Malory introduces Lancelot into Arthur's court abruptly, as a full-grown knight, and makes no mention of his birth and parentage, beyond stating that he was the son of King Bans of Benwicke and Elayne his wife; he thus ignores the account of Lancelot's capture while an infant by the Lady of the Lake.  He does, however, mention that his name was originally Galahad, and that the Lady of the Lake "confirmed" him as "Launcelot du Lak."  One of the earliest accounts of Lancelot is to be found in a German poem, translated in the twelfth century from a French original, since lost.  In the poem we are told that Lancelot's father, King Pant of Genevis and Clarine his mother were besieged in their castle by rebellious subjects: the father was mortally wounded, and, just previous to the capture of the Queen, a fairy rose in a cloud of mist and carried away the infant Lancelot from where he had been left under a tree.  She took him to her own land, an isle surrounded by impassable walls in the middle of the sea, whence the fairy derived her name of la Dame du Lac or the Lady of the Lake, and her foster son that of Lancelot du Lac, while her kingdom was called Meide lant, or the Land of Maidens.  The object of the Lady of the Lake in appropriating Lancelot is to bring him up to be the deliverer of a son of hers named Mabus, who was oppressed by a giant called Iwert of Dodone.  When grown up Lancelot kills the giant, receives rich presents from the Lady of the Lake, learns from her the story of his kingly origin, and becomes one of Arthur's knights. (Lancelot and Elaine, Tennyson-Rowe, 1895)