Lancelot and the Lord of the Distant Isles: or, The Book of Galehaut Retold

by Patricia Terry, Samuel N. Rosenberg

A retelling of the 13th-century French legend of Lancelot and the mutual love between him and Galehaut, Lord of the Distant Isles.

Retellings of the Old French story of King Arthur, Guenevere, and Lancelot have left out a fourth figure amongst these legendary star-crossed lovers, the man who loved the knight, Lancelot. He was Galehaut, a mortal enemy of Arthur, and the invincible Lord of the Distant Isles. And he was Guenevere's rival for Lancelot's passion. The story is now complete, as a tragic double-love story, its complexity and emotional depth restored for the modern reader.

It is an extraordinary tale. For love of Lancelot, Galehaut surrenders his political ambitions, submitting to the rule of Arthur; the same love leads him to facilitate relations between Lancelot and the Queen. The mighty Lord of the Distant Isles, who had seemed destined to conquer the world, becomes a paragon of love-inspired self-sacrifice in this ancient tale of one man who deeply loves another.

Genres: Arthurian, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Mythology, Classics, Romance, Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to the authors of this book, in the Vulgate Cycle originally there was a book called The Book of Galehaut. Galehaut was a knight who could have defeated King Arthur, but for the love of Lancelot, surrendered to him instead. He was the enabler for Guinevere and Lancelot's love, again because of (and despite) his love for Lancelot. He's since faded from the story almost entirely, though he's sometimes mentioned with no particular connection to Lancelot. The introduction to this book suggests that that's partially because of the deeply homoerotic subtext of his relationship with Lancelot, and partly because he can be read as Welsh and Malory (for one) was writing at a time of disturbance between the English and the Welsh (what a surprise).

I haven't read the Vulgate Cycle for myself, or read any secondary sources discussing Galehaut, so I can't speak for the accuracy of their statements. It would make sense, of course, but little errors in the introduction -- it's spelt "Caerleon", or "Caerllion" if you're going for the Welsh spelling, not "Carleon", unless you're talking about a beach in Cornwall; Geoffrey of Monmouth is now thought to have been unlikely to be Welsh -- make me somewhat dubious about the scholarship. Plus, as a retelling, they might have been extremely choosy about what they took from the original text, and viewed through a modern lens stuff like sharing a bed seems more sexual than it is in medieval texts.

Still, it's interesting for two reasons: one, this is a part of Arthurian legend that has been neglected, and two, it's actually a really good story. They chose to write their retelling in a similar way to direct translations of the texts, so it feels familiar and authentic. They admit to tweaking and rearranging a little, so the final section of the story is a little different to the standard accepted versions, but mostly it fits into the canon reasonably well. Galehaut's love for Lancelot is deep and affecting: more so than the love between knights and ladies in romances of the period. Guinevere is mostly sympathetic, too, and the love between her and Lancelot is well-written in places, but the focus is Galehaut and his utter devotion to Lancelot. The ending picks up on something I just read about in a part from the Vulgate Cycle: Lancelot is buried beside Galehaut.

There are also a couple of bits that I honestly find quite funny, like this part:

Then Galehaut asked Gawain what he would give, if he had his health again, to have the Black Knight [Lancelot:] as his companion. Gawain hesitated, wondering if his wounds would ever heal, and then replied that he would willingly be transformed into a beautiful young woman, if he could have the Black Knight's love his whole life long.
"And you, my lady?" Galehaut asked the queen.
"Now that Gawain has offered all that a lady can give, a lady can do no more!"
With that, they all laughed, but Galehaut when they demanded that he too answer the question, said that for the love of that knight, "I would let my very honour turn to shame."
"God knows," said Gawain, "that you have offered more than any of us." He realised that Galehaut had actually done what he said: at the very moment when he had won the war, he had given his triumph away.

The queen's response is awesome!

This story made me interested in Galehaut, in tracking down anything that mentions him, researching him, and bringing him back to life in my own writing. I think the authors of this retelling would be happy to hear that. For me, they've brought back to life a character who has been shamefully neglected. Well worth buying, I'd say, if it sounds like something you'd enjoy!

It helps that this edition includes some lovely illustrations -- wood engravings, actually -- alongside the text. They're quite detailed and lovely to look at.

Edit: I've read the relevant part of the Vulgate Cycle now, and aside from a little rearrangement and simplification, the story of Galehaut in this volume is very much as given in the Vulgate Cycle: including Galehaut being lovesick for Lancelot, and the immortal scene in which Gawain says he'd be turned into a woman for Lancelot. This book is actually more of a translation/abridgement than a retelling, though it's a bit of both.

[Emmie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I decided to read this because of Kingdom Come: Deliverance and the overview that Hans gives of it during his romance scene with Henry. The one that he told was perhaps a more romanticized version as it doesn't go into Guinevere's involvement at all. It was more a story of obsessive love that Galehaut had for Lancelot and a similar sort of obsession that Lancelot held for Guinevere.

