Download The Arthurian Legend

The Arthurian Legend
A retelling drawing from many different versions. There is no one, true
version.
An Island Divided
In the years of upheaval after the Roman withdrawal in 410AD, Britain
became an island of small kingdoms. Aurelius Ambrosias tried to unite the
small Romano-Celtic kingdoms against their common enemies-- the Irish,
the Picts and the Saxons. According to legend, after the death of Aurelius, he
was followed in his quest by Uther Pendragon, the father of Arthur.
Vortigern and Merlin
Vortigern consulted his magicians, and they told him he should find a boy
without a father, and kill him and incorporate his bones and blood into the
foundations of the castle. Vortigern sent out messengers, who "came to a
town which was afterwards called Kaermerdin and there they saw some lads
playing by the town gate.... a sudden quarrel broke out between the two lads,
whose names were Merlin and Dinabutius. As they argued, Dinabutius said
to Merlin: '...How can we two be equal in skill? I myself am of royal blood
on both sides of my family. As for you, nobody knows who you are, for you
never had a father!'" (Geoffrey of Monmouth 167). Having found what they
sought, the messengers dragged the boy back with them to Vortigern.
Merlin
Merlin objected to being killed, of course, and it was when confronted with
his death, he called Vortigern's great magicians liars, and promised to solve
the problem of the castle foundations himself. He told the King that the
foundations fell every night because there was a pool of water beneath the
foundation stones. He also told the King that beneath the pool, two dragons
lay sleeping. And when Vortigern dug under the foundations, he found the
pool. And when he drained the pool, the two dragons awoke, and began to
fight, and Merlin began to prophesy:
"Alas for the Red Dragon, for its end is near. Its cavernous dens shall be
occupied by the White Dragon, which stands for the Saxons which you have
invited over. The Red Dragon represents the people of Britain, who will be
overrun by the White One..." (Geoffrey of Monmouth 171)
Merlin proceeded to warn Vortigern that Aurelius Ambrosius, the son of the
man that Vortigern had betrayed to assume the throne, would come to drive
out the Saxons and to kill Vortigern. Merlin then departed Vortigern's
doomed presence, and went to Aurelius Ambrosius and became his chief
advisor, who succeeded in all the things that Merlin had prophesied that he
would, driving out the Saxons, and indeed, killing Vortigern.
Uther Pendragon
During the reign of Aurelius Ambrosius, a comet appeared in the sky.
Shortly thereafter, Aurelius was poisoned by an agent of one of Vortigern's
sons, and Uther Pendragon assumed the throne. He was told by Merlin that
the comet had signified his rise to power. Uther continued to drive back the
Saxons, and once victorious, cast about him for a wife. Unfortunately, his
eye settled upon a woman who was already married, one Igraine, wife of
Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. It was not long before Uther and Gorlois went to
battle over the woman, and once again, the island was at war.
Uther and Gorlois fought for some time, before Uther cornered Gorlois in
Cornwall, near Tintagel Castle. The night before they were about to have the
final battle, Uther demanded of Merlin that he have Igraine. Merlin agreed
for a price to be named at a future date. Merlin disguised Uther as Gorlois by
spell craft, and sneaked him into the castle. Igraine received him there,
thinking Uther was her husband. She became pregnant with Arthur from the
night's work. The next day, Uther took the field and killed Gorlois in battle.
Igraine became Uther's wife not long after.
In most versions of the story, Arthur was born to Igraine and taken away
from his parents secretly by Merlin for fostering. There are usually a variety
of reasons given for this-- that there were too many doubts about Arthur's
parentage (Igraine herself thought she lay with Gorlois on the night of
Arthur's conception), and thus Uther did not want to keep a son who might
not be his; that there were too many dangers to a child that might be Uther's
or might be Gorlois' in the political climate; or that this was the price Merlin
had requested from Uther for the night with Igraine. Whatever the reason,
Arthur was not usually represented to have grown up with his mother and
father, nor his half-sister, Morgan, the child from his mother's first marriage.
He was, instead, given by Merlin to be fostered by Sir Ector, and raised with
Kay.
In the meantime, the island fell to warring once more, for not all who were
loyal to Aurelius were so taken with his brother. Uther, constantly embattled,
grew ill with the stress of his wars, and his health began to fail. By the time
Arthur was a young man, Uther was near death.
In some stories, Arthur was then taken by his tutor Merlin to meet with the
dying king on the field of battle. Uther turned over the armies to Arthur's
command, and Arthur that day defeated the Saxons, and proved to his father's
armies that he was the rightful heir.
the King and had a voice in the affairs of the realm, or as difficult as beating
the rebellious leaders into submission. After this was accomplished, the
united forces of Romano-Celtic Britain began the long and arduous task of
fighting the Saxons. The famous Twelve Battles of Arthur, as listed first by
Nennius, document the long, uphill struggle to free the island-- or at least to
drive back the Anglo-Saxon invaders. The battles ended with the climax of
the Battle of Badon, in which Arthur is said to have worn the banner of the
Virgin Mary on his shoulders.
