efore that prophecy of his
mother was fulfilled as to his being like to a bright star of exceeding
lustre.

Accordingly, I have herein told you with great particularity all these
circumstances of his early history so that you may know exactly how it was
that he was taken away into the lake, and why it was that he was afterward
known as Sir Launcelot, surnamed of the Lake.

As to how he came into the world to achieve that greatness unto which he
had been preordained, and as to how King Arthur made him knight, and as to
many very excellent adventures that befell him, you shall immediately read
in what followeth.

PART I

The Story of Launcelot

_Here beginneth the story of Sir Launcelot, surnamed of the Lake, who was
held by all men to be the most excellent, noble, perfect knight-champion
who was ever seen in the world from the very beginning of chivalry unto the
time when his son, Sir Galahad, appeared like a bright star of
extraordinary splendor shining in the sky of chivalry.

In this Book it shall be told how he was taken into a magic lake, how he
came out thence to be made knight by King Arthur, and of how he undertook
several of those adventures that made him at once the wonder and the
admiration of all men, and the chiefest glory of the Round Table of
Arthur-Pendragon._

[Illustration: Sir Launcelot greets Queen Guinevere]

Chapter First

_How Sir Launcelot Came Forth From the Enchanted Castle of the Lake and
Entered Into the World Again, and How King Arthur Made Him Knight._

[Sidenote: Of the springtime of long ago] I know not any time of the year
that is more full of joyfulness than the early summer season; for that time
the sun is wonderfully lusty and strong, yet not so very hot; that time the
trees and shrubs are very full of life and very abundant of shade and yet
have not grown dry with the heats and droughts of later days; that time the
grass is young and lush and green, so that when you walk athwart the
meadow-lands it is as though you walked through a fair billowy lake of
magical verdure, sprinkled over with a great multitude of little flowers;
that time the roses are everywhere a-bloom, both the white rose and the
red, and the eglantine is abundant; that time the nests are brimful of
well-fledged nestlings, and the little hearts of the small parent fowls
are so exalted with gladness that they sing with all their mights and
mains, so that the early daytime is filled full of th