In Arthurian legend, Ban /ˈbæn/ is the King of Benwick or Benoic. He is the father of Sir Lancelot and Sir Hector de Maris, the brother of King Bors, and an early ally of King Arthur.
Ban's wife Elaine is the sister to King Bors' wife Evaine. Together they have Lancelot, but while travelling in Britain in support of Arthur, Ban sleeps with the Lady de Maris, who becomes pregnant with Hector, Lancelot's half-brother. Ban and Bors are eventually killed by their enemy, the Frankish king Claudas, and Lancelot is taken by the Lady of the Lake to her abode, where he is later joined by Bors the Elder's sons Lionel and Bors the Younger. When the children grow up and become Knights of the Round Table, they aid Arthur in finally defeating Claudas and reclaiming their fathers' land.
Famous quotes containing the words king and/or ban:
“The one-eyed man will be King in the country of the blind only if he arrives there in full possession of his partial faculties—that is, providing he is perfectly aware of the precise nature of sight and does not confuse it with second sight ... nor with madness.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.”
—Unknown. Pangur Ban (l. 25–28)