ARTHURIAN LEGENDSHISTORY & SOURCES

THEMES

CHARACTERS

Who Was King Arthur?

• Was he a real person?

• Where do the stories come from?

• What evidence do we have?

The History of King Arthur

• King Arthur is a legendary figure, NOT a historical one.

• The character of Arthur may be based on a 6th-century Celtic war chieftain named Arturus.

• It is possible that the Arthurian legends began as folk tales from Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany.

A Brief History of the Legends

Remember that there are many Arthurian Legends and that some of

them tell conflicting stories.

Also, the dates given here are approximate and may conflict with

other sources.

Gildas

• A Welsh-born monk and historian (516?-570?) who wrote De Excidio Britanniae, or “On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain.”

• Gildas does not mention Arthur by name, but he does describe a warrior who led the Britons against the invading Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Badon Hill.

Nennius

• C. 796 Nennius, a Welsh monk and historian, presented Arthur as an actual historical figure. [Time periods range from 790-830 for Nennius.]

• Nennius says that Arthur defeated the Saxons at the Battle of Mount Badon (c. 516), killing 960 men “himself alone.”

Annales Cambriae

• C. 956 This collection, called the “Cambrian Annals” or “Annals of Wales,” mentions that Arthur died at the Battle of Camlan (c. 537).

• This source places the Battle of Mount Badon between 490 and 516.

William of Malmesbury

• 1125 William of Malmesbury wrote a Latin history in which Arthur is mentioned.

• Here we have a French writer writing in Latin to tell an English story.

• William also drew information from other French writers.

NOWWAITJUST

AMINUTE!

Why is a Frenchman writing about a legendary English king?

• Remember that some of the Arthur stories came from Brittany?

• Brittany is in northwestern France, so the French may have picked up on the stories.

• Also, the NORMAN CONQUEST brought the French to England, and the French knights may have admired the Arthur stories for their chivalric virtues.

NOW LET US RETURN TO THE HISTORY OF THE LEGENDS.

Wace• C. 1156 A French writer, Wace, wrote a group of

Arthurian stories.

• Some say that Wace introduced the ROUND TABLE.

• The Round Table was devised by Merlin to settle disputes about importance and who would sit at the head of the table.

Geoffrey of Monmouth

• In 1137, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote Historia Regum Britanniae (“The History of the Kings of Britain”).

• Monmouth used historical sources and other writings to develop a full biography of King Arthur.

Chretien de Troyes[kre-tee-en deh twah]

• C. 1160-90 Another French writer, Chretien de Troyes, presented the Arthurian legends as a series of French romances.

• Chretien de Troyes also introduced the episodic style of most Arthurian legend: the stories are told as individual episodes, not as one continuous epic.

Giraldus Cambrensis

• C. 1195 This source gives Arthur’s burial site as Glastonbury.

• Glastonbury is used in later versions as well.

Layamon

• 1205 Layamon, a country parish priest used other works and sources to write Brut.

• Brut is the FIRST story of Arthur WRITTEN IN ENGLISH.

“Arthur and Merlin”

• C. 1300 This is a 10,000 line verse romance (also called “metrical romance”) in Middle English that tells of Merlin’s childhood and Merlin’s discovery of Arthur’s identity.

• This story says that Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are the same sword.

Sir Thomas Malory

• 1471 This is the date of Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, or “The Death of Arthur.”

• Malory had been imprisoned since 1451, and is said to have written this in jail.

• Many of the sources are French in origin.

• This is a series of 8 romances Malory entitled The Book of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Malory and Caxton

• After Malory’s death, William Caxton printed Malory’s Arthurian romances in 1485.

• William Caxton gave them the title Le Morte d’Arthur when he printed them.

• FYI William Caxton is credited with being the first printer in England to use moveable type [c. 1476].

So are there any modern stories about

King Arthur?

Modern Arthur Stories• Tristram and Iseult by Matthew Arnold. 1852. First

modern telling of this Arthurian legend. Tristram is dying, tended by his wife Iseult of Brittany. He has a vision of his youth and his love for Iseult of Ireland.

• This particular story originates in 8th-century Scotland, about Drust [Drystan=Tristan], the king of the Picts.

• This is also the subject of Tristan und Isolde, an opera by German composer Richard Wagner.

Modern Arthur Stories 2

• Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Series of poems published between 1859 and 1885, including tales of “Gareth and Lynette,” “Merlin and Vivien,” and “The Holy Grail.”

• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain. 1889. A 19th-century man winds up in the Middle Ages and triumphs over the knights.

Modern Arthur Stories 3

• The Once and Future King by T.H. White. A modern prose version of the legends.

• The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck’s version of the legends in American English. Based on the Winchester Manuscripts of Malory. 1958-59. Unfinished.

Popular Arthur Movies

• 1960 Camelot by Lerner and Lowe. Musical play.

