Arthurian cycle

 born: c. 6th century A.D.

 birthplace: England

 King Arthur  died: possibly 537 A.D.

 known as: ruler of Camelot, a Roman-British leader who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons

King Arthur and his circle are creations of medieval writers drawing on history, folklore, mythology, and imagination.

Arthurian material has been continually reshaped and developed, reflecting aspects of contemporary life, morality, and

(c.600), th

aspirations. The ‘real’ Arthur is a hero referred to in the British poem the Gododdin in the 9 century. Nennius'

Historia Brittonum, Annales Cambriae.

and in two entries in the 10th-cent. King Arthur is one of the great mythic figures

of English literature. Dozens of legends and romantic images have grown up around him: the knights of the Round Table,

Merlin the wizard, and the Holy Grail, to name a few. According to the mythology, he was the son of Uther Pendragon,

King of Britain, and Igraine, wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall. He was conceived out of wedlock (illegitimate son) and

brought up by the wizard Merlin. By pulling the magic sword Excalibur from a stone, from which no one else could

extract it, he revealed himself, though then a child, as the predestined king. Crowned at the age of fifteen, in Wales, he

soon showed his skill as a military commander, even reaching the city of Rome in one campaign. Against Merlin's

advice, Arthur married Guinevere, who loved Sir Lancelot and was unfaithful to the king. Disaster struck his kingdom in

the shape of a rebellion raised by Mordred, his nephew. A great battle was fought, nearly all of the Knights of the Round

Table slain, and Arthur himself sorely wounded. Excalibur was thrown into a lake, and in a boat, three fairies took Arthur

away to Avalon, or Avallach, which has been identified with Glastonbury (a small town situated in the county of

Somerset, England).

 Queen She is the wife of King Arthur in the Arthurian legends. Her illicit and tragic relationship to Lancelot helps to bring about

Guinevere the downfall of Arthur's court and it ends with her retirement to a convent. She also figures in several early romances

Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart.

and Celtic legends. Her betrayal first appears in Chrétien de Troyes' This motif was

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picked up in all the cyclical Arthurian literature, starting with the Lancelot-Grail Cycle of the early 13 century and

Le Morte d'Arthur.

carrying through Thomas Malory's

In surviving accounts of Arthur, there are two originally separate legends about the sword's origin. The first is the

The Sword in the Merlin,

"Sword in the Stone" legend, originally appearing in Robert de Boron's poem in which Excalibur can only be

Stone Suite du Merlin,

drawn from the stone by Arthur, the rightful king. The second comes from the later Post-Vulgate 1

(Excalibur?) which was taken up by Sir Thomas Malory. Here, Arthur receives Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake after breaking

his first sword in a fight with King Pellinore. The Lady of the Lake calls the sword "Excalibur, that is as to say as Cut-

steel," and Arthur takes it from a hand rising out of the lake. As Arthur lies dying, he tells Sir Bedivere (Sir Griflet in

some versions) to return his sword to the lake by throwing it into the water. Bedivere is reluctant to throw away such

a precious sword, so twice he only pretends to do so. Each time, Arthur asks him to describe what he saw. When

Bedivere tells him the sword simply fell into the water, Arthur scolds him harshly. Finally, Bedivere throws Excalibur

into the lake. Before the sword strikes the water's surface, a hand reaches up to grasp it and pulls it under. Arthur

leaves on a death barge with the three queens to Avalon, where as his legend says, he will one day return to rule in

Britain's darkest hour. Le Morte d'Arthur,

Malory records both versions of the legend in his and confusingly calls both swords Excalibur. The

Excalibur

film attempts to rectify this by having only one sword, which Arthur inherits through his father and later

breaks; the Lady of the Lake then repairs it. The Sword in the

"Who so Pulleth Out This Sword of this Stone and Anvil, is Rightwise King Born of All England."

