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Bors (/ˈbɔːrz/; French:Bohort) is the name of two knights in theArthurian legend, a father and a son. They are both introduced in the 13th-centuryLancelot-Grail romance prose cycle.
King Bors (Bohors,Boho[o/u]rt,Bo[o]rt,Bordo,Borz) is the ruler of Ganis (Gannes,Ganys,Gaun[n]es,Gaynes,Gaynys) during the early period ofKing Arthur's reign. His brother,King Ban of Benoic, is the father ofLancelot. Bors' two sons, one also named Bors and the other namedLionel, later both join Arthur'sRound Table as prominent members.
The younger Bors, known asSir Bors (Bohors,Bohort li Escillies,Bohortes,Bo[o]rdo,Boors,Bo[o]rt,Borz,Bours,Bwrt) and by his epithetde Ganis (and other spellings), becomes one of the bestKnights of the Round Table and participates in the achievement of theHoly Grail. His own son isElyan the White, also a member of the Round Table.
The elder Bors is the king of Ganis inBrittany. He is brother ofKing Ban and uncle ofHector de Maris andLancelot. He marriesEvaine, the sister of Ban's wifeElaine, and they have two sons, Bors andLionel.
Ban and Bors become King Arthur's valuable early allies in his war against eleven rebel kings inGreat Britain, includingLot,Urien, andCaradoc. In return, Arthur vows to help them against theirFrankish enemy, KingClaudas, who has been threatening their lands back in the continent. Arthur is late on his promise, though, and Claudas succeeds in his invasion, resulting in both kings' deaths. Ban's son Lancelot is taken by theLady of the Lake, but Bors' children are raised in captivity by Claudas' retainers.
Bors de Ganis and Lionel live for several years at Claudas' court, but they eventually rebel against him and even slay his cruel son Dorin. Before Claudas can retaliate, the boys are rescued by a servant of the Lady of the Lake and are spirited off to be raised with their cousin Lancelot. They all grow up to be excellent knights and go toCamelot to join King Arthur's retinue. Bors is recognisable by a distinctive scar on his forehead, and participates in most of the King's conflicts, including the eventual battle with Claudas which liberates his father's lands. Bors fathersElyan the White when the beautiful daughter of King Brandegoris, Claire, tricks him into sleeping with her by way of amagic ring; he later introduces his son into theRound Table.
Sir Bors is always portrayed as one of the Round Table's finest, but his real glory comes on theGrail Quest, where he proves himself worthy enough to witness the Grail's mysteries alongsideGalahad andPercival. Several episodes display his virtuous character; in one, a lady approaches Bors vowing to commit suicide unless he sleeps with her. He refuses to break his vow of celibacy; the lady and her maidens threaten to throw themselves off the castle battlements. As the ladies jump off, they reveal themselves to be demons set on deceiving him by playing to his sense of compassion. In another, Bors faces a dilemma where he must choose between rescuing his brother Lionel, being whipped with thorns by villains in one direction, and saving a young girl who has been abducted by a rogue knight in the other. Bors chooses to help the maiden, but prays for his brother's safety. Lionel escapes his tormentors and tries to murder Bors, and Bors does not defend himself, refusing to raise a weapon against his kinsman. Fellow Knight of the Round TableCalogrenant and ahermit try to intervene, but Lionel slays them both when they get in the way. Before he can kill his brother, however, God strikes him down with an immobilising column of fire. Bors, Galahad, and Percival go on to achieve the Holy Grail and accompany it toSarras, a mystical island in theHoly Land, where then Galahad and Percival pass away while there. Bors is the only one to return, and the text of the VulgateQueste is presented as a purported written record of Bors telling the full story of the quest back in Camelot.[1] His role as both the hero and narrator of the story mirrors that ofMerlin in an earlier part of theVulgate Cycle.[2]
At the end of the entire Vulgate Cycle, Bors further ultimately emerges as a successor to Arthur, ruling after the King's (assumed) death.[3] Both there and in thePost-Vulgate Cycle,Mordred's elder son mortally wounds Lionel. Bors kills him with one blow, avenging his brother.
InThomas Malory'sLe Morte d'Arthur, based on the French prose romance tradition, Sir Bors reluctantly agrees to fight as QueenGuinevere's champion in atrial by combat after she is accused of poisoning a cousin of Sir Mador de la Porte. Refusing at first, as her usual champion Lancelot had left Camelot earlier because of her, Bors relents after the desperate Guinevere kneels before him. He is about to joust with Mador for her sake when Lancelot arrives to take his place incognito. Along with the rest of their family, Bors later takes Lancelot's side after Lancelot's affair with Guinevere is exposed and Arthur sentenced her to death. He helps to rescue the Queen from her execution at the stake and is one of Lancelot's kinsmen who then accompany him into exile from England. Together with his brother Lionel, Bors becomes one of Lancelot's most valorous and trusted aides in the ensuing war, during which he barely survives his horseback duel with Arthur's second-in-commandGawain. On another occasion, Bors has an opportunity to kill the unhorsed Arthur himself, but is stopped by Lancelot. In return for his service, Lancelot crowns Lionel the King of France, while Sir Bors becomes the ruler of King Claudas' lands. While the factions are still fighting, Mordred betrays Arthur and takes the throne. Lancelot hears of this and goes to aid Arthur, but arrives too late. Lancelot searches for Guinevere; after some time without news, Lionel goes looking for him and is killed. Sir Bors sends most of the army home, and goes to look for Lancelot with a few other of their kinsmen. They eventually find him living as a priest and decide to join him.
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