Romance and Arthurian Legend
*The Middle Ages were not known as “The Dark Ages” for nothing. With all the images of war, civil and
political unrest, and plagues, it is no wonder that the people turned to fantasy for a distraction.
* Romance does not necessarily refer to the romantic comedies or awful romance novels in the aisles at
HEB, or even the romantic genre of literature with the flowery language and emotions. Romance, instead,
refers to a popular narrative from the Middle Ages. Romance refers to any imaginative adventure
concerned with noble heroes, gallant love, a chivalric code of honor, and daring deeds. Romances usually
have faraway settings, depict events unlike those of ordinary life, and idealize their heroes as well as the
eras in which heroes lived. Medieval romances are often lighthearted in tone, too.
*Medieval aristocrats loved to hear tales of adventures, especially stories about brave and gallant nights.
Although real knights were far from perfect, the ones in different legends strove continually to obey a
code of chivalry. This code is a set of rules for gentlemanly and heroic behavior. The code represented a
combination of Christian and military ideals, including faith, modesty, loyalty, courtesy, bravery, and
honor. The ideal knight respected and vigorously defended his church, his king, his country, and victims
of injustice. This also included the idea of fighting for his lady love.
*Women in the Middle Ages were treated like property. Medieval country marriages usually involved
love, but marriage among the noble classes served as a business transaction. This started to change when
knights, returning from the Crusades in the Holy Land, had learned a few things from their enemies, who
happened to show some respect toward their women. Passion was considered sinful to eleventh and
twelfth century moralists, but even this ideal began to fade away with the new rituals of courtly love.
Secret rituals of Romance developed where women—long the loser in a double standard of adultery
condoned among men—found champions who would fight in their honor. Courtly love became the
subject of some of the most famous medieval poems, and where we get today’s word, “courtesy.”
*In addition to the romantic poetry, legends of King Arthur and his heroic knights of the Round Table
were also extremely popular. The Round Table is what it sounds like: it is a round table where Arthur
and his knights congregate. Because the table is round, it has no head, meaning that everyone who sits
there has equal status. The symbolism of the Round Table developed over time; by the close of the 12th
century, it had come to represent the chivalric order associated with Arthur’s court, hence the name “The
Knights of the Round Table.”
*The popularity of the tales were due in part t o the castles, heroes, courtly love, and magical spells—a
world quite unlike the real medieval England. Although Launcelot was often presented as the greatest and
most distinguished of Arthur’s knights, in many early tales that role was given to Arthur’s nephew
Gawain, who was famous for his courage and unfailing chivalry.
*King Arthur is not necessarily a real historical figure. It is said that he is a legendary British leader of the
late fifth and early sixth centuries, who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defense of
Britain against Saxon invaders in the early sixth century. The details of Arthur’s story are mainly
composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by
modern historians.
*Keeping in mind that there is no one set canonical story or version, the legend of King Arthur actually
begins with his father King Uther Pendragon. Uther secures Britain’s frontiers and stops Saxon uprisings
with the aids of his men, one of whom is Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall. Gorlois is the father of Morgan
le Fay, Morgause, and Elaine. At a banquet celebrating their victories, Uther becomes attracted to
Gorlois’ beautiful wife Igraine. This creates enough tension to start a war between Uther and Gorlois.
While Gorlois pursues Uther outside of the castle, Uther consults with the wizard Merlin who uses his
magic to transform the king into the likeness of Gorlois. Uther, disguised as Gorlois, spends the night
with Igraine and conceives a son, Arthur. The next morning, it is discovered that Goloris has been killed.
Uther marries Igraine.
*Merlin takes Arthur away and brings him to Sir Ector for him to raise like his own son. Merlin does not
reveal Arthur’s true identity. Ector has another son named Kay, who is older than Arthur. When Kay is
old enough to be knighted, Arthur serves as his squire.
*Foreseeing Uther’s death, Merlin arranges to have his sword, which is sometimes equated with
Excalibur, magically set in a stone so that only the rightful heir to the throne will be able to remove it.
There are a couple of different versions as to how Arthur encounters the sword:
-When Uther dies, a tournament (perhaps jousting) is held in London to bring all potential heirs to
the area, and Ector and his sons attend. Kay breaks his sword during the tournament, and Arthur is
determined to find him a new one.
