Sir Girflet
Arthurian Literary Character

Sir Girflet was the son of Do. He had brothers named Lorete and Galantivet. He came to King Arthur's Court, as a sqiure, early in his reign and asked to be knighted in order that he might revenge the death of his master, Mylis, at the hands of King Pellinore of Listinoise. He failed to defeat Pellinore in combat, but gained a reputation as a brave knight, taking part in the civil war against the rebellious kings, the Saxon wars and the Grail Quest. After the Battle of the Humber, against an alliance of northern and foreign monarchs, Sir Girflet was made a Knight of the Round Table and was betrothed to one of Queen Guinevere's maidservants. He then sought adventure at the Castle Orguelleus, probably somewhere in the north of England. There, he was taken prisoner and King Arthur had to send an expedition to rescue him. This situation was to repeat itself a number of times, leading to Sir Gawain to remark that "there never was a man so frequently taken prisoner as Girflet has been". In the Vulgate Cycle of Arthurian stories, it is Sir Girflet - not the more usually remembered Sir Bedivere - who survived the Battle of Camlann with Sir Lucan and carried the mortally wounded King Arthur away to an ancient chapel by a lake. Having been asked three times to throw Arthur's sword, Excalibur, into the lake, Girflet eventually complied; returning to see Arthur being carried away to Avalon in Morgan le Fay's boat. Later, he discovered a grave in the chapel, but upon excavation it was found to be empty. Sir Girflet himself died a few weeks later.