Arthurian Knights

Group Reading: The Once and Future King

2009-05-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

Based on medieval Arthurian legends, The Once and Future King is a twentieth-century version of young Arthur's quest for the sword Excalibur and his claim to the throne of England. Including many well-known and much-loved episodes with Merlyn, the sorcerer; Morgan La Fay, the witch; and knights jousting and hounds engaged in the hunt, White's novel adds to the lore surrounding the person of King Arthur.

Quartet of novels by T.H. White, published in a single volume in 1958. The quartet comprises The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Queen of Air and Darkness--first published as The Witch in the Wood (1939)--The Ill-Made Knight (1940), and The Candle in the Wind (published in the composite volume, 1958). The series is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, from Arthur's birth to the end of his reign, and is based largely on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur. After White's death, a conclusion to The Once and Future King was found among his papers; it was published in 1977 as The Book of Merlyn.

The Once and Future King defies classification. Is it for children, or for adults? Is it fantasy or a psychological novel? In its great range, it encompasses poetry and farce, comedy and tragedy -and sudden flights of schoolboy humour. White's footnote to Malory' (his own phrase) resulted in the last major retelling of the story based on Malory's Morte DarthurWhite's story of Arthur begins with his enfances', set in an imaginary medieval England, but it is far removed from the conventional historical novel. White was writing in wartime England, a country increasingly absorbed by a need to find an antidote to war. Through the medium of the Arthurian story he found his own voice, his unique contribution to keeping alive the flame of civilisation. Malory's chivalric virtues are rejected in favour of White's own twentieth-century values; the love affair of Lancelot and Guenever is interpreted in terms of modern psychology. The books which eventually made up The Once and Future Kingof 1958 appeared in distinctly different editions
In discussing these, we need to look at some of the ways in which White drew on his own personal experience at a deep psychological level, while also incorporating into his story material inspired by his antiquarian pursuits and by his years as a schoolmaster. White's use of historical material, and the relationship of The Once and Future King to the Morte Darthur

Merlin

2009-05-04T03:49:00.000-07:00

merlin
One of the most fascinating figures in the Welsh mythology and the Arthurian legend is Merlin, the great wizard, prophet and adviser to several kings, including King Arthur.
Name Merlin.Myrddin (Welsh).Merlinus (Latin).
Emrys (Welsh), Ambrosius (Latin);
Merlin Ambrosius.Merlin Calidonius.
Sources

Historia regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain", c. 1137) andthe Vita Merlini ("Life of Merlin", c. 1152) were written by Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Roman de Brut ("Story of Brutus") was written by Wace, c. 1155.
Brut was written by Layamon, c. 1200.
Merlin was written by Robert de Boron, c. 1200.
Vulgate Merlin or Prose Merlin was adaptation of Boron's Merlin, c. 1210.
Suite de Merlin was part of Post Vulgate Cycle, c. 1240.
Le Morte d'Arthur was written by Thomas Malory, 1469.
Historia Brittonum was written by Nennius (9th century).

"In dark age Britain we have to recognize various adverse factor, such as the loss and destruction of manuscripts by invading armies; the character of the early material, oral rather than written; the decline of learning and even literacy among the Welsh monks who might have kept reliable records. The whole period is plunged in obscurity from the same causes. People who were certainly real and important are no better attested."

Since we don't have the necessary fifth and sixth century records, it's impossible to say absolutely that Merlin did or did not exist.

- From Tennyson's "Idylls"

The pale blood of the wizard at her touch

Took gayer colours, like an opal warmed.

She blamed herself for telling hearsay tales:

She shook from fear, and for her fault she wept

Of petulancy; she called him lord and liege,

Her seer, her bard, her silver star of eve,

Her God, her Merlin, the one passionate love

Of her whole life; and ever overhead

Bellowed the tempest, and the rotten branch

Snapt in the rushing of the river-rain

Above them; and in change of glare and gloom

Her eyes and neck glittering went and came;

Till now the storm, its burst of passion spent,

Moaning and calling out of other lands,

Had left the ravaged woodland yet once more

To peace; and what should not have been had been,

For Merlin, overtalked and overworn,

Had yielded, told her all the charm, and slept.

Legendary Roots - Possible Merlins

Transformation of Celtic Mythology in Arthurian Legend

There may have been a real Merlin, such as the one Nikolai Tolstoy describes in Quest for Merlin: "...Merlin was indeed an historical figure, living in what are now the lowlands of Scotland at the end of the sixth century A.D...an authentic prophet, most likely a druid surviving in a pagan enclave of the north."The Merlin prototype may have been a Celtic druid named Lailoken who gained second sight after he went mad and escaped society to live in the forest.

A poem from A.D. 600 describes a Welsh prophet named Myrddin

Nennius

The 9th century monk Nennius, described as "inventive" in his history writing, wrote about Merlin, a fatherless Ambrosius, and prophesies. Despite Nennius' lack of reliability, he is a source for us today because Nennius used fifth century sources that are no longer extant.

Math The Son of Mathonwy(www.cyberphile.co.uk/~taff/taffnet/mabinogion/math.html)

In Math The Son of Mathonwy, from the classic collection of Welsh tales known as the Mabinogion, Gwydion, a bard and magician, performs love spells and uses cunning to protect and help an infant boy. While some see this Gwydion trickster as Arthur, others see in him as Merlin. Passages from Nennius' History(www.britannia.com/history/docs/nennius.html)

Sections on Vortigern include the following prophecy referred to in Part I of the Merlin television mini-series: "You must find a child born without a father, put him to death, and sprinkle with his blood the ground on which the citadel is to be built, or you will never accomplish your purpose." The child was Ambrose.ORB -- Sub-Roman Britain: An Introduction Following barbarian raids, troop withdrawals from Britain ordered by Magnus Maximus in A.D. 383, Stilicho in 402, and Constantine III in 407, the Roman administration elected three tyrants: Marcus, Gratian, and Constantine. However, we have little information from the actual time period -- three dates and the writing of Gildas and St. Patrick, who rarely writes about Britain.
Gildas

In A.D. 540, Gildas wrote De Excidio Britanniae ("The Ruin of Britain") which includes an historical explanation. This site's translated passages mention Vortigern and Ambrosius Aurelianus.

Geoffrey of Monmouth

In 1138, combining Nennius' history and Welsh tradition about a bard named Myrddin, Geoffrey of Monmouth completed his Historia Regum Britanniae, which traces the British kings to the great-grandson of Aeneas, Trojan hero and legendary founder of Rome. In about A.D. 1150, Geoffrey also wrote a Vita Merlini. Merlin: Texts, Images, Basic Information(Merlin) Apparently worried that the Anglo-Norman audience would take offense at the similarity between the name Merdinus and merde, Geoffrey changed the prophet's name. Geoffrey's Merlin helps Uther Pendragon and moves the stones to Stonehenge from Ireland. Geoffrey also wrote a Prophecies of Merlin which he later incorporated into his History.

Merlin is best known as the wizard featured in Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures. Geoffrey combined existing stories of Myrddin Wyllt (Merlinus Caledonensis), a northern madman with no connection to King Arthur, with tales of Aurelius Ambrosius to form the composite figure he called Merlin Ambrosius.
Geoffrey's rendering of the character was immediately popular; later writers expanded the account to produce a fuller image of the wizard. Merlin's traditional biography casts him as born of mortal woman, sired by an incubus, the non-human wellspring from whom he inherits his supernatural powers and abilities. Merlin matures to an ascendant sagehood and engineers the birth of Arthur through magic and intrigue. Later, Merlin serves as the king's advisor until he is bewitched and imprisoned by the Lady of the Lake.)

Reference

Katharine Mary Briggs (1976). An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures, p.440. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-73467-X
(Katharine Mary Briggs (1976). An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures, p.440. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-73467-X

Geoffrey's composite Merlin is based primarily on Myrddin Wyllt, also called Merlinus Caledonensis, and Aurelius Ambrosius, a mostly fictionalized version of the historical war leader Ambrosius Aurelianus. The former had nothing to do with Arthur and flourished after the Arthurian period. According to lore he was a bard driven mad after witnessing the horrors of war, who fled civilization to become a wildman of the woods in the 6th century. Geoffrey had this individual in mind when he wrote his earliest surviving work, the Prophetiae Merlini (Prophecies of Merlin), which he claimed were the actual words of the legendary madman. Medievalist Gaston Paris suggested he altered the name to "Merlinus" rather than the standard romanization "Merdinus" to avoid a resemblance to the vulgar French word merde, meaning "excrement".
Geoffrey's Prophetiae do not reveal much about Merlin's background. When he included the prophet in his next work, Historia Regum Britanniae, he supplemented the characterization by attributing to him stories about Aurelius Ambrosius, taken from Nennius' Historia Brittonum. According to Nennius, Ambrosius was discovered when the British king Vortigern was trying to erect a tower. The tower always collapsed before completion, and his wise men told him the only solution was to sprinkle the foundation with the blood of a "child born without a father". Ambrosius was rumored to be such a child, but when brought before the king, he revealed the real reason for the tower's collapse: below the foundation was a lake containing two dragons who destroyed the tower by fighting. Geoffrey retells this story in Historia Regum Britanniæ with some embellishments, and gives the fatherless child the name of the prophetic bard, Merlin. He keeps this new figure separate from Aurelius Ambrosius, and to disguise his changing of Nennius, he simply states that Ambrosius was another name for Merlin. He goes on to add new episodes that tie Merlin into the story of King Arthur and his predecessors.
Geoffrey dealt with Merlin again in his third work, Vita Merlini. He based the Vita on stories of the original 6th century Myrddin. Though set long after his timeframe for the life of "Merlin Ambrosius," he tries to assert the characters are the same with references to King Arthur and his death as told in the Historia Regum Britanniae.

Merlinus Caledonensis, or Myrddin Wyllt

The earliest (pre-12th century) Welsh poems concerning the Myrddin legend present him as a madman living a wretched existence in the Caledonian Forest, ruminating on his former existence and the disaster that brought him low: the death of his lord Gwenddoleu, whom he served as bard. The allusions in these poems serve to sketch out the events of the Battle of Arfderydd, where Riderch Hael, King of Alt Clut (Strathclyde) slaughtered the forces of Gwenddoleu, and Myrddin went mad watching this defeat. The Annales Cambriae date this battle to AD 573 and name Gwenddoleu's adversaries as the sons of Eliffer, presumably Gwrgi and Peredur.
Some early references name the madman as "Lailoken"; this name especially used in the hagiography of Saint Kentigern. A version of this legend is preserved in a late 15th century manuscript, in a story called Lailoken and Kentigern. In this narrative, Kentigern meets in a deserted place with the naked, hairy madman Lailoken, also called Merlynum or "Merlin", who declares that he has been condemned for his sins to wander in the company of beasts. He adds that he had been the cause for the deaths of all of the persons killed in the battle fought "on the plain between Liddel and Carwannok." Having told his story, the madman leaps up and flees from the presence of the saint back into the wilderness. He appears several times more in the narrative until at last he asks Kentigern for the sacrament, prophesying that he was about to die a triple death. After some hesitation, the saint grants the madman's wish, and later that day the shepherds of King Meldred capture him, beat him with clubs, then cast him into the River Tweed where his body is pierced by a stake, thus fulfilling his prophecy.
Welsh literature has many examples of a prophetic literature, predicting the military victory of all of the Brythonic peoples of Great Britain who will join together and drive the English – and later the Normans – back into the sea. Some of these works were claimed to be the prophecies of Myrddin; some were not, as for example the Armes Prydein. This wild prophetic Merlin was also treated by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Vita Merlini which looks like a close adaptation of a number of Myrddin poems.
Geoffrey's account of Merlin Ambrosius' early life in the Historia Regum Britanniae is based on the story of Ambrosius in the Historia Brittonum. He adds his own embellishments to the tale, which he sets in Carmarthen (Welsh: Caerfyrddin). While Nennius' Ambrosius eventually reveals himself to be the son of a Roman consul, Geoffrey's Merlin is begotten on a king's daughter by an incubus. The story of Vortigern's tower is essentially the same; the underground dragons, one white and one red, represent the Saxons and the British, and their final battle is a portent of things to come.
At this point Geoffrey inserts a long section of Merlin's prophecies, taken from his earlier Prophetiae Merlini. He tells only two further tales of the character; in the first, Merlin creates Stonehenge as a burial place for Aurelius Ambrosius. In the second, Merlin's magic enables Uther Pendragon to enter into Tintagel in disguise and father his son Arthur on his enemy's wife, Igraine. These episodes appear in many later adaptations of Geoffrey's account.
Several decades later the poet Robert de Boron retold this material in his poem Merlin. Only a few lines of the poem have survived, but a prose retelling became popular and was later incorporated into two other romances. In Robert's account Merlin is begotten by a devil on a virgin as an intended Antichrist. This plot is thwarted when the expectant mother informs her confessor Blaise of her predicament; they immediately baptize the boy at birth, thus freeing him from the power of Satan. The demonic legacy invests Merlin with a preternatural knowledge of the past and present, which is supplemented by God, who gives the boy a prophetic knowledge of the future.
Robert de Boron lays great emphasis on Merlin's power to shapeshift, on his joking personality and on his connection to the Holy Grail. This text introduces Merlin's master Blaise, who is pictured as writing down Merlin's deeds, explaining how they came to be known and preserved. Robert was inspired by Wace's Roman de Brut, an Anglo-Norman adaptation of Geoffrey's Historia. Robert's poem was rewritten in prose in the 12th century as the Estoire de Merlin, also called the Vulgate or Prose Merlin. It was originally attached to a cycle of prose versions of Robert's poems, which tells the story of the Holy Grail; brought from the Middle East to Britain by followers of Joseph of Arimathea, and eventually recovered by Arthur's knight Percival. The Prose Merlin was detached from that shorter cycle to serve as a sort of prequel to the vast Lancelot-Grail, also known as the Vulgate Cycle. The authors of that work expanded it with the Vulgate Suite du Merlin (Vulgate Merlin Continuation), which described King Arthur's early adventures. The Prose Merlin was also used as a prequel to the later Post-Vulgate Cycle, the authors of which added their own continuation, the Huth Merlin or Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin. These works were adapted and translated into several other languages; the Post-Vulgate Suite was the inspiration for the early parts of Sir Thomas Malory's English language Le Morte d'Arthur.
Many later medieval works also deal with the Merlin legend. For example, The Prophecies of Merlin contains long prophecies of Merlin (mostly concerned with 13th century Italian politics), some by his ghost after his death. The prophecies are interspersed with episodes relating Merlin's deeds and with various Arthurian adventures in which Merlin does not appear at all. The earliest English verse romance concerning Merlin is Arthour and Merlin, which drew from chronicles and the French Lancelot-Grail.
As the Arthurian mythos was retold and embellished, Merlin's prophetic aspects were sometimes de-emphasized in favor of portraying Merlin as a wizard and elder advisor to Arthur. On the other hand in Lancelot-Grail it is said that Merlin was never baptized and never did any good in his life, only evil. Medieval Arthurian tales abound in inconsistencies. In the Lancelot-Grail and later accounts Merlin's eventual downfall came from his lusting after a woman named Nimue (or Ninive, in some versions of the legend), one of the maidens serving the Lady of the Lake, who coaxed his magical secrets from him before turning her new powers against her master and trapping him in an enchanted prison (variously described as a cave, a large rock, an invisible tower, etc.) This is unfortunate for Arthur, who has lost his greatest counselor.
http://www.geocities.com/branwaedd/merlini.html

2009-05-04T03:33:00.000-07:00

The Book of Merlyn is an Arthurian fantasy book written by T. H. White. It is the conclusion of The Once and Future King, but it was published separately and

Plot summary

The book opens as King Arthur prepares himself for his final battle. Merlyn reappears to complete Arthur's education and discover the cause of wars. As he did in The Sword in the Stone, Merlyn again demonstrates ethics and politics to Arthur by transforming him into various animals.
The last chapter of the book takes place only hours before the final battle between King Arthur and his son and nephew Mordred. Arthur does not want to fight after everything that he has learned from Merlyn. He makes a deal with Mordred to split England in half. Mordred accepts. During the making of this deal, a snake comes upon one of Mordred's soldiers. The soldier draws his sword. The opposing side, unaware of the snake, takes this as an act of betrayal. Arthur's troops attack Mordred's, and both Arthur and Mordred die in the battle that follows.
Guenever joins a convent, and remains there till death. Lancelot becomes a hermit and dies a hermit. His last miracle was making the room that he died in smell like heaven.
[edit] Concept & CreationWhite was inspired to write this book upon determining that the key theme of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur is to find an "antidote for war". Rather than containing a distinct plot, this book reads more like a discourse on war and human nature.[1]
Originally submitted for publication in 1941, due to wartime paper shortages, White was unable to convince his publisher to include The Book of Merlyn as part of the collected edition of The Once and Future King (which was first published in its entirety in 1958).[1] Perhaps this is also due to this book's philosophical and plot-light nature.
He nevertheless managed to salvage parts of this rejected text. While revising The Sword in the Stone for the collected edition, he adapted scenes from The Book of Merlyn. The unfortunate consequence is that parts of The Book of Merlyn appear to be rehashing things White has already covered earlier in the collected version of The Once and Future King.
[edit] Rediscovery & PublicationThe Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin purchased the bulk of White's personal papers and manuscripts between 1967 and 1969. The original manuscript for The Book of Merlyn was discovered amongst this collection, and was prepared for publication by the University of Texas Press in 1977.
References

Townsend Warner, Sylvia (1978). "The Story of the Book". in White T.H.. The Book of Merlyn. London: Fontana/Collins. ISBN 0-00-615725-4.
This magical account of King Arthur's last night on earth spent weeks on the New York Times best-seller list following its publication in 1977. Even in addressing the profound issues of war and peace, The Book of Merlyn retains the life and sparkle for which White is known. The tale brings Arthur full circle, an ending, White wrote, that "will turn my completed epic into a perfect fruit, 'rounded off and bright and done.'"
More details

The book of Merlyn: the unpublished conclusion to The once and future king

By Terence Hanbury White.

Edition: 6, reprint, illustratedPublished by University of Texas Press, 1988ISBN 029270769X, 9780292707696137 pages

T.H. White: The Once and Future King

2009-05-04T02:23:00.000-07:00

T.H. White's The Once and Future King is easily the most accessible Arthurian work of the 20th century. It appeals to audiences of all ages and to readers on many different levels. Its use of humor and anachronistic references help ground the reader in the subject matter in a way that no one before or since has accomplished.

The Once and Future King is an Arthurian fantasy novel written by T. H. White. It was first published in 1958 and is mostly a composite of earlier works.
The title comes from the supposed inscription of the marker over King Arthur's grave: HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS — "Here lies Arthur, the once and future king."

The Once and Future King is a tetralogy consisting of four previously published works: The Sword in the Stone, The Queen of Air and Darkness, The Ill-Made Knight, and The Candle in the Wind.

T. H. White uses The Once and Future King as his own personal view of the ideal society. The book, most of which "takes place on the isle of Gramarye," chronicles the raising and education of King Arthur, his rule as a king, and the romance between his best knight Sir Lancelot and his Queen Guinevere (which he spells Guenever). It ends immediately before Arthur's final battle against his illegitimate soOne often quoted passage from the book is the story which the badger calls his "dissertation," a retelling of the Creation story from Genesis.
Plot summary

The story starts in the last years of the rule of king Uther Pendragon.

The Sword in the Stone chronicles Arthur's raising by his foster father Sir Ector, his rivalry and friendship with his foster brother Kay, and his initial training by Merlyn, a wizard who lives through time backwards. Merlyn, knowing the boy's destiny, teaches Arthur (known as "Wart") what it means to be a good king by turning him into various kinds of animals: fish, hawk, ant, owl, goose, and badger. Each of the transformations is meant to teach Wart a lesson, which will prepare him for his future life.
In fact, Merlyn instills in Arthur the concept that the only justifiable reason for war is to prevent another from going to war then, and that contemporary human governments and powerful people exemplify the worst aspects of the rule of Might.
The Queen of Air and Darkness, White sets the stage for Arthur's demise by introducing the Orkney clan and detailing Arthur's seduction by their mother, his half-sister Morgause. While the young king suppresses initial rebellions, Merlyn leads him to envision a means of harnessing potentially destructive Might for the cause of Right: the Round Table.
The Ill-Made Knight, shifts focus from King Arthur to the story of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guenever's forbidden love and its effect on Elaine, the mother of Lancelot's son, and the King.
The Candle in the Wind unites these narrative threads by telling how Mordred's hatred of his father and Agravaine's hatred of Sir Lancelot caused the eventual downfall of King Arthur, Queen Guenever, Sir Lancelot, and the entire ideal kingdom of Camelot.n Mordred. Though White admits his book's source material is loosely derived from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur (The Death of Arthur), he creates a personal reinterpretation of the epic events, filling them with renewed meaning for a world enduring the Second World War.

The book begins as a quite light-hearted account of the young Arthur's adventures, Merlyn's incompetence at magic, and King Pellinore's interminable search for the Questing Beast. Parts of The Sword in the Stone read almost as a parody of the traditional Arthurian legend by virtue of White's prose style, which relies heavily on anachronisms. However, the tale gradually becomes darker until Ill-Made Knight loses much of the original humor and The Candle in the Wind is mirthless.

In the first book, The Sword in the Stone

We see Arthur's education at the hands of Merlyn, a learned but frazzled character who is living backwards. (Thus, he already knows what's going to happen; he strives, therefore, to impart on his subject the importance of doing right.) Arthur is here called the Wart, a nickname given him by his foster brother, Kay, son of Sir Ector, lord of a castle in the Forest Sauvage. As a student of Merlyn, Wart encounters three different kinds of governments--feudalism in his daily life with Ector, totalitarianism in his time as an ant, and anarchy in his time as a goose. As always, Merlyn's point is that knowledge is power. One of the prime lessons of this education is that a goose (or any winged animal) can see beyond boundaries on land. In other words, a man's worth is not only based on how much land and property he has; also, a government is not nearly as important as its leader.

Wart's adventures continue with Merlyn and with Kay until the fateful day of the tourney, at which Wart pulls the Sword from the Stone.
Arthur the King faces many troubles right away, including a strong claim from Lot, King of Orkney. His wife, Morgause, is the subject of the second book,

The Queen of Air and Darkness (originally The Witch in the Wood). The sons of Orkney, Gawain foremost among them, cause no end of trouble for Arthur and Lancelot throughout the last three books.

The Ill-Made Knight, the third book, is concerned mainly with Lancelot, who is portrayed by White as being amazingly ugly though competent in arms. Despite this ugliness (and probably because of this competence), Guinevere falls in love with him. The book ends with their at-long-last tryst.

In the last book, The Candle in the Wind, Arthur becomes the main character again. His past comes back to haunt him as Mordred arrives in Camelot. The bastard uses the Lancelot-Guinevere affair to his advantage in breaking apart the Round Table.

The book ends

with Arthur telling the story to a young man named Tom on the eve of the Battle of Camlann. Overall, the book has a different feel from other Arthurian tellings. These books have humor, chiefly in the form of Merlyn and of King Pellinore, whose efforts in hunting the Questing Beast and at fighting Sir Grummore Grummersom are shot through with gentle and broad humor.

Finally, there is the theme of war.

White, a pacifist, fills his hero, Arthur, with a war-weariness and a determination to do what is right: "Might for Right." From the very beginning, Arthur has to fight to keep what he has earned. He fends off challenges from Lot and from outsiders; he tries to keep his Round Table intact in the face of a serious challenge from Mordred and the sons of Orkney; he tries to keep his kingdom intact by fighting for his very life against Mordred and his growing number of allies.

He fights, fights, fights. His tone at the end of the fourth book, in the chat with young Tom, is one of acceptance of his fate. However, even weighed down by the knowledge of certain death, he finds the strength to encourage young Tom to survive the battle and tell the story.
Now, since The Once and Future King ends on the eve of the Battle of Camlann, the book has no mention of what eventually happened to Arthur. T.H. White wrote The Book of Merlyn to tell that story. Left out of the set by the publishers, this book was published in its own right several years later. In it, Merlyn returns to Arthur and returns Arthur to happier days, when he visited the ants and geese and came face to face with the war-crazed ants and the happy-go-lucky geese. Buoyed by this return to the innocence of his youth, Arthur intends to ask Mordred for a truce.

But fate intervenes: Echoing Malory, White has a snake cause the fateful, final battle. We see the end of Arthur and of Lancelot and Guinevere. We see the end of an era. But we see the future, too, and it is filled with hope.
This condemnation of the evils of war is a vast departure from the Welsh war songs that began the story of Arthur. As the 20th century winds down, we see many more departures from the common theme. Two of the greatest and most successful departures are written by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Mary Stewart.

