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Le Morte Darthur Book 18

2007-12-12T13:42:59Z

BettinaKorte:

{{Template:Malory 21 Books}}

BOOK 18, CHAPTERS ONE & TWO

Arthur and Guinevere are both glad to have all the living knights back at Camelot; however, Lancelot and Guinevere are again drawn to each other, so much so that everyone at court is talking about it. To protect her, Lancelot stays away and fights in tournaments as other ladies' champion. Guinevere gets angry with him and orders him into her rooms. He tries to explain himself but Guinevere won't hear it, eventually becoming so upset that she bans him from court and from her company on pain of death.

Lancelot tells Bors, Sir Ector and Sir Lyonel that he has to leave and is planning to return to his own country. Bors advises him against it, saying that Lancelot is too great a knight to simply go, and that Guinevere might regret her decision before long; Lancelot should stay with a hermit near Windsor, Sir Brasias, who is a former knight himself, until Bors sends him news. Lancelot agrees. Guinevere starts to feel guilty and wants him back almost as soon as he is gone, but she pretends that nothing is wrong.

CHAPTER THREE

To prove that she doesn't prefer Lancelot, Guinevere holds a feast for the other knights, including Sir Pyonel - the cousin of Sir Lamorak (who Gawain and his brothers killed). Guinevere serves fruit, because she knows that Gawain likes it, and Pyonel poisons an apple to kill Gawain and avenge his brother. Unfortunately, it's not Gawain but an innocent knight named Patrice who eventually eats the apple and falls down dead right there in the banquet hall. Gawain and Sir Mador, Patrice's cousin, accuse their hostess Guinevere of having plotted to kill Gawain .

CHAPTER FOUR

Mador officially accuses Guinevere of murdering his cousin in front of Arthur. It is decided that in fifteen days' time, Mador and another knight on behalf of Guinevere will fight, and if Guinevere's man loses, she will be found guilty and burned at the stake. (Arthur can't fight for her because he will have to act as judge.) All of the knights who were present at the dinner are suspicious of the queen. Arthur asks Guinevere where Lancelot is, because he would surely fight for her and win; she tells him that she doesn't know. Disappointed, Arthur tells her to ask Bors instead.

CHAPTER FIVE

Bors is reluctant to fight for Guinevere, because he blames her for Lancelot's absence, and is also worried that the other knights will be displeased with him for supporting her. Guinevere and Arthur both beseech him, and finally Bors gives in, on the condition that, should a better knight than him arrive in time for the fight, he is released from his promise. The king and queen agree happily. Bors rides to see Lancelot and tells him to prepare himself for battle and come to court in time for the fight, so that he can battle Mador in Bors's stead. When he returns to court, the other knights accuse him of siding with a murderess. Bors replies that he doesn't believe Guinevere to be guilty.

CHAPTER SIX

On the evening of the fight, Lancelot arrives just in time before Bors and Mador begin to fight. Bors tells Arthur that this other, better knight will take his place. Arthur, curious, wants to know who the stranger with an unfamiliar shield is, but Bors refuses to say, simply telling the king that he is released from their agreement now.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Before entering the fight, Lancelot calls to all the other knights that they should be ashamed for not trusting Guinevere and refusing to fight for her. He knocks Mador off his horse, splintering his spear, and the battle continues on foot. Mador stabs Lancelot through the thigh and injures him badly, but finally Lancelot defeats him. Mador begs for him to spare his life, and Lancelot agrees that he will, if Mador takes back his accusation and drops the matter of Patrice's death once and for all. Mador gives in and Lancelot is declared the winner. He reveals himself to everyone by taking off his helmet. Arthur and Guinevere thank him profusely, and all the other knights welcome Lancelot back to the court.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Nimue, the lady of the lake, comes to court, having heard that Guinevere was accused of murder. She reveals that it was Pyonel who poisoned the apples instead, and that he did it to avenge his cousin. Pyonel flees back into his own country, and even Mador (with Lancelot speaking for him) is allowed back into the queen's good graces.

Arthur now decides to hold a great tournament. He declares that he and the King of Scots will fight against anyone who wants to compete with them., and many knights from all over the country come to rise to the challenge. However, both Lancelot (who says that he's not yet fully recovered from the fight with Mador) and Guinevere (who claims she is sick) stay behind when Arthur and his knights depart for the tournament, which angers the king. Guinevere calls Lancelot to her and tells him that he must follow Arthur, because it's going to look suspicious if they both stay behind.

