Galahad

Galahad (), sometimes referred to as Galeas () or Galath (), among other versions of his name (originally Galaad, Galaaz, or Galaaus), is the prime achiever of the Holy Grail in the cyclical prose tradition of the Arthurian legend in which the teenage Galahad is the greatest knight of King Arthur's Round Table. A Christ-like figure, Galahad is an illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic after the latter raped the former through deception, belonging to the lineage of the Grail kings and descended from Biblical figures. Eventually, immediately after completing the Grail Quest, and while still young, he ascends to heaven. Emerging quite late in the Arthurian legend, Galahad first appears in the 13th-century Lancelot–Grail prose cycle, replacing Perceval as the main Grail hero. There and in subsequent medieval Arthurian Grail literature, including Le Morte d'Arthur, he is the most perfect of all the Knights of the Round Table, renowned for his unmatched gallantry and absolute virtue and spiritual purity, including chastity as a virgin. He has continued to be a popular figure for authors and artists up to the present day, including as the subject of some satirical or parodic works.