Characterisation in the work
Perhaps most striking about White's work is how he reinterprets the traditional Arthurian characters, often giving them motivations or traits more complex or even contradictory to those in earlier versions of the legend. For example:
Arthur is a well-intentioned king as trained by Merlyn, but it seems that his greatest flaw is his inability to adapt once Merlyn leaves him: he comes off as well-meaning yet rather ineffectual Lancelot is no longer the handsome knight typical in the romantic legends but is instead portrayed as the ugliest of that lot. He is also a sadist, a trait he represses, but which leads to bouts of self-loathing. He seeks to overcome his flaws through full devotion towards becoming Arthur's greatest knight Merlyn lives through time backwards, making him a bumbling yet wise old man who is getting younger It is also interesting to note that White allows Thomas Malory to have a cameo appearance towards the end of the final book. Also of note is White's treatment of historical characters and kings as mythological within this world that he creates. In addition, due to his living backwards, Merlyn makes many anachronistic allusions to events in more recent times; of note are references to the Second World War, telegraphs, tanks, and "an Austrian who … plunged the civilized world into misery and chaos" (i.e. Hitler).
Usage of Political Ideals
Underscoring the story of Arthur's life, from his youth and education to the end of his reign, is a well thought out commentary on how mankind should govern itself, written in the context of the Second World War. The political stand points are totalitarianism, communism, anarchy, and socialism.
When Arthur first ascends to the throne, the country is ruled by what he calls Fort Mayne, or the rule of the strongest. The barons and nobles ride around the countryside doing whatever they wish--being unpleasant, exploitative, and sometimes murderous. Despite the ongoing question of whether humanity is naturally evil, through most of the book King Arthur is optimistic that there is a means to curb humanity's tendency toward violence and cruelty. The latter three parts of the book show the progression of his search for a solution. His first solution to the rule of power is to crush it with power ("Might is Right"). As a young king, he conquers rival barons in a war in which Arthur dispenses with gentlemanly protocols so as to force the barons to experience the horrors of war firsthand. However, this is clearly not a permanent solution, but merely perpetuates the problem.
His next move is to channel power into something worthy. He reinvents Chivalry, and forms the Round Table, making it a goal for his knights to use their Might to rescue maidens and right wrongs ("Might for Right"). However, this solution does not last for long. Once all the wrongs are righted, and England settles into a golden period of peace and lawfulness, the knights grow bored, and things at court start to go badly. Pettiness and squabbling arise, and society stagnates. This is what Merlyn calls "Games-Mania": the knights become caught up in Jousting and Tourneys, to the point that vicious rivalries are established, especially the Orkney-Lancelot one. A better solution is needed.
Arthur's next move is to seek the solution from outside the mundane world. He sends his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail — aiming their power toward God instead of toward worldly things ("Might for God"). This, however, is a failure, too, because any knight who achieves the quest is perfect, and thus no longer suitable to live in an imperfect world. The other knights who fail are for a time positively affected by the quest (Sir Lancelot in particular), but it does not take long for them to fall back into their old ways. In addition, many knights who fail the quest (Gawaine) feel humiliated by Lancelot and Galahad, and many good knights end up dying in the quest for the Grail.
Arthur's final solution as king is to formalise power: he reinvents Civil Law ("Right is Right"). Instead of power being wielded by the knights, it now belongs to the state. An example of this would be the replacing of trial-by-battle with trial by jury. This solution comes back to bite Arthur when the affair between Guinevere and Launcelot is exposed: adhering to his new law means that he must punish his beloved wife and his best friend, by banishing Lancelot and burning Guinevere. However, he knows that Lancelot will rescue her, and Lancelot does indeed end up rescuing Guinevere and they escape to his castle together. However, in the process he unintentionally kills the unarmed Gaheris and Gareth.
Almost everyone considered Gareth the "best" or most "knightly" of the Orkneys; he was knighted by Lancelot, and his brother Gawaine loved him. When Lancelot kills Gareth and Gaheris while they are unarmed during the rescue of Guinevere, not recognising them in his fury, Gawaine flies into a rage and Arthur into deep depression. Gawaine tells Arthur he has no choice but to go to war with Lancelot so Gawaine can extract vengeance.
The book ends with Arthur, weary and aged, in his field pavilion on the eve of the final battle between his knights and Mordred's Thrashers. He reflects upon where he has gone wrong, and whether humans can ever learn to renounce violence. Before going forth, Arthur charges a young page (Malory) with keeping alive his legend and his ideals until a better day.
This is where The Book of Merlyn fits in: Arthur is taken to Merlyn's cave, where he meets many of his old friends from The Sword in the Stone — animals with whom he has spent time. He then spends some time as an ant, and as a goose, experiencing the structure of their societies. The ant is a fiercely territorial animal, with a rigidly structured life. The goose, on the other hand, is free, without any boundaries or borders, flying where it wants. Arthur spends an idyllic few days as a goose, before he is dragged back to Merlyn's cave. He realises that boundaries, which don't actually exist, but are purely mental constructs in human minds, are the real cause of the strife in the world, and that humanity should do away with them if he wants to achieve a successful and peaceful society.
Film, television and theatrical adaptations
Walt Disney made an adaptation of The Sword in the Stone in 1963. This movie reflects more the sense of humour of Disney's team of animators than White. The movie adds a more comical side to the original story, including song and dance, as in most Walt Disney films. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's 1960 musical Camelot (which was made into a movie in 1967) is also based on The Once and Future King, and features White's idea of having Thomas Malory make a cameo appearance at the end. Warner Bros. has announced that they will be releasing a film adaption with Kenneth Lonergan directing. IMDB.com also lists the title "The Once and Future King (2008)," but refers to a story about an Australian farmer who could possibly be an heir to the throne of England.

T.H. White

2009-05-04T02:15:00.000-07:00

"Who so Pulleth Out This Sword of this Stone and Anvil, is Rightwise King Born of All England."

Terence Hanbury White (29 May 1906–17 January 1964) was an English author best known for his sequence of Arthurian novels, The Once and Future King, first published together in 1958.
Born 29 May 1906(1906-05-29)Bombay, India Died 17 January 1964 (aged 57)Piraeus, Athens Occupation Writer Genres Fantasy InfluencesThomas Malory, J. R. R. Tolkien[1] InfluencedGregory Maguire, Ed McBain, Michael Moorcock, J. K. Rowling
White was born in Bombay, India, the son of Garrick Hansbury White, an Indian police superintendent, and Constance White.[2] Terence White had a discordant childhood, with an alcoholic father and an emotionally frigid mother, and his parents separated when Terence was fourteen.[3][4] White went to Cheltenham College, a public school, and Queens' College, Cambridge, where he was tutored by the scholar and occasional author L. J. Potts. Potts became a lifelong friend and correspondent, and White later referred to him as "the great literary influence in my life."[3] While at Queens' College, White wrote a thesis on Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur (without reading it),[5] and graduated in 1928 with a first-class degree in English.[2]
White then taught at Stowe School, Buckinghamshire, for four years. In 1936 he published England Have My Bones, a well-received memoir about a year spent in England. The same year, he left Stowe and lived in a workman's cottage, where he wrote and "revert[ed] to a feral state", engaging in falconry, hunting, and fishing.[6][2] White also became interested in aviation, partly to conquer his fear of heights.[citation needed] White wrote to a friend that in autumn 1937, "I got desperate among my books and picked [Malory] up in lack of anything else. Then I was thrilled and astonished to find that (a) The thing was a perfect tragedy, with a beginning, a middle and an end implicit in the beginning and (b) the characters were real people with recognisable reactions which could be forecast[...] Anyway, I somehow started writing a book."[5] The novel, which White described as "a preface to Malory",[5] was titled The Sword in the Stone and told the story of the boyhood of King Arthur. White was also influenced by Freudian psychology and his lifelong involvement in natural history. The Sword in the Stone was well-reviewed and was a Book of the Month Club selection in 1939.[2]
In February 1939, White moved to Doolistown, Ireland, where he lived out the international crisis and the Second World War itself as a de facto conscientious objector.[7] It was in Ireland that he wrote most of what would later become The Once and Future King; two sequels to The Sword and the Stone were published during this time: The Witch in the Wood (later retitled The Queen of Air and Darkness) in 1939, and The Ill-Made Knight in 1940. The version of The Sword in the Stone included in The Once and Future King differs in several respects from the earlier version. It is darker, and some critics prefer the earlier version. White's indirect experience of the war had a profound effect on these tales of King Arthur, which include commentaries on war and human nature in the form of a heroic narrative.
In 1946, White settled in Alderney, one of the smaller Channel Islands, where he lived for the rest of his life.[6] The same year, White published Mistress Masham's Repose, a children's book in which a young girl discovers a group of Lilliputians (the tiny people in Swift's Gulliver's Travels) living near her house. In 1947, he published The Elephant and the Kangaroo, in which a repetition of Noah's Flood occurs in Ireland. In the early 1950s White published two non-fiction books: The Age of Scandal (1950), a collection of essays about 18th-century England, and The Goshawk (1951), an account of White's attempt to train a hawk in the traditional art of falconry. In 1954 White translated and edited The Book of Beasts, an English translation of a medieval bestiary originally written in Latin.
In 1958 White completed the fourth book of The Once and Future King sequence, The Candle in the Wind, though it was first published with the other three parts and has never been published separately. The Broadway musical Camelot was based on The Once and Future King, as was the animated film The Sword in the Stone.
He died on 17 January 1964 aboard ship in Piraeus, Greece (Athens, Greece) of a heart ailment, en route to Alderney from a lecture tour in the United States.[2]
He is buried in First Cemetery of Athens. In 1977 The Book of Merlyn, a conclusion to The Once and Future King, was published posthumously.
Personal lifeAccording to Sylvia Townsend Warner's biography, White was "a homosexual and a sado-masochist."[6] He came close to marrying several times but had no enduring romantic relationships, and wrote in his diaries that "It has been my hideous fate to be born with an infinite capacity for love and joy with no hope of using them."[6] White was also an agnostic,[8] and towards the end of his life a heavy drinker.[3][9]
InfluenceScience-fiction writer Michael Moorcock enjoyed White's The Once and Future King, and was especially influenced by the underpinnings of realism in his work.[10] Moorcock eventually engaged in a "wonderful correspondence" with White, and later recalled that "White [gave] me some very good advice on how to write".[10][11] J. K. Rowling has said that T. H. White's writing strongly influenced the Harry Potter books; several critics have compared Rowling's character Albus Dumbledore to White's absent-minded Merlyn,[12][13] and Rowling herself has described White's Wart as "Harry's spiritual ancestor."[14] Gregory Maguire was influenced by "White's ability to be intellectually broadminded, to be comic, to be poetic, and to be fantastic" in the writing of his 1995 novel Wicked,[15] and crime fiction writer Ed McBain also cited White as an influence.[16]
Selected bibliography

England Have My Bones (1936)

The Once and Future King /The Sword in the Stone (1938)

The Queen of Air and Darkness (1939, originally titled The Witch in the Wood)

The Ill-Made Knight (1940)

The Candle in the Wind (1958)

Mistress Masham's Repose (1946)

The Elephant and the Kangaroo (1947)

The Age of Scandal (1950)

The Goshawk (1951)

The Book of Beasts (translator, 1954)

The Book of Merlyn (1977)

Notes

1 Attebery, Brian (1980). The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature: From Irving to Le Guin. Bloomington: Indiana University. ISBN 0-2533-5665-2.

2 "T. H. White Dead; Novelist was 57" (fee required), The New York Times, 1964-01-18. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.

3 c Craig, Patricia. "Lives and letters," The Times Literary Supplement, 1989-04-07. p. 362.

4 Annan, Noel. "Character: The White-Garnett Letters and T. H. White" (book review), The New York Review of Books 11.8, 1968-11-07. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.

5 Gallix, Francois, ed (1982). Letters to a Friend: The Correspondence Between T. H. White and L. J. Potts. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-3991-2693-7. p. 93-95. (Reprinted here.)

6 Allen, Walter. "Lucky In Art Unlucky In Life" (fee required), The New York Times, 1968-04-21. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.

7 "The Importance of The Second World War to T. H. White's "Once and Future King"". Retrieved on 2008-04-30.

8 Wilson, A. N. "World of books: The knights with right on their side", The Telegraph, 2006-06-03. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.

9 Cantwell, Mary. "Books of the Times: Letters to a Friend" (book review), The New York Times, 1982-09-10. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.

10 Hudson, Patrick. "Fifty Percent Fiction: Michael Moorcock" (interview), The Zone, 2001-2002. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.

11 Klaw, Rick. "Michael Moorcock serves up sword and sorcery with a new Elric adventure", Sci Fi Weekly, 2001-04-02. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.

12 "Real Wizards: The Search for Harry's Ancestors". Channel4.com (2001). Retrieved on 2007-06-01.

13 Evelyn M Perry. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Novel". Retrieved on 2007-06-01. 14 "JK (JOANNE KATHLEEN) ROWLING (1966-)". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.

15 Nolan, Tom. "Gregory Maguire Brews Another Wicked Mix of Historical Fiction & Timeless Myth", Bookselling This Week, 2003-09-16. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.

16 "What Authors Influenced You?", Authorsontheweb.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.

References

Warner, Sylvia Townsend (1967). T. H. White: A Biography. New York: Viking.
The Sword in the Stone is a novel by T. H. White, published in 1938, initially a stand-alone work but now the first part of a tetralogy The Once and Future King.

Walt Disney Productions adapted the story to an animated film, and the BBC adapted it to radio.

The novel is about a young boy named Wart who befriends a magician named Merlyn. As we suspect all along, but only find out for sure at the end, Wart is actually the future King Arthur. The title refers to a sword that was magically embedded in a stone so that only the future, true-born king of England would be able to remove it.
The premise is that Arthur's youth, not dealt with in Malory, was a time when he was tutored by Merlyn to prepare him for the use of power and royal life. Merlyn magically turns Wart into various animals at times. He also has more human adventures, at one point meeting the outlaw Robin Hood, (who is referred to in the novel as Robin Wood). The setting is loosely based on medieval England, and in places it incorporates White's considerable knowledge of medieval culture (as in relation to hunting, falconry and jousting). However it makes no attempt at consistent historical accuracy, and incorporates some obvious anachronisms (aided by the concept that Merlyn lives backwards in time rather than forwards, unlike everyone else).
The version appearing in 1959 in the tetralogy was substantially revised, partly to incorporate events and themes that White had originally intended to cover in a fifth volume (which was finally published after his death, as The Book of Merlyn). To this end, the revised version includes several new episodes, including a pacifist passage in which Arthur is transformed into a wild goose that flies so high as to not be able to perceive national boundaries. It leaves out some of the episodes that had appeared in the original (notably Merlyn's battle with Madam Mim which appeared in the Disney film). Many critics considered that the revised version was actually inferior to the original. Publishers tended to use the original version when it was published independently of the tetralogy; both versions are still in print.
The reasons White made these revisions are open to speculation. The Sword in the Stone, although it includes some serious themes, is to some extent a rather whimsical fantasy of Merry England. Its connection with the classical Arthurian legend was actually rather limited, although what it did take from the Arthurian legend was accurate. It was awkward to treat this as the first part of a more serious treatment of the Arthurian legend. It is also possible that White felt in a darker mood after the Second World War. It has also been said that due to wartime censorship, the publishers did not want to print some of White's more strident Anti-War sentiments (which are very prevalent in "The Book of Merlyn"). White is an example, along with Jerome K. Jerome and Compton Mackenzie, of a serious writer who became best remembered for a comical work .
Walt Disney Productions made an animated movie adaptation of The Sword in the Stone, first released on December 25, 1963 by Buena Vista Distribution. Like most Disney films, it is based on the general plot of the original story, but much of the substance of the story is considerably changed.
A BBC radio adaptation in 1982 starred Michael Hordern as Merlyn. Hordern had already starred as another great literary wizard, Tolkien's Gandalf, in the BBC's 1981 radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.

Greald of Wales on the Finding of King Arthur's Tomb

2009-04-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

This page contains a translation of the writings of Gerald of Wales (1146-1223) on the discovery of King Arthur's tomb and remains. Arthur was the national hero of the Welsh, who spent many centuries struggling against the incursion of England. In the early 1060s, Harold of Wessex (later King of England in 1066) became the first English ruler to subjugate Wales. The Welsh rose up periodically throughout the High Middle Ages, often raiding the Marches (the English territories on the Welsh border), even after Wales was officially incorporated into England in 1284 under King Edward I. King Arthur was a symbol of Welsh resistance to English oppression, for according to tradition Arthur had fought against invading Germanic tribes on behalf of the Romano-Celtic ancestors of the Welsh. Arthur, said to have been slain at the Battle of Camlann, was supposedly taken to the enchanted Isle of Avalon for the healing of his wounds, so that one day he could return and rally his countrymen to repel the English once and for all. The alleged discovery of Arthur's tomb, then, was propaganda that the English could use against the Welsh, proving to them definitively that their savior was permanently deceased and would never return to liberate them.
Gerald's life
Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis in Latin) was born in Manorbier, in southern Wales, to an aristocratic family primarily of Anglo-Norman descent, but with some local Welsh blood as well. He spent his adult life as a cleric, and from his writings we learn that he had a passion for ecclesiastical reform that was matched only by his passion for personal advancement in Church offices. Ultimately he grew bitter that he was never promoted as far as he would have liked, which he believed was the result of prejudice against his Welsh heritage.
Gerald's writing on the discovery of Arthur's tomb
Gerald was a prolific writer throughout his career. Today he is best known for his historical and ethnographic writings, in works such as Topographia Hibernica (The Topography of Ireland), Expugnatio Hibernica (The Conquest of Ireland), and Descriptio Kambriae (The Description of Wales). In two of his lesser-known works we find his accounts of the discovery of King Arthur's tomb. A brief description of each is given below:
On the Instruction of Princes -- This work exists in only one manuscript, Cotton MS Julius B. xiii. Although it is chiefly a didactic treatise about the virtues required in a good prince, it is also a vehicle for political commentary; for instance, Gerald uses the work to criticize King Henry II and his sons, an indication of his growing hostility toward the English kings.

1 Mirror of the Church -- This text also exists in one manuscript, the highly damaged Cotton MS Tiberius B. xiii. Here Gerald rails against the excesses of monasteries: ambition, wealth, departure from the observance of their rules, etc.

2 Essentially, in this work Gerald "scathe[s] with no sparing hand the monastic degeneracy of his times."

3 A note on the translations by John William Sutton
Brackets in the translation represent my own editorial interjections. I use parentheses to help render some of Gerald's complicated Latin syntax into readable English.

The Discovery of the Tomb of King ArthurfromLiber de Principis Instructione[On the Instruction of Princes]

The memory of Arthur, the celebrated king of the Britons, should not be concealed. In his age, he was a distinguished patron, generous donor, and a splendid supporter of the renowned monastery of Glastonbury; they praise him greatly in their annals. Indeed, more than all other churches of his realm he prized the Glastonbury church of Holy Mary, mother of God, and sponsored it with greater devotion by far than he did for the rest. When that man went forth for war, depicted on the inside part of his shield was the image of the Blessed Virgin, so that he would always have her before his eyes in battle, and whenever he found himself in a dangerous encounter he was accustomed to kiss her feet with the greatest devotion. Although legends had fabricated something fantastical about his demise (that he had not suffered death, and was conveyed, as if by a spirit, to a distant place), his body was discovered at Glastonbury, in our own times, hidden very deep in the earth in an oak-hollow, between two stone pyramids that were erected long ago in that holy place. The tomb was sealed up with astonishing tokens, like some sort of miracle. The body was then conveyed into the church with honor, and properly committed to a marble tomb. A lead cross was placed under the stone, not above as is usual in our times, but instead fastened to the underside. I have seen this cross, and have traced the engraved letters -- not visible and facing outward, but rather turned inwardly toward the stone. It read: "Here lies entombed King Arthur, with Guenevere his second wife, on the Isle of Avalon." Many remarkable things come to mind regarding this. For instance, he had two wives, of whom the last was buried with him. Her bones were discovered with her husband's, though separated in such a way that two-thirds of the sepulcher, namely the part nearer the top, was believed to contain the bones of the husband, and then one-third, toward the bottom, separately contained the bones of his wife -- wherein was also discovered a yellow lock of feminine hair, entirely intact and pristine in color, which a certain monk eagerly seized in hand and lifted out; immediately the whole thing crumbled to dust. Indeed, there had been some evidence from the records that the body might be found there, and some from the lettering carved on the pyramids (although that was mostly obliterated by excessive antiquity), and also some that came from the visions and revelations made by good men and the devout. But the clearest evidence came when King Henry II of England explained the whole matter to the monks (as he had heard it from an aged British poet): how they would find the body deep down, namely more than 16 feet into the earth, and not in a stone tomb but in an oak-hollow. The body had been placed so deep, and was so well concealed, that it could not be found by the Saxons who conquered the island after the king's death -- those whom he had battled with so much exertion while he was alive, and whom he had nearly annihilated. And so because of this the lettering on the cross -- the confirmation of the truth -- had been inscribed on the reverse side, turned toward the stone, so that it would conceal the tomb at that time and yet at some moment or occasion could ultimately divulge what it contained. What is now called Glastonbury was, in antiquity, called the Isle of Avalon; it is like an island because it is entirely hemmed in by swamps. In British4 it is called Inis Avallon, that is, insula pomifera [Latin: "The Island of Apples"5]. This is because the apple, which is called aval in the British tongue, was once abundant in that place. Morgan, a noble matron, mistress and patroness of those regions, and also King Arthur's kinswoman by blood, brought Arthur to the island now called Glastonbury for the healing of his wounds after the Battle of Camlann. Moreover, the island had once been called in British Inis Gutrin, that is, insula vitrea [Latin: "The Island of Glass"]; from this name, the invading Saxons afterwards called this place Glastingeburi, for glas in their language means vitrum [Latin: "glass"], and buri stands for castrum [Latin: "castle"] or civitas [Latin: "city"]. It should be noted also that the bones of Arthur's body that they discovered were so large that the poet's verse seems to ring true: "Bones excavated from tombs are reckoned enormous."6 Indeed, his shin-bone, which the abbot showed to us, was placed near the shin of the tallest man of the region; then it was fixed to the ground against the man's foot, and it extended substantially more than three inches above his knee. And the skull was broad and huge, as if he were a monster or prodigy, to the extent that the space between the eyebrows and the eye-sockets amply encompassed the breadth of one's palm. Moreover, ten or more wounds were visible on that skull, all of which had healed into scars except one, greater than the rest, which had made a large cleft -- this seems to have been the lethal one.

The Discovery of the Tomb of King Arthur from Speculum Ecclesiae[Mirror of the Church]

Cap. VIII.
Regarding the monk who, at the discovery of the tomb of Arthur, pulled out a lock of women's hair with his hand, and quite shamelessly accelerated its ruin.
Furthermore, in our times, while Henry II was ruling England, the tomb of the renowned Arthur was searched for meticulously in Glastonbury Abbey; this was done at the instruction of the king and under the supervision of the abbot of that place, Henry, who was later transferred to Worcester Cathedral. With much effort the tomb was excavated in the holy burial-ground that had been dedicated by Saint Dunstan; it was found between two tall, emblazoned pyramids, erected long ago in memory of Arthur. Though his body and bones had been reduced to dust, they were conveyed from below into the air, and to a more dignified place. A lock of female hair -- blond and beautiful, twisted and braided with astonishing skill -- was discovered in the same tomb, evidently from Arthur's wife, who was buried in the same place as her husband.7 [Standing among the crowd is a monk who sees the lock of hair.] So that he could seize the lock before all others, he hurled himself headlong into the lowest depths of the cavity. Then the aforementioned monk, that insolent spectator, no less impudent than imprudent, descended into the depths -- the depths symbolize the infernal realm, which cannot be sated. Thus the monk thought to pull it out with his hand, to take hold of the lock of hair before all others -- evidence of his shameless mind, for women's hair entangles the weak-willed, while strong souls avoid it. Hair, of course, is said to be incorruptible, for it has no flesh in it, nor any moisture mixed with it. Nevertheless, as he held it in his hand, having raised it up in order to inspect it (many watched intently and in amazement), it crumbled into the thinnest dust; miraculously it disintegrated, as if reduced to granules. [There are a few words missing here.] For it demonstrated that all things are transitory, and all worldly beauty is for our vain eyes to gaze upon, for performing illicit sensual acts, or for our moments that are susceptible to vanity -- indeed, as the philosopher said, "the spendor of beauty is swift, passing, changeable, and more fleeting than the flowers of spring."8
Cap. IX.
Regarding the bones lying intact in the tomb of King Arthur, discovered at Glastonbury in our times, and about the many things relating to these remarkable circumstances.
Furthermore, tales are regularly reported and fabricated about King Arthur and his uncertain end, with the British peoples even now contending foolishly that he is still alive. True and accurate information has been sought out, so the legends have finally been extinguished; the truth about this matter should be revealed plainly, so here I have endeavored to add something to the indisputable facts that have been disclosed. After the Battle of Camlann . . . [A number of words are missing.] And so, after Arthur had been mortally wounded there, his body was taken to the Isle of Avalon, which is now called Glastonbury, by a noble matron and kinswoman named Morgan; afterwards the remains were buried, according to her direction, in the holy burial-ground. As a result of this, the Britons and their poets have been concocting legends that a certain fantastic goddess, also called Morgan, carried off the body of Arthur to the Isle of Avalon for the healing of his wounds. When his wounds have healed, the strong and powerful king will return to rule the Britons (or so the Britons suppose), as he did before. Thus they still await him, just as the Jews, deceived by even greater stupidity, misfortune, and faithlessness, likewise await their Messiah. It is significant . . . [Two sentences or so are highly damaged.] Truly it is called Avalon, either from the British word aval9 , which means pomum [Latin: "apple"10], because apples and apple trees abound in that place; or, from the name Vallo, once the ruler of of that territory.11 Likewise, long ago the place was usually called in British Inis Gutrin, that is, insula vitrea [Latin: "The Island of Glass"], evidently on account of the river, most like glass in color, that flows around the marshes. Because of this, it was later called Glastonia in the language of the Saxons who seized this land, since glas in English or in Saxon means vitrum [Latin: "glass"]. It is clear from this, therefore, why it was called an island, why it was called Avalon, and why it was called Glastonia; it is also clear how the fantastic goddess Morgan was contrived by poets. It is also notable that . . . [Several words are missing, obscuring the meaning of the first part of the sentence.] from the letters inscribed on it, yet nearly all, however, was destroyed by antiquity. The abbot had the best evidence from the aforementioned King Henry, for the king had said many times, as he had heard from the historical tales of the Britons and from their poets, that Arthur was buried between two pyramids that were erected in the holy burial-ground. These were very deep, on account of the Saxons (whom he had subdued often and expelled from the Island of Britain, and whom his evil nephew Mordred had later called back against him), who endeavored to occupy the whole island again after his death; so their fear was that Saxons might despoil him in death through the wickedness of their vengeful spirit. A broad stone was unearthed during the excavating at the tomb, about seven feet . . . [A couple of words are missing.] a lead cross was fastened -- not to the outer part of the stone, but rather to the underside (no doubt as a result of their fears about the Saxons). It had these words inscribed on it: "Here lies entombed King Arthur, on the Isle of Avalon, with Guenevere his second wife." Now when they had extracted this cross from the stone, the aforementioned Abbot Henry showed it to me; I examined it, and read the words. The cross was fastened to the underside the stone, and, moreover, the engraved part of the cross was turned toward the stone, so that it would be better concealed. Remarkable indeed was the industry and exquisite prudence of the men of that era, who, by all their exertions, wished to hide forever the body of so great a man, their lord, and the patron of that region, from the danger of sudden disturbance. Moreover, they took care that -- at some time in the future when their tribulations had ceased -- the evidence of the letters inscribed on the cross could be made public.
Cap. X.
The renowned King Arthur was a patron of Glastonbury Abbey. [Enough words are missing that the rest of this chapter heading is indecipherable.]
[The beginning of the sentence is lost.] . . . had proposed, thus Arthur's body was discovered not in a marble tomb, not cut from rock or Parian stone, as was fitting for so distinguished a king, but rather in wood, in oak that was hollowed out for this purpose, and 16 feet or more deep in the earth; this was certainly on account of haste rather than proper ceremony for the burial of so great a prince, driven as they were by a time of urgent distress. When the body was discovered according to the directions indicated by King Henry, the aforementioned abbot had an extraordinary marble tomb made for the remains, as was fitting for an excellent patron of that place, for indeed, he had prized that church more than all the rest in his kingdom, and had enriched it with large and numerous lands. And for that reason it was not undeserved, but just and by the judgment of God, who rewards all good deeds not only in heaven, but also on earth and in this life. [The end is very defective.] . . . and the authentic body of Arthur . . . to be buried properly . . .

Footnotes
1 Warner, pp. x-xi.
2 Brewer, p. xiv.
3 Brewer, p. viii.
Liber de Principis Instructione
4 By "British" he means a very early form of Welsh. This was the native language of the Romanized Celtic peoples who inhabited the island before the coming of the Germanic tribes; these Celtic peoples were displaced and driven west into what is now called Wales.
5 The Latin words pomum ("fruit") and pomifer ("fruit-bearing") refer to fruit in general, but here they are translating the Welsh word that specifically means "apple."
6 Thorpe, p. 283 (n. 637), notes that this line is from Virgil's Georgics, I.497.
Speculum Ecclesiae
7 There is only one manuscript for this text (Cotton MS Tiberius B. xiii, on which Brewer's edition is based), and it is very defective; consequently, some words and even some entire sentences are lost. I have attempted to give a sense of what is missing, using brackets for my textual commentary; parentheses, again, are reserved for sorting out some of Gerald's convoluted Latin syntax.
8 This quotation has not been identified.
9 By "British" he means a very early form of Welsh. This was the native language of the Romanized Celtic peoples who inhabited the island before the coming of the Germanic tribes; these Celtic peoples were displaced and driven west into what is now called Wales.
10 The Latin words pomum ("fruit") and pomifer ("fruit-bearing") refer to fruit in general, but here they are translating the Welsh word that specifically means "apple."
11 Thorpe, p. 286 (n. 649), writes that "[n]othing is known of this Vallo, although folklorists have taken him up."