-In another version, Kay leaves his sword at the inn, but when Arthur goes to search for it, the inn
is closed. Desperate to find a sword, Arthur finds the Sword in the Stone and, not realizing what it
is, pulls it out easily. When he tells Kay where he got it, Kay tries to take credit. Ector sees
through the lie, however, and he and Kay are the first to swear loyalty to the new king. Both are
made Knights of the Round Table and remain loyal to King Arthur throughout his reign.
*Some time passes when Sir Leondegrance’s castle is under attack and Arthur and his forces must step
in. Naturally, the enemies are defeated. Arthur meets Leondegrance’s daughter Guenevere soon
afterwards and falls in love with her. Eventually, they marry. The marriage seems to be a good one until
Guenivere cheats on Arthur with Sir Lancelot.
*Remember Gorlois’ daughter Morgause? This is where she comes in. She is the mother of two of
Arthur’s knights: Gawain and Mordred. Keep in mind that she is Arthur’s half-sister, but neither he nor
she has any idea of their true relation. Morgause had Gawain, and a couple of other sons, with her
husband. However, one day she has inadvertent incest with Arthur, thus conceiving Mordred, the one who
will later betray Arthur and fight him to the death.
*Taking a break from who is who in the Arthurian Legend, the next topic of interest is the Holy Grail. We
are still not sure about what it is exactly or if it even exists. Supposedly, it is a cup/dish/chalice that Jesus
used at the Last Supper. Joseph of Arimathea used the Grail to catch Christ’s blood while interring him,
and he founded a line of guardians to keep it safe in Britain. This is combined with the Celtic myth of a
cauldron endowed with special powers. The search for the Holy Grail is meant to show a search for
something greater than one’s self, a quest for the divine itself. It is the greatest quest one could go on.
*Back to King Arthur: As mentioned before, Sir Lancelot has fallen in love with Gwynevere and they
have an affair. Sir Modred exposes the affair and Gwynevere is sentenced to burn at the stake. While
rescuing the imprisoned Gywnevere, Lancelot slays two knights, who unknown to him at the time, are Sir
Gawain’s brothers. After a reconciliation, Lancelot returns Gwynevere to Arthur to be reinstated as
Queen. Sir Gawain still wants revenge, so he convinces Arthur to banish Lancelot to France. Arthur goes
to destroy everything of Lancelot’s in France; while he and his men are overseas, he appoints Mordred as
temporary king. Mordred takes advantage, seizes the throne, and attempts to marry Gwenevere.
*Arthur and his men sail back to fix things, but as he and his men are fighting their way over to the shore,
Gawain is injured. Before dying, Gawain writes to Lancelot and begs him to help Arthur. Gawain also
warns Arthur that he will be killed if he battles Modred before Lancelot’s return. Arthur and Mordred
make peace, but fighting occurs at the signing of the treaty. Mordred is killed, and Arthur is mortally
wounded. As he is dying, Arthur commands Sir Bedivere to cast Excalibur into the lake, where it is
retrieved by the hand of the Lady of the Lake. A barge appears, carrying ladies in black hoods, who take
the dying Arthur away to the land of Avalon, and no one sees him in Britain again. Avalon refers to an
island paradise of Celtic legend, where heroes are taken after death. Some people speculate that Avalon
refers to present-day Glastonbury, where Arthur’s remains are supposedly located.
*After the death of King Arthur, the legend ends with mostly the lives and deaths of Guinevere, Lancelot,
and Lancelot’s kinsmen. When Lancelot returns, he mourns the deaths of his comrades. Lancelot travels
to Almesbury to see Guinevere. During the war, she is portrayed as a scapegoat for violence without
developing her perspective or motivation. However, after Arthur’s death, Guinevere retires to a convent in
penitence for her infidelity. Her contrition is sincere and permanent; Lancelot is unable to sway her to
come away with him. Instead, Lancelot becomes a monk, and is joined in monastic life by his kinsmen.
Arthur’s successor is appointed, and the realm of Camelot that Arthur created significantly changes.
*Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or
associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes, Excalibur and the Sword in the
Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions, they are considered separate.
*There are a number of explanations for why Arthur has Excalibur in his possession. A couple of them
include the Sword in the Stone idea a.k.a. no one but the true heir can pull out Excalibur from the stone,
as well as the idea of the Lady of the Lake bestowing Excalibur to Arthur after he begins his reign.