CHAPTER NINE

Lancelot agrees to follow Arthur, but - against Guinevere's advice - decides that he will fight against Arthur in any fights that he enters. Lancelot departs the next morning and, halfway to the tournament, takes up lodging in Astolat with an old baron who greets him with pleasure. Lancelot asks him for a shield and armor that will not be easily recognizable, so he'll be able to fight anonymously again, and the baron tells him that he has two sons who were recently made knights; the older one was injured soon after and can't ride anymore, so Lancelot can have his shield and armor; and the younger one (Lavayne) is strong, so he'll ride with Lancelot and help him however he can. The baron also has a daughter, Elayne, who falls in love with Lancelot and asks him to fight with a token from her pinned to his helmet. Knowing he will be disguised, he agrees.

CHAPTER TEN & ELEVEN

When Lancelot and Lavayne arrive at the tournament the next day, preparations are being made for a big fight of two parties: one around King Arthur and the King of Scots, and one around the King of Northumberland and the King of Northgalys. They join in on the side of Northumberland, opposing Arthur. The fight begins and both "armies" are equally strong. Lancelot fights best of them all, defeating ten fellow knights, but when he has the chance to slay Bors, he doesn't. Lancelot gets injured by Bors, who doesn't know who he's fighting, and Lavayne barely manages to save him.

CHAPTER TWELVE

After the fight, the victorious King of Northumberland wants to honor Lancelot for helping his side win, but Lancelot begs off, saying he has to tend to his injuries. He and Lavayne retreat to a nearby forest. Lavayne pulls out the spearhead still stuck in Lancelot's side, and Lancelot loses consciousness for a half hour. When he comes to again, he tells Lavayne that there is a hermit by the name of Baudewyn living nearby, who is a surgeon and might be able to save Lancelot's life. Lavayne rides and fetches Baudewyn, who says that once upon a time - as a knight - he would have refused to treat someone who fought against Arthur, but now he doesn't care, and asks to be brought to Lancelot.

Le Morte Darthur Book 17

2007-12-12T13:41:55Z

BettinaKorte:

Whenever I deem a passage to contain something of the below mentioned topics a mark it with corresponding letter, hope that it will help. And yes, Book 17 seems really just to contain bits and pieces thrown together with no apparent order.

'''A''' - Aspect of cheap entertainment (Chapbooks) - personally I think all those "Action Scenes" could be part of this topic.
'''B''' - Prophecies, predictions of what is to come, moments of reflection when things happened as predicted
'''C''' - Marriage & Fidelity
'''D''' - Violence & second thoughts
'''E''' - Christianity and the heathen world, supernatural incidents, miracles, moments where other mythologies interfere
'''F''' - Gender roles
'''G''' - Is this text historical or fictional, do we get proofs, sources, doubts second thoughts on the status of the stories.
'''H''' - Modern adaptations: key scenes (which that are is yet to be determined)
'''I''' - Concepts of honour and morality in general and individual

'''Book 17.Cpt. 1: '''
After he had rescued Sir Percival from the 20 knights, Sir Galahad traveled a vast forest and persists through many, not further mentioned, adventures. On his way to the sea he comes past a castle were a siege is taking place. He quickly decides to help those "good knights" in the castle and is soon attacked by the besieging knights. With them are Sir Gawayn and Sir Hector de Marys who recognize Galahad's white shield with the red cross and attack him. Galahad defeats them all and Gawayn receives a near fatal head wound. After all the "kights without" are chased off and Gawayn is brought to safety by Hector, Galahad simple rides away.
Gawayn marvels at the storys the tell about the sword from the lake and only after months is healed from his terrible wound. An Hector tells him that his quest has come to an end.
Sir Galahad rides on to Castle Carbonek (called Castle Corbin or Castle Corbin) rests nearby at a hermitage and is woken at night by a “gentilwoman” that asks him to get armed and follow her, for in the next three days she would grant him adventures never seen by a knight before. Galahad follows. '''A B'''

'''Cpt. 2: ''' Galahad is lead to the castle of that “gentilwoman’s” lady where he rests some time before he is lead towards the sea by that “gentilwoman” and with them they carry a child and some riches. On the beach the ship,with cheering Bors and Percival on board, is waiting for them. As soon as they are on board the ship starts sailing again and all three knights exchange the storys of their adventures and their temptations. Bors is only missing Lancelot in his party. After a while they meet another ship between two big rocks. Writings on on the ship tell them, that only those of “steadfast believe” should enter the ship because the author of those letters would not help them if they should fail. At that point the “gentilwoman” reveals that she is Percival’s sister and warns him, that he will perish should he not firmly believe in Jesus Christ. Happy to see his sister, Percival replies that he, should he be an untrue knight, could as well perish. '''B E F I'''

