Page "Galahad" Paragraph 2

The circumstances surrounding the conception of the boy Galahad are explained by Sir Thomas Malory and derive from the Lancelot-Grail cycle: Elaine, the daughter of King Pelles, the Grail King, uses magic to trick Sir Lancelot into thinking that she is Queen Guinevere, whom Lancelot loves.

According to Malory, King Pelles has already received magical foreknowledge that Lancelot will give his daughter a child and that this little boy will grow to become the greatest knight in the world, the knight chosen by God to achieve the Holy Grail.

King Pelles also knows that Lancelot will only lie with his one true love, Queen Guinevere.

Destiny will have to be helped along a little, therefore ; a conclusion which prompts Pelles to seek out " one of the greatest enchantresses of the time ," Dame Brusen, who gives King Pelles a magic ring that will make Elaine take on the appearance of Queen Guinevere.