of the Lady of the Lake—­to become the most famous knight of the Round Table.  At eighteen the Lady of the Lake decided it was time Launcelot should be knighted.  So, on St. John’s eve—­when mortals can see fairies—­King Arthur and Sir Ector were led, by a mysterious damsel and dwarf, to a place where Pellias and the Lady of the Lake begged them to knight their protege and pupil, who was henceforth to be known as Launcelot of the Lake.  Not only did Arthur gladly bestow the accolade upon the young man, but he took him with him to Camelot.

It was as supreme honor and mark of confidence that Arthur sent Launcelot to get Guinevere.  Some legends claim these two already loved each other dearly, others that they fell in love during the journey, others still that their guilty passion was due to a love potion, and a few that Guinevere, incensed by the behavior of Arthur,—­whom some of the epics do not depict as Tennyson’s “blameless king,”—­proved faithless in revenge later on.  All the versions, however, agree that Launcelot cherished an incurable, guilty passion for Guinevere, and that she proved untrue to her marriage vows.  Time and again we hear of stolen meetings, and of Launcelot’s deep sorrow at deceiving the noble friend whom he continues to love and admire.  This is the only blemish in his character, while Guinevere is coquettish, passionate, unfeeling, and exacting, and has little to recommend her aside from grace, beauty, and personal magnetism.  At court she plays her part of queen and lady of the revels with consummate skill, and we have many descriptions of festivities of all kinds.  During a maying party the queen was once kidnapped by a bold admirer and kept for a time in durance vile.  Launcelot, posting after her, ruthlessly cut down all who attempted to check him, and, his horse falling at last beneath him, continued his pursuit in a wood-chopper’s cart, although none but criminals were seen in such a vehicle in the Middle Ages.  The Knight of the Cart was, however, only intent upon rescuing the queen, who showed herself very ungrateful, for she often thereafter taunted him with this ride and laughed at the gibes the others lavished upon him.  Twice Guinevere drove Launcelot mad with these taunts, and frequently she heartlessly sent him off on dangerous errands.

Launcelot, however, so surpassed all the knights in courage and daring that he won all the prizes in the tournaments.  A brilliant series of these entertainments was given by the king, who, having found twelve large diamonds in the crown of a dead king, offered one of them as prize on each occasion.  Launcelot, having secured all but the last, decided to attend the last tournament in disguise, after carefully informing king and queen he would not take part in the game.