Bibliography
Brewer, J.S., ed. Giraldi Cambrensis Opera, scilicet, Speculum Ecclesiae. Rolls Series, no. 21, vol. 4. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1873. Kraus Reprint Ltd., 1964. Pp. 47-51.
Thorpe, Lewis, trans. The Journey through Wales and The Description of Wales. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, United Kingdom: Penguin Books Ltd, 1978.
Warner, George F., ed. Giraldi Cambrensis Opera, Vol. VIII, De Principis Instructione Liber. Rolls Series, no. 21, vol. 8. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1891. Kraus Reprint Ltd., 1964. Pp. 126-29.

King Arthur: The Stuff of Future Memory-Arthurian Legends told in Popular Pictures and Movies

2009-04-12T02:52:00.000-07:00

In the case of Arthur's authenticity it can only be a relative concept. There is not much historical truth to rely on and we have little knowledge of the development of the Arthurian legend in the early stages. Criticising Arthurian films as portraits of a certain era in history seems rather useless, because over the centuries the legend has proven it is a timeless story, applicable and adaptable to every age. Over time it has been used and enjoyed by many people, pagans as well as christians, conservatives as well as hippies, and it has been subject to both low and hight art. Therefore it is hardly surprising that the legend does not contain one single message, but many being both incredibly rich and versatile.
There are on the other hand some elements in the Arturian tradition that can not be pushed aside if one wants to (re)tell the main story (and not use the Arthurian court merely as background for a new or other hero). The adultery between Lancelot and Guinevere for instance can hardly be denied. I have tried to analyse the way popular movies deal with the Arthurian tradition.

Arthur and his knights riding back to Camelot (from Lancelot du Lac, French, early fourteenth century)
Introduction: King Arthur's longevity
The real Arthur, if there ever was such a person, was definitely not a king. That is just about the only indisputable fact about the historical Arthur scholars can agree on. Some early sources speak of him as a warlord. There is not much else, no truth to rely on. But there are a lot of people who like to believe in him as historical figure, and there are others who will tell you he is just a legend. The historical Arthur, or the illusion of historical truth has been an important characteristic of the Arthurian legends through the ages. In other words: if there had not been so many believers, the legends would not be as impressive as they are now. Nowadays it is still quite interesting for writers to play with the historical illusion; the name king Arthur has an authentic ring to it.
The fact that we know so little about Arthur and the dark ages he came from is one of the reasons why, after fifteen centuries of changes to and repetitions of the story, he is still alive and well in our popular and even more serious culture.

King Arthur and king Ban plan a tournament as queen Guinevere and courtiers watchca 1300Bibliothèque Nationale, fr. 95, f. 291

There is not just one true version of the legend either, because we know very little of the origins of the myth. The story was part of the oral Celtic tradition, must have been told and retold before it was written down and most of these early versions have perished in time. The Round Table was not mentioned until the 12th century, by Wace, who also gave Arthur's sword the name Excalibur. And a couple of decades later Crétien de Troyes introduced Lancelot as Queen Guinevere's lover and Perceval as the grail hero. In later chronicles Perceval is surpassed by the perfect knight Galahad.
That is another reason for Arthur's longevity: his court is always open to new heroes and the ideal background for new story-lines. Like Lancelot, Perceval and Galahad, Merlin and Tristan were also drawn to his court at different times in the Middle Ages. An example of a modern hero that joins the Camelot court is Prince Valiant, the main character of Hal Foster's cartoons, published in several American Sunday papers from 1937 to 1971.

Prince Valiant dreaming of his beloved AletaIn: Hal Foster's Prince Valiant

Medieval Arthurian legends(Chrétien de Troyes, the Vulgate Cycle and Thomas Malory)

As far as the medieval Arthurian stories (from the 12th until the 15th century) is concerned, one can make a rough distinction between two types: The first one is the episodic novel in verse, in which the hero often starts his quest from Arthur's court and returns there after his mission is completed, which usually does not take more than two years. Chrétien de Troyes poems have been imitated widely in medieval Europe, but have never been surpassed, partly because the imitators lacked his subtle use of irony and mystification. In his courtly vision the love between Lancelot and Guinevere was not yet burdened with guilt and the Grail was not yet the cup of Christ.
The second type is the chronicle in prose, in which the rise and fall of the kingdom is depicted. This is where the celebration of courtly love is overruled by Christian ethics. The story does not evolve around one or two heroes, but is a mixture of many different story-lines, all tied together, not unlike modern soap operas. There is however one difference, the Arthurian chronicles actually have a point to them; the events lead up to the death of Arthur and the decay of civilisation, triggered by sins like adultery and incest(Adam and Eve). We are left with some hope though: Arthur is carried away to the isle of Avalon and rumour has it that he will return.

The most important Arthurian chronicle of the thirteenth century is the Lancelot en Prose, also called the Vulgate Cycle. Supernatural phenomena are present in both the poems, in which the fantasy of the old Celtic fairy-tales is still recognisable, and the chronicles, in which the wondrous world has a more Christian connotation. The last of the medieval Arthurian writers is Thomas Malory, whose Morte D' Artur seems like one big rèsume of all the previous writings about king Arthur and his knights. His work is usually the starting point for modern Anglo-Saxon versions of the legend.

Lancelot Crosses the Swordbridge and Lancelot imprisonned in Gorre (from Lancelot du Lac,

French, early fourteenth century)

In many different versions of the legend Lancelot crosses the swordbridge in pursuit of Guinevere who is abducted by an evil knight, Meleagrant. In Chrétiens Chevalier de la Charette it shows how far he is willing to go in the name of love. In the Vulgate Cycle it is embedded in many other adventures and Lancelots love of Guinevere is tainted with guilt.
Malory mentions the abduction in his Morte Dartur, but not the swordbridge, either because he was in a hurry to tell the story and left out lots of details or because he thought crossing a bridge as sharp as a razorblade was just too improbable. The abduction of the queen is still part of the action in several modern versions of the legend, with a little imagination one can even detect a faint echo of the swordbridge story in the movie First Knight.

Galeholt watches the lovers (Lancelot and Guinevere) first kiss as the seneschal and ladies converse.ca 1315, Pierpont Morgan Library 805, f.

Chrétien de Troyes (While reading the summaries below keep in mind that the original stories were written in Old French and in verse)

Chevalier de la Charette (Knight of the Cart)
"Meleagant seizes Queen Guinevere and takes her to Gorre, his fathers country. Kay attempts to save her, but fails miserably. Gawain sets out for the rescue. On the way he meets a nameless knight who is very eager to retrieve the Queen. A dwarf invites both knights to ride a cart (a very shameful thing in those days) in order to reach their goal, and where Gawain refuses, the nameless knights only hesitates for a few seconds before he mounts the cart.
Gawain and the nameless knight part at a crossroad. Gawain will try to reach Gorre through the underwaterbridge, the other knight heads for the swordbridge. After a lot of delays the knight reaches the swordbridge and crosses it although it is sharp as a razor.
The knight arrives in Gorre and agrees to fight Meleagant. Queen Guinevere recognises him as Lancelot. When he is about to win the duel, it is postponed. Afterwards the queen treats him as if he has failed her. Lancelot has no idea what he has done wrong. With an aching heart he rides on to find Gawain, but is attacked by Meleagants men.
Only after rumour has it that Lancelot is dead, Guinevere is sorry about giving him the cool treatment. She forgives him the short hesitation before mounting the cart, which was the reason for her animosity. When Lancelot turns up again, the lovers enjoy a passionate night together.
Meleagant accuses the queen of adultery with Kaye, but it is Lancelot who defends her honour. Again the duel is stopped when Lancelot has the upper hand. They agree to fight again in one years time at king Arthurs court.
Treacherous Meleagant tricks Lancelot into a tower from which there is no escape." (Chrétien left the story unfinished at this point, but it was continued by Godefroi de Leigni). "Lancelot escapes from the tower and reaches king Arthurs court just in time for the duel. He finally defeats Meleagant."
In Chrétiens stories (written between 1170 and 1190) there is always a tension between "amour" and "chevalerie". In Erec et Enide the hero Erec gets preoccupied by his love for Enide to such an extent he forgets his knightly duties. In the end it is Enide who helps him to get his act together.
In Chevalier au Lion it is the other way around. Yvain is so busy to be a good knight that he forgets his lady Laudine. When she denies him her love because of that, Yvain goes mad. He has to do a lot of good deeds to be worthy of his ladies pardon.
Chevalier de la Charette the "amour" is dominant. During the course of the adventure Lancelot frees a lot of prisoners, but it is just a side-effect. His main objective is Guinevere, his love for her is perfect, and it has to be, even a few seconds of doubt are reprehensible.
It is doubtful wether Chrétien agreed with this ideal of courtly love. He was obligated to reflect the ideas of his maecenas, in this case Marie de Champagne. The humorous undertone in his writing might have been his way to put the extremeties of the court into perspective.
In his last poem Chrétien introduces another element: spirituality. There are two heroes: Gawain whose adventure is more or less "traditional", and Perceval:
Conte du Graal"Perceval grows up in the woods, because his mother does not want him to die on the battlefield like his older brothers. But when he meets a couple of knights in the forest, he decides to be a knight himself. As a very naive and ignorant boy he sets out to find king Arthurs court.
During the course of his adventures his noble descent becomes apparent. Perceval does heroic deeds and falls in love, but the perfect balance between "amour" and "chevalerie" does not mark the end of his path. He is destined for higher purposes and arrives at the castle of the Fisher King. The castle is surrounded by a waste-land and the Fisher King is wounded in the lower part of the body.
Perceval witnesses a procession in which a girl carries a radiating grail. He fails to ask about the grail and thus fails to heal the Fisher King. His failure is connected with an earlier sin against his mother. It is clear that Perceval has to do penance and find the way to God before he can be worthy."
Chrétien left this story unfinished as well, the grail still a mystery. And his contemporaries were probably just as keen to know what ending he had in mind as we are nowadays. Four different continuations were written in the beginning of the thirteenth century, and the grail was soon to be associated with the cup of Christ in the chronicles such as the Vulgate Cycle.

Vulgate Cycle

While reading the summaries, do not forget the original story is an immense and chaotic tangle of narrative threads, written in Old French. The writers wrote the story as a chronicle, as factual history, which of course it is not. The technique of waving narrative threads together, often called "entrelacement", also gave the reader the illusion of reality.
The Lancelot en Prose is a comprehensive trilogy (Lancelot Propre, La Queste del Saint Graal and La Mort de Roi Artu), which was written between 1215 and 1230. It was copied often, by hand, a real monk's work (but by that time the secular prductions were mostly done by craftsmen in proffesional workshops). In most manuscripts the Lancelot trilogy was preceded by two other stories: L'Estoire del Saint Graal and Merlin. This compilation is often called the Vulgate Cycle: L'Estoire del Saint Graal:"About the descendants of Joseph of Arimathea, who take the Holy Grail (the cup of Christ) with them to Britain, where they build the Grail-castle, in which the long line of Fisher Kings will live, as the keepers of the Grail."
Vulgate Merlin:" The devil's son Merlin (but his mother is a true Christian and therefore the child is not evil) is Uther Pendragon's confidant and advises the construction of a Round Table. One seat at the table, the Perilous Seat, is meant for a chosen knight, and until this knight arrives nobody is to be seated there, for this person will surely die.
Uther develops a raging passion for Ygraine, the wife of the Duke of Gorlois. With the aid of Merlin's magic Uther makes love to Ygraine and thus Arthur is conceived. The child grows up as stepbrother to Kay. His descent remains a secret until Arthur is the only one capable of drawing the sword from the stone. He is crowned king and has to fight a lot of battles against the Saxons and rebellious vassals. Merlin's advice and magic are on his side.
Arthur marries Guinevere and her father gives him the Round Table as a marriage-gift. Merlin falls in love with the fairy Niniane and teaches her all his magic. But when she is fully-qualified, she locks him up in a tower from which there is no escape."
Lancelot Propre:" Niniane raises the infant Lancelot in her realm beneath a lake, that is why his name is Lancelot du Lac (Lancelot of the Lake). As a young man he receives knighthood at king Arthur's court and falls in love with Guinevere the moment he sees her. He rides out, has adventures and meets his best friend Galehout, who initiates the first rendezvous between Lancelot an Guinevere." During one of his adventures Lancelot is captured by the fairy Morgan, Arthur's half-sister. Several knights of the Round Table undertake quests to find him, but to no avail. Galehout is convinced his friend is dead and dies from sorrow. Morgan's magic can not extinguish Lancelot's love for Guinevere. When she understands it is no use, she lets him go.
Meanwhile Guinevere has been captured by Meleagant and Lancelot sets out to find her. (This is an adaptation of Chrétien's Conte du Graal with a couple of alterations: Lancelot is naturally no longer the "Fair Unknown", the nameless knight; and the lovers passion is no longer a celebration of courtly love, but burdened with guilt). "Lancelot's mission is accomplished.
The knights of the Round Table are regularly on the road, often just to find each other. Lancelot roams the country. Once again he becomes Morgan's prisoner and this time he is locked up for more than two years. To kill the time he paints murals, in which he depicts his love story with Guinevere. One day he sees a rose in the garden which is more beautiful than all the other roses and therefore reminds him of his lady and gives him the strength to break the bars of his prison and escape. He is just in time to join the expedition to Europe that king Arthur undertakes to beat the Romans."
La Queste del Saint Graal:"During the feast of Whitsun Galahad comes to the court, sits in the Perilous Seat and proves he will be the best knight of all times by drawing a sword from a stone. That night the Holy Grail appears before the court, to disappear as quickly as it came. Gawain swears to reveal the secret of the Grail and the all the knights of the Round Table follow his example.
Soon it becomes clear that the Grail is not their destiny. The knights wander through the country, but the only adventures they have, are duels with each other, because they do not recognise each other before it is too late.
Lancelot comes close to the Grail, but he is not the one because of his adulterous sins. Only Perceval, Bors and Galahad are admitted to the Grail service for which Christ appears. In the end Galahad is the only one who is initiated in the secrets of the Holy Grail. He dies in ecstasy. Bors is the only one to return and tell the tale, because Perceval dies as well."
La Mort le Roi Artu:"At court Lancelot and Guinevere are subject to a lot of gossip. Arthur ignores the accusations until Morgan shows him the murals Lancelot made during his imprisonment. Guinevere is convicted to burn at the stake, but is saved just in time by Lancelot. In the process he kills Gawain's three brothers.
Arthur's army besieges Lancelot at his castle, but when they are facing each other directly Lancelot refuses to defend himself. Arthur is touched. After months of war the pope acts as a mediator and both sides agree to a compromise. Guinevere is restored to favour and Lancelot withdraws himself to France.
Gawain however is still after revenge for the death of his brothers and Arthur leads his troops to France. Lancelot defeats Gawain in a duel, and the latter will eventually die from his wounds.
Meanwhile in Britain Mordred (at the end of Lancelot Propre it turned out that he was not Gawain's youngest brother but the child of Arthur and his halfsister Morgan) has pronounced himself king and besieges Guinevere, who has fled to London.
The armies of Arthur and Mordred slaughter each other at Salisbury. Arthur kills Mordred but is mortally wounded himself. He orders Excalibur to be thrown into the lake. A hand rises up from the water to receive the sword. Morgan arrives by ship to take Arthur to Avalon.Lancelot avenges Arthur on Mordred's sons. As a recluse Lancelot finally finds himself at peace with God."
TheVulgate Cycle would be one of the sources for Malory's Morte Dartur.
Thomas Malory

The popularity of the Arthurian stories faded slowly in the fourteenth century, but it was not until the end of the fifteenth century that the English knight Thomas Malory wrote his magnum opus: Morte D' Artur.
Malory was not an innovator like Chrétien or the authors of the Lancelot en Prose (which was Malory's main source, but certainly not the only one). His work is one big recapitulation of the medieval stories concerning king Arthur.
Malory paid no heed to pictorial details and tedious descriptions, he was in it for the action. At times his work reads like a long and hyperactive enumeration of battles, tournaments and duels.
The Morte D' Artur can be divided in three parts:
The first part deals with Arthur who draws the sword from the stone, becomes king, establishes the Round Table and fights the Romans in France, and with the deeds of the knights of the Round Table, especially Lancelot and Gareth. Merlins part in the events is minimised.
Part two deals mainly with the adventures of Tristan, also a character from the Celtic tradition. In the verse romances of the twelfth century he makes name as the perfect lover of Isolde (Ysolt, Yseut, Isoude). In the Tristan en Prose (ca. 1230) he appears at king Arthur's court for the first time and this was Malory's main source. Malory concentrates on Tristan's deeds as a knight, rather than the sad and passionate story of the lovers.
In part three the Grail quest with Galahad as the hero is quickly told. And then it is time for Malory's best work: the treachery at the court, the adultery of Lancelot and Guinevere and the last battle in which Arthur and Mordred kill each other. Especially touching is the ending (which can not be found in the Lancelot en Prose), when Lancelot and Guinevere meet for one last time after Arthur's death. He wants to ask her to marry him, but she has devoted her life to God, and inspires him to do the same.

Pre-Raphaelite images of the middle ages

The poet Tennyson and the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood in the 19th century were depending heavily on Malory for their Arthurian inspiration. The death of Arthur and his passing to Avalon, the flawless grail-knight Galahad, mysterious ladies and the attainment of the Holy Grail were amongst the favourite subjects of the Pre-Raphaelites. (See: La Mort D'Arthur, Archer (1860); The last sleep of Arthur in Avalon, Burne-Jones (1881-91); The Attainment of the Holy Grail, Burne Jones, Stanmore Hall tapestry executed by William Morris & Co. 1898-9; Galahad, Watts (1860); "I am half sick of shadows" said the lady of Shalott, Waterhouse (1860); Sanc Grael, Rossetti (1864).
Tennyson idealised king Arthur as the perfect king and husband and put Guinevere on trial for her fling with Lancelot. Where Tennyson judged with reason on Arthur's side, the Pre-Raphaelites on the other hand seemed to admire Guinevere for her enigmatic qualities.
One of the moving spirits behind the brotherhood, William Morris, wrote a poem The Defence of Guenevere and painted her as the typical Pre-Raphaelite woman: sensual beauties with long, dark, waving hair and melancholy eyes. The model for this Guinevere was his wife Jane Morris. Juicy detail is that William had to endure his wife's adultery with his friend and Pre-Raphaelite brother, the painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, for years to come. An Arthurian love triangle in real life.

James Archer, La Mort D'Arthur, oil painting 1850

In 1862 William Morris got the commission for the stained glass windows for Harden Grange. He choose to depict the Tristan story (based on Malory), but with the emphasis on the love story rather than Tristans many achievements as a knight. In this case the sympathy goes entirely to the lovers Tristan and Isolde. The deceived husband, king Mark, is the bad guy. William asked several Pre-Raphaelite brothers to design the panels, amongst them Date Gabriel Rossetti. (Images of the Tristan stained glass windows).
The influence of 19th century Pre-Raphaelite art on popular movies was not that big until two decades ago. Hollywood adventure movies, especially in the first half of this century, were mostly inspired by late 19th century pulp narratives and simplified adaptations of the historical novels of Sir Walter Scott and his successors.
The rise of Fantasy as a filmgenre in the late seventies and eighties brought the need for coherent secondary worlds, and that is exactly how the Pre-Raphaelites depicted the Middle Ages, as an idealised romantic time, a coherent world of fantasy. It is hard for me to say how far this influence goes in general, but the Pre-Raphaelite connection is certainly visible in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981).
And the ideal Pre-Raphaelite woman seems to have a lot of features in common with the standard type of medieval queens, princesses and maidens in popular films. Whether it is Guinevere Excalibur, Lady Marian in Robin Hood (Reynolds, 1991), Linet in Sword of the Valiant (Weeks, 1982) or Guinevere in First Knight (Zucker, 1995) they all look like Jane Morris: sensual, enigmatic, long dark hair and melancholy eyes.

Julia Ormond as Guinevere in First Knight

William Morris, Queen Guinevere

(also called La Belle Iseult), oil painting 1858

Swashbucklers at the Round Table

Amongst the popular Arthurian movies are the big Hollywood productions of the 1950s and 60s and recently First Knight (Zucker, 1995), and John Boormans Excalibur (1981), which was also produced in Hollywood for a large audience. The legends surrounding king Arthur fit perfectly into the scheme of popular adventure narratives because most of the Arthurian heroes are excellent embodiments of the light in the darkness, the hero on a quest, who gains a name and a girl and brings prosperity to the society he lives in. This scheme was used for hundreds of adventure movies that were produced in Hollywood since the 1920s, in the

so-called Swashbuckler-genre, featuring heroes like Ivanhoe and Dick Turpin. And every generation has its own Robin Hood: who has always been Swashbuckler number one.

Errol Flyn "King of the Swashbucklers" kissing Olivia de Haviland; in Robin Hood (1938, Curtiz)

It is quite surprising that no Arthurian stories were used until the 1950s (apart from a few silent movies and adaptations of Mark Twain's parody A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Apart from some technical reasons (widescreen, bigger budgets), this can be ascribed to some unwelcome themes that travelled with the legend since medieval times. The inevitable downfall of the kingdom, the incest between Arthur and his (half)sister Morgan le Fay, the adulterous relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere and the central role of supernatural phenomena all go against the conventions of the Swashbuckler-genre.
In the 1950s two Hollywood studios dealt with these problems in a way that had been used since medieval times, by simply introducing a new hero to king Arthur's court. This resulted in two quite successful movies: Prince Valiant (1954, Hathaway), who was already famous in the United States through the cartoons, and the lesser Black Knight (1954, Garnett) which is usually described as an Arthurian Western. In both films Camelot is merely the background for the adventure.

Janet Leigh and Robert Wagner in Prince Valiant

The Knights of the Round Table (1953, Thorpe) differs from these two because the writers based their script directly on the chronicles of Malory and Geoffrey of Monmouth. But in this film the incest is not mentioned, Lancelot and Guinevere suffer without relief and the supernatural Holy Grail is only used to give the film an upbeat ending. Those omissions did not pay off; the story was still far too gloomy and tragic for a Swashbuckler.
After the 1950s the Swashbuckler-genre evolved dramatically. In the 60s Lancelot and Guinevere actually get their moment of joy in a movie that is not surprisingly titled Lancelot and Guinevere (1963, Wilde). The Adventure-heroes had to learn to ironise their own status in order to survive in the 1970s and 80s. This irony made it for instance possible that Indiana Jones and his father share the same woman in Indiana Jones and the last Crusade (1989, Spielberg). And the rise of Fantasy as a filmgenre made the supernatural acceptable, mildly used in the Hollywood (and Swashbuckler) blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991, Reynolds).
Knights of the Round Table, summary

Director: Richard Thorpe

Starring: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Anne Crawford, Maureen Swanson, Felix Aylmer, Stanley Baker and Mel Ferrer. 1953, MGM

(Watching the film on a television set is not a good idea. It was the first MGM production in Cinemascope and the cinema is the only place to enjoy the wide panoramic view on the scenes that were shot partly in Ireland and Cornwall.)

"King Uther has died. Both Arthur and Mordred (here Mordred is the lover of Arthur's sister Morgan) want to be his successor. Mordred has tyranny in mind, Arthur intends to be a king for the people and has Merlin on his side, who is his counsellor rather than a magician. Arthur draws Excalibur from the stone, but Mordred refuses to give in.
Lancelot, the son of the French king Ban of Benwick, is looking for king Arthur, the only lord he wants to serve. In a forest he meets the young lady Elaine. When he is ambushed (by Mordred's men who are waiting for Arthur) a knight comes to his aid. Lancelot does not like to be helped and challenges the knight. After a long and undecided duel the knight turns out to be Arthur. Lancelot offers him his service, and so does young Perceval, who comes to pick up his sister Elaine.
Lancelot joins Arthur on his way to the council at the ring of stones (Stonehenge). There Mordred tries to kill Arthur, but Lancelot saves him. The war is on. After his victory Arthur establishes the Round Table. But soon after he gets into conflict with Lancelot, who does not want him to pardon Mordred and Morgan.
Guinevere is to marry Arthur, but on the way to Camelot she is captured by an evil knight. It is Lancelot (as a nameless knight) who saves her and orders the evil knight (who will be one of his companions later on) to bring her to Camelot in safety. After the wedding the knights are to pay homage to their king and queen. Lancelot reappears and is the first to kneel before them. Arthur makes him the champion of the queen.
Lancelot and Guinevere feel deeply for each other, but do not consume their passion. Instead Lancelot marries Elaine to silence the gossip about him and the queen, and he takes his bride away from the court. Gawain and Gareth are Lancelot's loyal companions: Gawain watches over Elaine, while Lancelot and Gareth are out fighting the Picts. Perceval visits them and talks about his quest for the Holy Grail. Elaine dies after giving birth to a son: Galahad.
Mordred and Morgan are responsible for the death of Merlin and a plot to get Lancelot back to Camelot and Guinevere. Lancelot pretends to have lost his feelings for her and flirts openly with lady Vivien. The queen is hurt by this and visits his chambers late at night. When Mordred's men (amongst them Agravaine) are banging on the door and all is lost, she sees proof of Lancelot's love for her. They kiss for the first and last time, right before Lancelot kills Agravaine and his men and brings the queen to safety.
King Arthur has to judge his best friend and wife, but does not give in to Mordred's demand to have them killed. Instead Lancelot is banished to France and Guinevere has to retreat in a convent. The union of the Round Table falls apart and Mordred finds support to challenge Arthur again.
Once again the civil war rages over the country and Arthur is mortally wounded. It is Lancelot who throws Excalibur into the lake and then kills Mordred. Afterwards Lancelot and Perceval enter the ruins of Camelot. Perceval has a vision of the Holy Grail and hears a heavenly voice that tells him Lancelot will be forgiven for his sins and Lancelot's son, Galahad, will be the most accomplished knight ever."
The wedding in Knights of the Round Table

First Knight

The success of this Robin Hood (Reynolds, 1991, see the menu on the left under Swashbuclers) paved the way for a revival of the Middle Ages in Hollywood (Rob Roy and Braveheart also came out in 1995) and it gave the Arthurian legend a new change. However, First Knight is in the light of the cinematographic developments mentioned earlier a huge disappointment. The producers avoided all risks and the result is a visually and technically overwhelming, but in every other respect half-hearted, picture. The way Lancelot is introduced, seems to indicate that they wanted to bring a new hero to the court, but it is also the old Lancelot of the chronicles whose feelings for the queen are condemned. And there is the Swashbuckler Lancelot who has to get his girl in the end to secure a happy ending.
To solve the problems that this mixture of the traditional legend and the conventions of the Swashbuckler-genre bring about, Arthur has to be killed without hope on his return. The bier that floats on the water reminds the audience of the traditional voyage to Avalon, but then a burning arrow discards all hope.
And the kingdom does not fall: Lancelot will be the new king, with lady Guinevere on his side. This is also necessary because Camelot is, once again, depicted as the ideal American society. At one point Arthur delivers a speech that could easily be interpreted as a plea for the American intervention policy. Malagant is, in contrast, a very plain villain: just bad, nothing else.
Sean Connery (king Arthur) and Julia Ormond (Guinevere)

First Knight sticks to the old Swashbuckler conventions by not allowing any miracles to happen. Adultery is also "not done" and therefore Guinevere is still a virgin at the end of the movie. And because these romantic developments are taken very seriously, there is not much room for a light sense of humour or irony, which is essential to a modern Swashbuckler movie.
The emphasis on the triangle Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot leaves little space for side-kicks. Apart John Gielgud in a supporting role as Guinevere's counselor, there is only room for minor characters like Ralph, Peter and Marc. The knights of the round table are as colourless as their uniform outfit suggests. The use of colour is on the other hand very effective in the depiction of the different cities and the development of Guinevere, from innocence, to Queen, to confusion about her feelings for Arthur and Lancelot.
In 1991 Robin Hood already suffered from a father complex, and here Lancelots desire for freedom is explained (negatively) by a childhood trauma. The introduction of this bit of "obvious" psychology is very abrupt, almost clumsy. Right after Lancelot starts talking about "the walls burning down" the scriptwriters or editors made a significant mistake: Guinevere talks about the fire in the church although she has no way of knowing about it.

