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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Lanval
Marie de france lanval summary
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Lanval
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The Court of King Arthur in the Tales of Lanval and Sir Gawain the Green Knight
King Arthur shows to be a very provident king who treats his people with a large amount
of his riches and fortune. Additionally, the people of his court show to be honest, full of chivalry,
and trustworthy. There would seem to be a sort of contract between the king and his subjects: he
provides for them, and they, as his most loyal subjects, keep to his standards of honor and
civility. The court of King Arthur as described in the tale of Lanval by Marie de France shows to
be actually quite similar to the court described in the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Although the characters themselves are in different situations and are treated differently by the
king, the principles of the court remain the same.
As any great king would do, King Arthur shares and rewards his gold, riches, property,
and material wealth to the members of his court. However, in the tale of Lanval, Arthur tends to
ignore Lanval and give him nothing. The people of his court tend not to like Lanval because they
envy his beauty and "feign[…] the appearance of love" for him (Marie 24). Although the king
tends to pay very little attention to Lanval, he continues to be presented as a king of great fortune
and who shares –– for the most part –– with the people of his court, rewarding all of the other
knights and courtiers in his court, but he neglects to accept the fact that Lanval is even in his
presence: "[Arthur] gave out many gifts: / to counts and barons, / ………. / to all but one who
had served him. / That was Lanval; Arthur forgot him, / and none of his men favored him
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either." (Marie 13-20). Be this as it may, Arthur is still...
... middle of paper ...
...ity between the courts of Arthur as presented in
the stories of Lanval and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is important to note the amount of
love and charity that King Arthur shows for his subjects. And likewise, it is important to note the
amount of respect that have for the codes of chivalry and honor, which is often rewarded in the
long run with forgiveness for their transgressions or breeches of contractual obligations.
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Works Cited
Marie de France. Lanval. Trans. Robert Hanning and Joan Ferrante. The Longman Anthology of
British Literature. Eds. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. 4th ed. New York:
Longman, 2010: 1A: 203-219.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Brian Stone. The Longman Anthology of British
Literature. Eds. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. 4th ed. New York: Longman,
2010: 1A: 222-277.
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Marie De France’s Lanval is a remarkable short narrative that engages the reader into a world filled with unrealistic elements, but enhances on the true meaning of romance, chivalry and nature during the years that King Arthur reigned. “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” unfortunately does not have an author that can be recognized but this epic poem demonstrates the ghastly adventure of a knight who decides to defend the honor of young King Arthur against a supernatural being in this malicious game of cat and mouse. Both of these pieces of literature have enchanting characteristics that define them as a masterpiece of their era and that’s why they both are easily compared and contrasted. In addition, both Lanval and “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” can be classified as similar through their themes, style and plots, although they are different through their language and diction. Even though both of these literatures can be viewed as similar as well as contrasting, in the end, each of these tales have illuminated the realm of fantasy throughout the court of King Arthur.
Therefore, commoners have little control over the quality of their life. King Arthur, as any king should, must ensure the prosperity of his subjects especially the most loyal. Kings cannot deviate from this as the feudal system will not support this. France and Joseph Gies refer to this in their book Life in a Medieval Castle. France and Joseph Gies discuss the daily lives of the king and the subjects.
The tales of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Lanval offer their readers insight into a common knightly quandary. Gawain and Lanval are both faced with challenges that threaten their ability to protect, uphold, and affirm their very knightliness. The two knights repeatedly see several knightly traits--- each invaluable to the essence of a knight--- brought into conflict. While the knights are glorified in their respective texts, they are faced with impossible dilemmas; in each story, both reader and knight are confronted with the reality that knightly perfection is unattainable: concessions must be made--- bits and pieces of their honor must be sacrificed.
Malory, Thomas. King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales by Sir Thomas Malory, ed. Eugene Vinaver (London: Oxford UP, 1975) 124-25.
Lanval’s initial introduction to the reader is one that focuses solely on his emotional and physical isolation from the rest of the Arthurian world as “he was far from his heritage” (27-28) and forgotten by King Arthur upon the king’s lavish distribution of “wives and lands” (17) to his “members of the Round Table” (15). The king’s knights are depicted as a “company with no equal in all the world” (16), a description which excludes Lanval. Consequently, the use of the word “company” in this account of his contemporaries is particularly significant as its multiple definitions a...
accept his terms. He mocks Arthur, who is silent, and before the king can accept,
...t say that .He was ready to take punishment according to judge’s decision it shows his honesty and loyalty. Finally, Lanval’s beloved came when he saw her he surprised and became glad .The Lady told to the Jury I am his beloved .Lanval has been wrongly accused by queen. He never sought queen’s love. The Jury also surprised to see fairy lady and they believed her evidence. They freed Lanvel by their decision. After that Lanval went with his beloved to Avalon and no one heard any more about him.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume One. General Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1993.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume A. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 162-213.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Brian Stone. The Middle Ages, Volume 1A. Eds. Christopher Baswell and Anne Howland Schotter. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Fourth ed. Gen.eds David Damrosch, and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2010. 222-77. Print.
On another note King Arthur is only resting for after King Arthur and his era was over a shepherd came across a cave full of gold, silver and a King with knights.
... Monarchy and the traditions of the past which he had a deep appreciation for.
Although King Arthur is one of the most well-known figures in the world, his true identity remains a mystery. Attempts to identify the historical Arthur have been unsuccessful, since he is largely a product of fiction. Most historians, though, agree that the real Arthur was probably a battle leader of the Britons against the Anglo-Saxons in the sixthth century. In literature, King Arthur's character is unique and ever changing, taking on a different face in every work. There is never a clearly definitive picture that identifies Arthur's character. It is therefore necessary to look at a few different sources to get better insight into the character of Arthur, the once and future king.
If the name of King Arthur is mentioned, I suppose what comes to mind is not so much one person as a whole array of characters and themes, a montage so to speak. Of course we do think first of the King, the magnificent monarch of a glorified or idealized medieval realm. But we think also of his Queen, of the fair and wayward Guinevere, we think of his enchanter, Merlin, who presided over his birth, who set him on the throne, who established him there in the early and traveled days of his reign. There were the knights of the Round Table, vowed to the highest ideals of chivalry, and the greatest of them, Sir Lancelot, who, of course, has a tragic love affair with the Queen. There is another great love story, that of Tristan and Isolde, the theme of Wagner's Opera.
...nd his morality. His practicality ties him to the throne. A part of him still depends on approval, on the “worldly symbols” he was never truly able to relinquish.