From: Peter Corless Subject: Astlabor (Esclabor) and his origins To: Timothy.Ferguson@jcu.edu.au Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 18:09:48 -0800 (PST) Notes about King Astlabor -- copyright (c) 1996, Peter Corless Much material (quotes and attributions) copyright various publications - - - - - - - - - - - King Astlabor the Saracen His name occurs in the Vulgate as "Esclabor", or "Esclabor the Unknown". It has alternate spellings of "Escaliborc" or "Escalabort." According to the "Illustrated Arthurian Encyclopedia": ESCLABOR The father of Palamedes [sic]. He was a nobleman of Babylon who was sent to Rome as part of a tribute. While there, he saved the emperor's life. In due course he came to Logres where he saved the life of King Pellinore and then hied himself to Camelot. This last sentence goes a long way to explaining why Palomides takes up the quest after Pellinore's death. The part of the Vulgate that deals with Escalabor is Post-Vulgate, Part 2. The Grail Questers meet him, including Palomides. The summary is as follows: - - - - - 87. Galahad and Bors Chase the Questing Beast and Meet Palamedes and His Father, Esclabor the Unknown Bors and Galahad leave Castle Brut. They see the Questing Beast; then they are joined by another knight, and all three follow the beast. They spend the night with Esclabor the Unkown, who tells them how he married a giant's daughter and had twelve sons, eleven of whom were killed following the Questing Beast. He says that he himself became a Christian but his remaining son, still chasing the beast, remains pagan. . . . ~~How Esclabor told Galahad and Bors about himself.~~ "The truth is, and God and men know it, that I'm a native of Galilee. I was a pagan and am a good enough knight. To see the prowess of Great Britain and test its knights, whose great fame had spread throoughout the world, I came here a little while before King Arthur was crowned. One day I came to King Arthur's court, when he was at the start of his reign, with a knight who had been my companion at arms for more than three years. He thought I was a Christian, but I wasn't, and King Arthur and many good men who knew me, who thought me a good knight, all thought I was Christian. On the day I'm telling you about, it happened that knights brought to court a very beautiful maiden, the daughter of a giant they had killed that day on a mountain. When they gave her to the king, they asked if she wanted to become a Christian, and said they would give her rich land and a good knight as a husband. She said she would rather die by any death at all than become a Christian. Therefore, there was no knight there who wanted to ask her of the king, except myself, who wasn't a Christian." -- The Post-Vulgate Quest for the Holy Grail, Chapter 87, Micha page 165 from "Lancelot-Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Translation, Volume V", (c) 1996 Norris J. Lacy Astlabor revealed he wasn't a Christian before the court, and asked for the maid's hand. They were married for twelve years, and had twelve sons. Eleven of them died when they went hunting the Questing Beast. One son had penetrated the thigh of the beast with his lance, upon which it screamed so loud it drove all the hunters from conciousness. Only Astlabor awoke -- the others were dead. He returned to his castle where his eldest son, Palomides, had remained and therefore survived. Astlabor converted to Christianity after being struck down by a flash of lightning. The voice of God himself spoke in threatening terms -- admonishing Astlabor for not being thankful that his life had been spared by divine intervention upon two occasions. Astlabor didn't ask further questions, and got baptized immediately! Other parts of the Vulgate have Astlabor jousting well against King Mark during the Grail Quest.