#the knight of the cart

[rjalker]

Lancelot crossing the sword-bridge

[ID: A medieval illustration showing the knight Lancelot crossing a bridge that is a giant sword placed across a river. Lancelot wears his helmet, arm and leg armour, and chain mail, but his hands and feet are unarmored as he crawls across the giant sword, using his hands and feet to grip the sharp edges. Across the river is a castle where King Bademagu and either Prince Maleagant or Queen Guinevere look down out of a window. On the far side of the castle where the land curves away behind the wall, two lions watch. In the distance are plains, a town, and hills rising into the sky. End ID.]

Read this story for free on Project Gutenberg.

[alicole-sideblog]

Lancelot in The Knight of the Cart

Guinevere's lock of hair he treats like a holy relic with healing powers

The ring from fairy-mama he thinks is magic

[rainbluealoekitten]

can you imagine how betrayed by god lancelot must have felt after elaine raped him? because here is this knight who is just trying to do the right thing by saving a lady and it turns out that she will not take no for an answer, despite his love for the queen. she rapes him, and lancelot literally goes mad. he runs wild in the forest for two whole years as a trauma response. he tried to do a good thing and gets rewarded with this? and god really is behind it because the rape had to happen to conceive galahad. galahad, who is named after lancelot, who is grandson of the grail keeper, who will grow up to be god's most faithful servent. of course it had to happen one way or another. but there is only one other figure lancelot worships as reverentially as he does god, and that is guinevere, and he must believe he's betrayed her, that he's committed the ultimate sin. but it was all god's will. but lancelot continues to try and keep faith with the lord, and the lord keeps punishing him. for his love for the queen, he is expelled from god's graces and who takes up the quest for the holy grail? galahad. lancelot was never good enough for god, so he was manipulated to create someone who was. it makes me sick.

[sickfreaksirkay]

we need to stop normalising the grind and start normalising being an admiring devoted passionate lover who asks nothing but to worship their beloved who’s in a marriage that’s loveless by design

[arthurian-texts]

There’s a scene in Chretien’s Knight of the Cart that’s absolutely crucial for how I see Gawain and Arthur’s relationship, one that probably sticks in my mind more than any other for how subtly and succinctly it captures so many complexities of their dynamic.

For context, this is right after Arthur agrees to let Guinevere go into a quite obvious trap (which ultimately leads to Guinevere’s abduction by Meleagant) with only Kay for protection, simply because he’d promised to grant whatever Kay asked. We’re told that “there was no one who was not upset” at this decision, but no one dares openly stop it or contradict Arthur - who is, after all, the king.

And it’s then that we get this crucial exchange:

No one’s grief was strong enough to prompt him to follow after her until Sir Gawain addressed the king, his uncle, in private. “Lord, you have behaved like a child, and I am astonished,” he said. “But if you heed my counsel, then while they are still near, we shall follow them, you and I, along with any others who wish to come there. As for me, I could not hold back from racing after them. It would be wrong for us not to follow them, at least until we know what will happen to the queen, and how Kay will behave.”

“Let us set off, dear nephew,” the king replied. “You have spoken courteously now. Since you have taken this matter into your hands, have the horses bridled, saddled, and led out that we may mount without delay.”

There’s always a very delicate balance Gawain is walking in how he interacts with Arthur, and you see it even in how the relationship is described here: the king, his uncle. On one hand, Arthur is Gawain’s relative, which gives him a certain leeway to treat him, if not quite as an equal, certainly much closer to it than most people could dare. But on the other hand, Arthur is the king, Gawain’s king, and questioning his authority too strongly would be considered unacceptable.

And I think you see that balance in such a fascinating way here. We’re told that everyone was unhappy with Arthur’s decision, but only Gawain dares to say so. Not only that, he basically tears into Arthur in incredibly strong terms: “You have behaved like a child, and I am astonished.” Clearly, Gawain feels confident that he’s earned the right to speak his mind to Arthur - to give him a piece of his mind, really, in this scene - and he doesn’t seem remotely afraid that there might be consequences for doing so.

But. But. Notice that crucial little detail there: in private. Gawain very pointedly waits to say anything about this until he and Arthur are alone. In public, around the other knights, Gawain doesn’t say a single word to contradict Arthur’s decision. In private, he tells him he’s acted like a child.

I’m reminded of a post I wrote a while ago about Game of Thrones, pointing out that Jon and Daenerys both make a distinction between being criticized in public and in private. Daenerys tells Jorah and Ser Barristan: “You’re both here to advise me. I value your advice. But if you ever question me in front of strangers again, you’ll be advising someone else.” And similarly after being crowned King in the North, Jon tells Sansa: “You are my sister, but I am king now. When you question my decisions in front of the other lords and ladies, you undermine me.” (Emphasis mine.) In both cases, I think the point was pretty clearly not ‘You cannot criticize me’, but rather ‘You cannot publicly undermine my authority’.

