The Arthurian legends tell us that King Arthur was supported in his rulership by an alliance of knights known as the Knights of the Round Table, referring to a special table constructed at Camelot that was designed to give every knight an equal place. The number of Knights of the Round Table ranges from as few as 12 to as many as 1,600 depending on the source. In this article we will meet some of the most important knights with the most interesting roles to play in the Arthurian legends.
Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad
The most famous of all the Knights of the Round Table is undoubtedly Lancelot. He was generally portrayed as Arthur’s greatest and most powerful knight. For this reason, he appears throughout much of medieval Arthurian literature, being one of the most popular characters. Although he was a valiant hero who went on many adventures, he is perhaps most famous for his affair with Guinevere, Arthur’s wife. This ended up causing a war between Arthur and Lancelot that ultimately resulted in the downfall of the Knights of the Round Table.
While a popular character, Lancelot is not introduced into the Arthurian legends until the 12th century by Chretien de Troyes. This leads many to conclude that he was invented by that French writer. An alternative theory is that he was actually an adapted version of Maelgwn Gwynedd, one of Arthur’s allies in Welsh tradition.
Lancelot’s son was Galahad, the perfect knight. Young and handsome, he was the one chosen by God to find the Holy Grail and take it to the holy island of Sarras, ending the famous Grail quest.
Sir Percival
Before Galahad was introduced into the Arthurian legends, the Grail hero was Percival. Like Galahad, Percival was viewed as not just a valiant hero, but also as exceptionally holy. This is what enabled him to be worthy of the Holy Grail. Part of the reason for this was his unusual innocence, which was a result of his mother raising him far from the rest of society.
The legends are far from consistent regarding Percival’s family. However, his father is usually presented as being a certain King Pellinore, while his brothers usually include Sir Lamorak and Sir Aglovale. Both of these were Knights of the Round Table as well.
According to the legend, Percival found the Grail Castle and was shown a grand and marvelous procession, which included the Holy Grail. Unfortunately, he fails to ask about the Grail, which would have healed the Fisher King of the castle if he had done so. Percival thus spends the rest of his career attempting to find the Grail Castle again so that he can ask the question and heal the king and his land. Eventually, he is able to do so. He asks about the Holy Grail during the procession, thus healing the Fisher King, who then seems to disappear to heaven. After this, Percival is made the keeper of the Grail.
Sir Bedivere
Sir Bedivere is one of the earliest of the Knights of the Round Table to appear in Arthurian literature. He is mentioned in one of the earliest Arthurian sources, including the Welsh poem Pa Gur from c. 900. In those Welsh texts, his name is usually spelt “Bedwyr.” In the Life of St Cadoc, from 1086, he appears as a close associate of Arthur when the latter was a youth. This indicates that he was one of Arthur’s closest companions throughout his career.
In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, written in c. 1137, “Bedver” appears as one of Arthur’s allies. He goes with Arthur to fight a giant terrorising people in Brittany, helping Arthur to kill it on Mont Saint-Michel.
Perhaps Bedivere’s most famous role today is related to Arthur’s final moments. After being mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlann, Arthur tells Bedivere to throw his sword, Excalibur, into the nearby lake. After twice only pretending to do this, thinking the sword too precious to cast away, Bedivere finally does as Arthur requests. A hand reaches up and grabs the sword before it hits the water. Interestingly, this role was originally fulfilled by his cousin Sir Griflet, a different Knight of the Round Table.
Sir Uriens and Sir Yvain
From a historical perspective, two of the most interesting Knights of the Round Table are Sir Uriens and his son, Sir Yvain. Unlike many of the other Knights of the Round Table, these figures are widely accepted as historical kings. The former was Urien Rheged, a powerful king of the north of Britain in the 6th century, and the latter was his son, called Owain. The territory of the legendary Sir Uriens is often named Gorre, apparently from the Old French “voirre,” meaning “glass.”
Sir Uriens had Yvain by Morgan le Fey, the evil sorceress who constantly opposed Arthur’s kingdom. Uriens does not feature very much in the early Arthurian sources. However, the romances that came after Geoffrey of Monmouth often present him as one of the main opposers of Arthur’s rule after he is made king. He leads an alliance of rebel kings against Arthur, which the latter puts down at the Battle of Bedegraine. Despite this initial conflict, Uriens was reconciled to Arthur and became one of the Knights of the Round Table, as did his son Yvain.
