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User: Introduction. The Lancelot-Grail Cycle: Text and Transformations William W. Kibler The essays in this collection are the product of a symposium dedicated to the Old French Lancelot-Grail cycle and its incarnations, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and held at the University of Texas at Austin from March 3 to 8, 1992. Although all the essays have been revised in light of lively scholarly discussions at the conference, they undoubtedly and unmistakably bear the marks of their origin—much like the Lancelot-Grail cycle itself demonstrates not only the diversity and richness but also the occasional contradictions characteristic of a work created by multiple authors. Scholars invited to contribute to the symposium were asked only to focus their research on the French Lancelot-Grail cycle or on works directly inspired by this masterpiece; no critical approaches were mandatory, and no topic was considered too peripheral or too broad. The happy result is a collection of essays that emphasizes the significance of the Lancelot-Grail cycle as a foundational text in Arthurian studies. They range from lexical analysis of key terms to structural investigations of weaving patterns in the French prose cycle to a new historical approach to the nature of Lancelot’s "sin" in Malory. A glance at the bibliography of the cycle will show that many of the scholars currently engaged in critical work on the Lancelot-Grail participated in the conference either as speakers or as discussants, and the resulting volume is a synthesis of their latest and finest work. The Lancelot-Grail is only one of several designations given to the Old French cycle of prose romances composed between about 1220 and 1240, which were focused on the love story between Lancelot and Guinevere. Since it was traditionally attributed to Walter Map (d. 1210), a scribe at the court of Henry II Plantagenet, it is also known as the Pseudo-Map cycle or, since it was the standard, common ("vulgar") source for all subsequent Arthurian literature, as the Vulgate cycle. In its current form, it is a five-part work consisting of a vast central core, the Lancelot proper, with two works preceding it—Estoire del Saint Graal and Estoire de Merlin—and two works completing the cycle—Queste del Saint Graal and Mort Artu. The Estoire del Saint Graal recounts how Joseph of Arimathea took the dish, or cup, of the Last Supper, used it to collect Christ’s blood after His crucifixion, and brought it from Jerusalem to Britain, the new Promised Land. While the Estoire del Saint Graal shows how God thwarted the Devil’s plans by offering His own Son for the salvation of mankind, the Estoire de Merlin begins with the Devil's attempt at revenge: he begets a son, Merlin, from a pure maiden. Merlin inherits supernatural abilities from his father, but due to his mother’s purity, he lacks the will to use them for evil.

(((The author then briefly describes the content of the main parts of the Lancelot-Grail cycle: Lancelot Proper—the largest part of the cycle, recounting the birth of Lancelot, his upbringing by the Lady of the Lake, his love affair with Guinevere, and the many adventures of the Knights of the Round Table. The Quest for the Holy Grail (Queste del Saint Graal)—here, worldly love and chivalry are replaced by spiritual service. The main character becomes the pure Galahad, Lancelot’s son. 
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