While Lancelot did love Galehaut, it was definitely a lesser love than what he had for Guinevere. And yet Galehaut continued to do all he could for Lancelot to be with Guinevere, despite how sad that it made him and Lancelot seemed physically unable to stop himself from being so enamoured by the queen.

It's a tragic story, for sure, and while Hans mentions the last of it being so tragic, it makes me wonder if the reason he even thought of it was because of his arranged marriage. The three of them turning in circles, trying to love one another but none of them being able to fully commit. It's really fucking sad and makes me wonder if that motif will continue on into the next game.

Time will tell.

[su · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Had it truly been inevitable that Galehaut’s love for him and his for Galehaut would reach this end? Nothing was less certain, and yet he felt no surprise."

i need to walk disappear into a lake but i'll never forgive malory for just redacting galehaut, the man who sees the tragedy that's being set in stone, yet chooses to care anyway.

anyway this is a good simplified (or focused, i guess) version of the prose lancelot's sections that are about galehaut and lancelot. one thing that left me confused is the lady giving the excalibur to lancelot by the end as i haven't come across that in the le morte (the section detailing the death of arthur) in the vulgate cycle, so it's interesting the authors chose to go with that. but other than that, they accomplished what they set out to do with this book: to tell the story of lancelot and galehaut.

[katabaza · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is my song of achilles

[Niska · Rating 5 out of 5]

“So Saxon Rock was taken. Sir Gawain warned the King that he risked losing Lancelot again, if he didn’t take care, because “Galehaut is more possessive of him than a Knight with a beautiful lady, and he will want to take him away.”

A gorgeous book about one of the original romantic tragedies. Anyone who knows me knows my love for Arthurian legend and for Lancelot in particular. I thirst for all I can read on him and his complicated, beautiful and heart-wrenching relationship with Galehaut. Finding this book was a joy.

[vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

pure tragedy, i hate this

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

very interesting story line, but was a little taken back by the writing style very narative, I realyse she was trying to use that style .
I did enjoy the unique-ness of the story.

[kali · Rating 4 out of 5]

no amount of homosexual propaganda could have prepared me for the levels of gay yearning in this book. i am distrought. i need a cigarette.
love is real. :(

[Ryofire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it a translated version of some very old Arthurian m/m that's also pretty accessible as a read? Yes. If that is what you are looking for, and you don't mind the metric ton of Christianity in this that at least isn't homophobic, then this is the book for you.

With the caveat that I know the people originally wrote the story are long dead and the basic narrative isn't the translator's fault, and that I struggle to decide whether this is good or not, I can only imagine it's just not for me. If you're an Arthurian scholar or don't mind all the Christianity and just want some very old m/m with some knights, this is a great find. In fact it's extra great, because apparently a lot of the side quests were cut out to focus on Lancelot and Galehaut, which is great, because much as their relationship is lovely, the story was a very boring slog with just those two and the constant back and forth weirdness with how their knighthoods work. I can only imagine how bad it would have been if there were constant random side quests with other characters. I do appreciate the many, many times Lancelot and Galehaut talk about their love at first sight and, at least in Galehaut's case, all-consuming romance. That was fun. I love some good m/m.

Alternatively, I was prepared for the metric ton of Christianity in this and for some archaic story-telling, because that's how these stories go. Even after the intro explanation how they "modernized" it (they use the word "modern" eight times!), I was keeping my expectations low. Surely, if Christian supremacy was as central a topic of the story, the team for this would have noted that somewhere in the very long opening essay to this, along with other themes. Surely, something that only casually mentions "It is a broadly ranging fiction . . . uncomfortably caught between a Christian imperative and the vibrant mystery of a pagan past" with no other elaboration about the supremacy of Christianity erasing other religions would not be as bad as I'm worried about. I was still prepared.

What I was not prepared for was for a Jewish woman at the start of the story to become a nun apropos of nothing other than that's usually what happens to discarded women in Arthurian stories who don't just outright die, especially after reading a very long intro about how the editors and translators of this prepared this for a "modern" audience. Yes, it was a very easy read with prose that wasn't difficult to surmount. Yes, the m/m romance in it was treated respectfully and very clearly communicated. But I have to ask if literally a single Jewish person read this at all before publication. Probably not. Probably they were like "yeah that's just how a lot of these stories go" and just walked away. Usually the women this happens to are already Christian. Lancelot's mother is specifically noted as "[belonging] to the House of David", and that she'd be in danger without protection, likely indicating she'd face racism. So on the one hand, maybe this was about survival. I would have respected her going off to an enclosed Jewish community or something, but I assume this was written by Christians, so sure, whatever. I'm not even expecting them to have changed it. But even just mentioning once, somewhere in that really long intro, about the Christian supremacy and how the start of the story does a whole racism, would have earned them a lot of favor in my book.