• 1970s Monty Python and the Holy Grail. British spoof on Arthurian legends.

• 1980s? Excalibur. Story of Arthur’s becoming king, Guinevere, and Lancelot.

• 1990s First Knight. Story of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Malegant.

SO WHY IS ARTHUR

SO POPULAR?

ARTHURIANLEGENDS

OFFER SOMETHING

FOR EVERYONE.

ARTHURIAN THEMES• Chivalry, courtesy, truth, and valor• Adventure, fighting, and derring-do• Love and desire• Intrigues and schemes • Magic and mystery• Loyalty vs. betrayal• Sin and redemption• Religious devotion

Arthurian legends teach uspositive ideals

• Of a glorious past full of brave deeds

• Of a time when justice was swift and sure

• Of important virtues like bravery, courtesy, chastity, honor, chivalry, and purity

• Of the hope that a great leader will arise when times seem darkest

• Of the need to strive for the ideal and to be the best

Arthurian legends also show us the negative effects

• Of impulsiveness, impurity, and immorality

• Of jealousy, greed, and wrath

• Of disloyalty and betrayal

• Of reckless ambition and selfishness

• Of political strife and continuous warring

REMEMBER!

THERE IS MORETO THE STORIES

THAN JUST THE PLOTS.

LEARN TO LOOKFOR THE LESSONS.

AND NOW FOR

SOMETHING

COMPLETELY

DIFFERENT!

THE CHARACTERSOF

ARTHURIANLEGEND

• ARTHUR--King of the Britons, King of England, Defeater of the Saxons, etc.

• Son of Uther Pendragon [Pendragon is a title meaning “war-leader.”]

• Foster son of Sir Ector; foster brother of Sir Kay

• became king by pulling a sword from a stone block and an iron anvil

• husband of Guinevere; father [and/or uncle] of Modred [Mordred]

• Queen Guinevere--wife of Arthur, daughter of King Lodegrance of Cameliard, and lover and beloved of Sir Lancelot

• she was sentenced to be burned, was rescued by Lancelot, became a nun at Almesbury, and was buried with Arthur at Glastonbury

• Sir Gawain--one of the principal knights of the Round Table; Arthur’s nephew [there are three others by his half-sister Margawse]

• before Sir Lancelot enters the legends, Sir Gawain is considered to be the best knight

• subject of test in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”

• in the Arthurian story “Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady,” he must marry a hag (compare to Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale)

• Sir Lancelot du Lac--added through the French versions of the Arthurian legends

• son of Ban, king of Brittany

• called “du Lac” because he was educated at the castle of the Lady of the Lake

• supplants Sir Gawain as the best knight

• is the strongest of Arthur’s knights

• is sworn to protect the Queen

• falls in love with and has affair with Queen Guinevere, and then wars against Arthur

• becomes a monk and prays for dead friends

• Merlin--legendary Brythonic poet and prophet in the 6th century

• reappears in the 12th century as enchanter

• beguiled and buried in a cave by Vivien, the Lady of the Lake

• first appears in Nennius’s works as Ambrosius

• later figures in Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace

• supposedly the inventor of the Round Table

• Sir Bedivere--last knight with Arthur at battle with Modred

• is responsible for returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake

• Sir Lucan the Butler--Bedivere’s brother

• also at final battle with Modred

• dies trying to help the wounded Arthur

• Sir Modred--also called Mordred

• daughter of Morgawse, Arthur’s half-sister

• sometimes called Arthur’s nephew, sometimes Arthur’s son

• seizes England when Arthur is in France fighting Lancelot

• dies in final battle with Arthur

• Uther Pendragon--King of the Britons and father of Arthur

• Gorlois--Duke of Cornwall--rebels against Uther and dies on battlefield

• Igraine--Cornwall’s wife, mother of Arthur, and later Uther’s wife

• **Igraine and Cornwall have other children: Margawse [wife of King Lot of the Orkneys] and Morgan Le Fay [mistress of Avalon and sorceress]

• Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth--brothers of Sir Gawain and Sir Modred; sons of Margawse; nephews to King Arthur

• Sir Percival--poor forest boy brought up by his mother who is ignorant in courtly or knightly ways; he becomes a knight after many blunders; Percival searches for the Grail and is rewarded with a sight of it

• Sir Galahad--the noblest and purest knight of the Round Table

• son of Sir Lancelot and Elaine

• in some versions of the Grail story, he is the one who successfully completes the quest for the Holy Grail because of his purity

• Vivien--the Lady of the Lake--enchantress whose castle is in or under a magical lake; she educated young Sir Lancelot

HERE ENDETH THE LIST OF

MAJOR CHARACTERS

Be Advised: By some counts, there are 140 Knights of the Round Table, besides their

sundry friends and enemies.

HIC IACET ARTURUS; REX QUONDAM,

REX FUTURUS.

“Here lies Arthur; who once was king,

and who will be king again.”