Galahad
Galahad (hawk of battle) In Arthurian legend, the purest and noblest knight, son of Lancelot and Elaine, who seeks the Holy Grail. He was described by Walter Map in his Quest of the San Graal. When the Round Table was founded, one seat, the Siege Perilous, was left unoccupied and could be used only by the knight who would succeed in the quest for the Holy Grail. All others who had attempted to sit in the seat had been swallowed up by the earth. When Sir Galahad sat in the seat, he was unharmed. Galahad went in search of the Holy Grail, even “took the Lord’s body between his hands,” and then died. Suddenly, according to one medieval source, “a great multitude of angels did bear his soul up to heaven” and “since then was never no man that could say he had seen the Holy Grail.”
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SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow-Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante
