cares about the details) who went by the name of Wace. Wace wrote Roman de Brut - when I say wrote, I mean he adapted Geoffrey Monmouth History of the Kings of Britain.

In Wace's version of events, Arthur was having a difficult time with his Barons, they were proud and arrogant and were full of self-importance, and when it came to sitting around the table together, well...they all thought they should be close to the King.

It gave Arthur an enormous headache! He was trying to rule a kingdom not pacify egos.

Arthur had a proverbial light-bulb moment - he commissioned a Round Table to be built, so all who sat around it were of equal importance. That shut those Barons up for a while, at least.

Not to be outdone, in the 13th Century Layamon adapted Wace's work into the Middle English work Brut. In Layamon's version of events there was a violent fight during one of Arthur's famous Christmas Feasts - arguing, yet again, over who should sit where - politicians, they never change do they?!

Arthur commissioned a Cornish carpenter to build a portable round table - I like to think of it as the ultimate picnic table - so where ever Arthur went, the table went and such violent outbursts could be avoided in the future.

But, is there any truth in these stories of a Round Table?

According to Wace and Layamon, yes. They both stated that they had heard of such a table from the tribes of Breton (Brittany) - this reminds me a little bit of Monmouth and his mysteriously lost manuscript - perhaps that is something to bear in mind for the future...no one can argue if I state my historical fiction is based on facts I read in a lost manuscript - which I will then conveniently lose, a bit like my purse - which I seem to misplace everytime my teen asks for money. Although I think he might be on to me by now, because he is like one of those sniffer dogs - he always seems to find it, even when I hid it in a sausepan with the lid on! Which turned out to be the first place he looked...who looks in a sausepan?!  Am I really that predictable? And here I was thinking that was a good hiding place. Go figure.

However, there was a tale from the Celtic tribes of Britain - where the Breton's, it is said, originally came from - that it was common practice for a king and his warriors to sit in a circle when they wanted to air their grievances - not around an actual table though.

It has been argued that perhaps Wace actually got his idea of a Round Table from the stories of the famous court of Charlemagne, the King of the Franks (c.742 - 814). It is said that Charlemagne had a round table, in which was carved a map of Rome.

It is an interesting point that there is no mention of a Round Table in any of the Welsh and Celtic stories before Wace's work. Arthur had a find and noble court, but no Round Table.

 

  

Nevertheless, the idea of a Round Table was appealing. Robert de Boron (1190) romanticised the table.

Boron credited Merlin for the Round Table. It is Merlin's idea, and it was suppose to represent the Last Supper. There were 12 seats around Boron's, Round Table - representing the 12 apostles of Jesus. The seat Judas occupied was to remain empty, waiting for the most honorable of knights - the one who would find the Grail - to come to court and claim his rightful place. Boron also states that Merlin  gave the table to Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father.

Didot Percival (The Romance of Percival) takes up the story. It is Percival, who to the shock of everyone else at court that day, sits on the chair - that thou shall not sit on - and from here on in, Percival's fate is sealed. It is he that initialised the quest to find the Holy Grail.

This story is adapted yet again in the 13th Century French story, Lancelot-Grail. The table, was a gift to Uther -that stays the same - but there is a keeper of the table, King Leodegrance of Cameliard, Guinveres father. Leodegrance allows Arthur his rightful inheritance of the table when he marries his daughter.

In Lancelot-Grail we are told that it is Galahad that sits on the chair - that thou shall not sit on - not Percival, and it is Galahad that sparks off the quest for the Grail. Ironically, it is also signifies the last days of Arthur's reign.
 

And there is the story of the Round Table. Was it what you thought it was?

Sir Galahad - and why he annoys me!

The son of Lancelot du Lac, Sir Galahad, was the greatest of knights who ever sat around Arthur's fine Round Table. So how come no one had heard of him until the 13th Century?

George Frederick Watts (1817 - 1904) 
 

Galahad first appears in Lancelot-Grail. He became such a popular knight that from here-on-in, we hear about him all the time. He is everything his father was, but then more. The more I read about him, the more I am convinced that he should really have entered the church and stayed well away from Arthur and his knights. If you don't know his story, then read on and you will see what I mean.

