Background for Arthurian Legends

Arthurian England

Arthur’s Introduction

The legends surrounding King Arthur probably grew out of the struggles of a Celtic chieftain and his warriors in southwestern England against invading Saxons during the 6th century.

Arthur’s Introduction

His name first appears in a long Welsh poem of the 7th century, Y Goddodin. He is referred to by the Welsh chronicler Nennius in the 9th century and figures prominently in British historical annals of the 10th century.

Arthur’s Introduction

In 1138 Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the "semi-historical" History of the Kings of Britain, devoting half of his work to the exploits of Arthur. Blending and embellishing many strands of the oral tradition, then setting the action in his own times, he forged the first Arthurian written account.

Arthur’s Introduction

Manuscripts were translated from Latin into Anglo-Saxon and Norman French and widely distributed throughout Britain.

Arthur’s Introduction

At the end of the 12th century, French poet Chretien de Troyes further embellished the legend, adding new tales of chivalrous knights as well as the tragic romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, including the story of Lancelot and Elaine

Arthur’s Introduction

A decade later, Robert de Borron reintroduced the theme of the grail from early Celtic folklore and the stories took on greater Christian overtones. The first appearance of Galahad

Arthur’s Introduction

The first appearance of Galahad, the son of Lancelot and Elaine who becomes the perfect knight, is in medieval romance in the thirteenth-century Vulgate Cycle.

The Vulgate Cycle of Literature

In the early thirteenth century (ca. 1215–35), a group of anonymous French authors produced five immensely long prose romances, which modern scholars refer to collectively as the Vulgate Cycle. The Cycle vastly expands, multiplies, and complicates material from earlier verse romances

The Vulgate Cycle of Literature

In this respect the French Arthurian Vulgate resembles the medieval Latin Bible, which was called the Vulgate and was interpreted by Christian commentators as expressing God's plan for the world in which earthly empires, such as Rome's or King Arthur's, would rise and pass away.

The Vulgate Cycle of Literature

The Vulgate Cycle is the main source of Sir Thomas Malory's romances, which he often refers to as "the French book" and which William Caxton first printed under the title Morte Darthur.

The Vulgate Cycle of Literature

Although certain pagan elements remained, King Arthur had come to embody the ideal Christian knight. In the 15th century, Sir Thomas Malory reworked the collection of tales into a long unified epic entitled Le Morte d'Artur. Written in English prose rather than Latin, Malory’s work became the definitive version of the story of King Arthur.

To see Le Morte D’Arthur

A wonderful collection of information on Malory is available at the British Library Online Gallery:

•British Library: Thomas Malory's 'Le Morte Darthur'

In the 19th century Victorian poet Lord Tennyson repopularized the Arthurian legend in his long poetic work, Idylls of the King, and in the early 20th century T.H. White created his well-loved adaptation, The Once and Future King. Arthur and his court of chivalrous knights continue to grace the stage in productions of Lerner and Loewe's musical Camelot and appear year after year in films like Excalibur, First Knight, Merlin, and Tristan.

Who was Thomas Malory?

In his own words, Malory was a ‘knight prisoner’ who implored his readers to pray for his deliverance in life and his soul in death. Though his identity is not certain, he is generally believed to have been the Sir Thomas Malory who inherited the estates of Newbold Revel in Warwickshire and Winwick in Northamptonshire in 1434, aged around 24 years.

Who was Thomas Malory?

Malory led the unremarkable life of a country gentleman, attending to his judicial and social responsibilities as lord of the manor until 1450 when, for unknown reasons, he turned to a life of crime.

Who was Thomas Malory?With 26 men, he ambushed the Duke of

Buckingham and tried to murder him. He stole livestock, and extorted money with menaces. He was accused of rape on two occasions. Leading a small army of 100 men, he attacked Combe Abbey, terrifying the monks and stealing their money and valuables. Malory was arrested and spent most of the 1450s in various prisons without ever coming to trial. He made his escape twice and was bailed out on two other occasions.

Who was Thomas Malory?Malory was one of a number of gang leaders

who exploited the increasing breakdown of law and order across England. Central government was weak under Henry VI, who suffered from bouts of insanity. Local disorder thrived. Richard, Duke of York ruled as Regent during the illness of Henry VI, who came from the house of Lancaster. When Henry recovered in 1455, Richard was not about to relinquish power. Civil war broke out as the houses of York and Lancaster fought for the throne in the Wars of the Roses.

Who was Thomas Malory?By 1462, Malory had been released from prison

and was fighting with the powerful Earl of Warwick on the side of the Yorkists. He joined a campaign to re-take the Northumbrian castles at Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanbrugh. When Warwick later switched his allegiance to the Lancastrian cause, Malory followed. It was a political miscalculation. In 1468, he was specifically excluded from the list of Lancastrians granted pardon by the new Yorkist king, Edward IV. Malory was back in prison.