Sir Tristan
Of all the Knights of the Round Table, Sir Tristan may be the one who is most famous in his own right rather than through association with King Arthur. The legend about Tristan tells the story of his love for the beautiful Isolde, or Iseult, and how the evil King Mark tried to put an end to this romance. The story of their romance is so isolated from the rest of King Arthur’s realm that some scholars believe that it was originally a separate story. However, there is no clear evidence of this.
According to the legend, Tristan was given the responsibility to take Iseult from her home in Ireland to King Mark of Cornwall, to whom she had been given in marriage. However, they both accidentally drink a love potion during the journey and therefore fall in love with each other. Naturally, this causes conflict with King Mark, Iseult’s intended groom, which is the main plot of the legend of Tristan.
Sir Gawain
Another one of the Knights of the Round Table who is particularly notable is Sir Gawain. He derives from the figure of Gwalchmai in Welsh tradition. This character was the nephew of King Arthur by his sister, Anna, and King Lot of Lothian. The name of this sister, Gawain’s mother, varies considerably depending on the source. She is more commonly known as Morgause.
Gawain is generally portrayed as being young during King Arthur’s reign. In fact, Geoffrey of Monmouth tells us that Gawain was just twelve years old at the time of Arthur’s special coronation, which occurred years after Arthur’s final battle against the Saxons. He was said to have been sent to Pope Supplicius, possibly the historical Pope Pelagius, at that age.
This character appears in numerous pieces of Arthurian literature. However, he is most famous for the story of Gawain and the Green Knight. In this story, he cuts off the head of a tall green knight who challenges Arthur’s court. Unfortunately for Gawain, this does not prove fatal, and he is forced to allow the Green Knight to do the same to him the following year. This is revealed to be one of Morgan le Fey’s tricks to torment Guinevere.
Sir Kay
Like Bedivere, Sir Kay is one of the earliest Knights of the Round Table to appear in the Arthurian legends. He appears in early Welsh tradition as Cai, usually the companion of Arthur and Bedwyr together. In the early Welsh poem Pa Gur, his death is mentioned in conjunction with the death of Llacheu, King Arthur’s own son. It is implied that they both died at the same event. The Welsh prose tale Culhwch and Olwen explains that it was one of Arthur’s own allies who betrayed them and killed Cai. Other clues indicate that the conflict in question was Mordred’s rebellion, which culminated at the Battle of Camlann.
In non-Welsh tales, Sir Kay is made Arthur’s older foster brother. This is by virtue of the fact that Arthur was entrusted into the care of Kay’s father, Ector, by Merlin soon after his birth. In some later versions, Kay is presented as having a difficult and contentious personality. Nevertheless, he is generally loyal to Arthur. However, some tales attribute the death of Arthur’s son, Loholt (another version of Llacheu) to Kay. In reality, this probably comes from non-Welsh writers misunderstanding the Welsh references to Cai being associated with Llacheu’s death.
Recap: The Knights of the Round Table
The Arthurian legends speak of numerous Knights of the Round Table. In this article, we have examined only a small selection of them, looking at the most famous and important ones. We have seen that Lancelot was the most famous knight, being Arthur’s powerful and trusted companion. Despite this trust, he pursued an affair with Guinevere, eventually resulting in the downfall of Arthur’s kingdom. Lancelot’s son Galahad, in contrast, was exceptionally holy and found the Holy Grail when no one else could. In earlier versions, the Grail hero was Percival, a young knight known for his excessive innocence and holiness. Sir Bedivere and Sir Kay are both characters from very early in Welsh tradition. The former is most famous for throwing Excalibur into the lake, and Kay is famous for being Arthur’s older foster brother.
Sir Uriens of Gorre and his son Sir Owain ultimately derive from historical figures. The former heavily opposed Arthur at the start of his rule, but the two men eventually became close allies. Tristan, for his part, was the knight who magically fell in love with Iseult and came into conflict with King Mark. Finally, we have seen that Sir Gawain was Arthur’s nephew and the young knight who fought against the Green Knight.