Lancelot mistakes Elaine, the daughter of the Fisher King, as Guinevere, and he begets her with child. More magic is involved here, I fear -- unless Lancelot was like Prince Charming who, as I should imagine you all know, failed to recognize the love of his life and had to identify her by placing a glass slipper on her foot! They say love is blind and all that, but...really?
 
Elaine has a son. According to Prose Lancelot, the child is given his father's original name of Galahad - of course. Galahad has a noble ancestry on his mothers side at least, he descends from the brother of Joseph of Aramethia. I guessed he lucked out with his father, who could not tell one woman from the next, (I know, I know, you get the picture, I am just not impressed with Lancelot's excuses).

Merlin foresees Galahad's future in a vision. The son of du Lac is destined to find the Holy Grail.

Galahad grows up and becomes a man.

Lancelot, knights him and takes him to Camelot. Here he sits in the chair that no one should sit on except for the chosen Grail seeker. Luckily for Galahad, he is that man, otherwise he would have died there and then and what a shame that would have been.

With wide eyes, King Arthur asks the young knight to accompany him.  The rest of the knights look on, a few nudge Lancelot knowingly, but Lancelot has no idea what they know, being as he cannot even tell one woman from another, (get over it...he made a mistake, move on). Arthur leads him to a river where there is a sword in a stone. The inscription on the sword reads;

“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.”

Before you start shouting at the screen saying it is Arthur that pulls a sword from the stone - hold fire.  Galahad pulls the sword free and Arthur declares that Galahad is the best knight to ever live, he could hardly say "...Oh, it is you who is the rightful king, my mistake, here is the crown," can he?

The quest for the Grail begins.

Galahad prefers to work alone, (well, that is what they say anyway - personally I don't think he was that popular in court). He rescue many maidens in distress during his quest, as well as Percival who finds himself out numbered 20 to 1 -- to this day, Percival states that he had everything in hand and he didn't really need rescuing.

Eventually Galahad is reunited with Bors and Percival. Percival's sister knows where the Grail ship is - she could have said something before, I don't really understand why she didn't  - Anyway, she dies and Bors vows to take her body home, (any excuse to get away from Galahad), which leaves just Percival and Galahad.

The two intrepid knights end up at the court of King Pelles (the Fisher King) and Galahad mends a sword - just by holding it - and sees a life changing vision. He now knows where the Grail is - it is on the ship - and he also knows what he has to do with it.

Unfortunately Camelot is far to unsavory for the Grail to go to??!  Instead, the two knights have to sail to the Holy City of Sarras.

Galahad has a "now I have seen it all" moment, and request that he be allowed to die when he chooses. The request is granted. After meeting with Joseph of Arimethea, he chooses to die - it is said because the experience was glorious - The angels come and lift Galahad up to the heavens. As for the Grail...it has never been seen on earth again.

 
"The fact that Sir Galahad had always acted so damned self-righteous that his Grail-hunting companions had wearied of his holier-than-thou ways probably had nothing whatever to do with his demise."

Kim Iverson Headlee  King Arthur's Sister in Washington Court

 

The story of Sir Galahad was to inspire many future poets and writers, and his piety, chastity and purity almost becomes, how can I say it, difficult to read about it. In the blog where I talked about Lancelot, I mentioned that if he had not had the affair with Guinevere he would make me feel slightly ill - because he would have been too good to be true, and I think in the case of Galahad, this statement really does apply. Of all the knights, he is the one that really annoys me. Which probably says more about me than him. Maybe I need to work on that. But listen...

"I never felt the kiss of love,

Nor maiden's hand in mine.”

Lord Tennyson 

"the best of Arthour's Knights,

Who should achieve the quest of the Sangrael

Which only they shall see whose lives are pure.

No bravery is such a virtue as the Graele may gain.”

Thomas de Beverly

Do you see what I mean, he is just to good and too nice. At least Thomas Berger's in Arthur Rex portrays him differently. In Arthur Rex, Galahad does not die after securing the safety of the Holy Grail, instead he is portrayed in a satirical light. Galahad sleeps through most of a battle.. he decides to join in...kills Lancelot by mistake... and then is killed himself. No honorable death there, then.

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Galahad's chastity is put to the test when he finds himself at the mercy of a castle full of sexually frustrated nuns!

So there we have it, Galahad, my least favorite of Arthur's knight's.