Ector
Arthur's foster-father and loyal knight in Le Morte d'Arthur, attested across 67 citations.
Sir Ector is a pivotal figure in Le Morte d'Arthur, serving as Arthur's foster-father and appearing across the entire span of the text with 67 citations. Merlin selects him for this role: "I know a lord of yours in this land, that is a passing true man and a faithful, and he shall have the nourishing of your child, and his name is Sir Ector, and he is a lord of fair livelihood in many parts in England and Wales" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter III). Ector's wife nurses the infant Arthur alongside their own son Kay, establishing the bond that will shape the kingdom.
The moment of revelation comes when Arthur draws the sword from the stone. "When Sir Ector beheld the sword, he returned again and came to the church" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter V), and upon understanding the truth, "Sir Ector knelt down to the earth, and Sir Kay" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter VI). Ector then tells Arthur "how he was betaken him for to nourish him, and by whose commandment, and by Merlin's deliverance" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter VI). The discovery generates grief as well as wonder: "Then Arthur made great dole when he understood that Sir Ector was not his father" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter VI).
Ector's single request to the newly revealed king is characteristically modest: he asks only that Arthur make Kay "seneschal of all your lands" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter VI). This establishes the pattern of Ector as a man of loyalty rather than ambition.
Le Morte d'Arthur treats Ector in two distinct phases. In the early books, he is Arthur's foster-father -- the "passing true man" entrusted with the secret of the king's identity. His role is defined by faithfulness and the careful execution of Merlin's plan. He witnesses at court "how he nourished him by Uther's commandment" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XXI) and fights in Arthur's early wars, where "the King with the Hundred Knights saw King Cradelment on foot, he ran unto Sir Ector, that was well horsed, Sir Kay's father, and smote horse and man down" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XIV).
In the middle and later books, "Ector" increasingly refers to Ector de Maris, Launcelot's brother, creating a textual overlap. This second Ector is a tournament knight and questing companion -- he "put himself forth to joust afore them all" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter LIII), and was captured by Sir Turquine after seeking Launcelot: "Fair fellow, said Sir Ector, knowest thou in this country any adventures that be here nigh hand?" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VI, Chapter II). He fought alongside others in the early wars, as when "Ulfius, and Brastias, and Sir Ector encountered against the Duke Eustace" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XV). During tournaments, he was a reliable if sometimes outmatched fighter -- "Sir Ector dressed his spear, and smote either other passing sore, but Sir Ector fell to the earth" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter LIII). On the Grail quest, he traveled with Gawaine, complaining: "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).
The Grail quest reveals Ector's spiritual dimension. He recognizes the Sangreal: "I wot full well, said Sir Ector, what it is; it is an holy vessel that is borne by a maiden, and therein is part of the holy blood of our Lord Jesu Christ" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XI, Chapter XIV). Yet he also acknowledges his own limitations: "But it may not be seen, said Sir Ector, but if it be by a perfect man" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XI, Chapter XIV).
The most famous passage associated with the name comes at the very end. Ector de Maris, having searched for Launcelot for seven years, delivers the great eulogy: "Ah Launcelot, he said, thou were head of all Christian knights" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XXI, Chapter XIII). Before this, Launcelot had made "Sir Ector prince of them all" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XX, Chapter XVIII) when distributing lands overseas, a final gesture of fraternal trust.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition