This study undertakes a re-interpretation of love as it figures in the prose "Lancelot". By means of close reading and comparison with other texts forming the tradition in which the work stands, it is possible to show that the love between Lancelot and Guinevere is strongly conditioned by the way it relates to Arthurian rule. Thus the view of the trilogy as a secular account of Arthurian empire necessarily takes pride of place over a primarily spiritual interpretation of the work.