Hoot, Loez, Loholz, Lohoot, Lohot, Lohoth, Lohoz, Lohut, Loüt
King Arthur’s son and a very meritorious youth, according to Chrétien de Troyes, who puts him among Arthur’s knights in the list beginning in line 1691 of Erec and Enide. The Vulgate Cycle tells us that his mother was the lady Lisanor, which seems to mark her as identical with Lyzianor, whom Malory calls the mother of Arthur’s son Borre, opening the possibility that Loholt and Borre are the same man, despite the dissimilarity of their names. In Ulrich’s Lanzelet and in Perlesvaus, he is the proper son of Guinevere. He is probably derived from the Welsh Llacheu.
Ulrich tells us that he was handsome, noble, skilled and a great asset to his father. He helped Arthur and his knights rescue Guinevere from her abductor, Valerin. In Perlesvaus, he kills a giant named Logrin in the Perilous Forest, and then goes to sleep on the giant’s body, as is his custom. Kay found him in this state and murdered him, claiming the credit for the giant’s death himself. The murder was later exposed, and Guinevere died of sorrow.
The prose Lancelot tales tells us that he died from a disease he contracted in the Dolorous Prison, and Ulrich contends that he accompanied Arthur to an otherworld location (Avalon, in other texts) from which they both will return.
Loholt is probably identical to Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Ilinot.
See also
Amr | The Legend of King Arthur
Sources
Erec | Chrétien de Troyes, late 12th century
Lanzelet | Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, c. 1200
Perlesvaus | Early 13th century
Lancelot do Lac | 1215-1220
Vulgate Lancelot | 1215-1230
Vulgate Merlin | 1220-1235