Arthurian Legend

1. The Arthurian
Legend
The Man, the Myth, the Archetype

2. Legend
• a traditional historical tale or collection of related
tales popularly regarded as true, but usually contain
a mixture of fact and fiction
• not to be confused with a myth (A traditional,
typically ancient story dealing with supernatural
beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a
fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as
by explaining aspects of the natural world or
delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of
society)

3. Literary Focus: Archetypes
• An archetype is a
pattern that appears in
literature across
cultures and is
repeated through the
ages.
• An archetype can be a
character, a plot, an
image, or a setting.
– Ex. The Quest Circle of Character Archetypes

4. Why is Arthur Important?
1. Provided a hero to a
conquered people.
Think of all the invasions we’ve
discussed
2. Tales form a common bond
between Anglo-Saxon and
Anglo-Norman.
Warrior King Arthur – Anglo-Saxon
Chivalric Tradition – Anglo-Norman
3. Second most referenced
character in Western
Literature.
King Arthur, c. 1385

5. Did He Exist?
Historical Arthur
• Celtic/Anglo-Saxon Arthur
• Welsh chieftain
• warrior in the histories of
500-1100
• may have really existed –
not a king
Fictional Arthur
• Anglo-Norman Arthur
• could just be a combination
of great leaders
• Normans add chivalry,
romance, quest, love, etc.
• Norman romances focus
more on knights.

6. True History
• Most scholars believe that a King
named Arthur did defeat the Saxons
in the 5th or 6th century. This is
outlined in one of the oldest accounts
of English History Geoffrey of
Monmouth's fanciful and imaginative
12th-century Historia Regum
Britanniae
• There are ruins of a castle in Cornwall
that many believe to belong to Arthur
• Not much else is known; accounts of
Arthur seem to be mysteriously
missing from all Anglo-Saxon
chronicles and other such history
books.

7. Arthurian Literary Tradition
• Nennius
– 9th century
– Welsh monk
– wrote Historia Brittonum
– 1st reference to an Arthur
– His Arthur is the “greatest of all
the Celts”
– an important hero to the
declining Celtic community.

8. Arthurian Literary Tradition
• Geoffrey of Monmouth
– 12th century
– wrote Historia Regumn Britanniae
– one of the most important books
of the Middle Ages
– add Merlin to the Arthurian
legend
– tales mostly focused on Arthur
with little mention of his other
knights.
– inspired the next generation of
authorsMerlin Reads his Prophecies to Vortigern

9. Arthurian Literary Tradition
• Chrétien de Troyes
– 12th century
– French
– introduces character of Lancelot and
the Arthur / Guinevere / Lancelot love
triangle
– romance / single hero adventures
– example of Anglo-Norman cultural
influence with the increased influence
of the chivalric tradition
Sir Launcelot

10. How Sir Bedivere Cast the Sword
Excalibur into the Water
Arthurian Literary Tradition
• Sir Thomas Malory
– 15th century
– English
– compiled the various tales into
one work: Le Mort d’Arthur
• The Death of Arthur
– expands the characters of
Lancelot and Guinevere and
makes the affair chaste and
pure
– still read today and highly
influential

11. Lady of Shallot Looking at Lancelot
Arthurian Literary Tradition
• Alfred, Lord Tennyson
– 19th century
– English
– composed many works on the
Arthurian tradition: “The Lady of
Shalott,” “The Death of Arthur,”
“Idylls of the King”
– Father of the Arthurian
Renaissance in Victorian England.

12. Cover, The Once and Future King
Arthurian Literary Tradition
• T. H. White
– 20th century
– English
– wrote The Sword in the Stone
(1938) and The Once and
Future King (1958)
– based heavily on Malory’s
work
– The Once and Future King
deals with darker themes as
Arthur grows older

13. Key Objects
• The Holy Grail
• The Round Table
• Excalibur
Arthur and the Round Table

14. A Country Religiously Divided
• Arthur was a member of the Old
Celtic religion (as evident by
keeping a Royal wizard, Merlin)
• However, a new religion,
Christianity, was beginning.
Guinevere, Arthur’s wife, was a
member of this religion.
• Arthur and Guinevere were having
trouble conceiving. Guinevere
believed this was because God was
punishing Arthur for believing in
pagan gods and encouraging his
people to do so as well.
• To try to remedy the problem of an
heir and heal the country, which
had once again grown restless,
Arthur established the Crusades.