For the record, Jews don't have nuns. That's just not a thing. Jews mourn communally. Jews also don't do mass. While a Jewish person might seek solitude in mourning, and even focus more on prayer and attending synagogue, or perhaps participate more with the local sisterhood, even in charitable works and community activities, asking to become a nun for some reason doesn't match literally any Jewish ethics, because getting closer to God through deprivation and isolation as a way to deal with your grief just isn't a thing. Jews do sometimes convert to Christianity, and there are Jews who marry Christians or somehow consider themselves of both religions. That's also a thing. But when your one Jewish character converts to Christianity at the start of the story for no particular reason other than her ethical values are Christian for some reason and the assumption that the Jewish/Christianity divide is the same as choosing to put an orange shirt on in the morning instead of a blue one, yeah, no, that's racism.

For what it is, it's probably far better than similar Arthurian tales that also pound the paganism these stories were originally rooted in into the dust. Even the magical Lady of the Lake is Christian somehow.

Do the relationships make sense? No. Is the story good? Not really. But if you want a story about very male Christian knights being very in love with each other that's from 13th century France, this is the thing for you. May you enjoy it.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lord of the Distant Isles is a hard one to rate. On the one hand I think Terry and Rosenberg did exactly what they set out to do, which is to adapt, and dust off the story of Galehaut and Lancelot found in Vol II and III of the Vulgate Cycle into a single smaller volume. On the other hand, because they did exactly this, this was not a new and exciting book to read; the language is very simple and blunt, as it isn't trying to expand on the original story, just summarize it. It's like if someone took Books 9,11, and 16-23 of the Iliad and compiled only those pages into a single book, because those concern Patroclus and Achilles. I've read the Prose Lancelot, so for me, this book was un-necessary in the way that I have already been given this exact same story, with more in-depth emotion and information.

But I get it. The Lord of the Distant Isles, is much more accessible to the average audience as it isn't as cumbersome as the Prose Lancelot,and it's a good resource if you just want the gist of who Galehaut is. Not to mention, if you can't get a good deal, the Prose can be ridiculously expensive (life hack: your university should have it! And if you aren't a student, just use the library for the day or ask for a pass).

I am surprised (but also not, because western scholarship has refused to acknowledge so much LGBTQ+ information until very recently), that Galehaut and Lancelot don't have more recent re-tellings of their story considering the ridiculous wealth of history concerning both of them. This is also a way in which I think this book can be helpful, as it is another source that sets hey! Look at me! Who wants to learn more about homoerotic knights?

This book is also one that is safe and easy for younger LGBTQ+ readers, because while Galehaut's love for Lancelot is explicitly mentioned, there are no graphic sex scenes between anyone of any gender. So while many of the fairytale love-stories out there are heteronormative, this one isn't (ish). Combine that with the clear language, and slim size, and this is a book that I think middle grade readers could easily be introduced too.

That being said, like every Arthurian romance (correct me if I'm wrong because I haven't read them all), The Lord of the Distant Isles does end in tragedy, so it isn't something I would pick up if you are looking for a happy Disney fairytale. It is more a fairytale that says hey, men have always loved men, and they also get love-stories.

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

Lancelot and the Lord of the Distant Isles was a good book about Galehaut.

Plot

This book is basically a summary of the Prose Lancelot Part I and II. In the beginning, the reader sees glimpses of Lancelot childhood and how he came to the court of King Arthur. The main plot of the book is the story of Lancelot and Galehaut.

Characters

In the Vulgate Cycle, Galehaut is an important character, especially in the beginning of Lancelot's adulthood. Many people don't know him, which is really sad. In general, the characters weren't bad, but they weren't really developed. But, for those who don't know Galehaut and his story, then this book is actually good.

Writing

For the most part, it felt like I was reading a short version of the Vulgate Cycle, the writing style was basically the same as the medieval source.

Romance

This book has a love triangle, but instead of the famous Lancelot-Guinevere-Arthur, this love triangle is between Lancelot-Guinevere-Galehaut. Galehaut is actually gay and we can see that he truly loves Lancelot.

Lancelot is divided between his love for his queen, Guinevere and his love for his companion, Galehaut.

Final Thoughts

This book wasn't bad and for people who want to know more about the legend, I think this can be good.

