Pelleas
Knight of supreme prowess whose love for Ettard transforms to hatred, later achieving the Sangreal.
Sir Pelleas is a knight of extraordinary prowess and tragic devotion attested across multiple books of Le Morte d'Arthur. Described as "the best knight I trow in the world, and the most man of prowess" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XX), Pelleas endures repeated humiliation for love of the Lady Ettard, only to be rescued from despair by Nimue, the Damosel of the Lake, whom he ultimately marries. His story arc moves from unrequited obsession through betrayal to lasting happiness, and he later achieves the Sangreal itself.
The central tension of Pelleas's story lies in the contrast between his martial supremacy and his emotional subjection. At a tournament of five hundred knights, "there was never man that ever Sir Pelleas met withal but he struck him down, or else from his horse" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XX). Yet this invincible fighter allows himself to be captured repeatedly for the chance to see Ettard, explaining to Gawain: "I suffer her knights to fare so with me as ye saw yesterday, in trust at the last to win her love" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XXI). All ladies scorned Ettard for her pride, "for there were fairer than she, and there was none that was there but an Sir Pelleas would have proffered them love, they would have loved him for his noble prowess" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XXI).
Gawain's betrayal compounds the tragedy. When Pelleas discovers Gawain sleeping with Ettard -- the very lady Gawain had promised to win for him -- he falls into suicidal despair, telling his men: "I shall give you all my goods, for I will go unto my bed and never arise until I am dead" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XXII). His knight, "on his foot in the forest making great dole," encounters Nimue, who intervenes with enchantment (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XXII). When Pelleas awakens and sees Ettard, his love transforms instantly to hatred: "Away, traitress, come never in my sight" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XXII).
The resolution is swift and decisive. Nimue tells Pelleas to "take your horse and come forth with me out of this country, and ye shall love a lady that shall love you" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XXIII). Ettard "died for sorrow, and the Damosel of the Lake rejoiced Sir Pelleas, and loved together during their life days" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XXIII). Pelleas and Marhaus are then "made knights of the Table Round" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XXVIII), and the text records that Pelleas "was one of the four that achieved the Sangreal" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IV, Ch. XXVIII).
In later books Pelleas continues as a formidable presence. When Queen Guenever is taken by Meliagrance, Pelleas declares his willingness to die for her: "we will do as ye do, for as for me I take no force of my life nor death" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XIX, Ch. II), and "Sir Pelleas gave such buffets there that none armour might hold him" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XIX, Ch. II). The final mention confirms his enduring bond with Nimue, "the chief lady of the lake, that had wedded Pelleas the good knight" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XXI, Ch. VI).
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition