Lancelot

by Walker Percy · 1977

Lancelot is the title of several recent novels that re‑imagine the legendary knight. Giles Kristian’s *Lancelot* is an epic historical‑fiction retelling set in 5th‑century Britain, where a boy orphaned by war is taken under Merlin’s tutelage, meets Guinevere and Arthur, and rises to become a feared lord of war. John Glynn’s *The Lost Book of Lancelot* offers a queer, fantasy‑driven version: an orphan raised on the Isle of Women discovers a prophecy, trains with the handsome Galehaut, and battles for the Holy Grail while keeping a secret about his true identity. Walker Percy’s 1977 novel *Lancelot* is a literary, philosophical work that presents a Southern lawyer’s monologue from a psychiatric ward, using the name Lancelot to explore nihilism, semiotics and the search for authentic meaning. All three books share themes of destiny, identity, love, and the clash between old myth and new reality.