Arthur doesn’t need to tell Gawain this. Gawain knows. And I think you get a powerful sense of the trust between them from this short moment: Gawain trusts that he can speak his mind freely to Arthur without consequences, but he waits to do so until it’s just the two of them. In return, Arthur doesn’t stand on his ego but listens humbly and accepts Gawain’s criticism. I think it’s particularly fascinating that he tells Gawain he’s spoken courteously. On the face of it, “You have behaved like a child, and I am astonished” doesn’t sound remotely courteous - it sounds downright rude, in fact. And yet Arthur clearly doesn’t think so. He not only admits that Gawain is right, he endorses the way he said it as correct and praiseworthy.

I think that’s a great demonstration of how Gawain’s courtesy isn’t just a synonym for “polite”: it’s about his ability to follow social codes for correct behavior. Here, the measure of his courtesy isn’t that he always minces words, but that he understands when it is and isn’t acceptable to speak bluntly.

And I think it’s telling, too, that even when he’s basically telling Arthur off, he still addresses him formally as “Lord”. That might seem like a meaningless formality when the rest of what he’s saying seems anything but respectful, but I don’t think it is. I think it’s a constant reminder that Gawain never forgets Arthur is his king, or the respect that’s due to him, even when he’s openly questioning his decisions. He might seem harsh, but yet it's always tempered by a fundamental deference and he's careful never to overstep those lines.

He knows his place, not in the sense of being a doormat, but in the most literal sense of understanding the multiple - in some ways conflicting - roles he occupies and the expectations thereof: As Arthur's nephew, his knight, his subject, his advisor and right-hand man, arguably his friend and/or surrogate son (or brother, depending on your interpretation) as well. The fact that he manages to thread that needle so well is a testament to just how intelligent and socially adept he is, and the fact that Arthur gives him leave to speak his mind so bluntly to him in private is a huge testament to the mutual trust and respect between them.

[queer-ragnelle]

Join the Arthurian Theater Discord Server's open watch party starring the Knight of The Cart—Sir Lancelot!

Tune in Sunday, 01/21/2024, 12PM EST for an Arthurian double feature screening of "A Knight's Tale" (2001) and "Lancelot du Lac" (1974). All ages welcome.

[mayapleiades]

The Knight of the Cart Comedic Retelling | 17k | Mature | Complete     

Comedy, Retelling, Comedic Retelling, BAMF Lancelot, badassery and heroism, Adventures, Kidnapping, Swordfighting, Tournaments, A Heap of Modern References, Author Comments, Knights being Dramatic, Queens being Dramatic, Drama, But this stays faithful to the original so you also have, Animal Death, Fake rape, and by that I mean that a lady stages an attempted rape and then calls it off, Suicide Attempt for Dramatic Purposes, Blood, Death

It is Banquet Day in Camelot! Everyone at court is happy and celebrating and eating, and Kay is being very proud, as he is the seneschal of Camelot, and he’s very happy he’s managed to throw a successful party.

Suddenly, the doors open and in steps a Bad Knight.

Bad Knight tells King Arthur, “I have imprisoned thousands of your people into my domains because I Am Evil! I’m just telling you that because you’re a huge loser, and you’re definitely not strong enough to save them. You don’t even have enough resources to do it! Cry, bitch!”

Arthur goes, “Eh, sadness :(( I will cry now.” Weeping sounds ensue.

Bad Knight goes to leave, and then stops at the door. “You know what,” he says, “I’m gonna be generous. Have one knight escort the Queen to the forest. If the knight manages to best me in a duel, you can have your people back. If he can’t, I’m taking him and the Queen!”

Once upon a time, the author tried to write a very short, light, and funny Knight of the Cart summary for her friends who were curious to know what it was all about. 17k later, she realised that while it was quite light and quite funny indeed, she had failed spectacularly in making it an actual summary. So you get a comedic retelling instead.

Read on Ao3

[shehungthemoon]

Y’all the Gawain x Lancelot goes hard in the literature

“You must never doubt me when I assure you that Gawain would not have wanted to be chosen king, there and then, if it meant losing Lancelot.”

WHAT!!?

[talesfromtheenchantedforest]

love love love the image of Marie of Troyes being like "you WILL insert my damp sexy man into the Arthurian canon the world needs to know"

(from the introduction to "The Art of Courtly Love", trans. John Jay Parry)

[to-you-from-the-public-domain]

yes I named the file that lofl. Here you go. Public domain. Have fun. Now I'm making a better version without random plot holes and cowardice at the very end.

[plasticearring]

[ID: Several screenshots of text, placed one after the other to form a poem.

1: Chretien begins his book About the Knight of the Cart;

2: But the unknown knight,

3: The knight (he who had arrived in the cart)

4: The knight at the window Recognized that it was the queen;

5: The Knight of the Cart was lost in thought A man with no strength or defense Against Love, who torments him; His meditation was so deep That he forgot his own identity; He was uncertain whether he truly existed or not; He was unable to recall his own name; He did not know if he were armed or not; Nor where he went nor whence he came. He remembered nothing at all Save one creature, for whom He forgot all others;

6: "Look at that knight, look! It's the one who was driven in the cart.

