#morte darthur

[sir-literary-nerd]

[mosaicofdreamsanddragons]

Confessions of a medievalist: I have never read Mallory’s Morte Darthur cover to cover.

So I now present to you things I didn’t realize about Morte Darthur chapter 1:

Kay was still “nourishing” and was handed off to another woman so his mother could “nourish”baby Arthur. Meaning he was not old enough to get weened. So Kay and Arthur’s age difference is smaller then the three years (as I had always assumed) and probably no more then one.

Sir Ector (Kay’s dad, Arthur’s foster dad) knew the king was giving him this baby and got a lot of rewards for it. Yet when Arthur pulled the sword he was shocked and confesses Arthur’s blood was of a higher status then he’d assumed. This leads me to believe that he thought he was Igraine’s child by her first husband and the king was just getting rid of him like he did with all of Igraine’s daughters (marrying them of and then putting the youngest in a nunnery)

Morgan is sent to a nunnery and then married off. Which seems odd to me. But I guess Uther just didn’t want to raise her until she was ready to be married off.

Oh and Uther goes and gets himself into a war two years after arthur is born. It seems to be implying that’s why he never went to go get him. Which makes sense…but I still don’t like this guy, he killed a woman’s husband to sleep with her, raped her, didn’t tell her the baby was his and left her stressing about it for a good while, sent all her children away. If Merlin’s gonna manipulate him on his deathbed to secure Arthur’s throne I am not gonna shed a tear over it.

It didn’t say Arthur was 15. It’s left quite vague. All we know is he’s older then two. Which, I sure hope so

Kay knows what the sword is the second he sees it. It’s Arthur who doesn’t. Kay immediately goes “oh I guess I’m king now” and goes to tell his dad but is completely willing to explain that Arthur found it and seems not to care that Arthur gets the crown.

Arthur swore as long as he lived he’d never let anyone but Kay be steward. Like that’s an oath he takes. Explains a lot about the Dutch tradition and why he never gets fired.

The aristocracy kept trying to delay his coronation. It’s kinda funny.

[mimsylost]

After killing the knights Lancelot goes like “Arthur and Gawain you two are the only ones who declare that I betrayed the king! everyone else believes I am innocent considering the fact that they don’t want to fight with me!”

But you just blindingly killed forty knights in an hour or so, Lance. Nobody would actually want to fight with you if they don’t have a death wish.

[queen-erika-the-songful]

I spent way to much time making this for my Guinevere project in Middle English Romance because my professor apparently likes memes.

[mosaicofdreamsanddragons]

Reading Morte Darthur chapter 8 in this edition which is chapter 10 in mine, part 1:

If Malory hasn’t changed to much from the source material, Gawain saying he’s not going to turn on Lancelot is very ironic.

Agravaine had a point. They are Arthur’s nephews and shouldn’t be turning a blind eye to the Lancelot-Guinevere situation

Gawain seems to be acting very maturely here. Pointing out that if they do this it will cause a schism in Camelot between them and Lancelot’s friends and relations. He’s thinking long term consequences and not about any slights to their family honor

I can’t tell if Arthur doesn’t know or if he’s just pretending he doesn’t know

Lancelot is a dumbass. His nephew basically said “don’t go to the Queen. Agrivaine’s sniffing for your head. You’ll get caught.” And he goes anyways

Lancelot and Guinevere need to stop trying to die for each other, and focus on the immediate problem

Lancelot: “Arthur has betrayed me! It’s like he’s got a problem with me having a long running affair with his wife!”

[mimsylost]

I think the reason I’m so bothered at Lancelot during the demise of Camelot is because of the way he positions himself as innocent. While I don’t really blame him for this, I can’t see it as particularly persuasive, either. He keeps saying that he doesn’t want to fight, and would have peace with Arthur at all costs, but he wouldn’t admit his treason. Furthermore, he goes on to argue that since no one can beat him in a battle, he cannot be found guilty. It is Arthur and Gawain who are being reckless and unforgiving. And this is not the first time he depends on this logic. In the knight of the cart episode, he framed Maleagant as the guilty one for blood in queen’s bed because no one can win the fight against him to prove otherwise. He is able to get away with his lies thanks to his prowess.

While this may have been successful with Maleagant, it cannot solve the problem with Arthur and Gawain. He ultimately has to choose between the two (admit treason or fight) because they were incompatible from the start. Lance forever pending this dilemma makes him more responsible for his own demise. And that’s also what makes him human, I guess. People generally avoid thinking about the dilemma until it gets out of hand.

[mimsylost]

I suddenly became curious if Arthur’s kingdom could have avoided civil war in Malory, even if the adultery thing didn’t blow up... and Mordred didn’t resolve to usurp the throne. But considering the accusation of adultery served as a pretext for vanquishing Lancelot (and his faction, presumably?), I guess there is a certain possibility that the faction rivalry would have evolved into a civil war, even without adultery and Mordred problem.. (aside from the fact that they serve as an important plot device)

Anyway I’m wondering how the story would unfold if Gawain peacefully ascended to the throne. I don’t remember if Gawain was the official heir in Malory but. Assuming that...  Would the Lancelot faction stay calm and greet him as a new king? Or due to the underlying grievances, would they come up with their own pretext to change the situation (like announcing that you can’t have a knight murderer on the crown... or something)? 

Personally I think at least Lancelot would have acknowledged Gawain as the next king... but then, Gawain couldn’t stop his brothers from laying bare the adultery issue. Who can say that all members in the faction would share the same heart as the leader, when there’s so many interests and grievances intertwined with one another?

[bumpyfrog]

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