The Coming of Arthur
The Two Swords- Arthur pulls a sword from a stone and becomes king. Then he goes to the Lady of the Lake and she gives him the sword Excalibur and the magic scabbard.
Balyn and Balan- Balyn gets a cursed sword and kills the Lady of the Lake. He goes after Garlon the invisible evil night and finds the Castel Carbonek. He stricks King Pelles with the Dolorous Stroke then fights his brother unknowingly and they kill each other.
The First Quest of the Round Table- King Arthur marries Guinevere on Pentecost and Sir Gawine, Sir Tor, and King Pellinore go on the first quest of the Round Table. They go after a white hart, a brachet, and a knight and a damsel.
The Magic of Nimue and Morgana Le Fae- Nimue puts Merlin in a deep sleep in a tower where he cannot get out. Arthur’s sister Morgana Le Fae, tricks him into doing battle against his own knight who has his sword, Excalibur. While he is sleeping, she steals his magic scabbard and throws it into the lake.
Book II: The Knights of the Round Table
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight- The Green Knight makes a deal with Gawain who must meet him a year later to have his head cut off. A year later Gawain goes out to find him like he promised. And stays at a man’s house where he is treated very well. The man ends up to be the Green Knight and and does not kill Gawain because he has proven that he is a noble knight.
The First Quest of Sir Launcelot- King Arthur knights Launcelot, Hector his brother, and Lionel his cousin. Then Sir Launcelot kills the evil knight Sir Turquyn and saves many of the Knights of the Round Table. He also performs many other good deeds, and Lady Allewes tries to kill him.
Sir Gareth, or the Knight of the Kitchen- Given the name Beaumans (fair hands) by Sir Kay, Gareth asks for a quest from King Arthur. After he kills the Black Knight, Sir Launcelot knights him. He then defeats the Green, Blue, and Red Knight and marries Lady Linnet after saving her sister, Lady Liones.
Sir Tristram and the Fair Iseult- A mistral comes into King Arthur’s court and tells the tale of how Sir Tristram drank a love potion and fell in love with Iseult the Fair, his uncle’s wife, and became banished. The mistral ends up to be Tristram, and is made a knight of the Round Table. He marries another Iseult, but dies and so does...
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...il and Naciens is able to die in peace. Then Galahad cures King Pelles who also dies in Peace. Percivale and Blanchefleur are married and Galahad dies.
Book IV: The Departing of Arthur
Launcelot and Guinevere- Guinevere is hostage by Sir Melliagraunce. Then Agravain and Mordred spy on Guinevere and Launcelot and they overhear their plans.
The Plots of Sir Mordred- Launcelot and Guinevere are caught, but he escapes and saves Guinevere from being burned at the stake. Then he accidentally kills Gareth and Gaheris, Gawain’s brother, and a war is started. Sir Mordred comes to gight Arthur and Gawain dies, writing a letter to Launcelot, forgiving him and begging him to come and help.
The Last Battle- Gawain comes to Arthur in a dream and warns him to make peace with Mordred for a month until Launcelot comes. The men attack during during the treaty and Arthur kills Mordred, but receives a very bad wound and is taken away on a barge with Nimue and Morgana le Fay.
Epilogue: Avalon- Sir Launcelot becomes a Frier and Guinevere becomes a nun. A shepherd claims to have found where King Arthur and his knights of the round table are sleeping, but he never finds the spot again.
In this tale Lyonet was sent to find a noble knight to rescue her sister from the Red Knight of the Red Launds.When she came to King Arthur’s court to ask of such a knight to aid her, a man to the name of Sir Beaumains asked to be the one to rescue the sister of Lyonet. At this point of the tale Sir Beaumains was considered to be not as noble as Lyonet had wanted. Beaumains wouldn’t leave her on her journey back to her sister. Lyonet kept referring to Beaumains as a kitchen knave from King Arthur’s court and would give him no respect as a knight. Throughout the journey Beaumains would not reveal his true identity and Lyonet kept wishing him gone. She would tell all of the knights that they came across in their journey what kind of man he was and taunt them to get them to fight. Every time Beaumains would win. Finally Beumains overcame the Red knight of the Red Launds and saved Lyonet’s sister, Dame Lyonesse. Once Lyonesse was freed she fell madly in love with Beaumains and wanted to be with him. Everytime Lyonesse would sneak into the room to “be with” Beaumains Lyonet would send a knight into the room and to do great harm to Beaumains so that they could not do the things they were trying to do. Lyonet never trusted Beaumains to be a truly noble knight until his name was revealed and his lineage was known.
One of the most enduring myths in the Western world is that of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Regardless of the origins of the tales, the fact is that by the time they had been filtered through a French sensibility and re-exported to England, they were representations of not one but several ideals. Courtly love and chivalry and the various components thereof, such as martial prowess, chastity, bravery, courtesy, and so on, were presented as the chief virtues to aspire to, and the knights as role models. Arthur's eventual fall is precisely because of having failed at some level to fulfill these ideals in his life.
In his struggles to uphold his chivalric duties, Sir Gawain faithfully demonstrates the qualities of chivalry and fidelity until his honor is called into question by an unknown green knight that rides into the castle.
There is a form of pure love and authentic chivalry that permeates throughout the Arthurian legends. Elements of loyalty and valor accompany these concepts, and all are equally represented in Chretien de Troyes' The Knight of the Cart, or more commonly known as Lancelot, the original text that portrayed the adulterous affair between Lancelot, a knight in Arthur’s court, and Arthur’s queen, Guinevere. In a similar style to the aithed (Kibler 112)—or Celtic tale of abduction —Chretien crafts a time enduring legend in which in our knight of the cart, Lancelot embarks on a romantic and chivalric quest in search of the queen, for Meleagant has taken her as prisoner to his otherworldly realm of Gorre. Along this journey, Lancelot encounters a myriad of perhaps unbearable tests and tribulations, yet he never fails to rise above these trials and continue on in his pursuit for his great love. However, all the adventures Lancelot endures all stem from one fleeting moment comprised of great sin, the instance where Lancelot hesitates for two steps before climbing into the cart that permanently shames all who ride within it.
The story begins during the New Year's feast in King Arthur's court. Then a green knight enters asking all of the knights in the court if they would like to play a game. The game is he will allow which ever knight that chooses to challenge him one swing with a battle ax to try and chop off his head, but in order to play the game, the accepting knight must meet the green knight one year later at the green chapel. The brave knight Sir Gawain accepts to the challenge of the green knight. Sir Gawain takes one swing and chops off the head of the green knight. Right after the green knight's head is chopped off he gets up immediately, picks up his head and leaves. Once a year passes, Gawain sets off on a journey to find the Green Chapel. He arrives at a castle in which a lord welcomes him to stay for several days (Gawain only needs to stay there for three). The next morning the lord makes an agreement to share everything he gets during these three days with Gawain, but Gawain must agree to do the same. During days one and two the lord's wife tries hitting on Gawain, but he only allows her to give him a few kisses. At these days Gawain shares what he got to the lord for what he has hunted those days. On the third day, Gawain finally accepts to take a magic girdle from the lord's wife, but he didn't share it with the lord. This magic girdle helped Gawain survive the three fatal swing's of the green giant's ax, only leaving him with a little nick. After Gawain survives these 3 swings at his neck, the green knight then reveals his identity and explains that he is Bercilak, the lord of the castle. He also said that the three blows were taken at him in regards to the three days of their agreement.
Numerous sources, such as Layamon's "Arthur's Dream", Marie de France's "Lanval" and Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, portray Guinevere as a unfaithful wife and the primary cause of the fall of King Arthur and The Round Table. In all of the three works, Guinevere is seen approaching various men such as Lanval and Sir Lancelot, knights of her husband. And, yet, she remains virtuous and appealing in the eyes of King Arthur, who loves her dearly. Such blindness or possibly Arthur's unconditional love of Guinevere and Lancelot, Arthur's best knight, lead to the fall of Arthur's Britain and of the Round Table.
After a moment of consideration, Sir Gawain accepts the terrifying challenge. As he tries to perform the first part of the challenge, he stumbles into an even bigger surprise. As Gawain hits the Green Knight with an ax, the head of the Green Knight falls on the floor. Instead of the Green Knight falling, he jumps up, grabs his head and leaves, with these final words: "Sir Gawain forget not to go as agreed…To the Green Chapel come, I charge you to take such a dint as you have dealt – you have well deserved that your head should have a knock on New Year's morn." (Norton Anthology,211)
Accalon for his actions and names Morgan Le Fey as the real culprit and therefore forgives Accalon. After he pleads and cries to the king. Ma...
