Author | Richard Gordon |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Series | Doctor series |
Genre | Comedy |
Publisher | Heinemann |
Publication date | 1963 |
Media type | |
Preceded by | Doctor in the Swim |
Followed by | Love and Sir Lancelot |
The Summer of Sir Lancelot is a 1963 comedy novel by the British writer Richard Gordon. [1] The fearsome surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt goes into retirement, committed to spending his time trout fishing. However the antics of his niece Euphemia and a dispute over fishing rights soon disturb his peace.
Gawain, also known as Gawaine or Gauwaine, among other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest Welsh sources. He has subsequently appeared in many Arthurian stories in Welsh, Latin, French, English, Scottish, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian, notably as the protagonist of the famous Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Other tales featuring Gawain as the central character include De Ortu Waluuanii, Diu Crône, Ywain and Gawain, Golagros and Gawane, Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle, L'âtre périlleux, La Mule sans frein, La Vengeance Raguidel, Le Chevalier à l'épée, The Awntyrs off Arthure, The Greene Knight, and The Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell.
Lancelot du Lac, also written as Launcelot and other variants, is a character in some versions of Arthurian legend, where he is typically depicted as King Arthur's close companion and one of the greatest Knights of the Round Table. In the French-inspired Arthurian chivalric romance tradition, Lancelot is the orphaned son of King Ban of the lost kingdom of Benwick, raised in the fairy realm by the Lady of the Lake. A hero of many battles, quests and tournaments, and famed as a nearly unrivalled swordsman and jouster, Lancelot becomes the lord of the castle Joyous Gard and personal champion of Arthur's wife Queen Guinevere. But when his adulterous affair with Guinevere is discovered, it causes a civil war that is exploited by Mordred to end Arthur's kingdom.
Sir Galahad, sometimes referred to as Galeas or Galath, among other versions of his name, is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Sir Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic and is renowned for his gallantry and purity as the most perfect of all knights. Emerging quite late in the medieval Arthurian tradition, Sir Galahad first appears in the Lancelot–Grail cycle, and his story is taken up in later works, such as the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
The Knights of the Round Table are the knights of the fellowship of King Arthur in the literary cycle of the Matter of Britain. First appearing in literature in the mid-12th century, the Knights are an order dedicated to ensuring the peace of Arthur's kingdom following an early warring period, entrusted in later years to undergo a mystical quest for the Holy Grail. The Round Table at which they meet is a symbol of the equality of its members, who range from sovereign royals to minor nobles.
Camelot is a 1960 musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (music). It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from T. H. White's 1958 novel The Once and Future King.
Sir John Pringle, 1st Baronet, PRS was a British physician who has been called the "father of military medicine".
Sir Gareth is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He was the youngest son of King Lot and Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain, and Gaheris, and either a brother or half-brother of Mordred. He is particularly notable in Le Morte d'Arthur where he is also known by his nickname Beaumains.
Elaine is a name shared by several different female characters in Arthurian legend.
Bors is the name of two knights in Arthurian legend, an elder and a younger. The two first appear in the 13th-century Lancelot-Grail romance prose cycle. Bors the Elder is the King of Gaunnes (Gannes/Gaunes/Ganis) during the early period of King Arthur's reign, and is the brother of King Ban of Benoic and the father of Bors the Younger and Lionel. His son Bors the Younger later becomes one of the best Knights of the Round Table and participates in the achievement of the Holy Grail.
First Knight is a 1995 medieval film based on Arthurian legend, directed by Jerry Zucker. It stars Sean Connery as King Arthur, Richard Gere as Lancelot, Julia Ormond as Guinevere and Ben Cross as Malagant.
Sir Lionel is the younger son of King Bors of Gaunnes and Evaine and brother of Bors the Younger in Arthurian legend since the Lancelot-Grail cycle. He is a double cousin of Lancelot and cousin of Lancelot's younger half-brother Hector de Maris. He later became the subject of one of the famous Child Ballads (#18).
Elaine of Astolat, also known as Elayne of Ascolat and other variants of the name, is a figure in Arthurian legend. She is a lady from the castle of Astolat who dies of her unrequited love for Sir Lancelot. Well-known versions of her story appear in Sir Thomas Malory's 1485 book Le Morte d'Arthur, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's mid-19th-century Idylls of the King, and Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott". She should not be confused with Elaine of Corbenic, the mother of Galahad by Lancelot.
Lancelot and Guinevere is a British 1963 film starring Cornel Wilde, his real-life wife at the time, Jean Wallace, and Brian Aherne. This lesser-known version of the Camelot legend is a work shaped predominantly by Cornel Wilde, who co-produced, directed, co-wrote, and played Lancelot.
Clan Pringle is a Lowland clan from the Scottish Borders.
Doctor on the Boil is a 1970 comedy novel by the British writer Richard Gordon. Bored with his retirement, Sir Lancelot Spratt returns to St Swithan's Hospital to resume his work and disturbs almost everyone else there.
Doctor on the Job is a 1976 comedy novel by the British writer Richard Gordon. Part of the long-running Doctor series, it portrays a major strike at St Swithan's Hospital to the fury of Sir Lancelot Spratt.
Doctor in the Nest is a 1979 comedy novel by the British writer Richard Gordon. Part of the long-running Doctor series, it finds Sir Lancelot Spratt struggling against cuts in the NHS which leaves his hospital in bad shape.
Love and Sir Lancelot is a 1965 comedy novel by the British writer Richard Gordon. It is the tenth novel in the long-running Doctor series. The medical students of opposite sexes at St Swithan’s Hospital try to get around Sir Lancelot Spratt's attempts to segregate them from each other, while Sir Lancelot's protoge Simon Sparrow becomes involved with a film star.
Doctor and Son is a 1959 comedy novel by the British writer Richard Gordon. It is the fifth novel in Gordon's Doctor series. Returning from his honeymoon, Simon Sparrow looks forwards to time spent at his new home. However his peace is interrupted when his friend Doctor Grimsdyke invites himself to stay, as well as the interventions of his mentor Sir Lancelot Spratt.