The Modern Manifestations of the Arthurian Legend in Film and Fiction - Essay Example

Running head: Medieval legends Name: University/ College: Course: Lecturer: Date: An analysis of modern manifestations of the Arthurian legend in film and fiction. Legend has it that in the 5th century; there lived a man named Arthur who was king of Britain. Much has been written about him and his exploits since then: his birth, and how he became a king, his knights of the round table, his wife Guinevere and friend, Lancelot. Moreover, his relationship with Merlin the wizard has not been forgotten, and neither has his death. However, there are as many different variations to his story, as there are authors. This paper focuses on the post 19th century literature and film depictions of this legend. It will look at the movies, King Arthur (2004) and Merlin (1998), and will be limited to books on the legend by Mary Stewart (The crystal cave, the hollow hills, the last enchantment and the wicked day) written in the 1970’s. ‘King Arthur’ opens with Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table awaiting their release papers after serving the Roman Empire faithfully for 15 years. The knights have been guarding Hadrian’s Wall against the Woads, a group of people who had resisted Roman rule for years (Gilchrist, 2010). At this point in time, Arthur is a soldier, legendary, yes, but nevertheless, not a King. Before their get their discharge letters though, they are sent to one more mission: to rescue the important family of Marius, against the imminent capture by the Saxon’s led by their leader, Cerdic. They cannot possibly refuse this order and they make their way to his home. Marius, however, refuses to leave his home. During their stay they discover that Marius has been mistreating the people working for him, and presently holds two Woad’s captive: a female named Guinevere and a small boy, Lucan. Arthur sets everyone free, and they start their journey back to Hadrian’s Wall. Guinevere takes Arthur to meet her father Merlin who reveals that through his mother, Arthur is part Celt, like the Woad’s are. He goes on to tell him that his sword, Excalibur, belonged to his father, and that Arthur took it while trying to save his mother when he was a boy. This revelation leads to a truce being called between them and the Woad’s. Along the way however, Marius revolts, taking Lucan captive in the process. He is killed by Guinevere, who uses a bow to do this. Seeing that their leader is dead, Marius’ soldiers, abandon their futile allegiance to their leader, and assist the knights to safely take all the people to Hadrian’s Wall. Nevertheless, before they can get to the wall, they are attacked by the Saxon army. As they are outnumbered, the knights repel them, allowing the rest of the people to make it to the wall. Guinevere remains with the knights, and they manage to defeat the Saxons, when one of the knights, Dagonet breaks the ice- covered lake into two, separating the two bands. Despite the fact that Dagonet dies as a result, he kills many more Saxons, and saves his friends. Sometime after this incident, Arthur decides to form a pact with the Woad’s and together, they fight the Saxons. In the battle, several knights, Tristan and Lancelot are killed. The dead include the Saxon king Cerdic and his son Cynric. Cerdic’s death leads to Arthur’s victory. The movie closes with the marriage of Arthur and Guinevere, and Arthur is crowned king of Britain. While King Arthur offers a compelling view of the King in film, the movie still leaves a lot out from the traditional Arthurian legend. For example, it is a widely accepted fact that Arthur’s most trusted friend Lancelot had a love affair with his wife Guinevere. This betrayal by his wife and close friend leads to her near death by burning at the stake. Additionally, the movie makes no mention of the Holy Grail, seen as the cup Jesus drank from at the last supper. The search for the Holy Grail leads to an unsuccessful voyage that lasts for several years, and results in the death of several of his knights. Moreover, in the legends, Arthur takes the sword, Excalibur, from the stone where it rests, and becomes King shortly afterwards. With his new responsibilities, he forms the Knights of the Round Table, consisting of his most trusted and loyal knights. By the time he marries Guinevere, Arthur is already King. Not so in the movie. Here, Arthur is just an ordinary soldier, and only becomes King after marrying Guinevere. The subject of his parentage is also a controversial point. In the legends, Arthur’s father is Uther Pendragon, and his mother, the Duchess of Gorlois (Keuchenius, 1998). Due to trickery and magic, Merlin, who is a wizard and Uther’s confidante, turns Uther to look like Ygraine’s husband, the Duke of Gorlois. He sleeps with her and consequently, Arthur is conceived. In the movie however, Merlin is Guinevere’s father, and there is no mention of Arthur’s royal parentage. In