Talk:Lancelot/@comment-114.76.8.62-20150320123354

The characterisation of Lancelot in this show is uncannily accurate, because the Sir Lancelot of Arthurian mythology seems to have been based on an especially chivalrous  knight of renown, Count Alan Rufus of Brittany. To appreciate the close parallels (as well as the narrative-driven differences), refer to the Wikipedia article on his life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rufus.

One obvious difference is Alan's high pedigree, with multiple descents from Charlemagne. Even better than that, he was descended from many kings of Brittany and of Britain, especially Dumnonia (Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire) which is where the TV series places Camelot, and Caerleon in south-east Wales. The real-world Avallon (in Burgundy - recall Siegfried and the Ring of the Nibelungs) also figures in contemporary accounts of Alan's ancestors (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riothamus).

Geoffrey of Monmouth, a 12th century writer who anachronistically appears in the TV series, was acquainted with later generations of Alan's family (see, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen,_Count_of_Tréguier and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_I,_Duke_of_Brittany), as was Chretien de Troyes, so presumably this is how 11th century history inspired a legend about the 5th and 6th centuries.