When looking back at the medieval ages, one may realize that the knights had many extraordinary abilities- they were like superheroes. In different Arthurian Legends, like The Crowning of Arthur, Arthur Becomes King, and Sir Launcelot du Lake, many people admire the person who has these inhumane abilities. Arthur and Sir Launcelot are both characters that initially seem like ordinary people, but show their superior strength and power by the end of the story. Arthur releases a sword from a stone that not even the strongest man can pull out, while Sir Launcelot murders a knight who is known to be an undefeated fighter. Because of these actions, both characters grew to fame. Sir Thomas Malory and T. H. White use unique abilities to exhibit the theme that one should never underestimate who they are and their capabilities in doing something.
T.H. White's novel The Once and Future King presents a code of chivalry that outlines the expected knightly behavior of the time. This particular code stresses loyalty to one's liege, love and respect toward women, and absolute devotion to justice. At the height of Arthur's kingdom, this code was widely accepted by all. However, as Arthur's kingdom begins to decline, the code of chivalry begins to hold less importance among the people. The fall of Arthur's kingdom is directly related to the absence of the code of chivalry in the behavior of the Knights of the Round Table. Sir Lancelot betrays Arthur when he has an adulteress affair with Guenever. Sir Lancelot also disrespects women when he leaves Elaine to be with Guenever in Camelot. King Arthur himself is disloyal to justice when he allows Guenever to be rescued by Lancelot.
Arthur's wife Guenever has an affair with one of Arthur's best knights, Lancelot. Since he is a just king, Arthur feels obligated to persecute them for adultery and treason. This went along with Mordred's plan to upset the court and, since he was the only son of Arthur (not with Guenever however), to become King of England. Lancelot kills Gareth, Gaheris, and Agravaine, all knights of the Roundtable. Mordred convinces a surviving knight, Gawaine that Lancelot killed them out of his own hatred of England.
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is a satiric comedy about the quest of King Arthur. The movie starts out with Arthur, King of the Britons, looking for knights to sit with him at Camelot. He finds many knights including Sir Galahad the pure, Sir Lancelot the brave, the quiet Sir Bedevere, and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Lancelot. Through satire and parody of certain events in history (witch trials, the black plague) they find Camelot, but after literally a quick song and dance they decide that they do not want to go there. While walking away, God (who seems to be grumpy) come to them from a cloud and tells them to find the Holy Grail. They agree and begin their search. While they search for the Grail, scenes of the knight's tales appear and the reasons behind their names. Throughout their search, they meet interesting people and knights along the way. Most of the characters die; some through a killer rabbit (which they defeat with the holy hand grenade), others from not answering a question right from the bridge of Death, or die some other ridiculous way. In the end, King Arthur and Sir Bedevere are left and find the Castle Arrrghhh where the Holy Grail is. They are met by some French soldiers who taunted them earlier in the film and were not able to get into the castle. The movie ends with both King Arthur and Sir Bedevere being arrested for killing a real-life man who was a historian.
When all the courtly love elements that flow through The Knight of the Cart are composed, in addition to a tale of love affair between Queen Guinevere and Lancelot of the Lake, a document revealing the enchanting history of the Twelfth Century Renaissance is created. Troyes, our powerful storyteller, was able to do this by taking us on a journey with Lancelot, not only though his exciting battles to Guinevere but, through his passionate and enamored thoughts and behaviors that yearns for his beloved.
Curiously, one seat in particular always remained empty at the Round Table, and it was reserved for the one who would find the Holy Grail. When that brave knight arrived in King Arthur's court and took his place in the Siege Perilous at the Round Table, the Quest for the Holy Grail began officially began. This knight was Sir Galahad. King Arthur, however, was not very excited for he feared the loss of many of his bravest and best knights. Indeed, many knights set forth on this noble quest, but only a few returned.
How would you describe Sir Lancelot? Most people would say he is the strongest, bravest, and kindest knight of the round table. Some might say he is the biggest Benedict Arnold of all time because of the adultery he committed with Queen Guinevere. However, his chivalry and code of honor make him the epitome of a true gentleman. These contrasting qualities set Sir Lancelot apart from all the other knights and characters in the “Morte D’Arthur.” Lancelot’s gallant, courageous, and conflicting personality make him a complex character in this dramatic tale of love and betrayal.