Richard Gere (Lancelot) and Julia Ormond (Guinevere)

There are some interesting moments during the battle for Leonesse. Lancelot throws off the suffocating helmet and fights much better on foot than on a horse like a true knight is supposed to. That is probably what the film should have done: free itself from all those suffocating cinematic and moral conventions.
Also they should have looked beyond Malory (the most obvious source for popular retellings of the legend) and find that the story they came up with had a lot in common with the original Lancelot-story of Chrétien de Troyes: the episodic adventure, a so-called "Fair Unknown" as a hero and the abduction plot. What the film lacks in comparison to Chrétien is a coherent vision on love and adultery, a magic environment and a subtle sense of irony.
The question what First Knight is like can only be answered in terms of what it is not. The movie is far too heavy-laden to be a true Swashbuckler. It is not really an episodic adventure because of Arthur's part in the story. It is clearly not an adaptation of the Arthurian chronicles to the screen. And most importantly, it lacks the sense of irony of the Chrétiens original twelfth century story and the sense of humour of a true Swashbuckler. What is left? Well, it is a slick movie, and it can be entertaining if you are in the mood for mindless action and romance.
First Knight, summary

Director: Jerry Zucker.

Starring: Sean Connery, Julia Ormond, Richard Gere.

Story: Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, William Nicholson.

Screenplay: William Nicholson. 1995 Columbia Pictures
"Lancelot fights for money in a village, he defeats two challengers. The same village is burnt down by Malagant and his men. The villagers arrive in Leonesse en are welcomed by Guinevere and her counsellor Oswald, who reminds her of king Arthur's marriage proposal. She decides to give Arthur a yes because she admires him.
On the way to Camelot the party from Leonesse is attacked by Malagant's men. Guinevere has to beat an attacker off her carriage, before she can jump off herself. Three men pursue her through the forest, but Lancelot appears and saves her. He makes advances, but she does not give in. He predicts she will ask him to kiss her before her wedding day. Guinevere is welcomed to Camelot in great style.
Lancelot runs the gauntlet during the festivities in Camelot. His prize is a kiss from the queen-to-be. She does not want to and he solves the awkward situation by saying he does not want the kiss out of fear to loose his heart to such a lovely lady. Arthur explains the ideal of the Round Table to Lancelot: "in serving each other we become free". Lancelot says he does not need anyone.
Arthur tells Guinevere he would protect Leonesse even if she does not want to marry him. But she wants to, say she loves him and knows just one way of loving: "with body, heart and soul". That is how he likes it: "love as warm as sunlight".
A gathering of the knights of the Round Table, one seat is empty. It used to seat for Malagant, who enters and claims Leonesse. Arthur and Guinevere refuse to give in to his demands. That buys them war.
Malagants men seize Guinevere from Camelot, with the help of a clever construction of a boat, some pulley's, a lot of rope and a couple of horses. Lancelot pursues them. Malagant holds Guinevere captive in a ruin. Lancelot pretends to be Arthur's messenger and saves her for the second time.
In the forest they come closer to each other. He has a flash-back of his childhood trauma: his parents were killed in a church which was burned by robbers. With all this sensitivity in the air he comes closer to seducing her, but when they are about to kiss, Arthur's men arrive. Arthur is grateful for the rescue and wants to make Lancelot a knight of the Round Table, and so happens even though the knights are protesting. Guinevere can not change Lancelot's mind about this. He stays because of her.
The marriage ceremony is performed. A messenger arrives to bring the news of Malagant taking Leonesse. Arthur leads his army to Leonesse and to victory. Lancelot cries out when he sees the church-gate barricaded and is reminded again of his trauma, but the people of Leonnesse are all right. A little boy asks Lancelot: 'Can I go home now?' Lancelot cries behind a hedge.
Back in Camelot Lancelot tells Guinevere he truly believes in the ideals of the Round Table and that he can serve the cause best by leaving. Now she tries to convince him otherwise. He stays with his decision, but takes her in his arms when she says he owes her a kiss. Arthur enters and witnesses the passionate embrace. Guinevere tries to convince Arthur of her love for him, but has to admit she loves Lancelot in a different way. Arthur says his dream is broken. Lancelot and Guinevere will be judged in public.
Lancelot kneels in front of the king and states the queen is innocence. Suddenly Malagant's men pop up to take over Camelot. Arthur pretends to give in to Malagant's demands, but calls upon the people to defend themselves against the tyranny.
The knights of the Round Table, the people of Camelot and Lancelot defeat the villains. Malagant dies on the throne he desired, killed by Lancelot with Arthur's sword.
Guinevere cries at Arthur's death-bed. Lancelot arrives and Arthur calls him his first knight. Lancelot will inherit Camelot and Arthur asks him to take care of Guinevere. Arthur tells Guinevere he now feels the sunlight, because it shines in her eyes. And then he dies. Arthur's bier is set afloat in the water and a burning arrow initiates the cremation."

Excalibur

John Boorman intended to visualise the whole legend on the screen, and so he did. His biggest problem was how to compress the story into the length of a normal movie. But he did not reduce his sources. He actually used many bits and pieces of different versions of the legend and fused them together. Narrative elements from Chrétien de Troyes, Malory, Tennyson, T.S. Elliot, T.H. White and even the old Tristan romances are recognisable in Excalibur, as well as Pre-Raphaelite and Wagnerian images. The speed of the action and the density of visual symbols make it almost impossible for an audience to comprehend the movie on an intellectual level, and that is not what Boorman aims at. He forces his viewers to surrender, to let go and travel with the flow of the legend, to comprehend with the innate capability to understand myth. That is also connected with one of the themes in Excalibur: the birth of ratio out of the unconsciousness. King Uther is unable to master his instincts, rapes Ygraine and thus fathers Arthur, who reigns twenty years later with reason on his side. Camelot is the achievement of rational judgement in contrast to Uther's unbound passion. But Camelot is built on the foundations of Merlin's power and his magic is part of the unconsciousness. These two, ratio and unconsciousness, must be in balance.
But Arthur puts reason over love. According to his own laws he must be king before husband and therefore he can not defend Guinevere's honour when she is accused of adultery. Guinevere turns to Lancelot and their love flowers, even if it is just for a brief moment. When Arthur sees his wife in the arms of his best friend, he freaks and loses the sword Excalibur, his connection to the powers of the unconsciousness: Merlin and the lady of the lake.

The lovers in the forest
But the downfall of the kingdom is also indirectly caused by Uther's (male) lust. Morgana sees how he rapes her mother Ygraine and knows that Uther and Merlin are responsible for the death of her father. She dedicates her life to revenge, steals the "charm of making" from Merlin and cheats her halfbrother Arthur into a one-night stand to become pregnant of Mordred, who will eventually kill his father.
Arthur becomes numb and his kingdom a waste land. It is Perceval on the quest for the Holy Grail who finds the answer, a concept that derives from the old Celtic tradition: "the king and the land are one". And it is Guinevere who has kept the sword for her husband, which re-establishes his contact with Merlin, even though it is just in a dream.
At this stage both Merlin and Arthur become aware of the role they will have for future generations. Arthur knows that he: "was not born to lead a man's life, but to be the stuff of future memory". And Merlin has ceased to exist in reality, but is present in our unconsciousness: "a dream to some, a nightmare to others".
So here we have the whole story, in a very compressed form that is. Some critics have stated that Excalibur rattles through the legend, but by doing so they underestimate Boorman's ability to tell stories with images and symbols and the way he lets the story run on different levels simultaneously. Excalibur is a highly entertaining story, but also an advanced interpretation of the legend, a particular vision on myth in general. The overwhelming speed and density of the action will lead the audience, like Arthur and Merlin, to understand the longing for a lost golden age and the "dream of what could be".

Excalibur, summary and further analysis
Orion - Warner Brothers, 1981.

Cast: Nigel Terry (Arthur), Nicol Williamson (Merlin), Helen Mirren (Morgana), Cherie Lunghi (Guinevere), Nicholas Clay (Lancelot) Paul Geoffrey (Perceval).

Scenario: Rospo Pallenberg, John Boorman.

Director of Photography: Alex Thomson.

Production Designer: Anthony Pratt.

Editor: John Merritt.

Music and musical director: Trevor Jones -extracts from: Carl Orff, O fortuna from Carmina Burana; Richard Wagner, prelude to Parsifal, prelude to Tristan and Isolde and the Funeral March from The Ring.

(In the beginning there is a lot of fire, battle and chaos. The human race is still in a sort of unconscious state. The sword comes to bring order, but paradoxically it comes from a deeper unconscious force, hidden beneath the lake.)
Merlin brings Uther to the lake, where he receives the sword Excalibur, which is given to him by the Lady of the Lake, a hand rising from the water. The power of the sword will make him king. Merlin pressures Uther to make a deal with his main opponent, the duke of Cornwall. But when Uther sees Cornwall's wife Ygraine dancing, his lust takes over once again. Merlin is disappointed, but uses his magic "charm of making" so that Uther takes on the outer shape of Cornwall, which enables him to make love to Ygraine, while the real Cornwall dies in battle.(Actually Cornwall dies because a couple of black birds fly in his way, not a coincidence I presume).The daughter of the duke of Cornwall and Ygraine, Morgana, knows what has really happened.
Nine months later Merlin demands what Uther promised him, the fruit of his lust, the baby Arthur. Merlin walks into the woods and Uther chases him to get the child back. But the king is ambushed. With his last bit of strength Uther drives Excalibur into a stone and dies. Merlin then predicts that: "he who draws the sword from the stone shall be king".
(Uther driving the sword in the stone is not in any of the old stories, usually Excalibur and the sword in the stone are not one and the same. But this had a lot of advantages for the movie, most notably: it saved time. Now it was very easy to keep the sword as a central point and skip twenty years in the story, by fading to black and then showing the same shot in a different season and with a whole tournament site built around the sword in the stone.)
Twenty year old Arthur, his stepfather Ector and stepbrother Kay arrive at the scene. Kay will fight in the tournament, Arthur is his squire. He who defeats all the others earns the right to an attempt to draw the sword and become king. Leondegrance wins, but fails to draw the sword. The festivities go on, Arthur has forgotten Kay's sword. He runs back to the tent, but the sword is stolen. He stumbles upon the sword in the stone and draws it out. Afterwards he does it again with one hand. Merlin appears and proclaims that he is Uther's son. But the knights, with the exception of Leondegrance, are not willing to accept such a young squire as their king.
Arthur spends the night in the forest where Merlin explains to him what being a king is all about: "You will be the land and the land will be you."
(Here Boorman tries to catch the spirit of the first book of T. H. White's The Once and Future King, where Arthur is educated by Merlin, in a single sequence. In the book Merlin changes young Arthur into all kinds of animals, here they are just crawling around, as part of the dragon.) The next day Arthur and his companions come to the aid of Leondegrance whose castle is being attacked by the other knights. Arthur fights smartly and bravely. One of his opponents, Uriëns, refuses to accept him as king, even when Arthur points Excalibur to his throat, because he is just a squire. Arthur hands him Excalibur and asks Uriëns to make him knight and let him be his king, and so it happens. During the festivities afterwards Arthur meets Leondegrance's daughter Guinevere. Merlin tries to forewarn him about Lancelot and Guinevere's treason, but Arthur only has eyes for Guinevere.
(This scene is a good example of the different layers of meaning that Boorman works with. Guinevere offers Arthur a cookie which is made according to a very old and secret recipe. Merlin says to Arthur: "Looking at the cake is like looking at the future, until you've tasted it you don't know what it's like, and then of course, it's too late." Arthur takes a bite, still preoccupied by Guinevere who is dancing, and then of course it is too late. Apart from the fact that this is a very comical exchange of words and glances as well as a wise truth, it is also an introduction to the next scene where Lancelot appears for the first time. But there is more: the dialogue actually tells the audience a lot about Merlin. He can look into the future, but this does not help him or Arthur any further. And apart form the future, the cake stands for something else as well, as Guinevere says: "a very old and secret ingredient", which is love. This human emotion is so old and secret that even Merlin can not comprehend it. Love will be his downfall as we learn later on.)
A couple of years later Arthur is angry because one man defeats his best knights. He decides to fight the duel himself. The knight introduces himself as Lancelot. When Arthur is about to loose the fight he abuses the powers of Excalibur to go at Lancelot. The sword breaks, but his remorse about his dumb pride, brings the lady of the lake to mend it. Lancelot will be Arthur's first knight.
Again some time has passed. Arthur and his knights celebrate victory in their last big battle. The land is one, peace and prosperity reign. By intervention of Merlin the knights form a circle, which inspires Arthur to establish the Round Table.
Lancelot comes to take Guinevere to her marriage with Arthur. He explains to her that he will love no other but her, his queen and his best friends wife. The marriage is celebrated in a Christian atmosphere. In the background Merlin meets Morgana who tells him she is a creature like him. Merlin says: "The days of our kind are numbered. The one god comes to drive out the many gods."
(Here Boorman uses the principle of "crosscutting" (jumping between two scenes, in this case the marriage and Merlin's conversation with Morgana) to enhance the contrast between christianity and druidism. He used the same technique with the scenes of Uther making violent love to Ygraine and Cornwall dying, and will use it a couple of times more.)
Lancelot meets the naive Perceval in a forest and takes him to Camelot where he can become a kitchen boy.During a banquet Morgana whispers in Gawain's ear, who then speaks up and accuses Guinevere of keeping Lancelot from the court because she desires him. Arthur decides that Gawain has to back up these words in combat against the queen's champion. Guinevere is disappointed that Arthur does not defend her himself, as a king he has to be her judge, and he is king before husband.Lancelot stays in the forest again, haunted by sorrow and pain, because in his heart he is guilty of wanting Guinevere. At night he dreams of a fight with himself and as he wakes up he finds his own sword stuck in his side.When Lancelot does not show up for the duel, Arthur is forced to knight the kitchen boy Perceval, the only one brave enough to stand up for the queen. Lancelot gets there just in time and defeats Gawain, although the wound in his side causes him heavy pains.
(There is a lot happening at the same time here. The later grail hero Perceval is introduced and through his eyes we see the absolute high of Arthur's reign and the "city of silver and gold" Camelot. There is also a comical intermezzo of Perceval bumping into Merlin. The introduction is important because later on the two main characters, Arthur and Merlin, will be out of sight and Perceval has to take over. Seen in this light it is probably not coincidental that Perceval looks so much like Arthur. By interlacing these events Boorman once again saves time, also by having Perceval step in for Lancelot. This is something that happens all the time in the medieval stories, one knight stepping in for the other, and the other one showing up just in time to fight his own battle. So Boorman quite brilliantly uses a medieval narrative concept to solve the cinematic problem of having only a restricted amount of time on the screen. By interlacing the events Boorman also gives the movie a natural flow. In fact the medieval chronicle writers used similar techniques.)
Lancelot's wound seems fatal until Arthur orders Merlin to heal him. When asked Merlin (who seems to doze of a lot, almost ready to leave this world) answers that truth is the highest quality for a knight. It causes Lancelot to run to the forest again, but this time Guinevere comes after him and they have their moment of pure love together.Merlin says farewell to Arthur and points him in the direction of the lovers. When Arthur finds them sleeping innocently and naked, he despairs and drives Excalibur between them in the earth. At the same time Merlin is with Morgana in the cave of the dragon, the heart of his power. When Arthur thrusts the sword into the earth, the spine of the dragon, the cave shakes and Morgana is able to catch Merlin off guard. She worms the secret of the "charm of making" out of him and uses it to lock him in a crystal for eternity.
The lovers in the forest are an allusion to the early Tristan romances. Which becomes clear when Arthur plays the role of king Mark finding the lovers in the forest and leaving his mark. The meeting between Lancelot and Guinevere is filmed as an extremely innocent moment, their nakedness is pure rather than sexual and the lovers look like Adam and Eve in paradise before the fall of men.Interesting is the fact that Merlin defines the cave of the dragon as a place where all things meet their opposite: "the future and the past, desire and regret, knowledge and oblivion". But when Morgana says "love", one would expect Merlin to answer "hate", but he just says: "O yes". That leads to the conclusion that love carries the opposites within itself. Apart from the idyll in the forest, love seems to be a destructive force in the movie. Uther's love for Ygraine is more like lust and greed, wanting to have it all, and Morgana uses it to avenge her father on Merlin and Arthur, Uther's son. Arthur is not capable of loving Guinevere totally because he is king first. Lancelot and Guinevere are the only ones meeting on equal terms, for no other reason than love itself. In the medieval stories the adultery is depicted as courtly (Chrétien) as well as sinful (Vulgate cycle) (see "Legends" in the menu on the left), and this tension has been present in the Arthurian tradition ever since. Where Tennyson condemns Guinevere in the 19th century, William Morris comes to her defence (see "Pre-Raphaelites" in the menu on the left. Boorman does not seem to take a clear stand in this discussion, he just shows the incredible force of love, and maybe gives us a hint by having Arthur say he would like to be "just a man" and meet Guinevere again. Love can flower only when the lovers are equals. Here the influence of Carl Gustav Jung is notable, who thought that power is the natural enemy of pure love. And there are a lot of power struggles going on in the story.)
Morgana bewitches Arthur, makes him think he is sleeping with Guinevere, while he is in fact fathering Mordred, Morgana's son. The birth is a black mass in which Morgana is midwife and mother simultaneously. At the same time Arthur and his knights are in church. A priest prays for protection against Morgana and her unholy child. Arthur is struck by lightning. (I am not sure what this means, whether it is God condemning Arthur, or what?)
The land is in need, the people are suffering. Arthur is weak, but calls on his knights to find the Grail to save the country. Ten years later Perceval is still looking for the Grail. He rides through the Waste Land, finds young Mordred and follows him to Morgana's place. There are a lot of (very) dead knights hanging from a tree. Morgana tries to seduce Perceval to serve her instead of the cause. Perceval resists the temptation and is hung in the tree along side the corpses. He has a vision of the Grail castle, brightly lit. From the light a voice asks him the questions: "What is the secret of the Grail? Whom does it serve?" But Perceval panics and flees. When he falls from the bridge to the castle, he falls from the tree as well, because the spurs of the knight hanging above him cut the rope.Eight years later Mordred had grown up and comes to Camelot to demand the throne of his father. Arthur, still very weak refuses and Mordred declares war.In the forest Perceval watches from behind a tree how Mordred and his men slaughter Uriëns. Before he dies Uriëns still finds the strength to tell Perceval never tot give up the quest. Perceval is desperate but continues and meets Lancelot, who has gone mad. Lancelot leads a group of emaciated people in anger, who beat Perceval into a stream.Under water Perceval relieves himself of his armour. "I can't give up hope Lancelot," he says when he comes up, "it's all I've got." Once again he has the vision of the Grail Castle and the bright light, but this time (he is naked and pure) he crosses the bridge without hesitation and answers the questions. Arthur himself is the Grail-king and the secret he has lost is that the king and the land are one.
Perceval has Arthur drink form the cup and reveals the secret the king has lost. Arthur awakes from his lethargy and rides out with his faithful knights. The land flourishes as well, and blossoms again.
(Here the Grail is not the christian Holy Grail, Boorman returns to the old Celtic notion of the king being responsible for the fertility of the land.)
Arthur visits Guinevere in a monastery. He forgives and asks forgiveness and she returns Excalibur, which she has kept safe after the episode in the forest, to him.On the night before the battle Arthur has a vision of Merlin. This frees Merlin from his imprisonment. As a "dream-body" he walks into Mordred's camp and finds Morgana in her tent. He gets her to use the "charm of making". The effort costs her the beauty and youth she managed to maintain all those years. When Mordred finds her as an old woman he strangles her.The fog released by the "charm of making" is in the advantage of Arthur's army because they are the minority. Their bravery and the return of Lancelot to Arthur's ranks keeps the armies in balance and they destroy each other. Arthur forgives Lancelot before the latter dies of the old wound in his side.
Arthur kills Mordred, but is fatally wounded himself. He orders Perceval to throw Excalibur into the lake. Perceval fails the first time. The second time the hand of the Lady of the Lake appears to catch the sword. When Perceval returns to Arthur, the king has already been taken on a boat by three priestesses (and is heading for Avalon, I presume).
The end.
(Boorman, like Jung and Joseph Campbell, believes that every great myth marks a turning point in the history of mankind. And in his conception of the Arthurian story it is interpreted as the coming of consciousness. Uther's world is chaos, disorder, an entanglement of unbound emotions.In contrast Arthur's world is orderly, his laws are rational. However, Arthur's Camelot is still connected with the powers of the unconscious through Merlin and Excalibur. For a while these two, ratio and the unconscious, are in balance and the result of this union is the golden age of Camelot.But this golden age is not to last. Merlin, the representative of the unconscious, seems to get tired and the events, which he can not control, lead to disharmony. Arthur is unable to deal with his emotions when he finds Lancelot and Guinevere together and contributes to Merlin's final imprisonment by thrusting Excalibur into the spine of the dragon. Ratio and the unconscious are separated and the result is a Waste Land.On this level the Waste Land also symbolises the modern, rational world in which we live in (like in T. S. Elliot's poem). It is as if Boorman is telling us we should be much more aware of the unconscious in order to be in harmony with ourselves and the world we live in. And where is the unconscious to be found? According to Jung (and others) we should study our dreams, which is exactly what Arthur does, he wakes Merlin by dreaming of him. And from that moment on Merlin is "a dream to some and a nightmare to others" and his magic is accessible to all.)
A lot more could be said about the movie. Different angles of looking at it will result in different interpretations, which by no means have to contradict each other, but will just prove how rich Excalibur really is.

Arthur, Guinevere, as gods in oral times

2009-04-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

Reading about these gods and goddesses it made me think perhaps the characters in Arthurian tales were originally gods and goddesses and thus were fickle to mankinds needs. Just as the seasons and Arthur, so they rose and waned in strength. Guinevere as a triple goddess, Earth Mother, Fertility goddess, May Queen or even Crone, thus her role is to unite kingship with the land, though through her taking of a lover she breaks that bond and the kingdom collapsed. In other tellings we see Morgan plays this role, as half Faerie or fate she engineers her half brothers downfall, only to nurse him back to health until he is needed again. The Green Knight is nature to look after Camelot while Merlin had also engineered the Black Knight to protect Camelot while Arthur is away.

Artaius
A Gaulish deity: The Bear God

This deity is known from Beaucroissant, Isère, France and is a god of magic, of the 'Great Wizard' type.A Gaulish deity, widely worshipped by the continental Celts whose name is known from an inscription found at Beaucroissant, Isère, France where he is invoked as Mercury Artaius. The assimilation of Artaius into the Cult of Mercury by Interpretatio Romana has led many to suggest that Artaius was originally a pastoral deity, possibly associated with ovine protection.
The similarities in name between Artaius and the insular 'Arthur' have led to postulations that they originated as one and the same deity; indeed Arthur probably originated as a god who became fused with a historical personage in later tellings. Others have associated Artaius with the mage-deity Gwydion postulating that Artaius may originally been a god of the Great Wizard type.
Artio, the alternative name of this deity is preserved in the place names Arto-briga, near modern-day Weltenburg in Germany and Arto-dunum (fortress of the Bear, modern Arthun) in the Loire.
Artaius' name can be derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic elements *arto- (bear) along with the deicitic particle *ī and the Latinized masculine ending -us. Thus Artaius' name can be interpreted as 'The Bear God'. Artaius has a female counterpart, Artio. Artaius' name is also cognate with that of Arthur. Though whether Artaius was the mythological equivalent of the insular Arthur may never be known.

GUINEVERE, QUEEN (Welsh, Cornish) Also Gwenhwyfar, Gueneve, and Gwenivere. Her name means "white shadow", the sovereign power behind King Arthur's throne.
While the Camelot stories surrounding her, King Arthur, and his rival, are romantic in nature, these modern incarnations demean the status of the sovereign Goddess in their telling. She was the sovereign who gave Arthur his right to rule simply by being with him. When she left him he pursued her not for love, but because without her his kingdom would crumble for lack of leadership. The role of Goddess of sovereignty is more clearly seen in her legends than in many others. Her duty is to blend the king's energy with the energy of the land. It is in many myths that when the king forgets where his power comes from that the queen will seek other champions and lovers to remind him as she gladly did.
She is also a May Queen who is occasionally thought of as a female Gwyn Ap Nuad, and Otherworld king and God of the hunt.
Original Welsh legends list three different queens for Arthur all named Guinevere, making her a triplicity unto herself.

GOEWIN (Welsh) The Goddess of sovereignty who held the feet of Math while he reigned. She was only exempt from doing so when he went to war.
In old northern and western European cultures kings were often semi-divine beings having need to rest their feet in the lap of a queen by whose grace they ruled. When Goewin was kidnapped by Gilfaethwy, he also captures the means of stealing the throne. As when Guinevere is kidnapped by Melegrant, he also thinks he will get land and status through this. She is often equated with Queen Guinevere.

GOLEUDDYDD (Wales) [GO-loo-theeth] A Welsh princess who married a prince but remained barren. When she finally became pregnant, she went mad and refused to live indoors. She disappeared into the forest and when her time came to give birth she regained her sanity. She found herself in a swineherd's yard, where she bore a son, was aptly named Culhwch (pig). When she was about to die, she made her husband, Kliydd, promise that he would not remarry until a briar bush with at least two heads sprang from her grave. Such briars do not grow heads until their seventeenth year of maturity. In Celtic mysticism the number seventeen relate to the splitting of clans. Every seventeenth year th oldest women and strongest warriors were allowed to branch off from the clan if they wished.
She was also an aunt of King Arthur and this folktale is really about an ancient sow goddess of fertility

MORGAN LeFAY (Welsh) Welsh death-goddess; Morgan the Fate. Glamorgan in Wales is said to be her sacred territory. She can cast a destroying curse on any man. Gawaine of the Round Table bore Morgan's pentacle as a heraldic device on his blood-red shield. She was the daughter of LeFay, a glamorous Welsh sea Goddess. As the half-sister of King Arthur, she possibly was once a Goddess of Glastonbury Tor, a sacred pagan site intimately associated with the Arthurian myths. Archetypally, Glastonbury functions as a gateway to the Otherworld.
The root of her name, mor, means "sea", and she was a sea Goddess, the place one must cross to reach the isle of the Otherworld. In Brittany, sea sprites which lure sailors to their deaths are called Morgans after her.
Today she is thought of as the final incarnation of the Irish Valkyrie Morrigan, Morgan plays a critical but ambiguous role in the Arthurian cycle. Portrayed as a mortal female deeply learned in Magick and a close relative of Arthur's (maternal half-sister), she is always at odds with Arthur, and is responsible for any of a number of attempts to drag him down. Once he is mortally wounded though, and his cause a pyrrhic and ultimately futile victory, it is Morgan who appears at his side, nursing him and taking him off to the Isle of Avalon, to rest until his presence is needed once more. One gets the distinct impression that she somehow engineered the rise of Arthur to the status of Hero, in order to create an Eternal Champion of Britain. As a goddess of sovereignty, she backed the Green Knight to take over the kingdom of Camelot. Her Breton name is Morgause.

