Lionel (Lionello in Italian) is a character in the cyclical prose tradition of the Arthurian legend in which he is a Knight of the Round Table and one of the sons of King Bors of Ganis (Gannes, Ganys, Gaun[n]es) and his wife, Queen Evaine. Lionel was introduced in the Lancelot-Grail cycle as the younger brother of Bors de Ganis, a double cousin of Lancelot, and (depending on the work) either a cousin or nephew of Lancelot's younger half-brother Hector de Maris.
Albeit not relatively well-known today, Lionel was a popular character during the medieval era, notably including a major fascination by the king Edward III of England. Outside of the Arthurian literature, he is also the subject of a traditional ballad. He should not be confused with Gawain's son also named Lionel, nor with a Lyonnel character in Perceforest.
After their father dies in battle against King Claudas, the young Lionel and Bors are rescued from the court of Claudas by the Lady of the Lake's damsel Seraide and then raised in her otherworldly kingdom, alongside her foster-son Lancelot, where Seraide becomes Lionel's lady. Like Bors and Lancelot, Lionel becomes a Knight of the Round Table upon reaching the age and then proving himself in heroic deeds.
Bors chooses to save a maiden rather than his brother Lionel in a medieval illustration
One day, while travelling with Lancelot as a young man, Lionel is captured by the rogue knight Turquine, who whips him with briars and throws him in the dungeon. The scenario repeats itself later while he is on the Quest for the Holy Grail, where he proves very unworthy of the blessed object by trying to kill his brother for not rescuing him. Bors had seen Lionel getting beaten and led away, but had to make a decision to save either him or a young girl being dragged in the opposite direction. He saves the girl and fears Lionel dead, but Lionel escapes and attacks Bors the next time they meet. Bors proves himself worthy of the Grail when he refuses to fight back, and Lionel kills a hermit and Calogrenant, a fellow Knight of the Round Table, when they try to protect Bors from his wrath. Before Lionel can strike his brother, however, God himself intervenes and immobilises him.
Lionel and the rest of his family follow Lancelot into exile when the affair with Queen Guinevere is exposed. Lionel participates in the battles against King Arthur and is crowned as the King of Ganis (or Gaul). After the Battle of Camlann (Salisbury), Lancelot's family returns to Britain to defeat the remainder of Mordred's forces. In a battle near Winchester, Lionel is slain by Mordred's young son Melehan and Bors avenges his death. In a modified ending in Le Morte d'Arthur, Lionel is instead killed in London while searching for Lancelot after Arthur's death.
His symbolic[1] namesake, Lyonnel, appears in the quasi-prequel Perceforest. There, he is an ancestor of both Lancelot and Guinevere as well as Tristan, who had lived in the time of King Alexander (Alexander the Great).[2]
Edward III of England
The 14th-century King of England, Edward III, strongly identified with Sir Lionel since his youth. King Edward role-played as Lionel at the Round Table tournaments that he organized, and even named his second son, Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, after the Arthurian romance character.[3]
In the musical Camelot, Lionel is the knight brought back to life by Lancelot after he accidentally kills him in a joust (though the film switches him with Dinadan). The two do not seem to be related.
Lionel appears in the 1998 animated film Quest for Camelot as the father of the protagonist, Kayley, who wished to follow her father's footsteps. During the beginning of the film, Lionel is killed by the main antagonist, Lord Ruber, who intends to claim the throne of Camelot for himself, while trying to kill King Arthur, whom Lionel defended before he died.
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