7: He said: "Sir, now I am most anxious To know your name. Will you tel me?" -- "I will not," Answered the knight, "upon my word."

8: Who are you? Where are you from?" "I am a knight, as you see, Born in the Kingdom of Logres-- I think that that is sufficient.

9: "Did I not tell you I am From the Kingdom of Arthur? I swear to God and His Power That you'll not learn my name."

10: "My lady, for God's sake and your own, As well as ours, I beg you To tell me the name Of this knight if you know it, For it may be of help to him."

11: I believe the knight Is called Lancelot of the Lake."

12: Then she rushed forward and called to him, Shouting for all to hear In a very loud voice: "Lancelot! Turn around and behold Who it is who is watching you!"

13: When Lancelot heard his name, He turned about at once And saw above him, Sitting in one of the tower loges, That one whom he desired to see More than any other in the whole world."

The words "Lancelot of the Lake", and Lancelot are highlighted in soft blue at the end.

End ID.]

Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart (c. 1177-1181), by Chrétien de Troyes (trans. William W Kibler)

[rjalker]

Like, sir, I think you forgot something. That's not how time or distance work.

[alicole-sideblog]

Where the Lancelot/Guinevere affair came from

Lancelot and Guinevere's affair first appears in the Old French text Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart (c. 1177–1181). Short plot overview: Guinevere is abducted, Lancelot goes on a quest to rescue her, and they have an affair.

We can be almost certain that Lancelot and Guinevere's affair really does originate here, and was not part of the preexisting Arthurian oral tradition. There's not much recorded about non-affair!Lancelot, but the slightly later Lanzelet (c. 1194) — which has Lancelot rescuing Guinevere, but no romance between the two — seems to represent the general Lancelot lore of the period.

In the 1170s, Marie, Countess of Champagne — firstborn of Eleanor of Aquitaine — wanted to read a fic where Lancelot and Queen Guinevere have an affair. Since she was a countess, she could commission a fic.

Her court poet, Chrétien de Troyes, wrote the story. The topic assigned to him — romanticizing adulterous love — doesn't seem to have been something he was entirely comfortable with, though.

Chrétien writes this prelude at the beginning of the story where he really stresses that this was Marie's idea, not his.

Since my lady of Champagne wishes me to undertake to write a romance, I shall very gladly do so, [...] I will say, however, that her command has more to do with this work than any thought or pains that I may expend upon it. Here Chrétien begins his book about the Knight of the Cart. The material and the treatment of it are given and furnished to him by the Countess, and he is simply trying to carry out her concern and intention.

For a story whose central plot is adultery, the topic of adultery goes curiously unremarked upon. Cuckolding your king is kind of a big deal, but Lancelot and Guinevere never talk about it, or muse on it in their internal monologues. They're not guilty or conflicted in the slightest.

For unknown reasons, Chrétien's clerk, Godefroi de Leigni, wrote the very end of the story instead of him.

The Lancelot/Guinevere affair was a hit. Later texts regarding the Arthurian mythos soon began including and reworking it.

Marie evidently thought this sort of adultery was sexy. In The Knight of the Cart, no one finds out about the affair and there are no consequences. Later writers were not down with Marie's original vision and thought that flagrantly cheating on your husband is a problem, actually. So in subsequent versions of the mythos, Lancelot and Guinevere's affair ends up kicking off the downfall of Camelot. But not in The Knight of the Cart.

[rainbluealoekitten]

depressed? have you tried...

getting theological in the fanfic?

dreaming of chasing after white harts?

understanding your own trauma through the lens of a legendary knight?

these WILL cure you. follow for more #helpful tips

[sapphickittykatherine]

for anyone like me, who struggles to read old, weirdly worded texts but wants to get into arthuriana, i present: absolute art :)

[bluelavenderhaze]

Bluelance and Courtly Love Analysis

Spoilers for up to book 6

There are obvious similarities and allusions to Lance as a representation of Lancelot.

While Darcy isn't exactly like Queen Guinevere personality wise, her name (Gwen/Gwendalina) is a pretty obvious reference. There are also more general references to Arthurian myths.

On my re read of the series I noticed how much Darcy and Orion's relationship follows the principles of Courtly Love, especially those established in Chretien De Troyes Lancelot, The Knight of The Cart.

The points about Darcy being inaccessible and their love being dangerous to consummate are obviously established from the first book onwards, but the rest takes place over the series, as they both develop their love for each other. Lance doesn't start out as a noble knight but has to become that for Darcy.

He eventually becomes a knight worthy of her by recognising her as his Queen, swearing himself to her, sacrificing his social position for her, and fighting on her behalf. These are pretty standard Courtly Love tasks that knights perform.

Disregarding the general characteristics and focusing on the last three that are specific to Courtly Love, it becomes clear that this applies to Lance in a similar way to Lancelot. Both notably offer complete loyalty to the woman they love and are willing to endure shame for her.

As well as Lance becoming a better person due to Darcy.

I honestly really appreciate the research the authors did to accurately depict Courtly Love instead of just using names similar to Lancelot and Guinevere for a cute reference. I never expected that when I started the series.