MARGAUSE (Welsh, British) Mother aspect of the Goddess. Also Morgause.

Although Morgause remains, even in many modern Arthurian texts, a relatively minor character compared with women like Guinevere and Morgan le Fay, her small role is a crucial one. According to Thomas Malory, she is one of the three daughters of Igrayne and the Duke of Cornwall, half-sister to Arthur, and later, the wife of King Lot of Orkney and the mother of Gawaine, Gaheris, Agravaine, Gareth, and Mordred. Depending on the text, the same character has the name Anna (Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regnum Brittaniae, Layamon's Brut) or Belisent (Alliterative Morte Arthure, Tennyson's Idylls of the King). Because of her minor role, she is frequently, as in John Boorman's film Excalibur, conflated with her more infamous sister, Morgan le Fay. While she is usually eclipsed by Morgan, Morgause is best-known for committing incest when she sleeps with Arthur and conceives Mordred. In medieval texts, specifically the French Vulgate cycle and the Prose Merlin, Arthur is attracted to a woman identified only as King Lot's wife and deceives her into thinking he is her husband. It is only afterward that Arthur realizes he has committed incest. Mordred is the product of this union. Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur depicts Morgause as a woman ignorant of her relation to King Arthur at the time of Mordred's conception, receptive of Lamorak's love towards her, and overwhelmed with motherly concern for her young son Gareth. Truly, the only strike against her in this text is the fact that she commits adultery. Arthur's part in this affair causes the lifelong enmity between the two kings: "And for because that kynge Arthure lay by hys wyff and gate on her sir Mordred, therefore kynge Lott helde ever agaynste Arthure" (I.77). What characterizes her more than anything else in the text is her concern for Gareth's welfare; coming to the court while Gareth is away on his quest to save Dame Lyonesse, Morgause scolds Arthur fiercely, saying, "ye made a kychyn knave of hym, the whyche is shame to you all. Alas! Where have ye done myn owne dere son that was my joy and blysse?" (I.339). Upon Gareth's return, Morgause faints in relief but is revived by her son and thereafter "made good chere" (I.358). What becomes clear on reading Le Morte d'Arthur and its medieval predecessors is that Morgause was not a villain until the modern period. It is this fact that makes her death in Malory so surprising; Sir Gaheris, who is trying to track down his enemy Sir Lamerak, finds him in bed with Morgause, "for ayther lovid other passynge sore," and in response, "suddaynly [Sir Gaheris] gate his modir by the heyre and strake of her hede" (II. 612). She is ultimately a kind of sacrifice in the ongoing feud between the sons of Pellinore and the sons of Lot. In Richard Hovey's play, The Marriage of Guenevere, for example, Morgause feigns friendship with Guenevere, only to discourage her confidence in the new marriage and encourage the young queen in her admiration of Launcelot.
In modern adaptations of the Arthurian legend based on Malory, the incest episode is largely engineered by Morgause herself, and she is Mordred's mother not only biologically but psychologically as well, using him as her tool to destroy his father. T. H. White's The Once and Future King and Boorman's Excalibur demonstrate this concept brilliantly as Morgause/Morgana takes on a sinister nature that she never has in earlier texts. She becomes a kind of nightmarish mother figure in White, looming over her children even after she is dead. Mary Stewart's The Wicked Day demonstrates Morgause's insatiable appetite for younger men, notably King Pellinore's son Lamorak. Upon discovering her in flagrante with the young knight, Gaheris slays his mother in a fit of rage, and later, with the assistance of his other brothers, hunts down Lamorak and kills him in a clearly unfair combat. The notable exception to the grand tradition of villanizing Morgause in modern novels is Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon. In this novel, the first depiction of Camelot from an almost completely feminine perspective, Morgause is a caring mother figure, a strong intellectual wife to King Lot, and, later, a sexually liberated widow. While her ruthlessness in achieving her own political ends is highlighted, it is certainly eclipsed by the callousness of Morgaine and Viviane. Bradley's Morgause only meets her demise in old age, defeated by the rejection of a potential younger lover.

VIVIENNE (Welsh, Cornish, Breton) Also Nimue, Niniane, or Chwibmian. She was the lover of Merlin who is sometimes associated with attributes of the Lady of the Lake, and some legends claim she is the Lake Lady's daughter.
In Breton legend, Vivienne is the woman who escorts Arthur to Avalon at his death. In this guise as a death Goddess she is often equated with Rhiannon.

URIEN (Welsh, Anglo-Celtic) Also Uryen. A minor sun God from southern England who was married to Modron, and was the father of Owain and Mabon. He was killed by Modron during one of her murderous rages. Archetypeally, Urien is a sacrificial deity associated with Samhain.

LADY OF THE LAKE (Welsh, Cornish, Breton) This is simply a compilation of all the multitudinous lake, river, and water spirits so prevalent in Celtic mythology. Nevertheless, common threads do appear; one of the best documented is that of relic-guardian, holder of the sacred sword Excalibur, who gives it to Arthur, and takes it back at the end of the stories. There seem to be two or perhaps three Named Ladies. Nimue is specifically named as a Lady of the Lake; she is the defeater, or perhaps simply replacer, of Merlin at Arthur's Court. Nineve seems to be the Keeper of Excalibur, and her name may be a variant on Nimue, but she is slain by Sir Balin, and her personality is at variance to Nimue's. There is also a French Lady of the Lake, Viviane. There are, in addition, other unnamed Ladies as well.
The Lady of the Lake is by some accounts a faery woman, by others a potent deity of life, death, and regeneration. The Bretons claim she was a Breton addition to the Arthurian myths and that she never appeared in the original Welsh versions of the story. Contrary to the widely popular "sword in the churchyard stone" legends, the Breton version tells us that Merlin and Arthur rode out to the center of the Dosmary Lake in Cornwall, and that it was there that Excalibur was presented to him, the sword embedded in floating stone. When he pulled it out, he reversed the act of the Great Rite, separating the female and male principles of creation which were not to be united again until Arthur's death.
The Lady of the Lake is also attributed with being the foster mother of Sir Lancelot, one of Arthur's knights, also a Breton addition to the myth.
She is described as sitting on a throne of reeds in the center of the lake's depths. Among her many magical credits is that of healer.

Artois/ Artus---Arthur the Bear God

2009-04-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

The Celtic Bear

Written and Researched by Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewska, B.F.A.

Surprisingly, images and most stories about Bears have been lost to the ages in Great Britain, Saxony, and Nordic legends. Bears are no longer found in Scotland (since the end of the eleventh century) or Ireland, since they were made extinct in the late Middle Ages. Bear amulets made of jet have been found in North Britain. Many times these were placed in the cribs of new-born babies so they would be under the protection of the Great Mother Bear. The Bear's strength and power made them a powerful totem symbol for the ancient Celts, and Bear's teeth were considered powerful amulets. Some Celtic sites had votive statues and ritual jewelry dedicated to the Bear.
Archeaologists have found carvings and cave paintings of Bears at Drachenloch Caves, in Switzerland. Neanderthal man revered the Bear back as far as 70.000 years ago. In the Lascaux caves, in France, we find bear art back to 17,000 B.C. A sixth-century altar dedicated to the bear god, Aedeche, is found in the French town of St. Pé d'Ardet--the Vallée de l'Ourse -- not far from Lourdes. Many ancient cultures wore Bear skins with the head still attached to try to become Bear. Joseph Campbell claims that Bear Cults and Clans are older than shamanism. It is thought that bear skins were used by many early peoples, because of their warmth, for articles of clothing.
Today some gods and goddess tales remain. Greek and Roman legends tell how the infant Zeus was hidden and looked after by two Bears, who later became the constellations Ursa Major (the Great She Bear), and Ursa Minor (Little She Bear) . These star groups are almost universally associated with the Bear image. The stars seem to rotate around the pivotal Pole Star, which lies directly above the North Pole. Bears were sacred to the goddesses Artemis Calliste (the Celts called her Cardea) and Diana. In the cult of Artemis, young girls were dressed in yellow robes and called 'Bears' before being allowed to marry.
In the Roman arena, Bears were used as performers (dancing bears), as executioners for criminals, and in the "sport" of Bear baiting (as described above). These same practices were undoubtly brought to the Isles by the Roman invaders.
Bear baiting was practiced in many royal courts. This was a gruesome game between bears and dog packs. The bear was usually tied to a stake, with a chain or put into a pit, while a herd of vicious dogs attacked the poor beast. This event was very cruel and bloody and similar to other such offenses against animals such as cock fighting, and pit bulls fighting.
The Celts had two goddesses that took the form of the Bear: Andarta ("powerful bear") and Artio. In other cultures there are the bear god Artaois, Ardeche, or Arthe. Their names are both from "Art" which means "Bear, stone, or God." There are also many place names called Artos or Arth. Images of the god Artio have been found in Berne (Bear City), Switzerland, which has its "den of bears" which was used by the Bear cultists. King Arthur (a form of Artios or Artiaus, a great god of antiquity) is associated with Bear in that his name comes from the constellation of the Great Bear, which was also known as "Arthur's Wain/Arthur's Plow." Midwinter is the time of Alban Arthuan/The Light of Arthur and the Winter's Soltice. The Winter's Soltice is the longest night of the year, and people called upon the constellation of the Great Bear to light their way in the darkness. Soltices and Equinoxs were performed at Stonehenge. The Bear is also thought to be ruled by the planet Mars. Ancient traditions help us discover our ancestral roots. The legend of Arthur sleeping in an underground cave, waiting for his day of awakening, is like the life of a Bear that hibernates in the winter in a sort of suspended animation, as its bodily temperature falls to conserve calories. King Arthur and Queen Geunevere are also associated with the Alder Tree in Celtic Tree astrology. Arthur, as Artios, was consort to Cerridwen, the Welsh triple goddess who possessed a magic cauldron. In the medieval Welsh romance of Culhwch and Olwen, Arthur was also said to have gone to Ireland to recover this cauldron and in the process laid waster to one of the five Provinces. The Norse god, Thor, is associated with male Bears. Moon-goddesses often have association with Bears. Bear is like the Primal Mother, and will defend her cubs against all forces to the death. The Celtic god, Cernunnos is often depicted as being accompanied by a bear and other animals. Bear allows men to become Spirtual Warriors. Bear tells us not to allow the berserk (men that became bears) warrior to rule us by anger and primal ferocity which can damage lives, but to try to fight against what you can do and what you SHOULD do. The greatest men are said to be Art an neart - "a bear in vigor." The Druids called upon the blessings of the Great Bear, which is associated with the North. The reverence for Bears began to wain with the coming of Christianity, and was perverted into bear-baiting.
Even in Tudor times, every important town had its own Bear. One official was called the Master of the King's/Queen's Bears. Bears toured the country decorated with ribbons and flowers. They were blinded to maintain their obedience and control. Gypsies in the Balkans also practiced this cruelty to Bears.
Congleton, in Cheshire, was reputed to have used money that was earmarked for Bibles and used it instead for the purchase of a new town bear, since their own had resently died. This was in the seventeenth century.
Phrases such as "licking a child into shape" comes from the belief that newborn bear cubs were small and fragile and their mother licked them into health and shape. The Bear Paw is also thought to secreate a substance that kept the bear through long winter hibernations. In China Bear Paws are thought to have medicinal powers, along with Bear gallbladders. Unfortunately, this has led to the poaching of Bears into extinct in this part of the world. Because of the hiberation pattern of the Bear, it is associated with rebirth and renewal. In all cultures the Bear seems to have been the first to have been honored and revered.
English medieval "mummers" play the Bear as a villian, having him terrorize flocks of sheep. Bears have always been admired for their great strength, and their knowledge. Bears will stay away from trouble with humans if possible, but when cornered, they will fight bravely.
In medieval times, it was believed the a Bear's eye in a beehive would make the bees prosper and make more honey. Bears love honey, and often will brave the anger of the hive for a taste of their favorite nectar. A child riding on the back of a Bear was thought to cure whooping cough. Many wandering performers went from town to town with their trained Bears and good paid by the citizens to watch them dance and do tricks.
Bears lie deep within the earth for the winter months, and when it awakens it has a whole new world of dreams and experiences before it. Bears are slow to arouse but can be extremely fierce when provoked. The Native Americans also had a great reverence for the Bear, and thought that they were closer to man than all other creatures.

Pagan Arthur / Christian Arthur

2009-04-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

In this article I look at how Arthur's legend became inbedded within Christianity as the missionaries encouraged the populace to turn away from pagan worship to God. By using gods and goddesses they already knew it made the transference easier.

Then Geoffrey of Monmouth, in the reign of Henry II, decided to translate from a venerable and ancient book (which conveniently got lost so nobody can check it), which was supposedly used in a combination of Latin and Ogham script. Or, he wrote a book justifying the Divine Right of Kings connecting the English king to the Israelite kingdom and the Kingdom of G-d and the Davidic Line.
But in the mid-twelfth century, Jews were not very much in favour. If you're writing a royal chronicle, you have problems. So Geoffrey invented a story such that Hebrew-speaking Trojans come to Albion. In the nineteenth century a group of fundamentalist Christian protestants tried to connect that to Hebrew לָבָן, lavan. (It's not inconceivable Geoffrey would have known Hebrew.) Albion, like לבן, means "white". Geoffrey said that Brutus of Troy [*ahem*, Brutus was the descendant of Aeneas of Troy] led a band of defeated Trojans to Albion, where he established the English royal line.
So, whilst Geoffrey did not actually say that the kings of England are Jewish, he did make some kind of connection. Because Brutus married a Celtic woman, Geoffrey makes Arthur of this descent. And because this was the patrilineal line, it meant that the English kings weren't Jewish themselves.
The person who was responsible for connecting the Jews to the English was Queen Elizabeth's astrologer and third cousin, John Dee. He had connections to a lot of Jews in the Low Countries, and was interested in getting Jews into English commerce. It was he who first posited the Judah-Israelite Divide. This was that the British and the Jews were both descended from the House of Abraham, the Jews being descended from the House of Judah, the English from the House of Jacob. (Consider also that the Stone of Scone is supposed to be the stone that Jacob lay his head on.) This idea could now be reworked in the figure of Arthur. Elizabeth liked Arthur because the Tudors claimed to trace their ancestry back to Arthur.
John Dee set this hysterically into motion. In Jewish communities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there was a wealth of Jewish Arthurian literature. Throughout Europe Jewish communities took this up in a big way. (Indeed, the three most well-known Arthurian writers of the twentieth century were all Jewish, including Marion Zimmer Bradley and T.H. White (whose mother was Jewish; he was raised Christian, but reconverted to Judaism at age forty-two).)
By the time we have the characters of Arthur and David, through the twelfth and thirteen centuries, Arthur has taken on a number of Davidic qualities, which distinguish him from all other English kings. One of these was an advisor with the same ambivalent relationship to his king as Nathan, i.e. Merlin, who was based on the Welsh god Myrddin, the elderly man who lives backwards and gets younger every year. There is no other English literature where the king's advisor dares to say the things that Merlin says (or yells) to Arthur. The only possible parallel, as English literary critics pointed out in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was David and Nathan. Merlin pushes Arthur, he scolds Arthur; he gets particularly angry when Arthur sets up the Round Table of Knights, because he's doing it wrong. Around Merlin, Arthur remains to an extent a little boy, like David does around Nathan; and Saul does around Samuel. When Nathan tells David off about Bathsheba, David weeps, rather than sticking Nathan's head on a pike.
Recall that Arthur has an illegitimate son. Arthur has a long-running obsession with his nasty sorcerous half-sister Morgana le Fay. In the earliest legends, Arthur, knowing she is her half-sister, has sex with her in the festival of the horned harvest-god Seridwen—which led to the conception of Mordred.
Just like Arthur's mother Ygrania didn't want to bring him up; Arthur does not want to bring up Mordred. He puts him in a basket of reeds and asks Myrddin to watch it as it goes through the bulrushes. The basket is followed; and as we known from Chretien de Troyes, Mordred does not drown and is brought up by the witches of Avalon. (Chretien de Troyes, by the way, though non-Jewish, had connections with the school of Rashi, and never hid it.)
Arthur then changes his mind and tries to get Merlin to bring him back—but calls him his nephew. In the mediaeval legends, their relationship then deteriorates. In Mallory's Morte d'Arthur—drawing on all of these sources, Chretien de Troyes included—Mordred is comparable to the Biblical character of Absalom. In his book, Arthur loves Mordred, and Mordred, like Absalom, is spoiled. In Tenyson's retelling of the Arthurian stories, he collects a tradition that said Mordred has red hair, which is interesting because so did David and Absalom. (Though plenty of Celts had red hair, so possibly it means nothing.)
Mordred, who is the child of sin (in Mallory's conception), is going to be his father's undoing, rising up against him, like Absalom. In Mallory's book, it's not the romance with Launcelot that is ont the kingdom's undoing—Arthur forgives Guenevere, because he's not been so good himself.
Arthur, like David, does not want Mordred killed. Even though Mordred is destroying Camelot, which is already weakened because of the Launcelot and Guenevere affair, he doesn't want to hurt him. Now Arthur gets a head-wound and dies.
Does David really die? He does, but mentally we don't want to think of the Davidic line as dead; so we regard it as continuing through the Messiah. There is a parallel with the tradition that Arthur isn't really dead; and gets taken off by the witches of Avalon (including Morgana le Fay) to be healed of his wounds, and will return to become the once and future king. [Er, well, having been rex olim, he will return to be rex futurusque...] Welsh folklore names over a hundred sites which are associated with spots King Arthur might reappear at.
Doesn't this connect more to Jesus than to David? Yes, apart from the fact Fowler thinks that the idea of Arthur coming back predates the Christianisation of the story. There were no Jews in Ireland in the seventh and eighth centuries; when the great pagan Liter [lacuna] Queen Medb [lacuna; anyone have any idea what she was about here?] The Irish say they are descended from Levites and Cohens, who after leaving Egypt did not go to the Promised Land, but were led to Ireland by the goddess Danaan. [They do?]
Robert Gordis gives another interesting Davidic parallel, though not so much with King Arthur as with King Saul. If you look at Arthur's relationship with Morgana le Fay, Arthur is supposed to have forbidden the practice of black witchcraft. She is a black witch. But at the same time, he maintains a connection with her and uses her when he needs her. There is a parallel here with King Saul, who outlaws witchcraft, but knows exactly where to go to find one when he really needs one.
There is a woman called Leonors, who appears in the early stories—the Mabinogion and the Y Goddodin, and later the Song of Taliesin. Her prophecy read:
You will love the king but never be wedYou will be honoured but your name will be unknown She was associated with the lost kingdom of Lyonesse. Leonors is supposed to be Arthur's first adulterous affair. In the French-influenced stories, Arthur is faithful; but in the earlier stories, this was not the case. The image of Leonors to the speaker is similar to the portrayal of David's wife Michal. We know when David comes leaping into Jerusalem, and Michal tells him off for flashing in his dancing, David says "well, those will never again be yours." In the Welsh tradition, something similar happens. Leonors like any mistress gets tired of being a mistress. She says everyone sees you and knows you and loves you, but I don't know you. And Arthur says well now you never will.
The interesting thing is the way the Arthurian [story] ties together the Celtic [legend] and the Davidic Christianised legend, with the addition of the Solomonic peace. The only time Jerusalem came under peace was during the reign of Solomon. Solomon had the image of someone who draws together and makes peace and builds the Temple. This became the image of Camelot. If you look at images of Arthur in English, French and Welsh art from the fourteenth century onwards, it became a fusion of English and Celtic and Biblical motifs.
What about Excalibur? The Lady of the Lake, identified as Vivian, or Nimue (one of the Welsh sea-nymphs), sometimes identified with Morgana le Fay, may have a parallel with Lilith. Lilith lives under the sea and rises up from it whenever she wants to claim a victim. Like her, the Lady of the Lake is not a nice character. She's forbidding at best.
One further image, which is tied in by John Dee, is the Holy Grail. When does this come into the story? It has a Celtic, pre-Christian origin. In the Mabinogion, Arthur and his men went into the other-world to steal the cauldron of the gods and bring it back to the Earth, where it would give them inspirations. This gets grafted onto the Christian concept of the Holy Grail, the kiddush cup Jesus used at the Last Supper. (The Seder of today did not exist yet at the time of Jesus, but there would have been some form of kiddush ritual nevertheless.)
Joseph of Arimathaea was a Celtic invention. He was supposed to have been a Jew who stood by Jesus's side when his side was pierced by the lance, and collected the blood in the same cup he had used for Kiddush. The Spanish say the cup ended up in Spain, and is located in the Cathedral of Valencia (a thirteenth-century forgery, with mediaeval Hebrew lettering on it). According to the Celtic stories, Joseph followed the same route as Brutus, and fled up to Albion, and buried the cup near the New Jerusalem, which is supposed to be close to Primrose Hill. [Aside: I was always intrigued by this name Arimathaea. Where was it? It sounds... mythological. It was quite disappointing to discover it was a Greek garbling of רַמָתַיִם צוֹפיִם, Ramāthayim Ṣophim (the Twin Heights of the Scouts), the birthplace of the prophet Samuel.]
The Grail legend got grafted onto the Arthur story between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. Arthur does not go in search of the Grail himself; he has enough problems already. Launcelot tries, but fails because he's not virtuous enough. Galahad is pure, he wins the Grail. (Wagner took that into the story of Parsifal, which was a complete invention.)
John Dee said: Look, we have a Jew coming from Jerusalem bearing the cup that Jesus drank from, burying it in Primrose Hill. All of this helped to cement the connection which in the nineteenth century the British Israelites take up; q.v. Sceptre of Judah, Heritage of Joseph, by J.H. Allen. Allen now took everything Dee did, and added a fundamentalist Christian view. He said this gave the British the right to conquer the Promised Land. This then was quoted by General Allenby when he marched into Jerusalem in 1917! The entire political British campaign in the Middle East was influenced by the Israelite wing of the Anglican Church (who believed the British should rule the Holy Land in perpetuum).

Bibliography:
The Bible in Early English Literature, David Fowler (1976)
מלך ארתוס (King Artus) (1279), trans. Curt Leviant. (2003, Syracuse University Press).
In Search of Arthur and Camelot, Geoffrey Ashe.
And, of course, Nennius, Bede and Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Family of Arthur

2009-04-09T02:18:00.000-07:00

Arthur was the great legendary British king.

Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon and Igraine. Igraine was the wife to Duke Gorlois of Cornwall (or Hoel of Tintagel), at the time she had conceived Arthur. Through Merlin's magic, Uther was transformed to look exactly like her husband. Uther made love to Igraine, when Gorlois was absence. When Gorlois was killed, Uther immediately married Igraine.
In the Welsh legend, his mother was named Eigr (Igraine), daughter of Anlawdd Wledig, and his father was Uthr Bendragon (Uther Pendragon). Arthur had a sister named Gwyar, who was the mother of Gwalchmai or Gwalchmei, which means the Hawk of May, and of Gwalhaved. Gwalchmai was better known in English and French legend as Gawain or Gauvain. But there is frequent confusion of who were Arthur's sisters and who was mother of Gawain in the mainstream Arthurian legend.
According to Geoffrey, Wace and Layamon, Uther and Igraine were parents of Arthur and a daughter named Anna, who married King Lot of Orkney. Morgan le Fay was also considered to be Arthur's sister, but I am not certain that if she was Arthur's sister or half-sister. Geoffrey never mention Morgan in his History, but in his later work, (Vita Merlini, c. 1151) Morgan was one of the sisters and sorceresses who lived in Avalon. In Gerald of Wales' work called Tour of Wales (1188), the scholar wrote that Morgan was Arthur's cousin. Some had identified Morgan with the Welsh mother goddess Modron, the mother of Mabon, the Welsh god of youth. Modron had also being identified as being the wife of Uryen Rheged (Urien) and the mother of Owain (Yvain).
Later legends say that Arthur had three half-sisters: Morgawse, Elaine (Blasine) and Morgan le Fay. Morgawse had married King Lot of Orkney, Elaine (Blasine) was married to King Nentres of Garlot, while Morgan was wife of King Urien of Gorre, brother of Lot.
Arthur is said to have no children from his wife Guinevere, except for in Perlesvaus, where Lohot was their son, and Guinevere is his mother. However, Lohot (or Loholt) was said to be Arthur's son, not by his wife Guinevere, but more frequently by a woman named Lisanor [Chretien de Troyes' Erec [from Arthurian Romances, translated by William W. Kibler, p. 58]. Lohot was one of the Round Table knights. Lohot was also one of the knights captured by the lord of Dolorous Guard, where he fell ill during the imprisonment.
According to Malory, the son was named Borre (Boarte in Suite du Merlin) and the mother was named Lionors [le Morte d'Arthur, book I ch. 17] (or Lyonors in Suite du Merlin). The similarity between the two women's names - Lisanor and Lionor, suggested that Lohot and Borre is one and the same person.
According to the ninth century historian, Nennius, Arthur had a son named Amr, as well as a dog, called Cabal. Nennius say that Arthur had killed his own son, but doesn't state why he had done so. Arthur had set up tomb near the spring called Licat Amr, in the region of Ercing. What was marvelous about this tomb is that it change in length in various days. Amr could be the prototype to Mordred. As for his dog, the mound was called Carn Cabal, located in Buelt. Cabal was killed when they went hunting against the wild boar Troynt (possibly Twrach Trwyth in Culhwch and Olwen?).