The Sword in the Stone
In other stories, Uther died without ever seeing his son, and the island was
left without a king. All the great lords of Britain turned out for a tournament,
whose victor would become the next King.
Kay, newly knighted, fought in the tournament, and Arthur acted as his
squire. As they left their lodgings one morning for the tournament field,
Arthur in his excitement forgot Kay's sword. As they approached the field,
Kay asked Arthur where it was, and when he found out that Arthur had
forgotten it, sent the boy back to fetch it with all due haste. Arthur, trying to
be as quick as possible, came across the sword in a stone in the courtyard of
an abbey. Without thought, he ran up, grabbed the sword, pulled it out, and
ran back to Kay. Kay was surprised at Arthur's speed. He looked suspiciously
at the sword-- and was amazed. He recognized it as the sword in the stone.
He showed it to his father, who eventually got the truth from both Kay and
Arthur, that Arthur had pulled it from the stone. Written on the sword was
"whosoever shall pull me from the stone shall be the next King of Britain."
Ector called an end to the tournament, and showed the lords of the realm the
sword that his foster son had pulled from the stone. Various tests were
imposed, but eventually it became clear that Arthur had indeed pulled the
sword from the stone, and was the next King of Britain.
After the Battle of Badon came peace, and the King cast about him for a
wife. His eye fell on Guinevere-- depending on the version, once again, he
married one, two or even three women by this name. They did not meet
before their marriage, and Lancelot, Arthur's most trusted knight, went to
fetch her and bring her back to Camelot. Along the way, they are supposed to
have fallen in love. Their courtly love was doomed from the beginning, of
course, as courtly romances are supposed to be.
A time of peace finally settled on the land.
Sinister Things Afoot
In all the medieval romances, this early part of Arthur's reign was strange and
mysterious. The knights were kept busy with numerous quests, such as the
White Stag, the Loathly Lady and the Green Knight. In older versions of the
Matter, there were such diversions as Cullwch and Olwen or the Cad Pagur.
And in between times there were mundane events such as tournaments to
keep everyone entertained as well.
But at the same time, the evil half-sister was plotting her brother's demise. In
several stories, Morgan went to great lengths to end Arthur's reign. Morgan's
plots ranged from False Excalibur to stirring up jealousy between the King
and Lancelot to conceiving a son (Mordred) with her brother.
The Young King
The Holy Grail
Young king Arthur was faced with difficulties from the beginning. He had to
drive the Saxons back. In order to do this, though, he needed to unify the
petty kings of Britain to fight the Saxons. He also had to develop an effective
fighting force, and somewhere along the way, get married.
Depending on the version of the story, the unification of the petty kings was
as easy as forming a Round Table where everyone was equal in the eyes of
As Arthur aged, Camelot went into decline. The evil work of Morgan began
to take over the once glorious kingdom; the knights became mean, lost their
chivalry, turned to in-fighting. Merlin, in an effort to save Camelot,
suggested a grander quest than any of the others he had previously created,
and told the King to send his knights to quest for the Holy Grail. The Grail,
which brings healing and eternal life, would be the key to lifting the King's
spirits and bringing his health back, and thus also the health of the realm.
The knights scatter to the four corners of the earth. Perceval was caught in a
wasteland belonging to a maimed king; Galahad, the most innocent of
knights, the only man pure enough to sit in the Perilous Seat, died on his
quest; and flawed Lancelot several times came close to finding the grail but
always failed. He returned a madman in some versions. In other versions,
Galahad was successful, but then disappeared from the mortal realm forever.
The Grail was never brought to Camelot, however.
The Imprisonment of Merlin
Morgan is sometimes credited for also thinking a method of disposing of
Merlin, though in other versions, Niniane acted alone.
Niniane wished to acquire all of Merlin's powers and secrets. She went to
great lengths to seduce him, and steal his powers while he slept; in some
versions, Merlin's celibacy that kept him powerful, in others it is merely that
with his guard down he could not defend himself against a lesser sorcerer.
When Niniane stripped him of his power, she imprisoned him in a crystal
cave or in an oak tree, for she was unable to kill him. Sometimes she merely
wished to usurp Merlin's place at Arthur's side; other times, she eliminated
Merlin on Morgan's behalf.
Mordred
Meanwhile, far from court, Morgan had raised her son to despise Arthur, and
sent him to his father when he reached adulthood. If his heritage was found
out, it made Arthur look bad, at the very least; at best, Mordred would work
to bring about the fall of Arthur.
In the medieval versions, the court of Camelot had declined substantially in
morals during Mordred's childhood and adolescence, and a general malaise
surrounded the King. Mordred would at that point only be aiding in the
inevitable. In older versions of the story, Mordred is not evil, and exemplifies
the uncle/nephew relationship of Celtic myth. In some modern versions,
Mordred is merely a mortal caught between the desires of his parents.