the movie, a knight, Bors, is portrayed as a man with loose morals. He has so many children, he stopped giving them names. Instead, he calls them by numbers. Bors however, was a righteous man, and was one of the few who got to see the Holy Grail, an honor that was given to only two other knights, Perceval and Galahad. Galahad is illustrated as an adult, perhaps in his twenties or thirties. This places him in Lancelot’s age bracket. Lancelot however, is supposed to be Galahad’s father, as depicted in the legend. The movie’s portrayal of Guinevere as a warrior is also different from what the legends make of her. Here, she is depicted as a ‘damsel in distress’ (Robin, 2004). That is a woman better suited for grand and plush courts, someone used to getting her own way, and more at home in dresses and fans than fighting against invaders. Mordred, Arthur’s son, mortal enemy and eventual killer is also left out of the movie. In his place, there is a boy who betrays the knights to the Saxons. This though does not portray the Mordred of the legends. ‘King Arthur’ has left out a lot of facts that make up the legend. In doing this, it portrays Arthur and Guinevere as heroes, people to be admired. Conversely, Lancelot is seen as a trusted friend, who cares a lot for and even loves Arthur, and by dying while fighting for their freedom, Lancelot is romanticized. This however, is not what happened according to the legend, and should have been rendered as such. ‘Merlin’ looks at the legend of Arthur Merlin’s point of view. It traces his story from when he was born, how he acquires his powers, what he goes through, and how he uses his power for good. One of the things he does is turn Uther into Gorlois’ look -a –like, an act that leads to the conception of Arthur. The movie shows how after Arthur’s birth, Merlin takes care of him and finally leads him to taking Excalibur from a rock. He is by Arthur’s side as he takes the reigns of the kingdom after Uther’s death. In the movie, Merlin is Arthur’s trusted friend, confidant and enchanter. Arthur marries Guinevere, and they are happy for a while. At a point however, he decides to go on a search of the Holy Grail, accompanied by the Knights of the Round Table. This he does for six years. He leaves Merlin in charge of the Kingdom, and as Merlin cannot rule, he goes to the Lady of the lake to ask for help in getting a leader who will take over the kingdom in Arthur’s absence. While doing this, he meets a young boy, Galahad, and after a brief conversation, Merlin picks Lancelot as the leader. Lancelot takes over the leadership role as the whole nation awaits the return of Arthur and his knights. As the years pass, Lancelot and Guinevere are drawn together, and eventually become lovers. When Arthur returns from an unsuccessful voyage after six years, he is told of this betrayal. The verdict passed is for Guinevere to be burned at the stake. Arthur, however, is reluctant to do this. The matter is out of his hands though, and as fire is lit, Merlin works his magic, and Guinevere is saved. Toward the end of the movie, Arthur is mortally wounded by his son Mordred, while he kills Mordred in the process. After his death, Merlin goes back to the Lady of the Lake, looking for another leader to take over Arthur. This time round, he picks Galahad, who though still young, is considered to be the best choice for the position. ‘Merlin’ is a closer narrative to the legend of Arthur as compared to ‘King Arthur’. It tells rightly that Merlin was a wizard and that Uther Pendragon was Arthur’s father. It talks about the love triangle that was Guinevere, Arthur and Lancelot, and Arthur’s search for the Holy Grail. However, it overshoots the period of time the voyage took. It was two years, not six. Still the movie has a few inconsistencies. For example in the legend, Lancelot is the one who saves Guinevere from the fire after killing several brothers of the knight, Gawain. However, the movie depicts Merlin as Guinevere’s savior. In her books, the crystal cave (1970), the hollow hills (1973), the last enchantment (1979), and the wicked day (1983), Mary Stewart looks at the legend of Arthur from Merlin’s viewpoint (this is what is done in the movie, ‘Merlin’). She traces Merlin’s history from when he was born, a prince in the Welsh country side. No one knows his father’s identity and as such, they all believe he was born of the devil. When dissensions raise in the Kingdom after the death of his grandfather the king, Merlin leaves his country on board a ship. The ship takes him to another land where he meets Aurelius Ambrosius, and his brother Uther Pendragon. Ambrosius treats Merlin with affection, even giving him the royal brooch. It does not take him long to discover that Ambrosius is actually his father. Even at this young age (he is twelve by now), Merlin has prophetic abilities and sees visions. These prove to be helpful to his father who treats him as a son, but also an advisor. His father invades