21 December 2009
Le Morte Darthur
"The Accolade" (1901), by Edmund Blair Leighton, 1853-1922.
Generally considered to be one of the most important medieval texts, and one of the most important recountings of the Arthurian legend, Sir Thomas Malory's work, written in prison in the 1470's, was published in 1485 under the middle French spelling of "Le Morte Darthur".
In Book VII of our adventure, things are heating up.
Book VII opens with Lancelot and Guinevere having a secret meeting in her bedroom, its true meaning unclear, though adultery had been strongly suggested (even referred to directly, in one brief sentence) in earlier books.
King Arthur, however, seems to have bigger fish to fry, such as the holding together of a fragile alliance of squabbling knights and a kingdom that is constantly fraying at the edges. Since, as Malory tells us "love was not then as it is now", and since their marriage is seldom discussed on any level in Malory's work, we can make assumptions about the relationship that existed, if any, between Arthur and Guinevere.
In any case, Modred and Agravaine, two knights of the Round Table who have long been trying to force Arthur's hand into some kind of action on the Guinevere/Lancelot front, trap the two "lovers" in Guinevere's bedroom. Lancelot, weaponless and without armour, nevertheless obtains a sword and kills several of the knights, escaping the trap and fleeing from Arthur's court.
He offers to take Guinevere with him, but she states that she will stay and face Arthur's wrath, because to leave with Lancelot would be treasonous on both their parts. Lancelot leaves, but promises to rescue her if Arthur orders her to be burned at the stake.
***
Surprise, surprise, here's our lady tied to a big pile of wood and surrounded by disguised Round Table knights. Looks like her goose is cooked, so to speak.
Suddenly, however, Lancelot arrives on the scene, this time armed to the teeth, and in a bloodbath reminiscent of the wedding scene in "Holy Grail", kills pretty much anyone who gets in his way.
Among those he kills, unbeknownst to him, are several close friends, including Gareth and Gaheris, brothers to Sir Gawain, who is one of the most valiant knights and a lifelong ally of Lancelot.
Lancelot, full of grief, leaves with Guinevere, but sends word to Gawain that he had no idea the men he killed were his brothers, since they were in disguise. Your brothers and I have saved each other many times in battle, Lancelot says, and offers to build chapels in their honour, as an act of pennance.
Gawain responds by saying: You can build whatever you want. It means nothing to me, because I am going to hunt you down, find you, and I'm going to kill you.
end part 1 of our adventure...
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7 comments:
does anyone else think dear Guinevere and Eve have a whole lot in common?
and then what happens?!
Mort d'Arthur is one of my all time favorites.I love the story of Percivel the best.
eve, eh? guess so, yeah. the sort of "temptress who disrupts paradise" kind of thing.
but if it's any consolation, pretty much everyone in malory's work is base, scheming, and "fallen" in their own ways.
the knights constantly try to live up to the so-called "code of chivalry" (from the french "chevalier", of course, a horseman), but it's always complicated by their own greed, by socio-economic-political realities, by the desire for self-preservation, by anger, and so on.
malory was writing at a time when england was in a fairly tumultuous state, so the work certainly reflects that.
the OTHER major female character, morgan lefay, is also sort of scheming and witch-y. however, critics have talked about her showing the "feminization" of magic, in that she's the most magical one, casting spells and what not, and merlin is fairly secondary.
also, when arthur dies at the end (SPOILER ALERT, sorry), morgen is one of the three women who pick him up in the boat to take him to avalon.
so, she's sort of redeemed in a way. which is so important to our post-x'n mindset, eh zurzolo?
anyway, more plot to come soon-ish.
also le fay or la fey, or lafey, her last name, is middle french for "the fairy".
ontologicaly humans are sin(ners)... (in the christian tradition)which thrusts us/them onto the path of redemption, (illusive as it may be.)
huh. I always get nervous about using the word ontological, serious claims I guess.
word veri: r(e)oles
woah, re roles...
as I mentioned, by ridiculous synchronicity I also just reread this story on the bus to Quito Ecuador. ANd as always it tore me to peices. It sucks you in at the beginning with all the glory and triumph of the round table and then pulls out your heart and stomps on it by the end. The Holy Grail is the most mysterious part of the whole deal. And it truly marks the beginning of the end for everything. As soon as the quest for it begins everything goes to shit from there on in.
I also don´t understand how all these fairy people are partly on Arthur´s side and partly scheming his downfall. What´s the relationship between Jesus and fairies? Wasn´t there a rumour that Arthur wasnt Christian at all?
Ill bet that Arthur was a great pagan king and the church came in and rewrote the story.
Anyways, the moral as far as I see it is that the Fairy Code goes beyond all others. Any human made code of behaviour (chivalry) cannot replace the law of nature (passion). Fairies win.
I almost bought this book today, at the Red River Book Store (50% off sale)
but I thought I'd wait for your version...um can you hurry up?
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