Stone is a novel by T. H. White, published in 1938. The novel is about a young boy named Wart who befriends a

magician named Merlyn. As we suspect all along but only find out for sure at the end, Wart is actually the future King

Arthur. The title refers to a sword that was magically embedded in a stone and which only the future, true-born king

of England would be able to remove. The premise is that Arthur's youth, not dealt with in Malory, was a time when

he was tutored by Merlyn, in preparation for the use of power, and his royal life. Merlyn magically turns Wart into

various animals at times. He also has more normal adventures, at one point meeting the outlaw Robin Wood (sic),

who gets into a fight with anthropophagi. The setting is loosely based on medieval England, and in places it

incorporates White's considerable knowledge of medieval culture (as in relation to hunting, falconry and jousting).

However it makes no attempt at consistent historical accuracy, and incorporates some obvious anachronisms (aided

by the concept that Merlyn lives backwards in time rather than forwards like everyone else).

Merlin. The Legendary bard, magician, and counsellor in Arthurian romance. He was born of a human mother and a spirit father,

from whom he inherited his supernatural abilities. He aided kings of Britain, especially Arthur, by means of his magic

Enchanter art. Through the treachery of Viviane, the Lady of the Lake, to whom he taught his magic, he disappeared and lived

in an enchanted tower in a forest.

(magician, wizard)

The Round Table Knights of the Round Table were those men awarded the highest order of Chivalry at the Court of King Arthur in

the literary cycle the Matter of Britain. The table at which they met was created to have no head or foot,

representing the equality of all the members. The table was said to be a gift to King Arthur from his father-in-law,

King Leodogran of Cameliard, as a wedding gift upon the marriage of Arthur to Guinevere.

Sir Thomas Malory describes the Knights' code of chivalry as:

 To never do outrage nor murder 2

 Always to flee treason

 To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy

 To always do ladies, gentlewomen and widows succour

 To never force ladies, gentlewomen or widows

 Not to take up battles in wrongful quarrels for love or worldly goods

The Knights : Gawain is often portrayed as a formidable but brash warrior, fiercely loyal to his king and family. He is a friend to

young knights and a defender of the poor. In some works, his strength might triples by noon, but fades as the sun

sets. His knowledge of herbs makes him a great healer.

Gawain

Lancelot Sir Lancelot is characterized as the greatest and most trusted of Arthur's knights, and plays a part in many of

Arthur's victories – but Arthur's eventual downfall is also brought about in part by Lancelot, whose affair with

Percival Arthur's wife Guinevere destroys the unity of Arthur's court.

Galahad Percival is one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. He is most famous for his involvement in the

Kay quest for the Holy Grail.After the death of his father, Percival's mother takes him to the Welsh forests where she

raises him ignorant to the ways of men until the age of 15. Eventually, however, a group of knights passes through

his wood, and Percival is struck by their heroic bearing. Wanting to be a knight himself, the boy travels to King

Arthur's court, and after proving his

Sir Galahad is the bastard son of Sir Lancelot and Elaine of Carbonek, and is renowned for his gallantry and purity.

He is perhaps the knightly embodiment of Jesus in the Arthurian legends. Galahad's conception comes about when

Elaine, daughter of the Grail King Pelles, uses magic to trick Lancelot into thinking she is Guinevere. Upon reaching

adulthood, Galahad is reunited with his father Lancelot, who knights him. He is then brought to King Arthur's court at

Camelot during Pentecost. The king asks the young knight to perform a test which involves pulling a sword from a

stone. This he accomplishes with ease, and King Arthur swiftly proclaims Sir Galahad to be the greatest knight in the

world. He is promptly invited to join the Order of the Round Table, and after an ethereal vision of the Holy Grail, the

quest to find the famous object is set.

Sir Kay (Welsh: Cai, Kai, or Kei, or Cei; Latin: Caius or Gaius; French: Keu; French Romance: Queux; Old French: Kès

or Kex) is Sir Ector's son and King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of

the Round Table. 3