Who was Thomas Malory?It was during this second imprisonment, in

London’s Newgate Prison, that Malory began occupying his time in writing the work he called “the whole book of King Arthur and his noble knights of the Round Table”. Malory’s book was re-titled Le Morte Darthur by William Caxton who produced the first printed edition in 1485. Caxton’s was the only known version of Malory’s text until the discovery of this manuscript in 1934.

Who was Thomas Malory?

When Henry VI briefly regained the throne in October 1470, all Lancastrian political prisoners in London’s jails were freed. Just five months later, Malory died and was buried in Greyfriars Churchyard – just across the road from Newgate Prison.

What is the Holy Grail?

In medieval legend, the Holy Grail is the cup from which Jesus Christ drank during the Last Supper before his crucifixion. The same cup was used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch drops of Christ’s blood as he hung on the cross. Joseph brought the holy relic to Britain where it was eventually concealed in a mysterious castle surrounded by a blighted landscape.

What is the Holy Grail?Though no historical evidence supports the

existence of such a cup, legend endowed the Holy Grail with miraculous qualities of regeneration and spiritual self-realization for the knight who found it. The mystic qualities of the vessel may be a legacy of Celtic mythology, which features magical cauldrons that provided endless amounts of food and drink. Some belonged to gods, while others were kept in enchanted lands beyond the reach of ordinary mortals.

Who was the real King Arthur?Nennius, a Welsh monk writing in the late-

eighth century, compiled a history that describes a ‘dux bellorum’, a war lord, called Arthur who led the Britons in 12 battles against the Saxons some three hundred years earlier. The ancient annals of Wales date one of Arthur’s battles, the Battle of Mount Badon, to the year 518. But the description of that battle by Gildas, a chronicler writing less than 30 years after the event, makes no mention of Arthur.

Who was the real King Arthur?

It’s likely that the King Arthur handed down to the middle ages was largely a literary figure, echoing mythological traditions from Celtic Britain. He emerges as a fully-formed hero in the ‘Historia Regum Britanniae’, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the first half of the 12th century – a work condemned by a contemporary for being more fiction than fact.

Who was the real King Arthur?

Geoffrey’s history of the kings of Britain tells of Arthur becoming king at the age of 15 and conquering Scotland, Orkney, Ireland and Iceland. He introduces other elements of the legend too: Merlin, the powerful wizard; the beautiful Guanhamara, who becomes Guinevere; and the magical sword Caliburn, Excalibur.

Who was the real King Arthur?

Arthur’s legend was embellished by later writers, both English and European. In France, the story formed the perfect subject for a new literary form called the ‘romance’, a long poem written in the native tongue rather than Latin. The Arthurian romances by Chrétien de Troyes were the most popular and probably formed the starting point for Malory’s work.

Artistic Renderings of Arthurian Legend King Uriens byDan Beard Dan Beard (1850-1941). "King Uriens" from: Illustrations to Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1889.

Merlin Taketh the Child Arthur into His KeepingbyAubrey Beardsley

Guinevere in the Golden DaysbyEleanor Fortescue-Brickdale

Sir LancelotbyM. Bowley

The Green KnightbyIan Brown

The Knights of the Round Table•The emblem of the Knights of the Round Table worn round the necks of all the Knights was given to them by King Arthur as part of the ceremony of their being made a knight.

Knights…

•The Order's dominant idea was the love of God, men, and noble deeds. The cross in the emblem was to remind them that they were to live pure and stainless lives, to stive after perfection and thus attain the Holy Grail.

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Knights…

•The Red Dragon of King Arthur represented their allegiance to the King. The Round Table was illustrative of the Eternity of God, the equality, unity, and comradeship of the Order, and singleness of purpose of all the Knights

The knights of the Round Table King Arthur Sir Galahad Sir Lancelot Sir Kay Sir Gawain Sir Bors de Ganis Sir Geraint Sir Lamorak Sir Gareth Sir Tristan Sir Gaheris Sir Percivale

Sir Bedivere    

Sir Galahadweb resourceSir Galahad was the illegitimate son of Sir

Lancelot by Lady Elaine of Corbenic. He was placed under the care his paternal great aunt and grew up at the nunnery where she was abbess. Upon reaching adulthood, his father knighted him and took him to Camelot.

At the Royal Court, Galahad sat in the “Siege Perilous” - the seat reserved by God for the purest of knights - yet no calamity befell him.

Sir Lancelot http://information

•Throughout, Lancelot is arguably as important a figure as Arthur himself. In French versions of the legend more attention is focused on Sir Lancelot than on King Arthur, and the French - compared to their English counterparts - appeared to be interested in the balance between the spiritual dimension and the earthly.

Sir Kay

•Sir Kay was the son of Ector (Ectorious) and the foster brother of King Arthur. History records Kay (Cai in Welsh) as being a very tall man, as shown by his epithet, the Tall.

•Sir Kay at times had a volatile and cruel nature, but he was Arthur's senechal and one of his most faithful companions.

