The Symbolism Of Lancelot In Ulrich's Lanzelet

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In Chrétien’s Erec, Lancelot is said to be the third best knight after Gawain and Erec, but in Chrétien’s Lancelot (1179-1180), Lancelot becomes the central figure and the lover of Guinevere who is never scared or frightend to take any risk or to suffer any indignity of the queen. However According to both Chrétien and Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, that Lancelot was raised by a fairy. Ulrich tells how this woman who lives in an enchanted realm in the sea raises Lancelot until he is fifteen, at which point he asks to be allowed to go into the world to earn honor. In Ulrich’s Lanzelet, Lanzelet never becomes the queen’s lover; although he is a lover of several ladies, his true love is Yblis, whom he ultimately marries and with whom he has a daughter

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