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Katedra Anglistiky a Amerikanistiky Bakalářská Diplomová Práce 2018 Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Bakalářská diplomová práce Kateřina Ježová 2018 2018 Kateřina Ježová Hřbet Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Kateřina Ježová Development of Arthurian Legend and Its Characters in Medieval Literature Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. 2018 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature I would like to thank my supervisor Milada Franková for the useful comments and encouragement during the writing process. I would also like to thank my family and my boyfriend who supported me every single day. Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: Introduction………………………………………………………………1 CHAPTER 2: The Origins of the Arthurian Legends …………………………………..4 Geoffrey of Monmouth……………………………………………. …..……..4 The History of the Kings of Britain….. … …………….7 Sir Thomas Malory……………………………………………… . ……… …10 Le Morte Darthur……………………………………………………….12 CHAPTER 3: Difference of the Story in the Legend………………………….. .. …..16 Merlin……… …… ……………………………………………………………18 Arthur……………………….. ……………………………………………...…22 The Round Table……………………………………………………………….25 Mordred………………………………………………………………………...27 Morgan le Fay………………………………………………………………….30 CHAPTER 4: Conclusion…………………………………………………………...…33 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………35 Summary……………………………………………………………………………….37 Resumé……………………………………………………………………………...…38 1 INTRODUCTION For centuries the Arthurian legend has been part of the literature. Many people have enjoyed the legend, and the stories of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere or Sir Lancelot have inspired many people around the world. The legend is still popular to this day as suggested by the tremendous number of books, movies, or theatre plays that are made about these characters, either directly or loosely. Therefore, it is safe to assume, that many people have heard about King Arthur and his adventures or about Merlin and his magic tricks. Many people know of their stories in one shape or form. Their stories and the legend itself has been adapted many times, and therefore, it is not surprising that the story itself has changed over the years into several different versions of the original legend. However, the fact that the different versions are made is not the question of only today, but has been happening ever since the Middle Ages as there were many different versions of the legend that influenced others. Arthurian legend has been around since the eighth century. Since that there have been many changes in the story. Some have been as small as a minor character being absent from one version or the other. However, sometimes the changes have been significant and shaped the legend into the version that is widely known nowadays. The primary aim of this thesis is to define the differences that were made in the story of King Arthur and his knights throughout the medieval literature. Since my childhood, I have always been fascinated by the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It has always been a big part of my life as the stories inspired me and left a significant impact on my understanding of the fantasy world. The stories of the knights in the shining armours, legends of their courage and bravery were what intrigued me the most. The History of the Kings of Britain and Le Morte Darthur are the two most influential works from the medieval times and went on to inspire many 1 other writers. The books and works inspired by the two authors have made their appearance on the theatre stages, on the big screen and even computer games. This thesis has been structured into our chapters where the second chapter will provide a theoretical background based on the two primary readings while the third chapter will compare the difference between them. In the second chapter, this thesis focuses on the lives of the authors Geoffrey of Monmouth and Sir Thomas Malory. The lives of both authors are discussed and put into perspective with their respective works. Even though there are not that many reliable records of their deeds, the most reliable sources were carefully selected to ensure that the thesis is built upon firm standing stones. Furthermore, the storylines of both books are thoroughly described to introduce the primary readings, upon which this thesis is based on. Chapter three’s primary focus is to contrast the differences between the two texts. The emphasis was put on the characters of Merlin, King Arthur, Mordred and Morgan le Fay as well as on some story elements, which are iconic and the legend without them would not have been the same. Specifically, the thesis mentions how the character of Merlin becomes a part of the tale and depending on the respective book it describes the high points of his life. King Artur’s subchapter focuses on his life as well, however, it also discusses the critical story elements, which are connected to the character himself. Mordred’s and Morgan’s subchapters might be a little bit shorter, but nevertheless, capture the essence of the differences between Geoffrey of Monmouth’s version and the one of Sir Thomas Malory. Because I have always been interested in the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, I have been pleasantly surprised about the amount of things I have yet to learn about my favourite characters whom I thought I knew well. Analysing the 2 story from a scholarly perspective has been a valuable experience, and I hope that my enthusiasm and hard work will be seen on the following pages. 3 2 THE ORIGINS OF THE ARTHURIAN LEGENDS As with many other legends and tales, the legend of King Arthur and his knights was spread orally. Luckily, this particular legend was also written down, and therefore, the future generations are able to enjoy its magnificence while the world will forever remember names like Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad. Furthermore, there have been several versions of the legend, each with its strengths and weaknesses. Many pages have been dedicated to the adventures of King Arthur and his loyal companions during the Middle Ages, although probably the most important and influential texts from this era are Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain and Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur. While these two books are the primary sources of the legend from the Middle Ages, in today’s time it could be argued that these two historically significant works have been an inspiration for many other versions and interpretations of the legend. These texts then have gone on to stimulate the mind of other writers to come up with their versions of the tale. However, before the thesis mentions the texts itself, it would be proper to introduce the authors, their works and learn something about their life as it often has a great influence on their work Geoffrey of Monmouth When it comes to the Arthurian legends, Geoffrey of Monmouth must be considered one of the most influential figures and an all-round expert on the topic. Siân Echard often mentions his prowess and expertise on the subject matter in her book The Arthur of Medieval Latin Literature: The Development and Dissemination of the Arthurian Legend in Medieval Latin: Today, Geoffrey’s contribution to the Arthurian tradition is usually measured in terms of his presence at the beginning of a coherent literary tradition; along with 4 Chrétien de Troyes in the vernacular realm, he is credited as a founder of the enduring Arthurian story. It is Geoffrey who tells us of Arthur’s conception; Geoffrey who connects Merlin to that story; Geoffrey who takes Arthur to war with Rome, in the company of knights such as Gawain, Kay and Bedevere; and Geoffrey who tells us of Arthur’s death in his final battle with Mordred. (Echard 45) As Echard promptly notes in her work, it is Geoffrey of Monmouth who “[…] provides [the readers with] the first consecutive Arthurian narrative” (Echard 45) and therefore is credited to be the founder and the creator of the Arthurian legend. It is because of him and his tales that people know about Arthur’s origin, the story of how the great Merlin came to be on the king’s court as well as about Arthur’s war with the Romanian Empire. Furthermore, he introduces the readers to some of the lesser known knights who are present in the Arthurian legend such as Gawain, Kay and Bedevere. He also does not omit Arthur’s final battle with Mordred and briefly touches on the topic of Arthur’s travel to Avalon to be healed. It is believed that Geoffrey of Monmouth was born around 1100 in the region of Monmouth, which is located in the South-Eastern part of Wales. Unfortunately, not much is known about his early years – there are not many accounts about his childhood or early adulthood until around the year 1129. However, there is one thing that is known almost for certain, and that is his father’s name, which was Arthur. Both his and his father’s name were somewhat rare or perhaps unusual in Wales at that time. However, they were not so uncommon in Brittany (or Bretagne in French), which is nowadays known as a cultural region in the northwest of France. Therefore, some scholars have suggested that he may have been of Breton descent or at least that some of his ancestors have some relation to 5 the region. That would mean that his forefathers were part of Celtic ethnic group which was located in the region. Around 1129, which is the earliest reliable record which can be found about him, he is one of the witnesses of the foundation charter of Osney Abbey in Oxford. It was during the years 1129 and 1151 when he wrote his works for which he is known for and which has become his legacy (Cadwell and Parby 73).
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