Sir Gawain http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/gawaine.asp

Gawain is generally said to be the nephew of Arthur. His parents were Lot of Orkney and Morgause (though his mother is said to be Anna in Geoffrey of Monmouth). Upon the death of Lot, he became the head of the Orkney clan, which includes in many sources his brothers Agravain, Gaheris, and Gareth, and his half-brother Mordred.

The accidental death of Gawain's brothers at Sir Lancelot's hands caused Gawain, one of the mightiest warriors at court, to become the bitter enemy of his once greatest friend. He was mortally wounded in a fight with Lancelot who, it is said, lay for two nights weeping at Gawain's tomb

Sir Bors de Ganis 0http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/bors.asp

Sir Bors was the only knight to survive the Quest for the Holy Grail and return to court. His fathers name was Bors, and he later succeeded his father as King of Gannes. Bors was a chaste knight, but the daughter of King Brandegoris fell in love with him, and with the aid of a magic ring forced Bors into loving her.

Bors was the cousin of Sir Lancelot, and he steadfastly supported him against Arthur during the conflict between the two

Sir Geriant http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/geraint.asp

•The eldest son of King Erbin of Dumnonia who was a Knight of Devon. After the death of his his wife, Prince Geraint spent much time at King Arthur's Court, looking for action and adventure. It was during this period that he encountered the Sparrow Hawk Knight and came to marry Lady Enid of Caer-Teim (Cardiff), a story told in the ancient tales of "Erec (alias Geraint) & Enid" and "Geraint mab Erbin".

SIR lAMORAK http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/lamorak.asp

•Lamorak was the son of King Pellinore and in some legends the brother of Percivale. He was one of the strongest Knights of the Round Table. Lamorak was the lover of Morgause, whose husband King Lot of Orkney had been killed by Lamorak's father, Pellinore. Lamorak was one of three knights most noted for their deeds of prowess. At an early age he received a degree for jousting, at which he excelled. There were several different occasions in which Lamorak fought over thirty knights by himself.

Sir Gareth http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/gareth.asp

• Gareth was the youngest brother of Sir Gawain and the son of Lot and Morgause of Orkney. He played a significant role in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. Malory's "Tale of Sir Gareth" was apparently created by Malory. It presents Gareth as an exemplar of chivalry who is knighted by and devoted to Sir Lancelot and who acts chivalrously towards Lynette despite her abuse of him. This picture of Gareth, who avoided even his own brothers when they acted less than chivalrously, is one of the elements that comes together in the final scenes of the Morte to produce the tragic ending. Lancelot blindly slayed Gareth in his rescue of Guinevere from the stake. When Gawain heared of this, he turned against Lancelot and demanded that Arthur pursue him to punish him, thus setting the stage for Mordred's takeover.

Sir Tristan http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/tristan.asp

•Tristan, or Tristram in Old English, was a contemporary of King Arthur and a Knight of the Round Table. He was the nephew and champion of King Mark of Cornwall and the son of Meliodas, King of Lyoness. Tristan's mother died when he was born, and as a young man he took service with his uncle, Mark.

Sir Gaheris http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/gaheris.asp

Sir Gaheris was the son of King Lot of Orkney and his wife Morgause, sister of King Arthur, before being knighted he was squire to his elder brother Gawaine. Sir Gaheris married Lynette on the day his brother Gareth married hersister, Dame Lionesse, of the Castle Perilous.

The two brothers were slain in the struggle following the rescue of Queen Guinevere from the fire, though this was by accident as Sir Lancelot did not recognise them in the crowd

When Gawaine returned to be made a knight at Arthur's wedding to Guinevere, Gaheris was by his side to act as his page. In a way, he acted as Gawaine’s conscience.

Sir Percivale http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/percivale.asp

• Percivale was raised by his mother in ignorance of arms and courtesy. Percivale's natural prowess, however, led him to Arthur's court where he immediately set off in pursuit of a knight who had offended Guinevere.

Percivale is the Grail knight or one of the Grail knights in numerous medieval and modern stories of the Grail quest. Percivale first appears in Chrétien de Troyes's unfinished Percivale or Conte del Graal (c.1190).

Sir Bedivere http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/bedivere.asp

• Sir Bedivere was a trusty supporter of King Arthur from the beginning of his reign, and one of the first knights to join the fellowship of the Round Table. He helped Arthur fight the Giant of Mont St. Michel, and later he was made Duke of Neustria.

Bedivere had only one hand later in life, having lost one of his hands in a battle. He had a son called Amren and a daughter

named Eneuavc. • Bedivere was present at the Last Battle, the fateful Battle of

Camlan. He and Arthur alone survived the battle, and he was given the command by Arthur to throw Excalibur back into the Lake. After lying twice to Arthur, he finally tossed the precious sword out into the lake, and the hand of the Lady of the Lake came up and retrieved the sword to its watery home.

Resources

http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/exploring-arthurian-legend#sect-resources

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/middleages/topic_2/vulgate.htm

http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/default.asp