Sir Galahad was one of the knights of King Arthur's Round Table in Arthurian legend. He was the bastard son of Sir Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic, and he was renowned for his gallantry and purity.

According to legend, Galahad was one of only three knights to find the Holy Grail (the others being Percival and Bors). After finding the Grail, Galahad is said to have been taken to heaven in divine standing.

Galahad's Life Story

Sir Galahad's conception came about when Lady Elaine disguised herself as Queen Guinevere, who was Sir Lancelot's true love, and tricked him into bed. Ashamed of what had happened, Sir Lancelot abandoned the child and his mother to go off on foreign adventures. Elaine subsequently died of a broken heart, and young Galahad was placed into the care of his great aunt, who was the abbess at a nunnery where he was reared.

Upon reaching adulthood, Galahad was reunited with his father who knighted him and then brought him along to King Arthur's court at Camelot where the feast of Pentecost was taking place. Without realising the danger he was putting himself in, Sir Galahad walked over to the Round Table and amidst the revelry took his seat at the Siege Perilous. This place had been kept vacant for the sole person who would accomplish the quest of the Holy Grail; for anyone else sitting there it would prove to be immediately fatal. Needless to say, Sir Galahad survived the event which was witnessed by King Arthur and several knights. The king then asked the young knight to perform a test which involved pulling a sword from a stone. This he accomplished with ease and King Arthur swiftly proclaimed Sir Galahad to be the greatest knight in the world. He was promptly invited to join the Order of the Round Table, and it was then decided by the present company that they should embark upon the Quest for the Holy Grail.

Sir Galahad is also the title of a poem written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in 1834, which is about the legendary knight. It begins:

My good blade carves the casques of men,
My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten,
Because my heart is pure.

Sir Galahad is also the name of a series of British Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing craft, notably including a vessel attacked in the Falklands War with the loss of 48 men. See RFA Sir Galahad (1966) for the original ship and RFA Sir Galahad (1987) for its replacement.

External links

• Biography of Sir Galahad (http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/galahad.html)
• The full text of the poem Sir Galahad (http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/galahad.htm)

• GALAHAD composition for guitar by Gregorio (http://gregorioguitar.com/GALAHAD.pdf)