page_title: Knights of the Round Table
section_title: Griflet
hierarchical_section_title: Knights of the Round Table / Selected members / Griflet
caption_attribution_description: English: A 1470 illustration for the 13th-century chivalric romance La Mort du roi Arthur.
context_page_description: The Knights of the Round Table are the knightly members of the legendary fellowship of King Arthur in the literary cycle of the Matter of Britain, first appearing in literature in the mid 12th century. In this French-derived branch of Arthurian legend, the Knights are an order in the service of King Arthur, tasked with ensuring the peace of the kingdom and later leading the quest for the legendary Holy Grail. The Round Table, the place at which these characters of legend meet is a symbol of equality, and all members of the round table are thus, equal.
  Different stories presented varying numbers of the knights, ranging from only a dozen to as many as one hundred or more. Bedivere, Gawain and Kay are the oldest characters associated with Arthur. Gawain was also one of those persistently most popular, alongside Lancelot, Percival and Tristan, each of them featured as protagonist or eponymous hero in multiple works of the chivalric romance genre. Other well-known members include Galahad, the most perfect knight in the later tradition wherein he replaced Percival as main achiever of the Grail, and the traitor Mordred.
context_section_description: Griflet /ˈɡrɪflɪt/, also called Gi(r)flet or Jaufré, is a knight in Arthurian legend. He is the hero of his own, early romance: Jaufre, the only surviving Arthurian romance written in Provençal.
  In French prose chivalric romance cycles, Griflet first appears as a squire and one of King Arthur's earliest allies. He is called the son of Do or Don, and is a cousin to Lucan and Bedivere. When he is knighted, he becomes one of the first Knights of the Round Table. Griflet is one of Arthur's chief advisors throughout his career. According to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle, he was one of the few survivors of Arthur's final battle and was asked by the dying king to return his sword Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. In Le Morte d'Arthur, however, Sir Griflet is one of the knights killed by Lancelot's rescue party at the execution of Guinevere, making Griflet's cousin Bedivere the knight who casts away Excalibur.
  Like many another character in Arthurian Romance, his origins lie in Welsh mythology. In this instance, it is the minor deity Gilfaethwy fab Dôn, who features in Math fab Mathonwy, fourth of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi.
caption: Giflet throwing Excalibur into the lake in a 1470 illustration for the 13th-century romance La Mort du roi Arthur
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