The Betrayal of Lancelot
Traditionally, Mordred noticed the relationship between Guinevere and
Lancelot off the bat, and tried to discredit both the King's wife and the King's
best friend, to create a niche for himself. When he found out that Lancelot
and Guinevere have gone off on a tryst together, he called together some of
his fathers loyal knights, and had them barge in on the lovers, having them
both taken prisoner. Lancelot managed to escape.
Sometimes Arthur is on the scene, and other times he is off negotiating or
fighting wars. Invariably, the decision is made that Guinevere must be
executed for her treachery upon the King's return. In at least one version, the
scene is very dramatic-- Guinevere is led to the stake to be burned for
adultery; Arthur looks on, stone-faced; Lancelot swoops in on his horse,
rescues her, and runs away with her to the Joyous Gard (his castle), where
they live for some time.
Arthur has no time to get her back, either by wooing or warfare. For on the
horizon, is war.
The Fall of Camelot
The versions are countless. Arthur is attacked by Romans, by Goths, by
Saxons, by Picts, by the French, by the Irish, by Lancelot, by Morgan le Fay,
by Mordred, by rebellious subject kings-- you name it, in some version, they
are the group that brings about the fall of Camelot. But of course, Camelot
had already fallen, in the betrayal of the King's wife and friend, and in the
deterioration of the moral values of the men in charge of guarding the
kingdom. The last battle, the battle of Camlann, marks the fall of the great
King. He lies dying.
And while the details of Arthur's death are varied as well, one scene in
particular always stands out in my mind, so I will present it here as
definitive.
The great king lay dying at the edge of the battle. Bedivere, his oldest
companion, knelt next to him, seeking to comfort his friend in his last
moments. "My lord," he said, "My king, Arthur, what can I do?"
Arthur turned to him and said, "Take my sword, Excalibur, and go to the
water's edge. Throw it in, and then return to tell me what you saw."
Bedivere agreed to do his bidding, and took Excalibur and walked down to
the water's edge. But when he lifted his hand to throw the sword into the
water, he found he could not. This was the sword of a great king; this was the
sword that should be passed on to the next king. If the next king were a boy,
as Arthur had been, or if there were some doubt amongst the people, this
sword could give them confidence that there was a worthy successor to
Arthur on the throne.
Bedivere hid the sword under a bush, and marked the spot, intending to
retrieve it later.
Bedivere returned to his king.
"Have you done as I have asked?"
"I saw the splash when the sword hit the water, and the dying sun's rays
bright on the waves."
"You have not done what I asked!" the king said angrily. "Go forth,
Bedivere, and if you love me, throw my sword Excalibur into the lake!"
Bedivere, even more troubled, left his king, took the sword from its hiding
place, and went to the water's edge. Then he lifted it high over his head, and
hurled it out over the lake.
The sword did not have a chance to hit the water; for a hand rose from the
deep center of the lake, and caught the sword neatly. It saluted Bedivere three
times, and then sank beneath the surface, until all that was left were the
waves lapping at the bank, and the wind in the reeds.
"Aye, my lord," Bedivere replied.
Bedivere returned to his king, and said, "I have done your bidding."
"Tell me what you saw," the king commanded.
"What did you see?"
"I saw nothing but the ripple of the water as the sword fell into it, and heard
the crying of the water birds."
At this, Arthur grew angry, and said, "Friend, you have not done what I
asked. Go you forth and throw my sword Excalibur into the lake!"
"I saw a hand rise from the lake and catch the sword; they saluted three
times, and disappeared beneath the water, and left nothing more than the
lapping of the water at the bank, and the sound of the wind in the reeds."
"Thank you, my friend," Arthur said, and closed his eyes.
Troubled, Bedivere rose to his feet and returned to the place where he had
left the sword, and intending to do his liege's bidding, lifted the sword over
his head to throw it forth.
But his eyes were caught by the gleam of the setting sun on the blade, and he
thought how faithful the sword had been to the King in battle; surely the
blade deserved better than to be cast into the water, to rust and rot. So
Bedivere took the sword and hid it under a bush again, and marked the spot
so he might retrieve it later.
And Bedivere stayed with his mortally wounded friend, as the sun set, and
the stars came out. And from the darkness came nine women dressed like
queens. Bedivere was frozen at the sight of them. The tenderly lifted the
dying king from his rough bed on the ground, and bore him off. Bedivere
was anxious to see where they were going, so he followed as quickly as he
could. But it was as though lead weighted his feet, and he did not catch up
with them until the nine queens had loaded Arthur onto a barge and had
sailed half-way across the lake.
"I have done your bidding, my lord," Bedivere said, when he returned to
Arthur's side.
Bedivere returned to the battlefield, and found his brother, and together, they
went back to the world.
"And what did you see?" the king asked.