Arthurian Legends

5 points of chivalry

• Humility

• Piety

• Integrity

• Loyalty

• Honesty

• Arthur is the illegitimate son of Uther Pendragon, king of Britain, and Igraine

• Arthur becomes king of Britain by successfully withdrawing a sword from a stone

• Arthur possesses Excalibur, a magical sword, given to him by the Lady of the Lake

• Arthur’s enemies include his sister Morgan Le Faye and his nephew Mordred. Mordred takes the throne in Arthur’s absence, but he is killed by Arthur in battle.

• Mordred manages to mortally wound Arthur before he dies. Arthur is taken to Avalon for healing. All of England awaits his return.

Characters and Terms

• Merlin – court magician and counselor to King Arthur

• Lady of the Lake – supernatural creature who inhabits an underwater kingdom

• Avalon – an island for healing. In some legends it is depicted as a world of the dead or afterlife.

• Guinevere and Lancelot – their illicit affair foreshadows the downfall of Camelot.

• Round Table – Arthur creates this to prevent quarrels among knights over precedence. It is a symbol of the brotherhood and honor of King Arthur’s court.

Morgan le Fay

• Arthur’s ½ sister, the daughter of Arthur’s mother Igraine and her 1st husband, the Duke of Cornwall

• She is presented as an adversary to Arthur – instigator of the Green Knight’s visit to Arthur’s court

• In Celtic mythology she is sometimes presented as a healer

• In the 20th century writers begin to conflate her character with Morgause, the mother of Mordred

Morte d’Arthur

• It is not entirely clear who wrote Morte d’Arthur since many people bore this name.

• Author was probably Sir Thomas Malory who served in Parliament in the mid 1400s and who was repeatedly imprisoned for various crimes, including murder.

• Malory probably wrote most of this tale while imprisoned – one reason for the inclusion of frequent prayers for deliverance.

More Background on Morte d’Arthur

• It is the most famous literary work of the 15th century

• The 1st important prose romance in English and a chief source of information in the Arthurian legend

• The real King Arthur was probably a Celtic tribal chief at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of England

• Scholars believe that Arthur may have led the Celts of Britain in various battles against the Saxons

• Over the centuries, Arthur rose to prominence in the oral tradition.

Before the selection begins, the following events have occurred:

– King Arthur goes to France to confront Lancelot about the affair with Guenevere

– Arthur returns to England to battle his nephew Mordred who has usurped the throne

– Mordred forces battle with the king’s men, and in the fighting Gawain – another nephew of Arthur is killed