King Arthur in Mists of Avalon

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is a unique retelling of the rise and fall of King Arthur, told from the perspective of the women in Arthur’s life. This story “juxtaposes the conflicted lives of Arthur's women relatives with the conflict between the indigenous Goddess-centered druidism and the encroaching patriarchal Christianity, first introduced by the Romans.” (Heather Ostman) Out of all the Arthurian bases tales, I believe this one delves the deepest into social and religious issues with its feminist tone and the significance of the conflict between pagan and Christian religious ideologies. Also in stark contrast to Morte d’Arthur and other retellings, in Mists of Avalon the quests and battles associated with King Arthur almost take a back seat to the toils of Guinevere, Morgaine, and the other women. This gave me a different perspective on Arthur, and on the legend itself. More than any other story, this one gave me the sense that King Arthur is a rather weak man and his fierce desire to make everyone happy and comfortable is perhaps his downfall. Due to his love for his wife and best friend and not wanting to hurt either of them, he handles the situation questionably which in turn eventually leads to the fall of his kingdom of Camelot.

The historical appearances of King Arthur

Whether or not King Arthur is truly a historical figure has been fiercely debated for centuries by scholars and historians across the world. Documents and records from the estimated Arthurian era are extremely rare and the validity of the few records that are found is debatable. “If Arthur did exist, he lived sometime between the years 450 and 550 c.e.” (Modarelli, Michael)

There are a few literary appearances of King Arthur in old English and French literature, such as “the Historia Brittonum, around 800 c.e., in which Arthur was depicted as a fierce warlord,” and also in the Annales Cambriae which describes a victorious battle at Badon and Arthur and Mordred’s fight to the death at Camlann. (Modarelli, Michael) Although Arthur is an English national hero, a few French writers actually introduced many of the elements of Arthurian legend that are most familiar today, such as Merlin being Arthur’s mentor, the idea of the him pulling the sword from the stone to become king, and many of the Holy Grail adventures. “By the 13th century, the popularity of Arthurian romance had spread into most of the vernacular literatures of Europe,” with versions being translated into Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Norwegian, thus canonizing King Arthur, making him the legendary hero he is today. (Ruud, Jay)

The King in Morte d'Arthur

Morte d’Arthur is by far one of the more depressing Arthurian tales. All the heartache felt by Arthur, Lancelot, Guenevere, and the other knights made this tale one of the most emotional stories of the kingdom of Camelot and also my favorite. Arthur’s character is very interesting in this story, as he seems almost flawed and more human, which is a refreshing contrast to most Arthurian legends in which the king is portrayed as close to saint-like. The most interesting aspect of the story to me was the fact that inside, Arthur was aware of the affair that was going on between Lancelot and his queen Guenevere. The fact that he knew about their trist made him seem childish to me when he made the decision to put Guenevere to death. Arthur was worried about his reputation and made the decision to punish her purely out of fear of what his knights would think of him. The King Arthur I knew from previous tales would not have cared what his subjects thought about him, and would have handled the situation in a gentler more cunning way. His decision on the matter brought down his entire kingdom and split his loyal knights into two factions, thus causing a civil war and the unneccesarry deaths of those closest to him.

King Arthur in The Sword and the Stone

The Sword in the Stone is the only piece of literature that I know of that chronicles Arthur's childhood. Reading about Arthur when he was a child is interesting because to me he does not seem like someone who is the stereotypical king. His personality is very meek, modest, and almost lacking in self-confidence to be honest. It appears to me that Arthur was even looked down upon by his thought-to-be older brother Kay, who coined the nickname Wart for Arthur.

The modesty he possessed at such an early age probably helped shape him into the great king he later became. In the story, Arthur possessed an intense yearning for knowledge, especially through the extraordinary means Merlin, his tutor in this book, uses, and a hunger for excitement amid the droll of life in a castle. There is a conflict going on inside of his head that is his strong desire to instantly become mature and intelligent, and become an equal in his brother’s eyes.  I think Arthur’s personality in The Sword in the Stone is definitely consistent with the adult Arthur that appears in other works of literature. With the same eagerness to please everyone, and that thirst for adventure that makes Arthurian legends so great.

First Post

King Arthur, whether he is fiction or not, is a polarizing figure from a time not often thought about. I am not sure there are many other figures in literature that represent all the good in mankind as well as Arthur, with his codes of chivalry, hospitality, unmatched modesty, and thirst for adventure. I have been fascinated with Arthurian legend since I was able to read because of these honorable qualities. His desire for dangerous quests and adventure appealed to me from day one.

Whenever I have read other more historically accurate accounts about the Middle Ages where Arthur is not present, they always seem to be at war with someone or the kingdom is plagued with hunger or whatever new disease is present. In stark contrast to this, King Arthur’s kingdom of Camelot almost seems heaven like. There are few wars in Arthur’s world, and everyone one seems unnaturally happy, form the lowest servant to Arthur himself. This bliss that Arthur brings to his kingdom is contagious when I read literature about him, giving me a sense of peace as well.

My background knowledge of Arthur is purely from memory of the past various works of literature I have read about him, which was years ago. I remember more about his Knights of the Round Table so researching Arthur will basically be a new experience. Each post is going to describe Arthur as he appears in the different works of literature about him, and one will take a look at Arthur's various appearances in history.