User:Qp10qp/Sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] revising
[edit] revising
King Arthur is a fabled British leader who, according to various medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early sixth century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians.[1] The sparse historical background to Arthur is gleaned from various histories, including those of Gildas, Nennius, and the Annales Cambriae. His name also appears in early poetic sources such as Y Gododdin.[2]
The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of England), which became highly popular.[3] Some Welsh and Breton tales and poems about Arthur date, however, from before Geoffrey's time. These are usually known as "pre-Galfridian" texts (from the Latin form of Geoffrey, Galfridus). In these works, Arthur appears either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies, or as a magical figure of folklore, sometimes associated with the Welsh Otherworld, Annwn.
Geoffrey's Historia, completed in 1138, is often fanciful and imaginative, though it is unclear how much he invented and how much he adapted from sources now lost. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over the British Isles, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, and Gaul. Many incidents that are now an integral part of the Arthurian story derive from Geoffrey's Historia, including those involving Arthur's father Uther Pendragon, adviser Merlin, his birth at Tintagel, and his death at Avalon. Texts written after Geoffrey are often termed "Galfridian" or "post-Galfridian" texts because they utilise his narrative and characters. The 12th-century writer Chrétien de Troyes, who added Lancelot and the Holy Grail to the story, began the genre of Arthurian romance that became a significant strand of medieval literature. Writers such as Wace and Robert de Boron elaborated on Chrétien's verse stories; and prose romances followed, notably the 13th-century Vulgate Cycle and Post-Vulgate Cycle. In these French cycles King Arthur himself often yields centre stage to the adventures of other characters, such as the knights of the round table. Medieval Arthurian romance culminated in Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur cycle, published in 1485, which defined the form of the legend in English. In the 19th century, interest in Arthur was revived by Alfred Lord Tennyson with his Idylls of the King, and also by the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites. Later reworkings of the Arthurian legends include Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal, Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and T. H. White's The Once and Future King.
The themes and events of the Arthurian story vary from text to text. They include the recognition of Arthur as king through the Sword in the Stone episode and his defence of Britain against the Saxons. Based at the castle of Camelot, Arthur receives the advice of the wizard Merlin, and founds the chivalrous fellowship of knights known as the Round Table. He wields the sword Excalibur, triumphs in battle, and perishes in a final confrontation with Mordred. Recurring plot elements include the adultery of Lancelot and Queen Guinevere, the quest for the Holy Grail, and the promise of King Arthur's messianic return. Medieval texts also recount the adventures of Arthur's knights, among them Kay, Gawain, Lancelot, Percival and Galahad.
[edit] Refs
- ^ Higham 2002, pp. 11–37, has a summary of the debate on this point.
- ^ Alcock 1971, pp. 14–15. Y Gododdin cannot be dated precisely: it describes 6th-century events and contains 9th- or 10th- century spelling, but the surviving copy is 13th century.
- ^ See further below and, for example Loomis 1956.
