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An Unhappy Knight: the Diffusion and Bastardization of Mordred in Arthurian Legends from Select Works of the Sixth Through the Fifteenth Centuries

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An Unhappy Knight: the Diffusion and Bastardization of Mordred in Arthurian Legends from Select Works of the Sixth Through the Fifteenth Centuries An Unhappy Knight: The Diffusion and Bastardization of Mordred in Arthurian Legends from Select Works of the Sixth through the Fifteenth Centuries by Emerson Storm Fillman Richards University of Florida Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies Department of English Department of Geography 16 June, 2010 Richards 1 Table of Contents: I. Introduction to Thesis 2 II. Geographical Diffusion 6 i. Geographic Effect on Interpretation of Arthurian Literature 15 III. Temporal Diffusion 18 i. Historia Regum Britanniae, A Starting Point 20 ii. Diffusion between Geoffrey of Monmouth & Gervase of Tilbury 22 iii. Otia imperialia 24 IV. Conclusion: Redemption of Mordred 27 Appendix 31 Bibliography 34 Richards 2 I. Introduction To Thesis Every nation has endemic legends, yet some “endemic” legends are paradoxically transnational; one such multinational “endemic” story is the set of legends forming the narrative of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. Despite a specific hearth in Wales, Arthurian legend has permeated European literature and culture. In order to further the understanding of the evolution of a medieval narrative tradition, specifically the Arthurian legend and the significance of the character Mordred to this series of legends, scholars must locate the different concerns, values and interests of the peoples that created the literature. The geographical movements, reasons for movement and subsequent locations of the authors, or performers, of Arthurian legend (as well as, any written and orally transmitted cultural artifact) are not only of interest, but necessary, to a complete scholarly understanding of the different Arthurian works and the contemporaneous time periods in which they were created. By studying cultural diffusion, the movement of peoples and, therefore, ideas, which are influenced, in part by spatial or situational factors, the often compounded and complex reasons for such moves can be detected. Furthermore, identifying what was culturally significant enough to be transported indicates much about the culture itself. Each adaptation due to geographic transmutation has shaped the development of the respective narrative tradition. From the earliest incarnations of Arthurian legend, the figure of Mordred is a constant. Mordred’s constancy and the consistency of his action in the set of Arthurian legends will be further expanded upon in later sections of this paper. His character has been carried from Wales, where he occurs initially and ambiguously, in the Annales Cambriae1, into the national 1 Written in 970, documenting the era from 447 to 533. Richards 3 literatures of Italy, Germany and France, and even as far afield as Spain2, and Belarus3 by the sixteenth century. Thus, despite the frequent characterization of Arthurian legend as particularly English (especially by English authors), Arthurian legend is more accurately pan-European. First, I will briefly introduce Arthurian legend, focusing on the importance of, or on the significant lack of, Mordred. Next, I will trace the geographic diffusion of Arthurian legend. The exposition of geographic effects on literature will be facilitated through the texts of the English author Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur and the Scottish author of Otia imperialia, John of Fordun. I will then explain how the geographical source of the text influences the portrayal of Mordred. Once Arthurian legend had been established, and diffused throughout Europe, the authors began to use this well-known set of characters, such as Lancelot, Guinevere, Mordred and, of course, Arthur, in a propagandistic way. A comparison between the works of nearly contemporaneous authors, Thomas Malory and John of Fordun, who were writing within a century of each other, shows the way in which Mordred was elevated from a mythological figure to an allegory for Lancastrian and Yorkist politics. Additionally, this comparison highlights the omnipresent conflict between England and Scotland. The English Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur, vilifies Mordred, whereas the Scottish Fordun’s Chronica gentis scottorum suggests that Mordred and his half-brother, Gawain, were robbed of the throne by Arthur. Once the importance of geographical diffusion has been established, I will subsequently trace the temporal diffusion of Arthurian legend using the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth and 2 See: Entwhistle, William J. The Arthurian Legend in the Literatures of the Spanish Peninsula. New York: Phaeton Press, 1975. 