15. Crusades and the Holy Grail
• Because the Celtic religion is
based upon tangible items and
nature, Arthur would need
artifacts to convince his country
to convert to Christianity.
• With the help of Merlin, Arthur
decided to send his knights on a
quest for religious artifacts, more
commonly know as the Crusades.
– The body of Joseph of Arimathea
– The Spear of Destiny
– The Holy Grail
– King Solomon’s Temple
– Byzantine Crown of Thorns
– Holyrood (the cross on which Jesus died)

16. Key Objects: The Holy Grail
– Cup that Jesus drank out of
at the Last Supper
– Joseph of Arimithea
brought grail to England
– “quest” which requires
much of the individual
– Grail represents
unanswered philosophical/
cosmological questions
– only artifact not recovered
which explains its
continued popularity

17. The Holy Grail
and The Templars
• The Holy Grail is the only artifact
not recovered which explains its
continued popularity
• Once the Holy Land was
discovered, Arthur encouraged
the English to visit it and created
the Knights Templar** who
were warriors sent to protect
the road to the Holy Land.
These warriors begin much of
the problems that still exist in
the Middle East today.
*** Please note: This is one version of the story.
Many scholars argue that this is not
historically accurate.

18. Key Objects:
The Round Table
• When Arthur assumes power, England
is torn apart by war, is fractioned into
city-states, and is on the brink of
invasion by the Saxons
• To unite the country and defeat the
Saxons, Arthur creates the Knights of
the Round table.
• This is a revolutionary idea for the time.
Each city state is represented by a
knight. No one knight, including King
Arthur himself, has more power than
another. Arthur creates a
democratic society.
• Because of this alliance, Arthur and his
knights defeat the powerful Saxons in a
series of 12 battles.

19. Key Objects: Excalibur
• Magical sword Arthur receives from the Lady in the Lake OR from a stone which
Merlin placed it
• It is said that the key to Arthur’s success is the sword Excalibur which he always
takes into battle. Excalibur is said to make its bearer invincible.

20. Key Themes/Archetypes
• Love Triangle
– Arthur / Guinevere /
Lancelot
• Traitor/Judas Figure
– Mordred
• Fall of the central
community / end of
order
• Messianic Return
– Once and Future King

21. Key Characters
• Uther Pendragon – Arthur’s biological father
• Igraine – Arthur’s biological mother
• Merlin – Arthur’s counselor, prophet & wizard
• Morgan le Fay – Arthur’s half-sister; in some versions
full sister; magical; adversary
• Mordred – Arthur’s nephew; or in some versions his
illegitimate son; kidnaps Guinevere and rebels; killed
by Lancelot
• Gawain – Arthur’s nephew; principle knight of the
round table

22. One Version:
Morgan de Fey and Mordred
Arthur unknowingly had a half
sister, Morgan de Fey. She
believed that she was rightful
ruler. In an attempts to usurp
the throne, she slept with him
and conceived a son. Morgan
was said to be a witch and a
powerful woman. Her son,
Mordred, threatened Arthur’s
marriage and his throne.

23. Key Characters
• Guinevere –
– Arthur’s queen
– has affair with Lancelot
– childless
– abducted by Mordred
• Lancelot –
– Arthur’s chief knight
– usually French
– the “perfect” knight but
has affair with
Guinevere
Lancelot and Guinevere by Herbert James
Draper (1863-1920)

24. One Version:
Mordred and Guinevere
• During the search for the Holy
Grail Arthur’s life begins to fall
apart. Some versions of the story
have Arthur gone 10-20 years on
his quest.
• In Arthur’s absence, Mordred has
been raised to hate Arthur, but
also to be a knight
• Arthur returns and knights
Mordred, invites him to the
round table
• Guinevere has begun to realize
her true love for Lancelot, not
Arthur, during both their
absences.

