Lancelot of the Lake was raised by a lake fairy (thus his name) and is the son of King Ban of Benoic.  He is the father of Galahad, and is infamous for seducing many women, which in some Arthurian stories includes Queen Guinevere.  He and Gawain are the two knights who are the closest to Arthur, which makes his adulterous betrayals toward Arthur even more striking. Lancelot was considered the best knight in the land, in terms of combat (after Gawain’s fall from grace because of his lack of repentance), until Galahad became the best knight in the land.

Lancelot is often seen as accompanying his son, Galahad, on his quests for the Grail, and is the main focus in the Vulgate Cycle. Lancelot is allowed a glimpse of the Grail, but is denied drinking from it because of his lack of chastity and purity. Lancelot’s impious choices also led him to fall out with Gawain and his sons, and is even part of what prompts Mordred’s eventual treasonous betrayal of Arthur. This in turn leads to the Battle of Camlann, which results in Mordred’s death and Arthur’s fatal injury.

After Arthur’s death, Lancelot helps to bury Arthur and the Queen.  Reportedly, he is so distraught at their death that he apparently loses a cubit of his height. Believing that it was his affair with the Queen that caused the destruction of the Round Table, he dies of grief six weeks after the death of the Queen.