Ban
King Ban of Benwick in Le Morte d'Arthur, Arthur's ally and father of Launcelot.
Ban is a king in the British Arthurian tradition, attested through twenty-seven citations across ten chapters of Le Morte d'Arthur. He is King Ban of Benwick, introduced by Merlin as one of "two brethren beyond the sea, and they be kings both, and marvellous good men of their hands; and that one hight King Ban of Benwick, and that other hight King Bors of Gaul, that is France" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter X). Ban and his brother Bors serve as Arthur's chief allies in the war against the eleven rebel kings.
Ban's martial prowess dominates the battle sequence of Book I. "When King Ban came into the battle, he came in so fiercely that the strokes redounded again from the wood and the water; wherefore King Lot wept for pity and dole that he saw so many good knights take their end" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XVI). His fighting is described in vivid physical detail: his sword "carved a cantel off the shield, and the sword slid down by the hauberk behind his back" of his opponent (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XVI). When the King of the Hundred Knights broaches Ban's horse through and through, Ban voids the dead horse and continues fighting on foot (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XVI). He declares with characteristic confidence: "It shall be soon revenged, for I trust in God mine ure is not such but some of them may sore repent this" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XVI).
Malory presents Ban as a figure defined by military excellence and candid appraisal. His strategic role is established early: Merlin sends Ban's ring as a token to rally the men of Benwick (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XI), and Ban and Bors provide both counsel and fighting strength throughout the campaign. Their military advice shapes Arthur's strategy: "by King Ban and Bors' council they let burn and destroy all the country afore them, there they should ride" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XIII), and Merlin positions their ten thousand men in ambush for the decisive engagement (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XIV). The ambush breaks at the crucial moment: "In the meanwhile brake the ambushment of King Ban and King Bors, and Lionses and Phariance had the vanguard" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XV).
After battle, Ban offers a striking assessment of the defeated rebel kings, one that reveals more generosity than might be expected from a victor: "they are the best fighting men, and knights of most prowess, that ever I saw or heard speak of, and those eleven kings are men of great worship; and if they were longing unto you there were no king under the heaven had such eleven knights" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XVI). Ban and Bors also acknowledge the rebels' determination: "they are your mortal enemies, and that hath been proved aforehand; and this day they have done their part, and that is great pity of their wilfulness" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XVI).
Ban's dynastic legacy extends beyond his military career. His wife Elaine bore Launcelot, as revealed later when Launcelot identifies himself: "I am Launcelot du Lake, King Ban's son of Benwick, and very knight of the Table Round" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VI, Chapter VIII). The connection to Benwick and the Lady of the Lake is established through a passage noting that Merlin "went over the sea unto the land of Benwick, whereas King Ban was king that had great war against King Claudas, and there Merlin spake with King Ban's wife, a fair lady and a good, and her name was Elaine, and there he saw young Launcelot" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Chapter I).