25. One Version:
Guinevere
• After the battles with the Saxons,
England finally experiences peace.
• During this time, Arthur decides to
marry the lovely young Guinevere.
She does not see him before they
are married. Arthur sends his most
trusted knight Lancelot to fetch
her. He marries her and they are
happy for some time.
• Guinevere, upon seeing Lancelot,
believes he is her husband to be
and falls in love with him.

26. One Version: The Most Famous Affair
in Literary History
• Mordred sees the possibility to overthrow
his father in Lancelot.
• Mordred discovers Guinevere and Lancelot’s
affair (the two people that Arthur loves
most) and convinces the rest of the Round
Table to capture Lancelot in the act.
• Lancelot escapes but Guinevere is captured
and is to be burned at the stake for her
treachery against the king. She is rescued at
the last minute by Lancelot and the two
escape and are never heard from again.
• Arthur does not follow them due to the
problems of his kingdom. They are once
again on the brink of war and Mordred has
turned much of the Round Table against
him.

27. Key Places
• Camelot – King Arthur’s
kingdom
• Isle of Avalon – island to
which Arthur is sent to
recover from the last
battle
Gustave Doré’s illustration of Lord Alfred
Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”, 1868.

28. The Fall of Camelot
• Metaphorically, the country already
had fallen with the betrayal of
Arthur’s only love and his best
friend
• There are many versions of the
story. All of which end with Arthur’s
death in battle. Some of the
versions include the following
battles:
– Saxons
– Romans
– Goths
– French
– Irish
– Lancelot
– Morgan de fey
– Mordred
• All of the stories end with Arthur’s
glorious death in battle, all that any
legendary king or hero can ask for

29. Romance Motifs
Motif - an idea, object, place, or
statement that appears frequently
throughout a piece of writing, which
helps contribute to the work’s overall
theme
• Faithful Follower
• Wise old man
• Dreams
• Number three
• Magic
• Testing of Follower
• Betrayal

30. “The Day of Destiny,” an excerpt from Le Morte d’ Arthur, describes the end of King
Arthur’s reign and the dissolution of the order which he, along with his Knights of the
Round Table, has established. This end grows out of the corruption within the royal
court itself. Arthur’s illegitimate son Morderd knows the secret love between Arthur’s
wife, Queen Guinevere, and his best friend, Sir Lancelot. One night Mordred leads a
band of knights to Guinevere’s chamber, when they find the Queen with Lancelot.
Although he is reluctant, Arthur feels obligated to obey the law of the land and to burn
his wife at the stake. However, at the last minute Lancelot rescues her, killing two
knights who were guarding her. Lancelot subsequently flees to a castle in France and
Arthur forgives Guinevere. Sir Gawain, though, the brother of the dead knights,
demands vengeance on Lancelot. His hatred forces Arthur to lead his men on an attack
against Lancelot’s French fortress. In the ensuing battles Lancelot seriously wounds
Gawain but refuses to kill him.
Meanwhile, Mordred senses his chance. With Arthur away in France, he leads a
rebellion in England, claiming the throne and trying to seize Guinevere as his queen.
She flees to the Tower of London. Arthur, returning to defend his crown, battles
Mordred for the first time at Dover, where Gawain is fatally wounded. Before his
death, Gawain writes a letter to Lancelot ending their feud and asking Lancelot to
return to England to help Arthur. After a second, inconclusive battle with Mordred’s
forces, Arthur regroups his men and moves westward

31. Spin Offs
Camelot, like Middle Earth, is a
world rich with characters and
stories of chivalry, fairies, magic
and monsters. As such, it
spawned countless spin-offs and
parallel stories. Some of the most
famous of these stories are:
– Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight
– Percival (A Grail Knight)
– Tristan and Isolde
– The White Stag
– The Lady of the Lake