In Culhwch and Olwen (c. 1100), Arthur was the father of Gwydre, possibly by Gwenhwyvar (Guinevere). Gwydre was killed by a wild boar known as Twrach Trwyth. At the end of the Dream of Rhonabwy, Arthur had a different son named Llacheu. While in the beginning of the Welsh romance "Gereint and Enid", the story mentioned that Arthur had a son named Amhar. Amhar could be the same as Nennius' "Amr", but I am not certain about this. None of these tales gave any indication that they were the sons of Gwenhwyvar (Guinevere).
Also in the Welsh myth, the Welsh Triad listed three queens of Arthur. All three queens were named Gwenhwyvar. They were called Gwenhwyfar daughter of Gwent (Cywryd), and Gwenhwyfar daughter of Gwythyr son of Greidiawl, and Gwenhwyfar daughter of Gogfran the Giant. This reminded me of the triple war-goddesses Morrigan or triple mother-goddesses Danu in Irish myths. In some cases, Guinevere or Gwenhwyfar was seen as a goddess, just like Morgan le Fay.
The Welsh Triad also listed Arthur of having three mistresses – Indeg daughter of Garwy the Tall, and Garwen ("Fair Leg") daughter of Henin the Old, and Gwyl ("Modest") daughter of Gendawd ("Big Chin").
In Irish literature, Arthur appeared as Artúir (Artuir), the son of Benne Brit ("of the Britons"). In the Acallam na Senórach, the Irish hero, Cailte reminisced how he and nine other Fian warriors recovered the hounds of Finn Mac Cumaill. Artuir had stolen Finn's hounds, called Bran, Sceolaing and Adnúall.
In Irish myth, Arthur was not a hero at all. He was nothing but a thief.
However, his most famous son was Mordred. Normally, in the early tradition, (by Geoffrey of Monmouth and others), Mordred was Arthur's nephew, because Mordred was the son of King Lot and Anna or Morgawse, the sister of Arthur. But as early as the Huath Merlin and the prose Merlin (Vulgate version), it was implied that Mordred was his son by Arthur's half-sister, Morgawse. In the Suite du Merlin (a continuation of the Vulgate Merlin), Arthur had unwittingly slept with Morgawse, because he did not know that she was his half-sister. Some even say that Morgan le Fay was Mordred's mother.
In the Mort Artu (Vulgate Cycle), Gawain did not know that Mordred was only his half brother until Mordred had seized power during their absence in the wars against Lancelot and the Romans. The only person who knew of Arthur relationship with Mordred was Morgawse and Merlin.
In the tenth century Annale Cambriae, Arthur and Medraut (Mordred) fell in battle at Camlann. The ambiguous statement did they fought against, or if they against each other as enemies, or what their relationship to one another. But in the Dream of Rhonabwy (Mabinogion), Medrawd (Modred) was his nephew and only his foster-son.
Rise and Fall of Arthur
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, in the Historia regum Britanniae, Arthur was a great warrior king, unsurpassed in prowess and diplomacy. Arthur was seen as a world conqueror, whose empire comprised of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Brittany, Normandy and Gaul (France). His reign only ended when his nephew Mordred tried to deposed him as king of Britain and forced his wife Guanhumara (Guinevere).
To Geoffrey of Monmouth, Arthur was brought up in Brittany, until he succeeded his father at age fifteen. In later legend, Arthur was brought up by his foster-father named Antor (Ector), who was the father of Kay (Kai).
Though he possessed the magic sword Caliburn (Excalibur) from Avalon according to the early tradition, it wasn't until Robert de Boron wrote Merlin (c. 1200) that the author introduced into the legend, on how young Arthur drew the sword Excalibur from a rock. The sword proved that Arthur was the true and rightful king of Britain. Arthur other weapons were also given name. The lance was called Ron, while his helmet was named Goosewhite and his shield was called Pridwen, which depicted the Virgin Mary. His horse was called Passelande.
Normally, Arthur's symbol is that of the Red Dragon, like that of his father Uther, who had a nickname Pendragon attached to his name. (Though, in the Prophecies of Merlin, the Red Dragon also symbolised the Britons, while the White Dragon represents the invading Saxons.) However, Arthur's symbol was also that of Boar of Cornwall, mainly because Cornwall, particularly the castle Tintagel was his birth place. The warcry of Arthur and the Round Table was "Clarence!".
By the time of the 13th century, Arthur became more like a typical king and less of a hero. Medieval romances was about the actions of the hero in the story (a knight in this case). To the writers of that time, a king can't just leave his court to seek out adventure. A king had duties that tied him to the throne and to his kingly functions.
As early as the French author Chretien de Troyes in the second half of the 12th century, the legend began to focus away from the king himself and more on his knights from the Round Table. These heroes became the central characters of various tales, while Arthur began to take a less active role in the tales. His character became more weak and ignoble, rather than the great warrior king of the early tradition.
The Vulgate Cycle introduced a different ending for Arthur and his kingdom. The cause of the death of Arthur, was the adultery of Lancelot and Guinevere, the disappearance of the Grail from Britain and the betrayal and treason of Mordred, his son by his half-sister Morgawse. Sir Thomas Malory followed these similar patterns and structures of the French Vulgate Cycle, rather than those of Geoffrey and Wace.
Distinguishing history from legend is like trying to find a needle in a hay-sack.
Geoffrey of Monmouth's so-called history of the British kings (titled Historia regum Britanniae) was nothing more than an inventive history.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (Galfridus Monemutensis) claimed thar he got his sources from an old book from Archdeacon, was also pure fabrication.
Geoffrey's Historia was based on three central figures:
Brutus, the first British king and the great-grandson of Aeneas, a Trojan hero in Greek mythology. Brutus fled to the isle that was named after him. Then, there's Belinus, the so-called British king, who sacked Rome about 390 BC. Though, Rome was sacked in 390 BC. It definitely wasn't from Celtic Britons. The Celtic tribes who defeated the Romans were from the Gauls, who migrated into Italy from France about fifth or fourth century BC. Therefore, Geoffrey was mixing history with his own invention. And of course, King Arthur, himself. Geoffrey portrayed Arthur as a world conqueror, who established an empire that comprised of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and France. It was Geoffrey who made the legend of King Arthur, popular in Britain and the Continent. Its influences were tremendous; its inspirations would cause later medieval authors to further enrich the legend.Arthur seemed to have connection with a British victory over the Saxons at the battle or seige of Mons Badonicus or Badon Hills, possibly in Wessex.
The earliest account of this battle come from the Celtic monk-historian named Gildas, who died in AD 570, recorded in his De excidio et conquestu Britanniae, about the battle in Mons Badonicus (Badon Hills, in Wessex). Though Gildas did not mention Arthur, the monk had indirectly associated the victory to the leader Ambrosius Aurelianus in the earlier paragraph.
" ...that they might not be brought to utter destruction, took arms under the conduct of Ambrosius Aurelianus, a modest man, who of all the Roman nation was then alone in the confusion of this troubled period by chance left alive. His parents, who for their merit were adorned with the purple, kind been slain in these same broils, and now his progeny in these our days, although shamefully degenerated from the worthiness of their ancestors, provoke to battle their cruel conquerors, and by the goodness of our Lord obtain the victory.
After this, sometimes our countrymen, sometimes the enemy, won the field, to the end that our Lord might this land try after his accustomed manner these his Israelites, whether they loved him or not, until the year of the siege of Bath-hill, when took place also the last almost, though not the least slaughter of our cruel foes, which was (as I am sure) forty-four years and one month after the landing of the Saxons, and also the time of my own nativity. "

The Ruin of Britain by Gildas (c. 6th century)Edited by J. A. Giles

Six Old English Chronicles by Henry G. Bohn, London, 1848

St Bede the Venerable wrote in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People"), in AD 731, about the arrival of the English people (Saxons and Angles). Bede recorded that the Saxons and Angles were led by Hengist (Hengest) and Horsa, arrived in Britain (AD 449) at King Vortigern's invitation. Bede also recorded that Ambrosius Aurelianus, a Roman warlord, won his first decisive battle against the Angles at Badon Hills, in AD 493. Once again, Ambrosius Aurelianus appeared as the Briton resistance leader against the invaders, not Arthur.
According to the Welsh historian Nennius, who flourished in the early 9th century, this victory (at Badon Hills) was associated with Arthur. Nennius wrote in his Historia Brittonum that eleven other victories were ascribed to Arthur, but he was more of British warlord or general, than a king. Nennius pushed the date of the battle of Mons Badonicus, to a later time, in AD 516. This was the first mention of Arthur in the historical (psuedo-historial) source.
Then it was, that the magnanimous Arthur, with all the kings and military force of Britain, fought against the Saxons. And though there were many more noble than himself, yet he was twelve times chosen their commander, and was as often conqueror.
The first battle in which he was engaged, was at the mouth of the river Gleni.

The second, third, fourth, and fifth, were on another river, by the Britons called Duglas, in the region Linuis.

The sixth, on the river Bassas.

The seventh in the wood Celidon, which the Britons call Cat Coit Celidon.

The eighth was near Gurnion castle, where Arthur bore the image of the Holy Virgin, mother of God, upon his shoulders, and through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy Mary, put the Saxons to flight, and pursued them the whole day with great slaughter.

The ninth was at te City of Legion, which is called Cair Lion.

The tenth was on the banks of the river Trat Treuroit.

The eleventh was on the mountain Breguoin, which we call Cat Bregion.

The twelfth was a most severe contest, when Arthur penetrated to the hill of Badon. In this engagement, nine hundred and forty fell by his hand alone, no one but the Lord affording him assistance. In all these engagements the Britons were successful. For no strength can avail against the will of the Almighty. Historia Brittonumby Nennius (c. AD 796)Edited by J. A. GilesSix Old English ChroniclesHenry G. Bohn, London, 1848
Nennius had later also recorded that Arthur had a carn built at Buel for his dog Cabal, which had used in his hunt for the boar Troynt. On top of this stone pile is the pawprint of Cabal. Could this wildboar Troynt be Twrch Trwyth in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen? And he also mentioned the burial site of Anir, the son of Arthur. It was Arthur who had killed his own son.
Nennius also recorded the episode of Vortigern and Hengist, but added a new person associated with Vortigern, Ambrosius. This Ambrosius is not the same Ambrosius Aurelianus mentioned in the works by Gildas and Bede. No. This Ambrosius was another name for the boy prophet, whom Geoffrey called Merlin. The story of Vortigern and Ambrosius (Merlin), the falling wall and the two sleeping dragons influenced Geoffrey's own work.
From the Annales Cambriae (the Annals of Wales) from 10th century, Arthur won the battle in Mons Badonicus (Mons Badon) and some other victories as well. The Annales also mentioned in a short passage that Arthur and Medraut (Mordred) falling in the battle of Camlann (537).
AD 516 The Battle of Badon, in which Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were the victors. AD 537 The battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell: and there was plague in Britain and Ireland.

Annales Cambriae Translated by Ingram, James

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Everyman Press, London, 1912
However, Geoffrey set the year of Arthur's fall a little later on 542. Also, Geoffrey had cleverly turned Ambrosius Aurlianus into Aurelius Ambrosius, an uncle of Arthur.
Most of the earliest legends of Arthur, before Geoffrey, come from Welsh sources, between the 8th and 10th century.
So, whether Arthur exist or not, still remain in doubt.
If there was ever a true Arthur in history, he would probably be Romano-British warleader, probably named Artorius, which is a Roman name for Arthur. Though the Roman legions may have left Britain in AD 410, the general population of mixed Romans and Celts, would have had generations of Roman law, education, culture and way of life.
The name, Artorius, is similar enough to the Gallic god of the bear, Artaius or Artaios. The Roman had identified this god with their Mercury. In Latin, Arto means "bear". So Arthur like other Welsh characters, could be derived from ancient Celtic god in Gaul (France).
Would the real Arthur, please step forward There has been centuries-old debate on whether there was ever a real Arthur. Archaeological evidence proved fruitless. Historical literary sources have been scant and totally unreliable. Distinguishing history from legend is like trying to find a needle in a hay-sack.
Geoffrey of Monmouth's so-called history of the British kings (titled Historia regum Britanniae) was nothing more than an inventive history.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (Galfridus Monemutensis) claimed that he got his sources from an old book from Archdeacon, was also pure fabrication.
With these sorts of people in his Historia, it really can't be taken seriously to be history. It was Geoffrey who made the legend of King Arthur, popular in Britain and the Continent. Its influences were tremendous; its inspirations would cause later medieval authors to further enrich the legend.
Those who take the Geoffrey's Historia or another part of the legend as history, I believed had misunderstood the nature of literary art. As I see it, Geoffrey had used some elements of history in his compositions but in general his works were purely fictional.
You may have wondered where Geoffrey got his sources from. Arthur appeared to be an early Celtic hero, particularly among the Welsh. There are a number of Welsh literature that could have inspired Geoffrey to write his History.
Arthur seemed to have connection with a British victory over the Saxons at the battle or seige of Mons Badonicus or Badon Hills, possibly in Wessex.
Possibly the earliest reference about come from Y Gododdin written by the Welsh poet, Aneirin, c. 6th century. Here, the poem only mentioned his name, once, referring to a warrior in the poem as being brave "but he was no Arthur".
He charged before three hundred of the finest,He cut down both centre and wing,He excelled in the forefront of the noblest host,He gave gifts of horses from the herd in winter.He fed black ravens on the rampart of a fortress.

Y Gododdinby Aneirin (c. 6th century)Translated by A.O.H. Jarman
This extract is not actually talking about Arthur, but another warrior who couldn't match Arthur in prowess in battle. There is no detail of who this Arthur was. Though, the poem was attributed to have existed in the 6th century, Gododdin was actually preserved as extant work, in the manuscript called Book of Aneirin, in c. 1250.
The earliest tale where Arthur had more active role in early Welsh literature come from Culhwch and Olwen (before AD 1100), one of eleven tales found in the Mabinogion.
Other tales found in the Mabinogion were composed of later date from Dream of Rhonabwy and the three Welsh romances: Geriant, Owein and Peredur. The last three mentioned parallel to those tales found in Chretien de Troyes' three Arthurian romances – Erec, Yvain and Perceval, which were may have been composed earlier than the Welsh versions.
So why did Geoffrey of Monmouth composed the warrior king of Britain? At the time, there was a change of order in Britain. Earlier, the Saxons and Angles had invaded Britain, driving the Britons (Romano-Celts) into Wales, Scotland and Brittany between the 5th and early 7th century. But in his time, the Normans from Normandy became the new masters of England, since the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Geoffrey was writing at the time of turmoil after the death of Henry I and in the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154), a period of anarchy and civil war.
It could have been that Geoffrey wanted to give them a British hero, an identity to their pasts, like that of Charlemagne (768-814) in France and Germany.
Charlemagne was the king of the Franks and the first Holy Roman Emperor, who had gained legendary status through a large collection of French epic poems or songs, known as the chanson de geste ("song of deeds"). But unlike Arthur, Charlemagne was a true historical figure.
These epic poems were written between 1100 and 1500, and dealing with barons who fought for or against Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious. Charlemagne had formed a group of heroes, known as the Twelve Peers (Twelve Paladins), which were almost as famous as the Knights of the Round Table. They were formidable knights who excelled in combat. The best knight was Charlemagne's nephew, Roland. Roland and his sword Durendal were often mentioned in other texts. And even in Geoffrey's History, he had mentioned Gerin of Chartes as one of heroes of the Twelve Peers, who had fought in Arthur's army against Rome.
The earliest chanson was that of Le Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland), c. 1100, was also the masterpiece in the chanson de geste, recorded the Battle of Roncesvalles (Roncevaux) in 778. It was the Saracens, not the historical Basques, who ambushed the rearguard force, led by Roland. The force was annihilated from numerically superior forces, but Charlemagne avenged their death by defeating a Saracen army.
Though, Geoffrey was neither the earliest nor the best writer of the Arthurian legend, his contribution had at least sparked creativity among later writers so that the Arthurian legend had surpassed the legend of Charlemagne.
While there are still people seeking the mysterious light of the elusive Grail and with champions like Lancelot and the knights of the Round Table defending the kingdom and the damsels, Arthur appeared very much alive today as he did in the Middle Ages.

Sources

Historia regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain") was written by Geoffrey of Monmouth (1137).
Historia Brittonum was written by Nennius (8th century).
De excidio et conquestu Britanniae ("The Overthrow and Conquest of Britain") was written by Gildas (died c. AD 570).
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People") was written by St Bede in AD 732.
Annales Cambriae (The Annals of Wales) was written in 9th century.
Culhwch and Olwen (before 1100) was one of eleven tales found in the Mabinogion.
Y Gododdin was written by 6th century bard Aneirin, which was preserved in the Book of Aneirin (c. 1250).
Le Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland), c. 1100.

Historical Background.

Mosaic of King Arthur

Detail from The Life Tree in Otranto's Cathedral, Lecce (Italy)

King Arthur and Emperor Charlemagne

From the Castle of La Manta, Saluzzo (Piamonte)

King Arthur's Round Table in Winchester Castle. Winchester Inhanced by King Henry Vlll with his Tudor Rose

Arthur: Later Tradition

2009-04-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

The family tree of King Arthur shown here, come from Chretien de Troyes' five Arthurian romances.

Chretien was the first to introduce Lancelot and Perceval into the legend. He was also responsible for beginning the Grail legend.
Chretien de Troyes was more interested in the adventure of the individual hero, where Arthur played only minor role, and there was no last battle, therefore, there was no Mordred. Of all the knights, only Gawain appeared in all Chretien's romances, yet his role is minor to the hero of each romance (eg. Erec, Cligés, Yvain, Lancelot, Perceval), except in Conte du Graal. But even in Conte du Graal, Gawain does appeared in the tale, until halfway through the poem, Perceval figured largely in the first half.
Here, Morgan le Fay is Arthur's full sister. He had another unnamed sister in Conte du Graal ("Story of the Grail" or "Perceval". But if we followed the First Grail Continuation, then her name was either Norcadet or Morgawse. Also, Chretien had listed three brothers to Gawain, but no Mordred.
Another thing I should point out, is that in later literature, Morgan le Fay was the wife of King Urien and mother of the hero, Yvain. In Chretien's materials, there was no indication of Morgan's relationship with Urien or Yvain (compare it with Vulgate family tree or Malory's version).

Family Tree of King Arthur (Vulgate / Post-Vulgate version)

The main sources here come from a number of 13th century romances of the Vulgate Cycle and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. Note that this is the revised (expanded) version of the previous tree of the Vulgate.
It's almost identical to the next family tree, which used Sir Thomas Malory's work, called Le Morte d'Arthur, 1469. The difference is mainly in the spelling of Arthur's nephews and the number of his sisters.
Speaking of daughters of Igraine (Ygraine), there are some confusion over their number, particularly in the Vulgate Merlin (c. 1240), where it contradict itself. There are two main texts (manuscripts) that were used to translate Merlin: Micha and Sommer.
In chapter 4, Micha text only mentioned Arthur having two half-sisters, the youngest being Morgan, while the eldest wasn't named, but traditionally the wife of King Lot was known as Morgause or Morgawse. But in the same chapter of the Sommer text, he introduced a third daughter of Igraine, who would become the wife of Neutres and mother of Galeschin.
Later, in chapter 5, Igraine's daughters had increased to five – two from her (unnamed) husband and three from the Duke of Tintagel (who was later named as Duke Hoel in chapter 9, but other sources called Igraine's husband, Gorlois). That's mean Igraine had married 3 times. The eldest (Morgause) was married to Lot and mother of 5 sons. The second married King Neutres of Garlot; she was named Blasine (Elaine) in chapter 9. The third was wife of Urien and mother of Yvain; her name, Brimesent, which doesn't appear until chapter 19. The 4th was unnamed, and she was wife of Caradoc and mother of King Aguisant of Scotland. The 5th was in school, and she was most likely to be Morgan le Fay, since chapter 4 mentioned her learning all sort of arts in the nunnery.
Another confusion appeared because Morgan appeared as the wife of Urien and mother of Yvain, in the Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin (Merlin Continuation). So Morgan replaced Brimesent (chapter 19 of Vulgate Merlin) in the Post-Vulgate and the tree concerning the family of Urien and Morgan would look like this:

It is different from the previous family tree based on Chretien de Troyes' Arthurian romances, showing that Morgawse and Morgan le Fay as Arthur's half-sisters.

Family Tree of King Arthur (Sir Thomas Malory's version)
I had used a popular Middle English work by Sir Thomas Malory, called Le Morte d'Arthur (1469), to draw up this family tree. It is almost identical to that of the French romances Vulgate Cycle and Post-Vulgate Cycle. The main difference is the names of some of Arthur's nephews were spelt different from the French romances and he had less half-sisters (only 3, in this work). House of Pellinore (Vulgate / Post-Vulgate version)

According to the Vulgate Cycle and Post-Vulgate Cycle, a new hero emerged as hero of the Grail quest, displacing the original hero, Perceval. The family tree of Perceval shown here, where Perceval is no longer related to the Fisher King like the early tradition.
Perceval was now seen as the son of King Pellinor.
The Fisher King or Grail Keeper was now related to family of Lancelot, particularly to Galahad.

You can find these geneology at this site:

http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/housearthur.html

Early Tradition

2009-04-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Family Tree of King Arthur (Geoffrey's version)

The family tree of the House of Constantine, come from three early sources:-
Geoffrey of Monmouth ("Historia regum Britanniae", 1137), Wace ("Roman de Brut", 1155), and Layamon ("Brut", c. 1200).

Geoffrey's Historia was written in Latin, but the names I had used are the popular English.
The last two sources are adaptations of Geoffrey's Historia, where Wace wrote in French and Layamon in English.
Note that the early tradition of Arthur, there was no Lancelot, Perceval, and many others found in later Arthurian tradition.
Here, Arthur had a full sister name, Anna, which is different to most Arthurian literature. There is no Morgan le Fay, mentioned here. And also, Gawain and Mordred are brothers, and they are nephews of Arthur.
Since, Vortigern and Hengist played important roles, before Arthur's time, I had constructed a family tree for the two protagonists.

The family tree shows the family of Vortigern, and that of the Saxon leaders. The same sources were used from the previous family tree: Geoffrey, Wace and Layamon.

House of Arthur & Culhwch
The genealogy shown below, is a Welsh version of King Arthur's family. The names show here were found in the Welsh collection of tales and poems, found in mainly the Mabinogion. However, I had also used other sources such as from the Black Book of Carmarthen, the Book of Taliesin, and others.
I have used the Welsh names instead of the names we usually associated with the Arthurian legend.

According to a number of later Welsh texts, on both lines of Arthur's parents, Arthur was a descendant of two Welsh gods: Llyr and Bran, Llyr's son. I have not see these texts, but I thought I might mentioned them any if you are interested in finding out yourself. These manuscripts are: Bonedd y Arwyr, Mostyn MS 117, and two conflicting genealogies in Bonedd yr Arwr.
There are a few names I am not certain of.
In the Welsh Triads, Arthur was married to three queens, all of them were named Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), but each had different fathers. None of the tales in the Mabinogion mentioned which was her father.
Custennin appeared as the shepherd in tale of Culhwch and Olwen, as Culhwch's uncle. Here, he was the father of the hero Goreu. In the Welsh romance, Gereint and Enid, Gereint (Erec) was the son of Erbin, who was the son of Custennin. I am not certain if they were the same Custennin, or two different figures with the same name.
http://omacl.org/Graal/source for old tradition

King Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon and Igraine. Igraine was the wife to Duke Gorlois of Cornwall when she conceived Arthur. Through Merlin's magic, Uther was transformed to look exactly like her husband. Uther made love to Igraine. When Gorlois was killed, Uther immediately married Igraine.
According to Geoffrey, Uther and Igraine were parents of King Arthur and a daughter named Anna, who married King Lot of Orkney. Chretien de Troyes' introduces Morgan le Fay as the sister of King Arthur.
In Gerald of Wales Tour of Wales (1188), he has Morgan as Arthur's cousin.
Malory credits King Arthur with three half-sisters: Morgawse, Elaine (Blasine) and Morgan le Fay. Morgawse had married King Lot of Orkney, Elaine (Blasine) was married to King Nentres of Garlot, and Morgan was wife of King Urien of Gorre, brother of Lot.
Most souces do not ascribe any children to King Arthur and his wife Guinevere. But Chretien de Troyes' gives a son Lohot (or Loholt) fathered by King Arthur, but the mother being Lisanor. Lohot was one of the Knights of the Round Table. Lohot was also one of the knights captured by the lord of Dolorous Guard.
Malory, gives a son was named Borre to King Arthur with the mother named as Lionors. The similarity between the two women's names - Lisanor and Lionor, suggested that Lohot and Borre is the same person.
In Culhwch and Olwen (c. 1100), King Arthur was the father of Gwydre, possibly by Gwenhwyvar (Guinevere). Gwydre was killed by a wild boar. In the Welsh romance "Gereint and Enid", the story mentioned that King Arthur had a son named Amhar.
His most noteworthy "son" was Mordred. In the early chronicles like Geoffrey of Monmouth, Mordred was Arthur's nephew, because Mordred was the son of King Lot and Anna or Morgawse, the sister of Arthur. But by the Vulgate version, it was implied that Mordred was his son by Arthur's half-sister, Morgawse. In the Suite du Merlin Arthur had unwittingly slept with Morgawse, because he did not know that she was his half-sister. Some say that Morgan le Fay was Mordred's mother.
Source
Mabinogion & other Welsh sources
Father
Uthr Pendragon
Mother
Eigyr
Sister
Gwyar
Wife
Gwenhwyfar
Sons
lacheu, Gwydre, Amhar or Gwenhwyvar

Source
Historia regum Britanniae
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Father
Uther
Mother
Ygerne
Sister
Anna
Wife
Guinevere –

Source
Chretien de Troyes'romances
Father
Utherpendragon
Mother
Igerne
Sister
Morgan le Fay
Wife
Guinevere –

Source
Vulgate Cycle romances
Father
Uther
Mother
Ygraine
Igerne
Sister
Morgawse, Blasine, Brimesent,Morgan le Fay, unnamed,
Wife
Guenevere -
Sons
Loholt (by Lisanor)

Source
Le Morte d'ArthurSir Thomas Malory
Father
Uther
Mother
Igraine
Sister
Morgause, Elaine, Morgan le Fay
Wife
Guenivere -
Sons
Borre (by Lionors)

Arthurian Films

2009-03-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

Films based on the Arthurian legend are many and varied. They can be divided into several broad categories:AdaptationsRelatively straightforward adaptations of the legends, reconstructed history, or modern Arthurian material.
Parsifal (1904)

Launcelot and Elaine (1909)

Il Re Artù e i cavalieri della tavola rotonda (1910) Parsifal (1912)

The Quest of the Holy Grail (1915)

The Adventures of Sir Galahad (serial) (1950)

Knights of the Round Table (1953)

Parsifal (1953)

The Black Knight (1954)

Prince Valiant (1954)

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (serial) (1956)

Lancelot and Guinevere (1963)

Camelot (1967)

Arthur of the Britons (1972)

Gawain and the Green Knight (1973)

Lancelot du Lac (1974)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Perceval le Gallois (1979)

Parzival (1980)

Excalibur (1981)

Parsifal (1982) (a film version of the performance of the Wagner opera by H.J.Syberberg) Camelot (a videotaped stage performance of the musical, presented on HBO) (1982)

Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1984)

Les Chevaliers de la table ronde (1990)

Ginevra (1992)

Guinevere (1994)

First Knight (1995)

Prince Valiant (1997)

Merlin (1998)

The Mists of Avalon (2001)

King Arthur (2004)

Merlin's Apprentice (2006)

The Last Legion (2007)

Pendragon Sword of his Father (in production 2008)

Merlin and the War of the Dragons (2008)

Merlin (BBC TV series, 2008)

Modernization

Films whose plot "updates" or otherwise moves the legend to modern times.
Knights of the Square Table (1917)

King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942)

Knightriders (1981)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

The Fisher King (1991)

Seaview Knights (1994)

Four Diamonds (1995)

Kids of the Round Table (1995)

Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (1996)

Lancelot, Guardian of Time (1997)

Arthur's Quest (1999)

Avalon (2001)

Fate/stay night (2004)

Stargate SG1 Season 9 to 10 (2006 - 2007)

Films based on the Tristan legend

Tristan et Yseut (1909) Tristan et Yseut (1911)

Tristan et Yseut (1920)

The Eternal Return (1943)

Tristana (1970)

Tristan et Yseut (1972)

Tristan and Isolt aka Lovespell (1979)

Fire and Sword (1981)

The Woman Next Door (1981)

Isolde (1989)

In the Shadow of the Raven (1988)

Connemara (1989)

Pardes (1997)

Tristan et Yseut (2002)

Tristan and Isolde (2006)

Connecticut Yankee

Films based on Mark Twain's novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, about a modern man/woman who travels in time to Arthur's period.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921)

A Connecticut Yankee (1931)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949), a musical film starring Bing Crosby and Rhonda Fleming

A Connecticut Yankee (1955 TV movie)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1970)

Unidentified Flying Oddball, also known as The Spaceman and King Arthur (1979)

Novye prikluchenia janke pri dvore Korola Artura (1987)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1989 TV movie)

A Young Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1995)

A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995)

A Knight in Camelot (1998)

Black Knight (2001)

Animation

The Sword in the Stone (1963) A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court (1978) The Legend of Prince Valiant (1991-1994) Quest for Camelot (1998) Tristan et Yseut (2002) An scene in No Time for Nuts (2007)

Humour

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Kaamelott (2005)

Characters in Arthurian Literature

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The Arthurian legend featured many characters, including the Knights of the Round table and members of his family. Their names often differed from version to version and from language to language. The following is a list of them with descriptions. (Note: The '†' symbol indicates a Knight of the Round Table.)

