Ector de Maris
Launcelot's devoted brother and Round Table knight, attested across 16 citations.
Sir Ector de Maris is Launcelot's brother and a prominent knight of the Round Table in Le Morte d'Arthur, attested across 16 citations. His defining characteristic is devotion to Launcelot: "When Sir Ector de Maris wist that Sir Launcelot was passed out of the court to seek adventures, he was wroth with himself, and made him ready to seek Sir Launcelot" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VI, Chapter II). This pattern of searching for his brother recurs throughout the text.
Ector de Maris is a capable tournament knight who "did marvellously well" in jousts (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XXI), though he is frequently unhorsed by superior opponents. He fights alongside Bleoberis as a regular companion, and Queen Guenever turns to him as a confidant, calling him to her to express her fear about Morgan le Fay's shield (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XLIII).
Le Morte d'Arthur constructs Ector de Maris primarily through his relationship to Launcelot. When captured by Sir Turquine and imprisoned alongside Sir Lionel, his first words are: "Alas, brother, where is my brother Sir Launcelot?" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VI, Chapter II). During Launcelot's madness, Ector searches for him alongside Percivale, and later declares: "Sir, I am your brother, and ye are the man in the world that I love most" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XII, Chapter IX). He urges Launcelot to return to court, claiming "it hath cost my lady, the queen, twenty thousand pound the seeking of you" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XII, Chapter IX).
The Grail quest pairs Ector with Gawaine rather than Launcelot, and his frustration shows: "One thing marvelled me, said Sir Ector, I have met with twenty knights, fellows of mine, and all they complain as I do" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XVI, Chapter I). He cannot find Launcelot, Galahad, Percivale, or Bors (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XVI, Chapter I). His own visionary experience is described as "the contrary" of Gawaine's (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XVI, Chapter II), suggesting a less favorable spiritual destiny.
His most famous moment comes at the end, when he arrives at Joyous Gard after seven years of searching: "And right thus as they were at their service, there came Sir Ector de Maris, that had seven years sought all England, Scotland, and Wales, seeking his brother, Sir Launcelot" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XXI, Chapter XII).
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition