A BRIEFING ON THE SLEEPING KING
article by: Todd Jenson
issue date: 9/2/03
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A BRIEFING ON THE SLEEPING KING
"Arthur Pendragon, King of all Britain, you are needed."
With these words, Elisa Maza awakened one of the most famous figures of
medieval legend and ushered him into "Gargoyles". This adventure of Arthur'
s, aiding
Goliath and the Avalon clan against the Archmage and his minions, was only
the latest,
however, in a literary career spanning over nine centuries.
It is, to this day, still uncertain as to whether there was a real King
Arthur; while
his rival in "Gargoyles", Macbeth, was undoubtedly real, Arthur's roots are
far more
cloudy. Early mentions of him in British literature during the Dark Ages
are fragmentary
and do not provide us with a complete picture. Some accounts, such as that
in the 9th
century Historia Britonnum (History of the Britons), claim that he fought
against the
invading Saxons in the 5th or 6th century A.D. and defeated them in twelve
battles,
culminating in a major victory over them at Mount Badon; however, these
accounts are
filled with such obviously legendary elements as Arthur slaying 960 Saxons
personally in
battle, and were written so long after the period that they record that they
cannot be
considered eyewitness reports. Others place Arthur in a more mythical
setting; he is
portrayed as battling various mythical beings such as witches, giants, and
even the
monstrous wild boar Troit in an epic hunt across Wales, and as journeying to
the
Otherworld of Annwn to steal a magical cauldron. From these latter, some
historians
have concluded that Arthur was a purely legendary figure whose association
with the
struggles between the Britons and the Saxons in the 5th and 6th centuries
was merely an
attempt to euhemerize him and place him into solid history. Others,
however, have
argued that Arthur was based on a real British leader during that time,
although one who
obviously did not much resemble his more familiar legendary counterpart.
The first "biographical account" of Arthur, which gives him an actual story
from
start to finish, is the History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of
Monmouth, which was
published in 1136. Geoffrey's work was a purported history of Britain all
the way down
to 689, which he claimed was based on an ancient book in the British tongue
that he had
once read; historians have agreed in general, however, that this book was an
invention of
Geoffrey's rather than a real source, and that most of the contents of his
work were his
own invention. Geoffrey covers several centuries of "British history",
going back all the
way to Trojan settlers under the leadership of one Brutus (after whom
Britain was named), the great-grandson of Aeneas, coming to Britain and slaying the
giants that had
previously dwelt there, and covering a few well-known legendary and
historical figures
along the way, such as King Lear, but the climax of his book deals with
Arthur's reign.
Much of Geoffrey's account is familiar to audiences today. He tells how
Uther
Pendragon fell in love with Igraine, the wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall,
and begot
Arthur upon her with Merlin's help, how Arthur became King of Britain,
married
Guinevere, and ruled over the island for many years, presiding over a golden
age when
Britain's fortunes were at their peak, before he was betrayed by Mordred,
mortally
wounded in battle, and taken away to Avalon for healing. This became the
basis for all
later versions of his story.
A first-time reading of Geoffrey's book, however, shows that many familiar
elements of the legend are missing. Merlin disappears from the story after
helping Uther
attain Igraine, and never meets Arthur or serves as his advisor and tutor.
There is no
Sword in the Stone, Arthur simply becoming King of Britain after Uther's
death in a
matter-of-fact fashion, and although Excalibur (under the name of Caliburn)
is
mentioned, there is likewise no Lady of the Lake or arm clothed in white
samite to rise
from the waters and receive the sword from Bedivere after the final battle
(indeed,
Bedivere is slain fighting against the Romans before the final battle in
Geoffrey, and does
not take part in it). There is no mention of Camelot - Arthur holds court
at Caerleon in
southern Wales, though in a splendor worthy of Camelot - and no Round Table;
also,
there is no Lancelot, Morgan le Fay, Galahad, or Quest of the Holy Grail.
Mordred is
Arthur's nephew rather than his son, and there is no hint of the incest that
produced him
in later versions of the legend. Furthermore, Geoffrey focuses not on the
adventures of
Arthur's knights, but rather on Arthur's wars, following him as he first
defeats the
invading Saxons, then proceeds to conquer Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland,
and Gaul,
finally taking on the Roman Empire itself, although he is forced to return
to Britain to put
down Mordred's rebellion before he can take Rome. And although he is
described as
being taken away to Avalon, there is no hint that he will ever return.
Geoffrey's work proved to be very popular, and became a medieval
best-seller.
Two translations of it in the latter part of the 12th century developed the
story further.
The first was a translation into Norman French, by one Wace, entitled Roman
de Brut (the
Romance of Brutus). Wace's work is particularly noteworthy in being the
first Arthurian
writing (or at least, the first extant Arthurian writing) to mention the
Round Table. The
second was a translation or adaptation into Old English by a certain
Layamon, which
invested Geoffrey's characters with an Anglo-Saxon, almost Beowulfian spirit
(ironic in
light of Arthur's wars with the Saxons); at one point, in a particular
display of
Englishness, Arthur compares the pursuit of a defeated Saxon chieftain to a
fox hunt!
In the meantime, other writers were adding a more courtly atmosphere to the
Arthurian legend, connected to the developing customs of chivalry and
courtly love. In
contrast to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, and Layamon, who wrote
pseudo-chronicles of
Arthur's life and reign, these writers focused on the adventures of
individual knights of
Arthur's court, with Arthur and those about him as background figures.
Chief among
these was Chretien de Troyes, who was noted for introducing into the legend
the love
affair of Lancelot and Guinevere in his Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart
and the Holy
Grail in his Perceval. In the initial version of the Grail legend as told
by Chretien, the
"Grail Knight" is Percival rather than Galahad (who had yet to be created);
Chretien also
introduced Percival's lady love Blanchefleur, who would eventually play a
major role in
Greg Weisman's projected but never-made Pendragon spin-off.
In Chretien's work, the Holy Grail was merely a mysterious wonder-working
vessel, with no connections to Jesus Christ or the Last Supper. The notion
of the Grail as
the cup of the Last Supper was introduced by one Robert de Boron, who wrote
two
romances, Joseph, dealing with Joseph of Arimathea and the Grail's origins,
and Merlin,
which dealt with the early lives of Merlin and Arthur, and which introduced
the Sword in
the Stone into the story. (It is thought that de Boron wrote a romance
about Percival as
well, to turn his work into a trilogy, but if he did, it has not survived.)
Later French romancers, in the early 13th century, created the Vulgate
Cycle,
which brought the love affair of Lancelot and Guinevere and the Grail fully
into Arthur's
story. It was this work which introduced Galahad as the knight who achieves
the Holy
Grail (with Percival playing the part of a runner-up) and the part that
Lancelot and
Guinevere's love affair played in destroying Arthur's kingdom. It also
first brought in the
scene where Excalibur is returned to the lake after Arthur's final battle,
although here the
knight who throws it into the lake is not Bedivere but one Girflet.
In England, Arthurian poems and prose continued to be written. In the 14th
century, an anonymous Englishman wrote the poem Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight,
dealing with Gawain's encounter with a mysterious green knight who tests his
virtue
upon many fronts; the Green Knight would find his way onto Greg Weisman's
"Arthurian
Survivors List", alongside Arthur, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, Morgan le
Fay, Nimue,
Percival, and Blanchefleur. However, the most important piece of Arthurian
literature to
be produced in medieval England after Geoffrey of Monmouth was Sir Thomas
Malory's
Le Morte d'Arthur in the late 15th century. Malory adapted portions of the
Vulgate Cycle
and a few other Arthurian works, both French and English, into a series of
stories which
covered Arthur's reign from start to finish. Malory completed his work in
1469 or 1470;
the book was published by William Caxton in 1485. There are actually two
different
versions of Malory's work: one is the Caxton version, the other a manuscript
that was
discovered in Winchester in 1934, which appears to have been closer to
Malory's
original. Malory's version of the Arthurian legend has become the standard
source since.
Arthur's story continued to flourish in the 16th century under the Tudors
(who
were Welsh and liked to think of themselves as Arthur's heirs), although
very little lasting
literature about him was produced (the closest being Edmund Spenser's Faerie
Queene,
and Arthur himself plays only a minor role in it). In the 17th century,
however, it
underwent a decline, partly thanks to the increasing unpopularity of the
monarchy as
frictions arose between the Stuarts and Parliament, which would lead to the
execution of
Charles I in 1649. John Milton, the leading poet of the 17th century,
considered writing
an Arthurian epic for a time, but abandoned it in the end and wrote Paradise
Lost instead.
Arthur was almost entirely forgotten in the 18th century, which preferred to
draw its
inspiration from the classical world and considered the medieval period
merely a long
dark age between the glories of Greece and Rome and the modern age.
However, in the
19th century, it began to recover its popularity, especially when Alfred
Lord Tennyson
wrote his Idylls of the King. The Victorians quickly took the Arthurian
legend to heart,
producing more poetry and paintings inspired by it.
The 20th century has shifted the focus of Arthurian literature from the
medium of
poetry to that of prose, and has produced many well-known works of Arthurian
fiction.
Among these (all books that Greg Weisman has read) are T. H. White's The
Once and
Future King, Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy, John Steinbeck's The Acts of
King Arthur
and his Noble Knights, and Thomas Berger's Arthur Rex. Some, such as White,
Steinbeck, and Berger, have continued to use the legendary medieval setting
for Arthur
and his knights, while others, such as Stewart, have shifted it to the 5th
century of actual
history. Arthur has also appeared in the movies, and even in animated
television series
(particularly Gargoyles).
Although Greg Weisman's hopes of making the "Pendragon" spin-off to
Gargoyles covering Arthur and Griff's adventures were ultimately
unfulfilled, other
works inspired by the legendary king's career will no doubt be written in
the time to
come. Perhaps even, someday, Greg's "Pendragon" spin-off will at last be
made. We
can only hope....
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Images credits & copyright:
Stankewitz, Daniel. Gargoyles-fans.de.
(http://gargoyles-fans.de) - July, 2003
References:
unavailable at this time
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avalon mists / show articles / king arthur
