King Arthur The Classic Romance



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King Arthur


The Middle Aged Romance

  • The Middle Ages marks the period from 1066 to 1517 approximately.

  • New form of literature developed in the middle ages—the Romance

  • A Romance is a long verse narrative about the adventures of knights and other heroes.

  • Romances express nostalgia for a past, more perfect, age.



Middle ages cont.

  • Storytelling was big entertainment; “scops, bards, minstrels, etc. spread their stories orally, as most were illiterate.

  • By the mid 12th century, literate poets such as Chretien de Troyes began to write the legends, creating more polished, “courtly” versions to be recited at formal gatherings.



Who was a Knight?

  • Celebrated in romance stories as believers in chivalry

  • Followed a chivalric code: bravery, honor, loyalty, piety, generosity to foes, protector of women

  • Usually a brave, but crude warrior in early stories

  • In 12th century, became “polished” and aristocratic



Was King Arthur real?

  • The legend is based on a 6th century Celtic warlord who lived in Wales.

  • He led his people against Saxon invaders from Germany.

  • He supposedly was wounded in battle and buried at the abbey of Glastonbury in England.



The legend emerges…

  • In 817, a monk named Nennius composed the 1st written account of King Arthur—in Latin.

  • In 12th cent., Geoffrey of Monmouth, a historian, added Arthur to his history of British kings, including the story of Merlin and Queen Guinevere.



The legend grows…

  • Stories about Arthur grew in number and detail as the legends cycled through France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.

  • New characters were added, including Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, and Sir Percival

  • In the 12th century, Chretien de Troyes wrote the version which became popular and accepted all over Europe



Sir Thomas Malory’s Arthur

  • Malory completed a prose version of the Arthurian saga in 1470.

  • He gathered all of the tales circulating in Europe since the onset of the Middle Ages.

  • Le Morte d’ Arthur was published 1st in 1485 by William Caxton, the first English printer.



Malory’s legacy

  • Le Morte d’ Arthur proposes a return to the ideals of chivalry, to a simpler way of life with established codes of behavior.

  • Le Morte d’ Arthur is the first English prose epic, the last great medieval romance and one of the 2 most important pieces from the Middle Ages (2nd is Canterbury Tales).



T. H. White continues the chronicles of Arthur

  • The Once and Future King: a tetralogy consisting of “The Sword in the Stone,” “The Witch in the Wood, “ and “The Ill- Made Knight.”

  • He published The Book of Merlyn in 1977.



The story behind “The Sword in the Stone:

  • King Uther of England loved Igraine, another Knight’s wife

  • With help of magic, he deceived Igraine into thinking he was her husband.

  • Arthur was the child conceived of this “trick.”



Merlin and Arthur, the child

  • The great magician Merlin protected Arthur, taking him to Sir Ector and asking him to raise Arthur as his own child.

  • No one knew Arthur’s identity until he revealed it by pulling out the famous “sword in the stone.”



The Round Table

  • As a part of his education, Arthur had been “turned into animals” to see the world from different perspectives.

  • While he was King, Arthur established an order of knights who believed in “might for right.”

  • To equalize ranking, knights would join each other at the “Round Table” to make laws and discuss ways to help the oppressed.



Deadly family ties

  • Arthur’s half sister, Morgan le Fay—an evil sorceress herself-- constantly plots to destroy him and his knights.

  • Mordred, perhaps Arthur’s son by Morgan le Fay or just his nephew, wars against Arthur for possession of his kingdom, Camelot.



Arthur the Warrior King

  • Fought war against the Roman emperor Lucius and conquered much of Europe

  • Called home because his nephew Modred had seized his kingdom and queen

  • Began the quest for the Holy Grail upon returning home



Arthur, the husband and friend

  • Guinevere, the beautiful daughter of a king, became Arthur’s beloved Queen.

  • Launcelot, the greatest of Arthur’s knights, was the best and worst of friends to Arthur.

  • Arthur, Guinevere, and Launcelot emerge as the world’s most famous love triangle.



Sir Launcelot du Lake

  • 150 Knights sat with King Arthur at the Round Table, but only one was his favorite—Launcelot.

  • Devoted to Arthur and in love with Queen Guinevere, Launcelot became torn causing great suffering for all three.

  • To prove his worthiness and overcome his dilemma, Launcelot set off on a quest like any brave knight would do.



Even when man dies, the legend lives on.

  • Arthur returns Excalibur before he dies.

  • Arthur is taken away by “the ladies of the lake” to be buried in Avalon.

  • The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey may be the original isle of Avalon.



Arthur’s gravesite? A marker there reads…

  • “Site of King Arthur’s Tomb

  • In the year 1191 the bodies of King Arthur and his queen were said to have been found on the south side of the Lady Chapel.

  • On 19th April 1278 their remains were removed in the presence of King Edward and Queen Eleanor to a black marble tomb on this site. The tomb survived until the dissolution of the abbey in 1539.”



Is there “romance” today?

  • J.R.R. Tolkein was a professor of medieval languages and literature at Oxford University.

  • His Lord of the Rings trilogy draws upon medieval romance characteristics to create the memorable characters and story lines we love today.



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