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 "semihistorical" 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 thirteenthcentury 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
by
Dan 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 Keeping
by
Aubrey Beardsley
Guinevere in the Golden Days
by
Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale
Sir Lancelot
by
M. Bowley
The Green Knight
by
Ian 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.
.
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 Galahad
web resource
Sir 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/exploringarthurian-legend#sect-resources
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/
middleages/topic_2/vulgate.htm
http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/defa
ult.asp