Week 10: Arthur's Victorian Idyll

In the early 19th century, medievalism, Romanticism and the Gothic Revival reawakened interest in Arthur and the medieval romances. A new code of ethics for 19th-century gentlemen was shaped around the chivalric ideals that the "Arthur of romance" embodied. This renewed interest first made itself felt in 1816, when Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur was reprinted for the first time since 1634. Initially the medieval Arthurian legends were of particular interest to poets, inspiring, for example, William Wordsworth to write "The Egyptian Maid" (1835), an allegory of the Holy Grail. Pre-eminent among these was Alfred Lord Tennyson, whose first Arthurian poem, "The Lady of Shalott", was published in 1832.  Although Arthur himself played a minor role in some of these works, following in the medieval romance tradition, Tennyson's Arthurian work reached its peak of popularity with Idylls of the King, which reworked the entire narrative of Arthur's life for the Victorian era. First published in 1859, it sold 10,000 copies within the first week. In the Idylls, Arthur became a symbol of ideal manhood whose attempt to establish a perfect kingdom on earth fails, finally, through human weakness. Tennyson's works prompted a large number of imitators, generated considerable public interest in the legends of Arthur and the character himself, and brought Malory's tales to a wider audience. Indeed, the first modernization of Malory's great compilation of Arthur's tales was published shortly after Idylls appeared, in 1862, and there were six further editions and five competitors before the century ended. [Wikipedia ‘King Arthur’]

Victorian view of the Holy Grail

Blog Question: What was it about the Victorian age that promoted the revival of the Arthurian story?

Week 9: Malory and the once and future king

Lancelot from Arthur (2004)

In creating the Morte, Malory drew on several sources, including various parts of the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate cycles, the Prose Tristan, and the Alliterative Morte Arthure and the Stanzaic Morte Arthur; but he was not a slavish translator. He reshaped his originals, omitted much that was not relevant to his purpose and even created new sections to advance his themes. One of the ways that Malory reworked earlier texts was by bringing Lancelot into prominence and making him the central character, more important even than Arthur in the overall scheme of the book. 

One of the things that makes Lancelot such a significant and interesting character is that, in his attempt to live up to his reputation as the best of knights, he strives for perfection in all of the codes that a knight should be subject to. He is more chivalric and courtly than any other knight; he seeks adventure, champions women and the oppressed, acts in a courtly manner and serves his king at home and abroad to a degree unachieved by anyone else. He is the truest of all lovers never even considering another woman. And he strives to perfect himself spiritually as he seeks the Holy Grail. Of course he fails to be perfect in all these areas – partly because they place conflicting demands on him. By being a true lover to Guinevere he fails in the quest for the Grail and he is less than loyal to his king. But the attempt to adhere to the conflicting codes is what gives Lancelot his grandeur; and the very fact of those conflicts is what makes him the sort of character with whom readers for centuries have been able to identify, even as they recognise his failings – or perhaps because they recognise his failings – in the great enterprise he has undertaken. Lancelot’s prominence does not negate the centrality of Arthur or the roles of the vast cast of other fascinating characters in the Morte. Indeed, it is the wealth of characters and tales in the book that has made it such a treasure trove for future artists. But Lancelot’s character and conflict are central unifying elements in the book; and he is the one against whom all the others are measured. [Lupack, Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend, 2007, pp.134-135]

Lancelot and Guinevere

Blog question: Do you identify with Malory’s Lancelot? If so, why? And, if not, why not?

Week 8: The Vulgate Cycle: Clerical Myth?

Walter Map taking down a story of the adventures of the Knights of the Round Table on the quest of the Holy Grail at the dictation of King Arthur, from the Manchester Arthurian Romance, c.1300

The elements of the Vulgate Cycle, comprising The History of the Holy Grail, The Story of Merlin, Lancelot, The Quest of the Holy Grail and The Death of King Arthur, are cleverly interlaced in a number of ways. The last two are linked, or better, locked together, by the introduction of a putative author, Walter Map. Here are the passages which outline this linking; first from the end of The Quest of the Holy Grail,

When they had dined King Arthur summoned his clerks who were keeping a record of all the adventures undergone by the knights of his household. When Bors had related to them the adventures of the Holy Grail as witnessed by himself, they were written down and the record kept  in the library at Salisbury, whence Master Walter Map extracted them in order to make his book of the Holy Grail for love of his lord King Henry, who had the story translated from Latin into French. And with that the tale falls silent and has no more to say about the Adventures of the Holy Grail. 

Next, from the beginning of The Death of King Arthur:

After Master Walter Map had put down in writing as much as he thought sufficient about the Adventures of the Holy Grail, his lord King Henry II felt that what he had done would not be satisfactory unless he told about the rest of the lives of those he had previously mentioned and the deaths of those whose prowess he had related in his book. So he began this last part; and when he had put it together he called it The Death of King Arthur, because the end of it relates how King Arthur was wounded at the battle of Salisbury and left Girflet who had long been his companion, and how no one ever again saw him alive. So Master Walter begins this last part accordingly.

And finally from the end of The Death of King Arthur:

At this point Master Walter Map will end the Story of Lancelot, because he has brought everything to a proper conclusion according to the way it happened; and he finishes his book here so completely that no one can afterwards add anything to the story that is not complete falsehood. 

This seems very convincing evidence that the author of these two last works and perhaps of the cycle as a whole was Master Walter Map. Unfortunately “Map died before the works attributed to him were written”.

The body of Elaine, the Maid of Astolat, arrives at Camelot

BLOG QUESTION: Why would the group of anonymous Cistercian monks responsible for constructing the Vulgate Cycle want to see the work attributed to Walter Map?

Week 7: The Matter of Britain

The “matter of France” includes the subjects of the old French epics. These concern the stories about Charlemagne and a good example is the well-known Song of Roland. The “matter of Rome” concerned the tales of classical antiquity, and included stories about Alexander and Troy amongst many others. 

The “matter of Britain” derives from the history of Geoffrey of Monmouth and made King Arthur into a national hero, the British counterpart of Charlemagne. Nonetheless the pretence of solidity and historical truth found in Geoffrey was not suitable for romantic purposes and the Arthur found in the “matter of Britain” stories is very unlike the great imperial monarch and conqueror as presented by Geoffrey and his followers. 

Geoffrey announced his purpose – to set out the deeds of the kings of the Britons from the first king, Brutus to Cadwaladr, i.e. from 1115 BC to AD 689. It created a new and rich history for a very old country – Britain which by Geoffrey’s day had been forgotten and passed over for England. His work restored pride for Britain’s people, the Britons. Because he left the end tantalizingly open it meant that the Matter of Britain not only referred to the glories of the past but might well have relevance for the future. 

Geoffrey of Monmouth made Britain, not England, the subject o his work and in the process provided Britain with a glorious pre-English and non-English past. The Matter of Britain was an overwhelming success, particularly as the fount of a remarkable body of literature.

Blog Question: What was it about the Matter of Britain that was so attractive not only to British authors, but to the continental authors of Romance?