Accolon Le Morte D'Arthur, c. 1470 Morgan le Fay's lover
Aglovale† Agloval, Sir Aglovale de Galis King Pellinore's eldest son
Agravain† Agravaine Second son of King Lot and Morgause
Amr Amhar, Amir, Anir Historia Brittonum, c. AD 820 Geraint and Enid Son of King Arthur
King Arthur† Arthur Pendragon Y Gododdin, c. 7th century Many King of the Britons
Aurelius Ambrosius Ambrosius Aurelianus Gildas' De Excidio Britanniae c. AD 540s Historia Brittonum c. AD 820
Ban Lancelot-Grail, early 13th century Lancelot's father
Balan Sir Balan le Savage Post-Vulgate Cycle, 1230s Post-Vulgate, Le Morte D'Arthur Brother to Balin
Balin Sir Balin le Savage, Knight with Two Swords Post-Vulgate Cycle, 1230s Post-Vulgate, Le Morte D'Arthur Brother to Balan
Bedivere† (Welsh: Bedwyr)(French: Bédoier) Bedevere Culhwch and Olwen, c. 11th century Returns Excalibur to The Lady of the Lake, brother to Sir Lucan
Black Knight King Arthur's grandson through Tom a'Lincoln, usually an antagonist figure Blanchefleur Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail, c. 1181 Percival's wife, niece to Gornemant
Bors the elder (French: Bohort) Lancelot-Grail, early 13th century Brother to King Ban, and an ally of Arthur's
Bors the younger† Son of Bors the Elder, Father of Elyan the White
Brangaine Brangaene, Brangwane, Brangien Tristan poems by Béroul and Thomas of Britain, 12th century Tristan poems of Béroul, Thomas, Eilhart von Oberge, Gottfried von Strassburg, Prose Tristan, Post-Vulgate Cycle, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur Handmaid to Iseult Breunor le Noir† Brunor, La Cote Male Taile ("The Badly-shaped Coat")
Brutus of Britain (Brut, Brute, Welsh: Bryttys) Historia Brittonum, c. AD 820 First King of Britain, a Trojan
Cador† (Latin: Cadorius) Historia Regum Britanniae, The Dream of Rhonabwy Raised Guinevere as his ward, father to Constantine III of Britain, Described in some works as Arthur's cousin
Caelia The Faerie Queene, Gloriana Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, 1590; Richard Johnson's Tom a Lincoln part 1, 1599 Tom a'Lincoln's lover, mother to the Faerie Knight Calogrenant† Colgrevance Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, 1170s Le Morte d'Arthur Cousin to Sir Ywain Caradoc† (Welsh Caradog Freichfras, meaning Caradoc Strong (or Stout) Arm)) (French: Carados Briefbras) Perceval, the Story of the Grail, the Mabinogion At first rebelled against Arthur when he first became king, but later supported him
Cerdic of Wessex Anglo Saxon Chronicle, 9th century First King of Wessex, an ancestor of Arthur's
Claudas Perlesvaus, Lancelot-Grail, Post-Vulgate Cycle, Le Morte d'Arthur A Frankish King antagonistic to Arthur, has two sons, Dorin and Claudin
Claudin Lancelot-Grail, Le Morte d'Arthur Virtuous son of the Frankish villain Claudas, eventually becomes one of 12 knights to achieve the Holy Grail
Constans son of Constantine Based on the historical figure Constans Historia Regum Britanniae Son ofConstantine II of Britain, older brother to Uther Pendragon
Constantine II of Britain Based on the historical figure Constantine Historia Regum Britanniae Arthur's Grandfather, father to Uther Pendragon, Constans, and Ambrosius Aurelianus Constantine III of Britain Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136 Historia Regum Britanniae, Le Morte d'Arthur Arthur's cousin and successor to his throne, Cador's son Culhwch Culhwch and Olwen, c. 11th century Friend of Arthur's in early Welsh legend
Cynric of Wessex Anglo Saxon Chronicle, 9th century Second King of Wessex, son of Cerdic Dagonet† Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King Arthur's court jester
Daniel von Blumenthal† Daniel von Blumenthal, 1220 A Knight of the Round Table found in an early German offshoot of Arthurian legend
Dinadan† Prose Tristan, 1230s Son of Sir Brunor the Senior
Dindrane (Italian: Agrestizia)(Welsh: Danbrann) Also Dindraine or Heliabel depending on the sources) Sister (sometimes half-sister) of Percival, plays a large part in many Holy grail stories Ector† (sometimes Hector, Antor, or Ectorius) Lancelot-Grail, early 13th century The Once and Future King, Le Morte d'Arthur Raises Arthur according to Merlin's command, Father to Sir Kay Elaine of Astolat Elaine the White, Elaine the Fair, The Lady of Shalott Le Morte d'Arthur, 1470 The Lady of Shalott Daughter of Bernard of Astolat, classic Arthurian figure of unrequited love Elaine of Carbonek Amite, Helaine or Helizabel; "The Grail Maiden" Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail c. 1181, or Perceval le Gallois 1978 Daughter of the Fisher King, mother of Galahad by Lancelot
Elaine the Peerless Niece of the Lord of the Fens and wife of Persides the Red of the Castle of Gazevilte, sometimes confused with Elaine of Carbonek
Elaine of Garlot Daughter of Gorlois and Igraine, sister to Morgan le Fay and Morgause and a half-sister to King Arthur, wife to King Nentres
Elaine of Benoic Wife of King Ban and mother to Lancelot, Evaine's sister
Eliwlod Welsh Triads Nephew to Arthur, son of Madoc, Uther Pendragon's brother
Elyan the White† (French: Helyan le Blanc) Son of Sir Bors and Claire, King Brandegoris' daughter, helps Lancelot rescue Guinevere and goes into exile with him
Enide Enid Chrétien de Troyes' Erec and Enide, c. 1170 Idylls of the King, Geraint and Enid Erec's wife
Erec† Unclear; first literary appearance as Erec in Chrétien de Troyes' Erec and Enide, c. 1170 See Geraint and Enid Son of King Lac and a Knight of the Round Table
Esclabor† Father of Palamedes, Safir, and Segwarides
Esclados Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, 1170s Defended a magical fountain in the Forest of Broceliande, married to Laudine
Faerie Knight, The Richard Johnson's Tom a Lincoln part 1, 1599 Bastard son of Tom a'Lincoln and Caelia, the Faerie Queen, half brother to the Black Knight
Feirefiz† Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, early 13th century Half-brother to Percival and King Arthur's nephew
Fisher King, The The Wounded King, Pelles, Pelias Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail, c. 1181 Guardian of the Holy Grail
Gaheris† Le Morte d'Arthur Son of King Lot and Morgause, brother to Gawain, Agravaine, and Gareth, and half-brother to Mordred,
Galahad† Lancelot-Grail, early 13th century Lancelot-Grail, Post-Vulgate Cycle, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur Bastard son of Sir Lancelot and Elaine of Carbonek
Galehalt or Galehault† Galehault, Galehaut Lancelot-Grail, early 13th century
Gareth† Beaumains Le Morte d'Arthur, Idylls of the King Also a son of Lot and Morgause, in love with Lyonesse
Gawain† (Latin: Walwanus, Welsh: Gwalchmai, Irish: Balbhuaidh) Culhwch and Olwen, c. 11th century Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and many others Another son of Lot and Morgause, father of Gingalain
Geraint† Geraint and Enid Enid's lover
Gingalain† (Guinglain, Gingalin, Gliglois, Wigalois, etc.) also Le Bel Inconnu, or The Fair Unknown Le Bel Inconnu Gawain's and Blanchemal's son
Gorlois (Old Welsh: Gwrlais) Historia Regum Britanniae Igraine's first husband before she married Uther Pendragon
Gornemant Chrétien de Troyes' Erec and Enide, c. 1170 Chrétien's Perceval, the Story of the Grail Percival's mentor
Green Knight† Bercilak, Bertilak, Bernlak, Bredbeddle Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 1300s The Greene Knight, King Arthur and King Cornwall An knight enchanted by Morgan le Fay in order to test Gawain
Griflet† Girflet, Jaufre Jaufré The son of Do (or Don), cousin to Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere Gringolet (Welsh: gwyn calet ("white-hardy"), or ceincaled ("handsome-hardy")) Chrétien de Troyes' Erec and Enide, c. 1170 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Gawain's horse
Guinevak Gwenhwyvach, Guinevak Culhwch and Olwen, c. 11th century Welsh Triads, Thomas Love Peacock's Misfortunes of Elphin Guinevere's sister
Guinevere (Welsh: Gwenhwyfar, 'The White Fay' or 'White Ghost')(Latin: Guanhumara) Culhwch and Olwen, c. 11th century Many Wife to King Arthur, famous for her affair with Lancelot
Hector de Maris† Quest du Saint Graal Vulgate Cycle Half-brother of Lancelot, son of King Ban and the Lady de Maris, Sir Bors and Sir Lionel are his cousins
Hengest Hengist Bede's The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, AD 721 Historia Regum Britanniae An Anglo-Saxon King killed by Uther Pendragon, Horsa's brother
Hoel† (Welsh: Howel, Hywel) The Dream of Rhonabwy, Geraint and Enid Son of King Budic of Britanny, father to St. Tudwal
Horsa Bede's The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, AD 721 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Brother to Hengest
Igraine (Latin: Igerna)(Welsh: Eigyr) (French Igerne) Also Ygrayne and Arnive. Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136 Vulgate Merlin Mother to King Arthur through an affair with Uther Pendragon
Iseult of Ireland Isolde, Yseult, Isode, Isoude, Isotta Tristan and Iseult Wife of Mark of Cornwall and adulterous lover of Sir Tristan
Iseult (Queen of Ireland) Isolde, Yseult, Isode, Isoude, Isotta Tristan and Iseult Iseult of Ireland's mother.
Iseult of the White Hands Isolde, Yseult, Isode, Isoude, Isotta Tristan and Iseult Daughter of Hoel of Brittany, sister of Sir Kahedin, and wife of Tristan
Joseph of Arimathea Biblical figure; first connection with Arthur is in Robert de Boron's Joseph d'Arimathie, 12th century First keeper of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend Josephus of Arimathea Josephe, Josephes Lancelot-Grail cycle Son of Joseph of Arimathea
Kay† (Welsh: Cai, Latin: Caius) Culhwch and Olwen, c. 11th century Many Foster brother to Arthur, Sir Ector's son
Kahedin Kahadin, Kahedrin, Kehenis, Kehidius; possibly the Welsh character Kae Hir Prose Tristan Brother to Iseult, son of King Hoel, had an affair with Brangaine
Lady of the Lake Nimue, Viviane, Niniane, Nyneve, etc. Unclear; a water fay is first mentioned as Lancelot's foster mother in Chrétien de Troyes' Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, 1170s Many There are several related characters called the Lady of the Lake. Their actions include giving Arthur his sword Excalibur, raising Lancelot and his cousins as foster children, enchanting Merlin, and taking the dying king to Avalon.
Lamorak† Prose Tristan, c. 1235 Lancelot-Grail Cycle Son of King Pellinore, brother to Tor, Aglovale, Percival, Dindrane
Lancelot† Lancelot du Lac, Lancelot of the Lake, Launcelot Chrétien de Troyes' Erec and Enide, c. 1170 Chrétien's Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, Lancelot-Grail, many others Son to King Ban and Elaine, most famous for his affair with Queen Guinevere, Arthur's wife, most prominent Knight of the Round Table
Lanval† Marie de France's Lanval, late 12th century Sir Landevale, Sir Launfal, Sir Lambewell A knight of King Arthur's court who falls in love with a fairy
Laudine Lady of the Fountain Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, 1170s Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain, Iwein Sir Ywain's wife
Leodegrance† Leondegrance Guinevere's father, King of Cameliard in what is now southwest England
Lionel† Lancelot-Grail, early 13th century Son of King Bors of Gaunnes (or Gaul), brother of Bors the Younger
Lohengrin Loherangrin, Lorengel Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, early 13th century Parzival, German romance Lohengrin, Lorengel, Richard Wagner's Lohengrin A knight of the Holy Grail
Lot Loth Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136 Le Morte d'Arthur King of Lothian, father to Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Mordred
Lucan† Sir Lucan the Butler Le Morte d'Arthur Servant to King Arthur, Bedivere's brother, Griflet's cousin
Lucius Lucius Tiberius, Lucius Hiberius Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136 Alliterative Morte Arthure, Le Morte d'Arthur, A fictional Roman Emperor and antagonist to Arthur
Lunete (Welsh: Luned) (French: Lunete, Lunet) Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, 1170s Handmaiden and advisor to Laudine
Lynette Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, c. 1470 Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King Seeks aid from Arthur to rescue her sister Lyonesse; Arthur sends an incognito Gareth, who she berates until he proves his worth
Lyonesse Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, c. 1470 Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King Entrapped sister of Lynette; rescued by Gareth, whom she eventually marries
Mabon ap Modron Culhwch and Olwen, 11th century Welsh Triads Son of Modron, kidnapped at birth, rescued by Culhwch
Maleagant† Malagant, Meleagant, perhaps Melwas Unclear, a similar character named "Melwas" appears in the 12th century Life of Gildas Lancelot-Grail, Post-Vulgate Cycle, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur Abductor of Guinevere
Mark of Cornwall (Latin: Marcus Cunomorus)(Cornish: Margh)(Welsh: March) Possibly based on a historical figure from the 6th century Post-Vulgate Cycle, Prose Tristan, Le Morte d'Arthur, Romance of Palamedes Tristan's uncle, husband to Iseult
Meirchion Tristan and Iseult Father to Mark of Cornwall
Melehan Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136 (unnamed) Elder son of Mordred
Meliodas Meliadus Prose Tristan; Tristan's father was named Rivalen in earlier versions Le Morte d'Arthur Father to Tristan
Melou Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136 (unnamed) Younger son of Mordred
Merlin (Welsh: Myrddin) First mention of his familiar character is Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136, but derived from earlier Welsh tales Many Wizard, guide to King Arthur Modron Mentioned as the mother of Mabon ap
Modron in Culhwch and Olwen and the Welsh Triads Welsh Triads Mother of Mabon; in another folktale, she is the mother of Owain (Ywain) and Morvydd by Urien
Mordred† Modred (Welsh: Medrawd, Latin: Medraut) Annales Cambriae, c. 970 Many In some literature, Arthur's illegitimate son through Morgause, kills and is killed by Arthur
Morgan le Fay Morgaine, Morgain, Morgana Unclear; first mention as Morgan in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini, c. 1150 Many Sister and sometime antagonist of Arthur
Morgause Anna Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136 Arthur's half-sister, wife to King Lot, mother to Gawain, Agravaine, Gaheris, Gareth, and Mordred
Morholt† Tristan poems of Béroul and Thomas of Britain, 12th century Tristan poems of Béroul, Thomas, Eilhart von Oberge, Gottfried von Strassburg, Prose Tristan, Post-Vulgate Cycle, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur
Morien† Moriaen Dutch romance Morien, 13th century Half-Moorish son of Aglovale
Morvydd Welsh Triads, Culhwch and Olwen Owain's twin sister
Nimue see Lady of the Lake
Oberon Auberon, King of Shadows and Fairies
Olwen Culhwch and Olwen, c. 11th century Daughter of Ysbaddaden, beloved of Culhwch Orgeluse Haughty Maiden of Logres Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail, c. 1181
Owain† (see Ywain) Historical figure Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain Son of Urien Palamedes† Palamede, Palomides Prose Tristan, 1230s T.H. White's The Once and Future King Saracen Knight of the Round Table
Pellam King Pellam of Listeneise, Pellehan see Fisher King
Pelleas† Post-Vulgate Cycle, 1230s Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King A Knight of the Round table in love with Ettarre
Pelles see Fisher King
Pellinore† Lancelot-Grail, Post-Vulgate Cycle, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, T. H. White's The Once and Future King King of Listenoise and friend to Arthur
Percival† (Welsh: Peredur) Perceval, Parzifal As Percival, Chrétien de Troyes' Erec and Enide, c. 1170 Chrétien's Perceval, the Story of the Grail, Lancelot-Grail, many Achiever of the Holy Grail; King Pellinore's son in some tales
Questing Beast Beast Glatisant (Barking Beast) Perlesvaus, c. 1210 Gerbert's Continuation of Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail, Post Vulgate Suite du Merlin, Prose Tristan, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur A strange beast quested after by many knights associated with Arthur
Red Knight Chrétien's Perceval, the Story of the Grail, c. 1181 Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur Appears in many tales, usually as an antagonist
Rience Ritho, Ryence, Ryons, and Rion Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136 Lancelot-Grail, Post Vulgate Cycle, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur King defeated by Arthur
Safir† Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Prose Tristan Son to Esclabor, brother of Segwarides and Palamedes
Sagramore† Lancelot-Grail, Post-Vulgate Cycle, Prose Tristan, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur Ubiquitous Knight of the Round Table; various stories and origins are given for him Segwarides† Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Prose Tristan Son of Esclabor, brother of Safir and Palamedes
Taliesin Historical figure The Welsh Triads, Story of Taliesin, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King Bard to king Arthur, oldest known Welsh poet
Tom a'Lincoln The Red Rose Knight At least in Richard Johnson's Tom a Lincoln part 1, 1599; possibly mentioned in Robert Greene's Farewell to Folly, 1591 Illegitimate son of King Arthur through Angelica
Tor† Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur Son of King Ars, adopted by Pellinore
Tristan† (Latin/Brythonic: Drustanus; Welsh: Drystan; Portuguese: Tristão; Spanish: Tristán; also known as Tristran, Tristram, etc.) Tristan and Iseult Son of Blancheflor and Rivalen, Iseult's lover
Urien† Historical figure Welsh Triads Father of Ywain (Owain mab Urien), husband of Morgan le Fay
Uther Pendragon (French: Uter Pendragon; Welsh: Wthyr Bendragon, Uthr Bendragon, Uthyr Pendraeg) Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, c. 1136 Welsh Triads Arthur's father
Vortigern (Latin: Urtigernus), Guorthigirn, Vortiger, Vortigen, Gwrtheyrn Probably a historical figure; first mentioned in Bede's The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, AD 721 King of Britain whose decisions assisted the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain
Vortimer Historia Brittonum, c. AD 820 Son of Vortigern
Ysbaddaden Culhwch and Olwen, c. 11th century A giant and antagonist in the story Culhwch and Olwen
Ywain† (Welsh: Owain) Yvain, Ewain or Uwain Based on the historical figure Owain mab Urien Historia Brittonum, Yvain, the Knight of the Lion Urien's son, Morvydd's brother
Ywain the Bastard† Ywain the Adventurous Urien's illegitimate son through a seneschal, accidentally killed by Gawain

King Arthur's Family

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King Arthur's family grew throughout the centuries with King Arthur's legend. Several of the legendary members of this mythical king's family became leading characters of mythical tales in their own right.

Welsh literature
In Welsh Arthurian literature from before the time of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain"), Arthur was granted numerous relations and family members. Several early Welsh sources are usually taken as indicative of Uther Pendragon being known as Arthur's father before Geoffrey wrote, with Arthur also being granted a brother (Madog) and a nephew (Eliwlod) in these texts. Similarly, as Bromwich and Evans have observed, Culhwch and Olwen, the Vita Iltuti and the Brut Dingestow combine to suggest that Arthur was assigned a mother too – Eigyr – as well as maternal aunts, uncles, cousins and a grandfather called Anlawd Wledig. Arthur would seem to have had a sister, as Gwalchmei is named as his sister-son (nephew) in Culhwch, Gwalchmei's mother being one Gwyar. Turning to Arthur's own family, his wife is consistently stated to be Gwenhwyfar, usually the daughter of Ogrfan Gawr (Ogrfan "the Giant"), although Culhwch and Bonedd yr Arwyr do indicate that Arthur also had some sort of relationship with Eleirch daughter of Iaen, which produced a son named Kyduan. Kyduan was not the only child of Arthur according to Welsh Arthurian tradition – he is also ascribed sons called Amr, Gwydre, Llacheu and Duran.

Geoffrey of Monmouth era
Relatively few members of Arthur's family in the Welsh materials are carried over to the works of Geoffrey and the romancers. His grandfather Anlawd Wledig and his maternal uncles, aunts and cousins do not appear there and neither do any of his sons or his paternal relatives. Only the core family seem to have made the journey: his wife Gwenhwyfar (who became Guinevere), his father Uther, his mother (Igerna) and his sister-son Gwalchmei (Gawain). As Roberts has noted Gwalchmei's mother – Arthur's sister – failed to make the journey, Gwyar's place being taken by Anna, the wife of Loth, in Geoffrey's account, whilst Medraut (Mordred) is made into a second sister-son for Arthur (a status he does not have in the Welsh material). In addition, new family members enter the Arthurian tradition from this point onwards. Uther is given a new family, including a brother and a father, while Arthur gains a sister, Morgan le Fay (first named as Arthur's sister by Chrétien de Troyes), and a new son, Loholt, in Chrétien's Eric and Enide, the Perlesvaus and the Vulgate Cycle.
Another significant new family-member is Arthur's half-sister Morgause, the daughter of Gorlois and Igerna and mother of Gawain and Mordred in the French romances (replacing Geoffrey of Monmouth's Anna in this role). In the Vulgate Mort Artu we find Mordred's relationship with Arthur once more reinterpreted, as he is made the issue of an unwitting incestuous liaison between Arthur and this Morgause, with Arthur dreaming that Mordred would grow up to kill him. This tale is preserved in all the romances based on the Mort Artu, and by the time we reach Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur Arthur has started to plot, Herod-like, to kill all children born on the same day as Mordred in order to save himself from this fate.

Grandchildren
Although Arthur is given sons in both early and late Arthurian tales, he is rarely granted significant further generations of descendents; this is at least partly because of the premature deaths of his sons in these legends. Amr is the first to be mentioned in Arthurian literature, appearing in the 9th century Historia Brittonum:
There is another wonder in the region which is called Ercing. A tomb is located there next to a spring which is called Licat Amr; and the name of the man who is buried in the tomb was called thus: Amr. He was the son of Arthur the soldier, and Arthur himself killed and buried him in that very place. And men come to measure the grave and find it sometimes six feet in length, sometimes nine, sometimes twelve, sometimes fifteen. At whatever length you might measure it at one time, a second time you will not find it to have the same length . Why Arthur chose to kill his son is never made clear. The only other reference to Amr comes in the post-Galfridian Welsh romance Geraint, where "Amhar son of Arthur" is one of Arthur’s four chamberlains along with Bedwyr’s son, Amhren. Gwydre is similarly unlucky, being slaughtered by the giant boar Twrch Trwyth in Culhwch and Olwen, along with two of Arthur's maternal uncles – no other references to either Gwydre or Arthur's uncles survive. More is known of Arthur's son Llacheu. He is one of the "Three Well-Endowed Men of the Island of Britain", according to Triad number 4, and he fights alongside Cei in the early Arthurian poem Pa gur yv y porthaur?. Like his father is in Y Gododdin, Llacheu appears in 12th century and later Welsh poetry as a standard of heroic comparison and he also seems to have been similarly a figure of local topographic folklore too Taken together, it is generally agreed that all these references indicate that Llacheu was a figure of considerable importance in the early Arthurian cycle. Nonetheless, Llacheu too dies, with the speaker in the pre-Galfridian poem Ymddiddan Gwayddno Garanhir ac Gwyn fab Nudd remembering that he had "been where Llacheu was slain / the son of Arthur, awful in songs / when ravens croaked over blood". Finally, Loholt is treacherously killed by Sir Kay so that the latter can take credit for the defeat of the giant Logrin in the Perlesvaus, while another son, known only from a possibly 15th century Welsh text, is said to have died on the field of Camlann:
Sandde Bryd Angel drive the crow off the face of ?Duran [son of Arthur]. Dearly and belovedly his mother raised him. Arthur sang it Medraut/Mordred is an exception to this tradition of a childless death for Arthur's sons. Mordred, like Amr, is killed by Arthur – at Camlann – according to Geoffrey of Monmouth and the post-Galfridian tradition but, unlike the others, he is ascribed two sons, both of whom rose against Arthur's successor and cousin Constantine with the help of the Saxons. However, in Geoffrey's Historia (when Arthur's killing of Mordred and Mordred's sons first appear), Mordred was not yet actually Arthur's son.

Bibliography
Bromwich, R. Trioedd Ynys Prydein: the Welsh Triads (Cardiff: University of Wales, 1978) Bromwich, R. and Simon Evans, D. Culhwch and Olwen. An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1992)
Bryant, N. The High Book of the Grail: A translation of the thirteenth century romance of Perlesvaus (Brewer, 1996)
Coe, J. B. and Young, S. The Celtic Sources for the Arthurian Legend (Llanerch, 1995).
Green, T. "The Historicity and Historicisation of Arthur", Arthurian Resources, retrieved on 22-06-2007
Green, T. "Tom Thumb and Jack the Giant Killer: Two Arthurian Fairytales?" in Folklore 118.2 (August, 2007), pp.123-40
Green, T. Concepts of Arthur (Stroud: Tempus, 2007) ISBN 978-0-7524-4461-1
Higham, N. J. King Arthur, Myth-Making and History (London: Routledge, 2002).
Jones, T. and Jones, G. The Mabinogion (London: Dent, 1949)
Kibler, W. and Carroll, C. W. Arthurian Romances (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1991)
Lacy, N. J. Lancelot-Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation (New York: Garland, 1992-6), 5 vols
Padel, O. J. Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000) ISBN 978-0-7524-4461-1
Roberts, B. F. "Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae and Brut Y Brenhinedd" in R. Bromwich, A.O.H. Jarman and B.F. Roberts (edd.) The Arthur of the Welsh (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1991), pp.98-116
Rowland, J. Early Welsh Saga Poetry: a Study and Edition of the Englynion (Cambridge, 1990) Sims-Williams, P. "The Early Welsh Arthurian Poems" in R. Bromwich, A.O.H. Jarman and B.F. Roberts (edd.) The Arthur of the Welsh (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1991), pp.33-71

Chivalry

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"Stitching the Standard" by Edmund Blair Leighton: the lady prepares for a knight to go to war.

Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood. It is usually associated with ideals of knightly virtues, honour and courtly love. Today, the terms chivalry and chivalrous are used to describe courteous behavior, especially that of men towards women.
Bors' Dilemma - he chooses to save a maiden rather than his brother Lionel.
The term originated in France in the late 10th century; based on the words for "knight" (French: chevalier), and "horse" (French: cheval). Knights possessed military training, a war horse and military equipment which required a substantial amount of wealth and prestige to acquire.
Between the 11th century and 15th centuries Medieval writers often used the word chivalry, but its definition was never consistent among authors, and its meaning would change on a regional basis, and even over time. Further, its modern meanings are different from its medieval meanings. Thus, the exact meaning of chivalry changes depending on the writer, the time period, and the region; so a comprehensive definition of the term is elusive.

The term chivalry is very commonly found in medieval chronicles, vernacular literature and other written records, but its meaning varies. It can refer to a company of mounted knights. It can mean the status of being a knight, either as an occupation or as a social class. In legal documents, references to lands held in chivalry imply a type of land tenure in which military services was owed, as in feudalism. In literary texts, such as The Song of Roland, chivalry means a worthy action on the battlefield.
From the 12th century onward chivalry came to be understood as a moral, religious and social code of knightly conduct. The particulars of the code varied, but codes would emphasize the virtues of courage, honor, and service. Chivalry also came to refer to an idealization of the life and manners of the knight at home in his castle and with his court.
Medieval knights glorified and identified with the valor, tactics and ideals of ancient Romans. For example the ancient hand-book of warfare written by Vegetius called De Re Militari was translated into French in the 13th century as L'art de chevalerie by Jean de Meun. Later writers also drew from Vegetius such as Honore Bonet who wrote the 14th century L'arbes des batailles, which discussed the morals and laws of war. In the 15th century Christine de Pizan combined themes from Vegetius, Bonet and Frontinus in Livre des faits d'armes et de chevalerie.
The medieval knightly class was adept at the art of war, trained in fighting in armor, with horses, lances, swords and shields. Knights were taught to excel in the arms, to show courage, to be gallant, loyal and to swear off cowardice and baseness.

Related to chivalry was the practice of heraldry and its elaborate rules of displaying coats of arms. When not fighting, chivalric knights typically resided in a castle or fortified house, while some knights lived in the courts of kings, dukes and other great lords. The skills of the knight carried over to peacetime activities such as the hunt and tournament.
The tradition of the chivalric "knight in shining armor" can be traced back to the Arabs, with notable pre-Islamic figures like the Bedouin knight Antar The Lion (580 CE). He is believed to be the model of this tradition. Charles Reginald Haines noted traits "such as loyalty, courtesy, munificence...are found in eminent degree among the Arabs." Medieval Spain, which he calls the "cradle of chivalry", could bear that pre-modern title, due to the direct impact of Arab civilization in al-Andalus. "Piety, courtesy, prowess in war, the gift of eloquence, the art of poetry, skill on horseback, dexterity with sword, lance, and bow" was expected of the elite Moorish knight. Richard Francis Burton, when characterizing this strain of thought in the writings of Europe as a whole, maintained "were it not evident that the spiritualising of sexuality by imagination is universal among the highest orders of mankind", he continues, "I should attribute the origins of love to the influences of the Arabs' poetry and chivalry upon European ideas rather than to medieval Christianity." The frequent clashes between the Christians and Muslims preceding the Christian Crusades leave no doubt that orders of the knighthood and the tradition of courtly love were transmitted into Europe by way of the Muslim occupation
Christianity had a modifying influence on the virtues of chivalry. The Peace and Truce of God in the 10th century was one such example, with limits placed on knights to protect and honor the weaker members of society and also help the church maintain peace. At the same time the church became more tolerant of war in the defense of faith, espousing theories of the just war; and liturgies were introduced which blessed a knight's sword, and a bath of chivalric purification. In the 11th century the concept of a "knight of Christ" (miles Christi) gained currency in France, Spain and Italy. These concepts of "religious chivalry" were further elaborated in the era of the Crusades, with the Crusades themselves often being seen as a chivalrous enterprise. Their ideas of chivalry were also further influenced by Saladin, who was viewed as a chivalrous knight by medieval Christian writers.
The relationship between knights and the nobility varied based on region. In France being dubbed a knight also bestowed noble status. In Germany and the Low Countries, knights and the nobility were distinctly different classes. In England, the relations between knights, nobles and land-owning gentry were complex.
In the later Middle Ages, wealthy merchants strove to adopt chivalric attitudes - the sons of the bourgeoisie were educated at aristocratic courts where they were trained in the manners of the knightly class. This was a democratization of chivalry, leading to a new genre called the courtesy book, which were guides to the behavior of "gentlemen". Thus, the post-medieval gentlemanly code of the value of a man's honor, respect for women, and a concern for those less fortunate, is directly derived from earlier ideals of chivalry and historical forces which created it.

There are a number of questions historians debate related to chivalry. In his study of chivalry, The Broad-Stone of Honour, Kenelm Henry Digby offers the following definition: "Chivalry is only a name for that general spirit or state of mind which disposes men to heroic actions, and keeps them conversant with all that is beautiful and sublime in the intellectual and moral world."
It is still debated as to what extent the exploits of notable knights such as Godfrey of Bouillon, William Marshal and Bertrand du Guesclin set new standards of knightly behavior, or were instead reflections of existing models of conduct.
Another common debate is whether (since knights bore arms) the ranks of knights were open to anyone who had the physical requirements and skills, or restricted to only those who were born into knightly families.
When examining medieval literature, chivalry can be classified into three basic but overlapping areas:
Duties to countrymen and fellow Christians: this contains virtues such as mercy, courage, valour, fairness, protection of the weak and the poor, and in the servant-hood of the knight to his lord. This also brings with it the idea of being willing to give one’s life for another’s; whether he would be giving his life for a poor man or his lord. Duties to God: this would contain being faithful to God, protecting the innocent, being faithful to the church, being the champion of good against evil, being generous and obeying God above the feudal lord.

Duties to women: this is probably the most familiar aspect of chivalry. This would contain what is often called courtly love, the idea that the knight is to serve a lady, and after her all other ladies. Most especially in this category is a general gentleness and graciousness to all women. These three areas obviously overlap quite frequently in chivalry, and are often indistinguishable.
Different weight given to different areas produced different strands of chivalry:
warrior chivalry, in which a knight's chief duty is to his lord, as exemplified by Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, religious chivalry, in which a knight's chief duty is to protect the innocent and serve God, as exemplified by Sir Galahad or Sir Percival in the Grail legends. Courtly Love chivalry, in which a knight's chief duty is to his own lady, and after her, all ladies, as exemplified by Sir Lancelot in his love for Queen Guinevere or Sir Tristan in his for Iseult. One particular similarity between all three of these categories is honour. Honour is the foundational and guiding principle of chivalry. Thus, for the knight, honour would be one of the guides of action.

Camelot

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Camelot was the great castle of King Arthur. Camelot was the seat of power in Britain, where inside a council was established. Arthur and his knights who presided over the council were called Knights of the Round Table. Camelot symbolised the Golden Age of Chivalry.
There was no Camelot in the early tradition by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace and Layamon. These early Arthurian authors say that Arthur's capital was in Caerleon (Caerleon-on-Usk). The earliest reference to Camelot I could find comes from the French poet named Chretien de Troyes. At the beginning of his romance, called Le Chevalier de la charrette ("Knight of the Cart" or "Lancelot"), Chretien say that Arthur was holding court at Camelot which was situated in the region of Caerleon. No other details were given. In about 1210, Perlesvaus (Le Haut Livre du Graal), the writer say that Camelot belonged to Alain le Gros, the father of Perceval.
Camelot is the most famous castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Later romance depicts it as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm, from which he fought many of the battles and quests that made up his life. Camelot as a place is associated with ideals like justice, bravery and truth, the virtues Arthur and his knights embody in the romances. The stories locate it somewhere in Britain and sometimes associate it with real cities, though Camelot is absent from the early material. Most modern academic scholars regard it as being entirely fictional, its geography being perfect for romance writers; Arthurian scholar Norris J. Lacy commented that "Camelot, located no where in particular, can be anywhere." Nevertheless arguments about the location of the "real Camelot" have occurred since the 15th century and continue to rage today in popular works and for tourism purposes.
The castle is mentioned for the first time in Chrétien de Troyes' poem Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, dating to the 1170s, though it is not mentioned in all the manuscripts. It is mentioned in passing, and is not described:
A un jor d'une Acenssion / Fu venuz de vers Carlion / Li rois Artus et tenu ot / Cort molt riche a Camaalot / Si riche com au jor estut.

Upon a certain Ascension Day King Arthur had come from Caerleon, and had held a very magnificent court at Camelot as was fitting on such a day. Nothing in Chrétien's poem suggests the level of importance Camelot would have in later romances. For Chrétien, Arthur's chief court was in Caerleon in Wales; this was the king's primary base in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and most subsequent literature. Chrétien depicts Arthur, like a typical medieval monarch, holding court at a number of cities and castles. It is not until the 13th-century French prose romances, including the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle, that Camelot began to supersede Caerleon, and even then, many descriptive details applied to Camelot derive from Geoffrey's earlier grand depiction of the Welsh town. Arthurian romances of this period produced in English or Welsh such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight did not follow this trend; Camelot was referred to infrequently and only in translations from French. In Britain Arthur's court continued to be located at Caerleon, or at Carlisle, which is usually identified with the "Carduel" of the French romances. It was not until the late 15th century Thomas Malory created the image of Camelot most familiar to English speakers today in his Le Morte d'Arthur, a work based mostly on the French romances. He firmly identifies Camelot with Winchester, an identification that remained popular over the centuries, though it was rejected by Malory's own editor, William Caxton, who preferred a Welsh location.

The name's derivation is also unknown. Some have suggested it is similar enough to other Iron Age and Romano-British place names such as Camulodunum to suggest some historicity, while that particular locale was the first capital of Roman Britain and would have significance in Romano-British culture. Indeed John Morris, the English historian who specialized in the study of the institutions of the Roman Empire and the history of Sub-Roman Britain, suggested in his book The Age of Arthur that as the descendants of Romanized Britons looked back to a golden age of peace and prosperity under Rome the name "Camelot" of Arturian legend was probably a reference to the capital of Britannia (Camulodunum) in Roman times. If historical the first part of it, Cam, could also reflect the Celtic word meaning "crooked" which is commonly used in place names as seen in Camlann. Given Chrétien's known tendency to create new stories and characters, being the first to mention the hero Lancelot and his love affair with Queen Guinevere for example, the name might also be entirely invented.

The romances depict the city of Camelot as standing along a river, downstream from Astolat. It is surrounded by plains and forests, and its magnificent cathedral, St. Stephen's, is the religious center for Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. There Arthur and Guinevere are married and there are the tombs of many kings and knights. In a mighty castle stands the Round Table; it is here that Galahad conquers the Siege Perilous, and where the knights see a vision of the Holy Grail and swear to find it. Jousts are held in a meadow outside the city. In the Romance of Palamedes and other works, the castle is eventually destroyed by King Mark of Cornwall after the loss of Arthur at the Camlann. However maddening to later scholars searching for Camelot's location, its imprecise geography serves the romances well, as Camelot becomes less a literal place than a powerful symbol of Arthur's court and universe.

The romancers' versions of Camelot drew on earlier descriptions of Arthur's fabulous court. From Geoffrey's grand description of Caerleon, Camelot gains its impressive architecture, its many churches and the chivalry and courtesy of its inhabitants. Geoffrey's description in turn drew on an already established tradition in Welsh oral tradition of the grandeur of Arthur's court. The tale Culhwch and Olwen, associated with the Mabinogion and perhaps written in the 11th century, draws a dramatic picture of Arthur's hall and his many powerful warriors who go from there on great adventures, placing it in Celliwig, an uncertain locale in Cornwall. Although the court at Celliwig is the most prominent in remaining early Welsh manuscripts, the various versions of the Welsh Triads agree in giving Arthur multiple courts, one in each of the areas inhabited by the Britons: Cornwall, Wales and in the Old North. This perhaps reflects the influence of widespread oral traditions common by 800 which are recorded in various place names and features such as Arthur's Seat indicating Arthur was a hero known and associated with many locations across Brittonic areas of Britain as well as Brittany. Even at this stage Arthur could not be tied to one location. Many other places are listed as a location where Arthur holds court in the later romances, Carlisle and London perhaps being the most prominent.
Malory's identification of Camelot as Winchester was probably partially inspired by the latter city's history. It had been the capital of Wessex under Alfred the Great, and boasted the Winchester Round Table, an artifact constructed in the 13th century but widely believed to be the original by Malory's time. Malory's editor Caxton rejects the association, saying Camelot was in Wales and that its ruins could still be seen; this is a likely reference to the Roman ruins at Caerwent. Malory associated other Arthurian locations with modern places, for instance locating Astolat at Guilford.
In 1542 John Leland reported the locals around Cadbury Castle in Somerset considered it to be the original Camelot. This theory, which was repeated by later antiquaries, is bolstered, or may have derived from, Cadbury's proximity to the River Cam and towns Queen Camel and West Camel, and remained popular enough to help inspire a large scale archaeological dig in the 20th century. These excavations, led by archaeologist Leslie Alcock from 1966-70, were titled "Cadbury-Camelot," and won much media attention, even being mentioned in the film of the musical Camelot. The dig revealed by far the largest known fortification of the period, with Mediterranean artifacts (representing extensive trade) and Saxon artifacts. The use of the name Camelot and the support of Geoffrey Ashe helped ensure much publicity for the finds, but Alcock himself later grew embarrassed by the supposed Arthurian connection to the site, following the arguments of David Dumville, feeling it was too late and too uncertain and modern archaeologists follow him in rejecting the name, calling it instead Cadbury Castle hill fort. Cadbury remains widely associated with Camelot.
The fact there were two towns in Roman Britain named Camulodunum, Colchester in Essex, and Slack in Yorkshire, deriving from the Celtic god Camulos has led to the suggestion they originated the name. However, the Essex Camulodunum was located well within territory usually thought to have been conquered early in the 5th century by Saxons, so it is unlikely to have been the location of any "true" Camelot. The town was definitely known as Colchester as early as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 917. Even Colchester Museum argues strongly regarding the historical Arthur: "it would be impossible and inconceivable to link him to the Colchester area, or to Essex more generally" pointing out that the connection between the name Camuloduum and Colchester was unknown till the 18th century. Other places in Britain with names related to "Camel" have also been suggested, such as Camelford in Cornwall, located down the River Camel from where Geoffrey places Camlann, the scene of Arthur's final battle. The area's connections with Camelot and Camlann are merely speculative.

Camelot has become a permanent fixture in interpretations of the Arthurian legend. Modern versions typically retain Camelot's lack of precise location and its status as a symbol of the Arthurian world, though they typically transform the castle itself into romantically lavish vision of a High Middle Ages palace. It lends its name to the 1960 musical Camelot, by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, which is based on T. H. White's literary version of the legend, The Once and Future King. The musical was adapted into a 1967 film of the same name, which starred Richard Harris as Arthur, and which featured the Castle of Coca, Segovia as fittingly opulent Camelot. The symbolism of Camelot so impressed Alfred, Lord Tennyson that he wrote up a prose sketch on the castle as one of his earliest attempts to treat the Arthurian legend. Some writers of the "realist" strain of modern Arthurian fiction have attempted a more sensible Camelot; inspired by Alcock's Cadbury-Camelot excavation, writers Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mary Stewart, and Catherine Christian place their Camelots in that city and describe it accordingly.

When these oral tales were being written down in the 11 th century King Stephen and Matilda were raging a bloody civil war, hence the mentioning of St. Stephen's church a religious centre, for the joining of Norman's to Anglo-Saxons.

References
Alcock, Leslie; Stenvenson, S. J.; & Musson, C. R. (1995). Cadbury Castle, Somerset: The Early Medieval Archaeology. University of Wales Press.
Ashley, Mike (2005). The Mammoth Book of King Arthur. London: Running Press. ISBN 0786715669.
Lacy, Norris J. (Ed.) (1991). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
Malory, Thomas (1994). Le Morte D'Arthur. New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-60099-X.
Gildas and the City of the Legions, by P.J.C. Field, University of Wales, Bangor Abstract: What Gildas calls "the City of the Legions" is York, which has implications for the rate of progress of the Anglo-Saxon conquest; and what Nennius called "the City of the Legion" is also York (although he seems not to have known it), which has implications for the credibility of his list of Arthur's battles.
The Gododdin Revisited by Tim Clarkson, University of Manchester Abstract: A critical review of John Koch's reconstruction of the historical background to the Old Welsh Gododdin poems which, in addition to depicting aspects of the heroic society of "Dark Age" Britain, may contain the earliest literary reference to Arthur.
Artúr mac Aedan of Dalriadaby Michelle Ziegler, Belleville, Illinois Abstract: A discussion of the life of Artúr mac Aedan of the Dalriadic Cenél nGabráin and the relevant phase of the reign of his father Aedan, king of Dalriada (r. 574-606/8). There is also an evaluation of the assertion that Artúr was the historical King Arthur.

Arthur's Weapons

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Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone (the proof of Arthur's lineage) are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was associated with the Arthurian legend very early. In Welsh, the sword is called Caledfwlch.

The name Excalibur came from Old French Excalibor, which came from Caliburn used in Geoffrey of Monmouth (Latin Caliburnus). There are also variant spellings such as Escalibor and Excaliber (the latter used in Howard Pyle's books for younger readers). One theory holds that Caliburn[us] comes from Caledfwlch, the original Welsh name for the sword, which is first mentioned in the Mabinogion. In Culhwch and Olwen and the Welsh Bruts, Arthur's sword is also called Caledfwlch (derived from caled, "battle, hard" + bwlch, "breach, gap, notch. It is often considered to be related to the phonetically similar Caladbolg, a sword borne by several figures from Irish mythology, although a borrowing of Caledfwlch from Irish Caladbolg has been considered unlikely by Bromwich and Evans. They suggest instead that both names "may have similarly arisen at a very early date as generic names for a sword"; this sword then became exclusively the property of Arthur in the British tradition.
Another theory states that "Caliburnus" is ultimately derived from Latin chalybs, a loanword from the Greek word for steel: χάλυψ, which is in turn derived from Chalybes, the name of an Anatolian ironworking tribe. According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, Excalibur was originally derived from the Latin phrase Ex calce liberatus, "liberated from the stone". In Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Excalibur is said to mean "cut-steel". Geoffrey of Monmouth calls Arthur's sword Caliburnus, a name which most Celticists consider to be derivative of a lost Old Welsh text in which bwlch had not yet been lenited to fwlch. In early French sources this then became Escalibor, and finally the familiar Excalibur.
In her book The Ancient Secret, Lady Flavia Anderson postulates that "Excalibur" has a Greek origin, Ex-Kylie-Pyr or "out of a cup—fire". This corresponds to her thesis that the Holy Grail refers to those items used to draw down the Sun in order to make fire. Excalibur, she believed, was a "brand of light" and associated with Aaron's Rod. Just as only Aaron or Moses could make their rod "flower" (into flame), so only Arthur could pull Excalibur from the stone.

Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone

In Arthurian romance a number of explanations are given for Arthur's possession of Excalibur. In Robert de Boron's Merlin, Arthur obtained the throne by pulling a sword from a stone. In this account, the act could not be performed except by "the true king," meaning the divinely appointed king or true heir of Uther Pendragon. This sword is thought by many to be the famous Excalibur and the identity is made explicit in the later so-called Vulgate Merlin Continuation, part of the Lancelot-Grail cycle. However, in what is sometimes called the Post-Vulgate Merlin, Excalibur was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake sometime after he began to reign. She calls the sword "Excalibur, that is as to say as Cut-steel." In the Vulgate Mort Artu, Arthur orders Girflet to throw the sword into the enchanted lake. After two failed attempts he finally complies with the wounded king's request and a hand emerges from the lake to catch it, a tale which becomes attached to Bedivere instead in Malory and the English tradition.
Malory records both versions of the legend in his Le Morte d'Arthur, and confusingly calls both swords Excalibur. The film Excalibur attempts to rectify this by having only one sword, which Arthur draws from the stone and later breaks; the Lady of the Lake then repairs it.

In Welsh legend, Arthur's sword is known as Caledfwlch. In Culhwch and Olwen, it is one of Arthur's most valuable possessions and is used by Arthur's warrior Llenlleawg the Irishman to kill the Irish king Diwrnach while stealing his magical cauldron. Caledfwlch is thought to derive from the legendary Irish weapon Caladbolg, the lightning sword of Fergus mac Roich. Caladbolg was also known for its incredible power and was carried by some of Ireland's greatest heroes.
Though not named as Caledfwlch, Arthur's sword is described vividly in The Dream of Rhonabwy one of the tales associated with the Mabinogion:
Then they heard Cadwr Earl of Cornwall being summoned, and saw him rise with Arthur's sword in his hand, with a design of two chimeras on the golden hilt; when the sword was unsheathed what was seen from the mouths of the two chimeras was like two flames of fire, so dreadful that it was not easy for anyone to look. At that the host settled and the commotion subsided, and the earl returned to his tent.
—From The Mabinogion, translated by Jeffrey Gantz.

Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain is the first non-Welsh source to speak of the sword. Geoffrey says the sword was forged in Avalon and Latinizes the name "Caledfwlch" to Caliburn or Caliburnus. When his influential pseudo-history made it to Continental Europe, writers altered the name further until it became Excalibur. The legend was expanded upon in the Vulgate Cycle, also known as the Lancelot-Grail Cycle, and in the Post-Vulgate Cycle which emerged in its wake. Both included the work known as the Prose Merlin, but the Post-Vulgate authors left out the Merlin Continuation from the earlier cycle, choosing to add an original account of Arthur's early days including a new origin for Excalibur.

The story of the Sword in the Stone has an analogue in some versions of the story of Sigurd (the Norse proto-Siegfried), whose father, Sigmund, draws the sword Gram out of the tree Barnstokkr where it is embedded by the Norse god Odin.
In several early French works such as Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail and the Vulgate Lancelot Proper section, Excalibur is used by Gawain, Arthur's nephew and one of his best knights. This is in contrast to later versions, where Excalibur belongs solely to the king. In the Alliterative Morte Arthure, Arthur is said to have two legendary swords, the second one being Clarent, stolen by the evil Mordred. Arthur receives his fatal blow from Clarent.

The Lady of the Lake offering Arthur the sword Excalibur
In many versions, Excalibur's blade was engraved with words on opposite sides. On one side were the words "take me up", and on the other side "cast me away" (or similar words). This prefigures its return into the water. In addition, when Excalibur was first drawn, Arthur's enemies were blinded by its blade, which was as bright as thirty torches. Excalibur's scabbard was said to have powers of its own. Injuries from losses of blood, for example, would not kill the bearer. In some tellings, wounds received by one wearing the scabbard did not bleed at all. The scabbard is stolen by Morgan le Fay and thrown into a lake, never to be found again.
Nineteenth century poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, described the sword in full Romantic detail in his poem "Morte d'Arthur", later rewritten as "The Passing of Arthur", one of the Idylls of the King:
There drew he forth the brand Excalibur, And o’er him, drawing it, the winter moon, Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt: For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks, Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-work Of subtlest jewellery.

Excalibur is by no means the only weapon associated with Arthur, nor the only sword. Welsh tradition also knew of a dagger named Carnwennan and a spear named Rhongomyniad that belonged to him. Carnwennan ("Little White-Hilt") first appears in Culhwch and Olwen, where it was used by Arthur to slice the Very Black Witch in half. Rhongomyniad ("spear" + "striker, slayer") is also first mentioned in Culhwch, although only in passing; it appears as simply Ron ("spear") in Geoffrey's Historia. In the Alliterative Morte Arthure, a Middle English poem, there is mention of Clarent, a sword of peace meant for knighting and ceremonies as opposed to battle, which is stolen and then used to kill Arthur.

References

Alexandre, M. Merlin: roman du XIIIe siècle (Geneva: Droz, 1979)

Bromwich, R. and Simon Evans, D. Culhwch and Olwen. An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1992)

Ford, P.K. "On the Significance of some Arthurian Names in Welsh" in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 30 (1983), pp.268-73

Gantz, Jeffrey (translator) (1987). The Mabinogion. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044322-3. Green, T. Concepts of Arthur (Stroud: Tempus, 2007) ISBN 978-0-7524-4461-1

Jones, T. and Jones, G. The Mabinogion (London: Dent, 1949)

Lacy, N. J. Lancelot-Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation (New York: Garland, 1992-6), 5 vols

Lacy, N. J (ed). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. (London: Garland. 1996). ISBN 0815323034. MacKillop, J. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998)

Arthurs Battles

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The Battle of Camlannis is King Arthur's final battle, in which he is mortally wounded by his his nephew Mordred. The story recalls that Arthur and his forces were away in Europe fighting (according to earlier sources) Emperor Lucius or (according to later sources) fighting Lancelot. When Arthur landed back in England, a series of battles ensued that climaxed with the Battle of Camlann. Both Arthur and Mordred are mortally wounded in this battle, but Arthur's army triumphed in the end.
While Camlann, Arthur's last battle, is not part of the battle list, it was a battle that was fought in Britain. The battle of Camlann is first mentioned in the Annales Cambriae (ca. 960-980). The name Camlann has a number of possible locations. It is said to have taken place by a river, and the prefix Cam means crooked. The battle probably took place, then, near a crooked river.
Slaughter Bridge in Cornwall. Wace, like Geoffrey, speaks of this site in Cornwall as being the final battle Fort Camboglanna (Castlesteads) on Hadrian's Wall. This was one of several Hadrian's Wall forts that saw heavy fighting during the Caledonian invasion. It does not fit with the earliest historic references which refer to Cornwall. Welsh area around Cader Idris. Cader Idris means the Chair of Idris (a legendary giant). The mountain ridge lies near the town of Dolgellau, but its only connection to the Battle of Camlann are the nearby Camlan and Gamlan rivers. Gamlan River is very near the Camlan valley and Cader Idris, also in mid Wales. River Allen runs through the town of Bridge of Allen, just north of Stirling in Scotland. If you accept that Arthur was Scottish, this is a possible site of the final battle. Various stories differ on how the battle started. Geoffrey of Monmouth's account is of a normal battle--both sides lined up and then charged into battle. In many other sources, though, the battle is set of by misunderstanding. Malory makes the beginning of the battle a complete misunderstanding: A knight is bitten by an adder, he draws his sword to kill the snake, and when others saw his drawn sword a battle resulted by mistake.
Nennius records that King Arthur fought twelve major battles. The texts of Nennius (AD 796), the Easter Annals, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle point to where these battles were geographically, but as in most things to do with King Arthur, there is room for debate as to where events really took place.
This list is believed not to be chronological. And the rhyming names in Nennius' original work, indicates that he probably took his list from a rhyming-poem. Nennius could well have taken names from a number of unrelated sources.
Some scholars believe that the Roman commander, Lucius Artorius Castus, and King Arthur point to them being the same person when you examine this battle record.
Nennius' list is
Battle 1. On the river Glein.
Battle 2, 3, 4 and 5. On the river Dubglas in the region of Linnuis.
Battle 6. On the river Bassas.
Battle 7. In the wood of Celidon/Cat Coit Celidon.
Battle 8. At castle Guinnion.
Battle 9. In the city of the Legion
Battle 10. On the river Tribruit
Battle 11. On Mount/Hill/Rock Agned or Breguoin
Battle 12. At Mount/Hill/Rock Badon.
Then there is the final battle
Camlann, King Arthur's final battle
Camlann, King Arthur had his final battle, in which he is mortally wounded, does not appear in Nennius