Arthurian
· Based on the stories
of King Arthur and the Holy Grail
· A lot of fantasy
readers go through an Arthurian phase and read everything they can get their
hands on – fact and fantasy. I think it ties in to the medieval phase many
readers also go through, and it’s the ultimate epic fantasy, really. And it
might have been real!
· The main bit of
source material is “Le Morte d’Arthur” compiled by Sir Thomas Malory, first
printed in 1485. Malory compiled his
work from earlier French stories about Arthur (William the Conqueror was from Brittany , in modern day France
– cross-cultural influences), and medieval English sources. Le Morte also
includes “Tristan and Isolde” and the story of the Holy Grail (purportedly the
cup that Christ drank from at the Last Supper.) There’s a lot of fantasy source
material here.
· Survived with such
significance because it was the folklore of feudalism and the upper classes,
proclaiming their literally god-given right to rule because they were high-born
Christians, and reinforcing the rules of chivalry, which gave them a moral code
and therefore moral authority. This was true long enough that it became firmly
entrenched in the cultural fabric, and the story is malleable enough to take on
new significance when warranted.
· Very popular among
fantasy writers and readers because:
· in-built magic –
Merlin, Grail.
· the epic and mythic
qualities of the stories – Once and Future King
· the fact that it’s
one of the basic British myths
· Arthur promises to
come back, which opens up all sorts of possibilities
· There is also a whole
field of study surrounding King Arthur. Did he really exist? If so, what was his world like? What did he
do? What are the sources of the legends? The supernatural bits? How does the
Grail fit in? Lots of nonfiction scope here for interested readers.
· Differences in
Arthurian fantasies are roughly centered on:
· place on the realism/fantasy
scale (Firelord by Parke Godwin to Sword in the Stone by T.H. White)
· who the story centers
around (Hawk of May by Gillian Bradshaw – Gwalchmai, half brother of Mordred,
son of Morgause (Morgan La Fay)
· setting (Knight Life
by Peter David)
· A lot of fantasy
novels have Arthurian themes and elements without being full-blown Arthurian
romances/fantasies, including:
· Arthur or one of the
other characters shows up
· Includes the Grail
· Includes a King who
returns after millennia
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