3 See: The Byelorussian Tristan. trans. Kipel, Zora. New York: Garland Publishing, 1988. Richards 4 Gervase of Tilbury, both of whom make reference to Avalon and Mordred within a century4 of each other. These references are varied both in content and spatial distribution. They are significant in determining the flow of diffusion and social importance of Mordred. The way in which Arthurian legend, and Mordred, spread and became culturally significant to the multiple “histories” which help form national identities is salient to the understanding of the whole of medieval society. This thesis, therefore, will consider, broadly, the diffusion of Arthurian legend from the fifth century through the fifteenth century, with particular focus on the figure of Mordred on which the legend is largely based. The later importance of the effect of literary diffusion will be demonstrated through a comparison of the use of Mordred as a politically allegorical figure in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur and John of Fordun’s Chronica gentis scottorum. These texts, though composed contemporaneously, and on the same island, present Mordred in vastly different capacities. Malory’s Mordred is villainous, whereas John of Fordun’s Mordred is a heroic representation. As an example of the way in which literature was diffused in the High Middle Ages, I will propose a connection between Wales and Italy during the Holy Roman Empire and, therefore, the rest of the Continent, via Welsh poet and scholar in the court of Barbarossa, Gervase of Tilbury. Gervase’ travels from Wales to Italy seem to correspond with the emergence of a Continental Arthurian tradition in the twelfth century. While it is impossible to claim Gervase as the sole carrier of Arthurian legend at this time, it is likely that this poet is responsible for some of the diffusion from the British Isles to Europe. 4 Monmouth composed in the early middle twelfth century; Tilbury’s third book of Otia Imperialia can be dated to the early thirteenth century. Richards 5 The diffusion of Arthurian legend, as it will be shown, is more than a simple spreading of ideas or books, but rather, it is the transformative process. While I will continue to use the term “diffusion”, it must be asserted that diffusion is too simple a of term. Generally, “diffusion” refers to the geographic spread of an idea or material. When applying the term to Arthurian legend, or any literature, the geographic spread, as well as the effects, must be considered. The transmutation of the figures must be addressed. Arthurian legend is far from static, indicating that the geographic influence is significant. I. i. Introduction to the Arthurian Legend The plethora of books presenting tales of Arthur and critical literature on the tales shows that there is no simple, definitive set of events that comprises the legend. Even the most relatively static cycles, such as the Lancelot-Guinevere-Arthur cycle and the Grail cycle have been changed by temporal and spatial factors5. Mordred was first mentioned in the Annales Cambriae. The passage for the year 537 reads “Gueith Camlann, un qua Arthur et Medraut6 corruere7...”(“Annales Cambriae” 4). Despite the early dates appearing in the Annales Cambriae, their actual date of composition is almost 300 years later, circa 954. The earliest that Arthur appears in a composition that is not a chronicle is in a Welsh poem, the “Goddodin” written circa 600. However, this is a cursory reference. The first significant mention of Arthur as a historical figure occurs in Historia Brittonum composed in 830 by Nennius, a Welsh priest. According to Nennius’ Historia Brittonum, Arthur fought 5 According to V. Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale, folktales, like Arthurian legend, have a set archetypal series of events. Certain events may or may not be present in a specific tale, but they always occur in the same order. 6 Though the character of Mordred is a relatively static figure, insofar as Arthurian literature allows figures to be, the spelling of his name changes quite a bit throughout time and space. As shown by the excerpt of Annales Cambriae, the original spelling is “Medraut”, which became Medrod and Modred, and finally stabilized at the commonly recognized “Mordred”. This philological transformation is largely based on the author’s lingual capacities, oral and aural. However, certainly, the mutations of Mordred’s name merit a more in depth analysis. 7 Trans. Latin: “At the battle of Camlann, Arthur and Mordred fell”. Richards 6 against the Saxon invasion, where he “himself was the military commander ["dux bellorum"]” (Chapter 56) and won twelve battles, including the Battle of Badon Hill. It is not until 1138 that Arthur becomes King Arthur and has a greater presence in Historia Regum Brittaniae8. In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s history, the basis for many of the later versions of the Arthurian cycles emerges, including the character of Mordred. In the twelfth century, Arthur and his knights shift from being historical figures to characters in the Romances. This change occurs not only in the literature, but is present in society9. The High Middle Ages is the age of chivalry. During the time, focus often is given to other Knights of the Round Table. Chretien de Troyes, whose primary focus is on the knights Perceval, Yvain, Erec, and Lancelot10, is absolutely seminal to the future of Arthurian legend. It is de Troyes’ unfinished Perceval that Wolfram von Eschenbach uses as a basis for Parzival (ca. 1205). In the thirteenth century, Arthurian legend undergoes a transformation from poetry into a prose style, the best-known example of which is the Vulgate Cycle11.
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