King Arthur appears in the literature of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chretien de Troyes, Geoffrey Chaucer, Marie de France, Sir Thomas Malory, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Mark Twain. But, who was he? Who was his queen? And what about the other figures of Arthurian myth and legend: Gawain, Lancelot, Merlin, and Modred?
In King Arthur, Norma Lorre Goodrich writes: "Certainly no other hero of the Dark Ages figures so preeminently in such a vast body of world literature as does King Arthur. Who does not thrill to Sir Thomas Malory's account of the rise and fall of King Arthur's ancient Celtic realm? And who fails to be moved by Arthur Lord Tennyson's 'coming' and 'passing' of Arthur?" Offering an essential reference resource to the scholarship of Arthurian literature, Goodrich discusses the origins of the legends, and includes a travelogue, maps, a chronology, a genealogy, and a bibliography.
King Arthur
Goodrich traces the origins of the Arthurian tales back to 1136, when "the best writers of the twelfth century... happened upon written materials containing mention of this ancient lost king, his queen, and his commander Lancelot. According to the legends, Merlin wrote down the earliest records of Arthur's reign; but those annals have long since disappeared.
To understand the story of Arthur's life, we have the Arthurian texts of William of Malmesbury, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Caradoc of Llancarvan, Eilhart von Oberge, Brother Robert, Marie de France, Chretien de Troyes, Robert de Boron, Gervase of Tilbury, Thomas of Britain, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Gottfried von Strassburg, Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, and the ever famous Anon. And, that's just from the High Middle Ages.
King Arthur
Goodrich traces the origins of the Arthurian tales back to 1136, when "the best writers of the twelfth century... happened upon written materials containing mention of this ancient lost king, his queen, and his commander Lancelot. According to the legends, Merlin wrote down the earliest records of Arthur's reign; but those annals have long since disappeared.
To understand the story of Arthur's life, we have the Arthurian texts of William of Malmesbury, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Caradoc of Llancarvan, Eilhart von Oberge, Brother Robert, Marie de France, Chretien de Troyes, Robert de Boron, Gervase of Tilbury, Thomas of Britain, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Gottfried von Strassburg, Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, and the ever famous Anon. And, that's just from the High Middle Ages.
"During the Middle Ages," Goodrich says, "writers specializing in mythology took the circumstances of Arthur's life and enhanced them until his biography resembled various mythical plots and characters." The Great Wain (the Big Dipper) constellation was associated with Arthur, who rode across the sky on a magical horse.
In Search of King Arthur
Goodrich says, "We know that the search for King Arthur takes us back to the most obscure centuries of the Dark Age. His realm illustrates the idea of lost knowledge... Arthur was born into a savage world." Drawing material from the many sources, she constructs a vivid portrayal of King Arthur, using Geoffrey's parts as an outline: Arthur's ancestry and birth, his battles, his coronation, the continental campaign, the defeat of Calan, Arthur's wounding, and his departure.
In Search of King Arthur
Goodrich says, "We know that the search for King Arthur takes us back to the most obscure centuries of the Dark Age. His realm illustrates the idea of lost knowledge... Arthur was born into a savage world." Drawing material from the many sources, she constructs a vivid portrayal of King Arthur, using Geoffrey's parts as an outline: Arthur's ancestry and birth, his battles, his coronation, the continental campaign, the defeat of Calan, Arthur's wounding, and his departure.
"Like the epic hero he is beloved of the gods," Goodrich says. King Arthur is depicted as "pious and honorable, an active and military hero, and like the true epic hero he is a man whose death becomes him as much as his deeds in life raised him daily in the reverence of his followers."
Arthur's Queen: Guinevere
The stories about Queen Guinevere usually depict her as an unfaithful adulteress, who brought about the downfall of Camelot; but she may have been a traditional warrior queen. She may have been "someone able and willing to lead fighting forces," as Geoffrey suggests. Goodrich says, "King Arthur allowed his queen to lead a war party because she was an independent chieftainess, royal in her own right, mistress of her own person and real property." Of course, her power and importance also made her a target by Arthur's enemies.
Of course, the allegations of adultery may have been a calculated way to sensationalize the Arthurian romance. Goodrich says, "Among the medieval writers there were misogynists who also happened to thrive on scandal and so branded Guinevere an adulteress."
Arthur's Queen: Guinevere
The stories about Queen Guinevere usually depict her as an unfaithful adulteress, who brought about the downfall of Camelot; but she may have been a traditional warrior queen. She may have been "someone able and willing to lead fighting forces," as Geoffrey suggests. Goodrich says, "King Arthur allowed his queen to lead a war party because she was an independent chieftainess, royal in her own right, mistress of her own person and real property." Of course, her power and importance also made her a target by Arthur's enemies.
Of course, the allegations of adultery may have been a calculated way to sensationalize the Arthurian romance. Goodrich says, "Among the medieval writers there were misogynists who also happened to thrive on scandal and so branded Guinevere an adulteress."
"So busy were they tarring the royal couple and the warrior vassal Lancelot with their accusations that they never bothered to look at Guinevere's background, education, and rank," says Goodrich. Now, when we take a closer look at Arthurian literature, we may come to a new understanding of Guinevere's role in the legends.
The Mystery Lives On
"When we tell stories," Goodrich says, "we transform reality, never so much as when we tell our own story. When things are too hideous to bear, we turn them into fairy tales; when they are too complicated to grasp, we leave them mysterious." Even if the tales are complex, the mysteries of Arthur only serve to spark our imaginations.
As we puzzle over the details of the legends, this book pieces the tales together into one huge tapestry of romance and adventure. And then, there's the final piece of the legend: "Like the dawn, Merlin foretold, King Arthur would arise to come again from his mysterious retreat on the island, out of the dark cave where, wounded, he had been laid."
Start your journey to a discovery (or re-discovery) of Arthurian literature.
The Mystery Lives On
"When we tell stories," Goodrich says, "we transform reality, never so much as when we tell our own story. When things are too hideous to bear, we turn them into fairy tales; when they are too complicated to grasp, we leave them mysterious." Even if the tales are complex, the mysteries of Arthur only serve to spark our imaginations.
As we puzzle over the details of the legends, this book pieces the tales together into one huge tapestry of romance and adventure. And then, there's the final piece of the legend: "Like the dawn, Merlin foretold, King Arthur would arise to come again from his mysterious retreat on the island, out of the dark cave where, wounded, he had been laid."
Start your journey to a discovery (or re-discovery) of Arthurian literature.
