The Vulgate Cycle is a masterpiece of medieval literature. Eight vast volumes comprising five branches give us the whole Arthurian story as we know it for the first time ever. Scholars believe that the outline for the cycle was the work of one man but that several authors wrote the works.

Presented in prose, the Vulgate stories make the tragic love of Lancelot and Guinevere a crucial element of the downfall of Arthur's kingdom and his Round Table. Also here in great bas-relief is the idea of the conflict between personal and public loyalty.

• The first section is an elaboration of Robert de Boron's history of the Holy Grail, ending in the securing of the Grail in Castle Corbenic, in the hands of King Pelles, Lancelot's grandfather.
• Following Robert again, the second section focuses on Merlinhis efforts to further the cause of Uther and the birth of Arthur, his efforts on Arthur's behalf in the early years of Arthur's reign, etc. But Merlin is spirited away by Nimue, imprisoned under a rock. Arthur is forced to go it without his favorite advisor.

• Section three, the Prose Lancelot, covers a wealth of adventures&emdash;not just Lancelot and not just Arthur's court. Foreshadowing future events comes into play many times throughout these stories, especially at Lancelot's knighting: Arthur forgets to gird on Lancelot's sword and Guinevere does it, forming a formal feudal bond between bond that is soon reinforced by love. The tale then follows Chretien in telling of the abduction of Guinevere and her rescue (of course) by Lancelot, after which he is called on in all manner of situations to do his knightly duties. In the course of these adventures, Lancelot is seduced by the daughter of king Pelles, keeper of the Grail; the result of this tryst is Galahad. Marvels ensue that foreshadow the realization that Lancelot is no longer the greatest knight of the world. The reason? His unchastity. Why does Galahad supplant him? He is pure.

• The fourth section is The Quest for the Holy Grail. This tale shows that the Round Table and the Grail are inextricably linked and that the achievement of the Grail quest is to be the spiritual high water mark of Arthur's rule. The Grail appears at Arthur's court at Pentecost, on the same day that Galahad arrives at court and passes the test of the Siege Perilous, the seat at the Round Table that is destined to slay anyone who is not destined to sit in it and achieve the Grail Quest. The Vulgate Quest, unlike Robert's and Chretien's tales, focuses on the failures of Lancelot and Gawain much more than on the success of Galahad, Perceval, and Bors. No longer are the more worldy knights (Lancelot and Gawain being the supreme examples), masters at arms and chivalry and courtly love held up to be the icons of the Arthurian brotherhood. Now, that honor belongs to the knights spiritual enough to make the Grail Quest a worthwhile pursuit. The knights are now judged on how nearly they approach sainthood. In the hands of the Vulgate writers, the realization of the Grail Quest is entirely spiritual in nature. Galahad and Perceval pass almost into another plane of existence, leaving Bors, who has seen the Grail himself, to carry the message of the successful quest back to Arthur's court.

• The last section, The Death of the King Arthur, is a spiritual slippery slope. Echoes of the unimportance of worldly deeds coupled with the preeminence of spiritual well-being abound and are typified by Lancelot, who, though he achieves a partial vision of the Grail, suffers in the end for his spiritual shortcomings. He it is who breaks the bonds of the Round Table by rescuing Guinevere from certain death and lays open Arthur's command structure for the taking by Mordred. Earlier stories had mentioned this sort of thing, going all the way back to Geoffrey of Monmouth. But the Vulgate authors for the first time say Mordred was Arthur's son, the result of an adulterous tryst. So, too, is Arthur condemned by his sin. After the great battle, Arthur is buried at the Noire Chapelle; at his coffin the knights gather and seek repentance. For Lancelot, especially, it is too late. He dies a spiritually empty man. With that, the Cycle ends.

The Vulgate Cycle makes Lancelot the main character, but Arthur it is who draws the whole of the works together. The Round Table, for the first time, is a means of righting wrongs and combating evil. The Knights of the Round Table are on a mission to do good. This mission gives the Table an overall purpose, until now an element not found in Arthurian stories. The story of the downfall of Arthur, a tragic figure of epic proportions, now has a focus: The Knights of the Round Table seeking the Holy Grail. Set against the backdrop of a quest for spiritualism, the sins of Arthur and Lancelot and Guinevere and Mordred stand in stark relief while the goodness of Galahad and Perceval shine supreme.

At the same time, these characters are vividly human. They have passions that they cannot control, they make mistakes, they share dreams, they have faults that are laid bare by their failures, they live and breathe the ideals of the times of the Vulgate authors.

Lest we think that the English and French have a monopoly on Arthurian storytelling, let us examine two highly importand and enjoyable German writers: Wolfram and Gottfried.

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