Britain and unites the country, becoming the high King. He does not last long in this position, as it is rumored he is poisoned. Uther takes over the leadership of the high kingdom. Since he despises Merlin because of his magical art, he tells Merlin to never appear before him again. This however does not happen to be true as he asks for his help when he falls in love with Ygraine, the Duchess of Gorlois. He tells Merlin to get a way for him to be with her. To do this, Merlin uses deception and gets him into Tintagel, Gorlois’ castle. Arthur is conceived that night as Gorlois is killed. After Arthur’s birth, Merlin takes him into his care and when he is old enough, takes him to stay with Ector of Galava. Merlin lives close by and looks out for him. He helps Arthur get Excalibur (called Caliburn in the books), which he has retrieved from its resting place. Uther ends up not getting an heir, leading to the recalling of Arthur in the process. When he falls sick and dies, Arthur takes over the leadership, but makes the gaffe of sleeping with his step sister, Morgause, and Mordred is conceived. The books trace Arthur’s rule, and his search for peace in the land. They trace his relationship with Guinevere and when finally Mordred gets back in the scene, they depict their relationship. ‘The wicked day’ especially focuses on this relationship (1983). Mordred starts out to be a good follower and admirer of Arthur. When Arthur leaves for an extended period of time, he is left in charge, and his interest in Guinevere grows with every passing day. When news of Arthur’s possible death reaches the kingdom, he takes over the reigns of the country, and even thinks about being with Guinevere who welcomes his friendly advances. However, Arthur is not dead, and he comes back to find that his son has taken over his kingdom and is not willing to give it up. The possibility of a coalition is considered, but is rejected when father and son go to war. Arthur kills Mordred in the process, and is himself mortally wounded. The author concludes the book by saying that legend has it that Arthur was taken by three queens to Avalon, where he lies, waiting for Britain to need his help, and then he will arise again. Mary Stewart does her best to stick as close to the legend as she can. This leads to a delightful tale that paints the picture of a Merlin who though undoubtedly a wizard, is still a man with feelings and emotions. This helps us identify and feel more with him and his situations. Every person in the story is a human being, with real human qualities regardless of whether they are good or bad. The witch Morgause is a slightly misunderstood woman who craves attention and power. Guinevere is not the betrayer she is portrayed in ‘Merlin’. She is just a lonely woman, waiting for her husband to come home and pay her the attention she needs. Mordred is very much his father’s son. He takes the opportunity to be a leader when it is offered to him without shrinking back out of fear. He is still his mother’s son however, as the thirst for power that she passed to him will not allow him to relinquish the throne to the rightful king of Britain: his father. Arthur on the other hand is seen as a fair and just leader. He is not without his weaknesses though. This is depicted when in his eagerness to quench his lust; he makes love to his sister (Stewart, 1973). This action leads to his death at the hand of his illegitimate son. The discrepancies in the books arise especially with Merlin who is Arthur’s uncle. This cannot be proven anywhere in the legend. Additionally, Mordred has never been shown to have had a love interest in Guinevere. Instead, he is the one who informs Arthur of her treachery. The variations in the literature and films on the legend can prove to be confusing, and threaten to take the originality of the legend away. However, these efforts should be applauded as they have managed to bring the legend back to life. As Arthur’s existence cannot even be proven, it cannot be said that the modern manifestations are lying about what happened (Suupere). Instead, the little additions and subtractions popularize the legend even more. References Keuchenius, Iman (1998) Medieval Arthurian legends: Chretien de Troyes, the Vulgate Cycle and Thomas Mallory. Retrieved from http://members.chello.nl/keuchenius/medi.html  Gilchrist, Todd. (2006) Interview: Antoine Fuqua, Keira Knightly and Clive Owen revisit the round table with King Arthur. Accessed 21-05-2010.  Rowland, Robin (2004). Warrior queens and blind critics. CBC News Stewart, Mary. (1970) The crystal cave. London: Hodder and Stoughton Stewart, Mary. (1973) The hollow hills. London: Hodder and Stoughton Stewart, Mary. (1979) The last enchantment. London: Hodder and Stoughton Stewart, Mary. (1983) The wicked day. London: Hodder and Stoughton Suupere, Sander (ND) King Arthur and Robin Hood. Retrieved from http://www.kingathursknights.com/arthur/legend.asp. Accessed on 21- 5-2010. Read More