Sir Lucan

Sir Lucan the Butler is a servant of King Arthur and one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. The duties of a "butler" have changed over time; Lucan was supposed to have been in charge of the royal court, along with Bedivere the Marshal and Kay the Seneschal.

Lucan is the son of Duke Corneus, brother to Sir Bedivere and cousin to Sir Griflet. He and his relatives are among Arthur's earliest allies in the fight against the rebel kings such as Lot, Urien, and Caradoc, and remained one of Arthur's loyal companions throughout his life. In most accounts of Arthur's death, from the Lancelot-Grail Cycle to Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Lucan is one of the last knights at the king's side at the Battle of Camlann. He is usually the last to die; he helps Arthur off the battlefield after he battles Mordred, but the stress is too much. He dies from his own wounds just before the king returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake and sails off for Avalon.

Though the knight Arthur asks to cast the sword into the lake is usually Griflet (Lancelot-Grail) or Bedivere (Le Morte d'Arthur, the Alliterative Morte Arthure, the Stanzaic Morte Arthur), the 16th century English ballad "King Arthur's Death" ascribes this duty to Lucan.

Lucan

Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (November 3, 39 AD – April 30, 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (/ˈluːkən/), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in the Hispania Baetica. Despite his short life, he is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial Latin period. His youth and speed of composition set him apart from other poets.

Life

Three brief ancient accounts allow for the reconstruction of a modest biography – the earliest attributed to Suetonius, another to an otherwise unknown Vacca, and the third anonymous and undated – along with references in Martial, Cassius Dio, Tacitus's Annals, and one of Statius's Silvae. Lucan was the son of Marcus Annaeus Mela and grandson of Seneca the Elder; he grew up under the tutelage of his uncle Seneca the Younger. Born into a wealthy family, he studied rhetoric at Athens and was probably provided with a philosophical and Stoic education by his uncle.

He found success under Nero, became one of the emperor's close friends and was rewarded with a quaestorship in advance of the legal age. In 60 AD, he won a prize for extemporizing Orpheus and Laudes Neronis at the quinquennial Neronia, and was again rewarded when the emperor appointed him to the augurate. During this time he circulated the first three books of his epic poem, Pharsalia (labelled De Bello civili in the manuscripts), which told the story of the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey.

Lucan, Dublin

Lucan (Irish: Leamhcán, meaning "place of elms") is a suburban town in South Dublin. It is located 13 km from Dublin city centre and is situated on the River Liffey and River Griffeen. It is located just off the N4 road and is close to the county boundary with County Kildare. It is also connected by road to Clondalkin, Palmerstown and Dublin city centre.

History

In the Irish language, 'leamhcán' means 'place of the elm trees'. Another interpretation "Place of the Marshmallows" is mentioned in Francis Elrington Ball's "History of the County Dublin" (1906), marshmallow being the flower and not the confectionery. "The name probably comes from a people that travelled by river, as Lucan is the first place that elm trees are encountered if travelling inland from the Liffey.

There is evidence of pre-historic settlement around Vesey Park, though not much archaeological investigation has been carried out in the area.

There is a suggestion that an ancient road that linked into the Tara network ran through what is now modern Lucan village, continuing up the hill towards Esker Cemetery.

Lucan (disambiguation)

Lucan is the common English name of the Roman poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus.

Lucan may also refer to:

People

Earl of Lucan

Earls of Lucan, first creation (1691)

Earls of Lucan, second creation (1795)

Places, and things at those places