[Joshua Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

A frustrating but interesting read that tells the elements of the Lancelot-Grail Cycle that relate to Galehaut and his unwavering love for Lancelot. While Galehaut gives up his life's ambition and happiness and eventually his life itself to devote himself to Lancelot, Lancelot spends most of his time wanting to be with Guinevere, leaving Galehaut to be little remembered as more than the facilitator for Lancelot and Guinevere's romance. It was a time and culture that would never have let Galehaut live his truth or go unpunished for his love, he was destined to never find happiness and instead suffer an early death. Guinevere truly was the golden snake that came between the two dragons in Merlin's prophecy, and I'm glad she did not get a happy ending either. For her to blindly pursue her love of Lancelot despite her marriage and the kingdom was forgivable, but for her to make Galehaut suffer more because of it was not. Galehaut deserved better.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all things Arthurian legend, so finding out this book existed meant that I immediately had to have it, and I was lucky enough to find a copy for cheap! Not exactly what I expected it to be, but an excellent read regardless.

[pati. · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2,5 ⭐

to be honest, i was expecting more of a retelling, meanwhile a better description for this book and storytelling would be "recomposition".

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I read this so correct me if my memory is bad. While I really appreciate the editors focusing on the romance between Galehaut and Lancelot, I feel like their interpretation of the relationship between Galehaut and Guinevere is too narrow. They’re almost trying to portray Guinevere as an insurmountable rival while in the Vulgate they actually end up getting along very well, and Galehaut defends Guinevere during the imposture episode (which is missing from this right? but I think it’s an important and heartwarming episode in the polycule’s story).

The prophecy thing puzzled me when I was reading the Vulgate, because in the end it wasn’t actually Guinevere who led to Galehaut’s death, it was a misunderstanding and if anything it was because Morgan imprisoned Lancelot.

This abridgement almost undermines the intensity and reciprocated nature of Galehaut’s love for Lancelot which the original author used the tropes of courtly love to validate, and downplays the genuine moments of friendship between Galehaut and Guinevere.

TL;DR read the original!! The version by Norris Lacy’s team is very accessible and has more extended scenes. The Galehaut story is in Lancelot 1 and 2

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Galehaut is a relatively obscure character from the original Vulgate Cycle (13th century), who nevertheless played a huge part in Lancelot’s life. Terry and Rosenberg’s book here is an effort to bring this character into modern consciousness again.

To understand the background of this character, if you’ve never really heard of him, I have a few suggested readings based on how deep you want to go.

1. Timeless Myths has a great quick overview

2. They also have longer summaries - key section on Galehaut

3. For the real fans, archive.org has all of Oskar Sommer’s early 1900s translations of the original French. Galehaut is not in all the pages in a row, but he first appears in Vol 3 page 201 in the book/page 206 in the archive copy, and his story goes until about Oskar Vol 4, page 160 in the archive/155 in the book.

Going into this novel, I was expecting more of a retelling, not just a very similar style and tone to the original Vulgate cycle with some creative license/editing parts out - maybe because of the “Retold” in the title. As they state in the prologue, the entire first part of Lancelot’s story involves Galehaut heavily, so it is indeed surprising no one has really covered this topic before. This was to me a missed opportunity to tell the story in a way that gave dimension to the characters. In the original, Lancelot seems almost indifferent to Galehaut, and Galehaut’s instant love and admiration for the knight is much more one-sided. This could have gone into that aspect in depth - or could have even gone the other way, writing it as if Lancelot really was torn between Galehaut and the queen, loving each in his obsessive way. Except it still ended up as one-sided, with a few lines here and there where these authors give Lancelot a few extra opportunities to tell Galehaut he also likes his companion a lot, but his actions remaining, as in the original, wholly revolving around Guinevere.

The book unfortunately ended up being slow to get through, since it is just the original text retold with a bit more extra detail. It might have been faster to get through if I hadn’t just read the translated original, because it was almost like I had read the whole thing over twice in a row, but at the same time it was also good to have a basis of comparison. If this version had done anything new or different, I would have appreciated having the Vulgate context even more.

[robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting for the material on Galehaut, who really does seem to have been written out of the legend. And a beautifully produced book, in hardcover at least. But you won't find Arthur being particularly noble or Guinevere being particularly queenly ... no one seems quite like themselves, even Lancelot.

So I'd have to say that I prefer the Arthurian legend in the shape it's taken through natural selection, as it were - people kept the bits they liked and were interested in. Just not that interested in the Galehaut/Lancelot dynamic when you've got Arthur/Morgan, Arthur/Guinevere/Lance, Arthur/Mordred, etc etc.

[Manu · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Before I leave, there is something I want to say to you, because I hold you dear. The greatest knight ever seen, the most valiant and noble, loves you with all his heart. Love him as he loves you. Keep faith with him as he will keep faith with you. Let no thought of rank come between you, or concern for what those around you think of as honor; he wants nothing, cares for nothing, besides you. Your love may be sin and madness, but let it be what you live for, since the one you love has no peer."

kcd has led me places i wouldn't even go with a gun, but if this isnt a quote that fits hansry to the t then i dont know what else would

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried like a big old baby, and I'm not ashamed of it. I refuse to recommend Malory to people now that I know his hand in erasing Galehaut from Arthurian legend.