Lancelot's Role in the Death of King Arthur

Many authors of Arthurian material used the legend of King Arthur to serve their own personal purposes. For example, Chrétien uses Lancelot in "The Knight of the Cart" to show the tensions that were caused by the inability to concurrently abide by the rules of courtly love, chivalry, and Christianity. The author of The Death of King Arthur also uses the character of Lancelot to serve his own personal purposes, though his reasons are much different than those of Chrétien. While Chrétien created Lancelot, a character with many French characteristics, the author of Death carries these characteristics to incorporate a French hero into the Arthurian hero myths. Through both the actions of Lancelot in The Death of King Arthur and the book's treatment of his death, Lancelot becomes the French hero of the Arthurian cannon.

The most obvious example of Lancelot as a French character is in his birthplace. Lancelot is the son of the King of Banoic -- an imaginary place that is in Gaul (Appendix). In this way, Lancelot, though he is a part of Arthur's court in Britain and very much attached to Camelot, remains a Frenchman throughout the story in both his birth and his rule, as he is also king of Banoic.