The story of the loves of Lancelot and Guenevere, as related by Chretien, has about it nothing spontaneous and genuine; in no way can it be compared with the story of Tristan and Iseult.
The story of Tristan and Iseult, immensely popular as it was, was too genuine - (shall we say too crude?) - to satisfy the taste of the court for which Chretien was writing.
Tristan (Tristram), the ideal lover of the middle ages, whose name is inseparably associated with that of Iseult.
Lancelot, son of Ban king of Brittany, a creation of chivalrous romance, who only appears in Arthurian literature under French influence, known chiefly from his amour with Guinevere, perhaps in imitation of the story of Tristan and Iseult.
Unfortunately he himself has been wounded in the fight, and that by a poisoned weapon; and none but the queen of 'Ireland, Isolt, or Iseult, possessed the secret of healing.