'''Cpt. 3: ''' On board of the other ship the the four find it full of riches and with a large bed in the middle, at it’s foot a sword could be found. The swords pommel was made a of multicolored stone and the cross guard (?) (“scales”) was made of the rips of two beasts: the Serpent of the Fiend and the Fish Ertanax. First should save its bearer from weariness and harm, the other would strengthen the bearer’s will as to focus solemly on the task before him and avoid distraction.. Percival and Bors both can’t draw the word and in Galahad’s hands it displayed strange red letters (like blood), telling him of the special powers of the sword and that only a man passing all other man would be able to draw it. Galahad doesn’t try to draw it out of disgust.
Percival’s sister remembers some tales in which the word is found on a ship and could only be employed by a severly wounded man against a muslim king who then died after returning the sword to the ship. '''A E'''

'''Cpt.4: ''' They then see that the scabbard of the sword is made from snake skin and bears golden and silvern letters but the girdle was crude and unfitting to hold the scabbard. The letters read that he who wants to bear the sword should be hardier (" more harder") than any other man. And that despite of the crude girdle the bearer should not be ashamed. The girdle could only be replaced by the hands of a virgin from royal blood. And a virgin she must stay all her life or a dreadful death would befall her.
As they turn the word they perceive it to be black, showing red letters which warn them, that the sword will turn on him that praises it most or to whom it is most courteous. Sir Percival's sister remembers a tale of a man called Nacyen who lived 40 years after the passion of Christ and who found the ship with the sword. First he couldn't draw it and the wind drives the ship to different places. And when he encountered a giant he found the sword out of his scabbard, praised it much and it broke at his first strike.
After meeting king "Mordrayne" on another ship Nacyen learns that he must have sinned and he (Mordryane probably) sets the pieces of teh sword together which is as good as new. They are then asked to leave the ship and Nacyen receives a sword stroke to his right foot for, as a voice claims, he was never worthy to handle the sword. '''A G E'''

'''Cpt. 5: ''' another tale – King Pelles, later on called the Maimed King, was a great supporter of the church, found the ship after getting separated with all but one of his knightes he rode out for hunting. After reading the letters and entering the ship lone he tried to draw the sword and was struck by spear through both thighs a wound that could never be healed since then.
We then switch back to the three knights, who find two swords and three white, green and red “spyndels” of vibrant color near the head of the bed. Sir Percival’s sister tells the knight’s the story how Eve planted the branch of the tree that carried “the apple” after their banishment from paradise into the earth and a majestic white tree grew out of it. After Adam and Eve had had sex under the tree it turned green and later, after Cain killed his brother Abel below it, it turned red and all plants expect this tree withered. Much later wise king Solomon reigned the marvellous red tree still existed.
King Solomon’s wife is said to be an evil woman and the king himself despises women in his books until the Holy Spirit tells him, that from his lineage will come a glorrious woman, from the man, who would not only be a formidable knight but also the last of Solomon’s bloodline and a virgin. [“man whiche shalle be a mayde”] '''E F'''
'''
Cpt. 6: '''
King Solomon kept studying and thought long time who could be this man and finally he told his wife about the prophecy. She asked him to have an excellent ship build and the sword of David fitted with a new pommel, crossguard and sheath. She herself outfitted the ship with riches and added the hempen girdle (against the protest of Solomon)to the sword. And she forced a carpenter to cut enough wood from the white, the green and the red tree to craft three “spyndlys” out of it. Those were added to the bed. After all is done Solomon wonders what this all is about but his wife just answers that he will get answers soon enough '''B E F G'''

'''Cpt. 7 : '''
At night Solomon dreams of angels that spray the ship with holy water (consecrate it?) and wirte on’s sides warnings for those that enter and on the sword another message. Shocked he retreats and the ship glided into the sea and vanished quickly while a little voice told Solomon that the knight he is looking for will rest in this bed and ship. He then told his wife about his dream. [Back on board the ship] Percival finds written news that tell them the story of the ship and the sword and they understand, that they must find a suitable girdle for the famous sword. Percival’s sister then produces a girdle made from her own hair that she had crafted as soon as she knew about her mission. And then Galahad is girded with the sword then called the Sword of the Strange Girdles. Then they leave the ship (of Solomon) and the winds drive them to the coast of Scotland, near to a castle on the cliffs. where Percival’s sister warns the knights about assailants, who know that they were Arthur’s knights. '''E A B G'''

'''Cpt. 8: '''
After introducing themselves to a squire of that castle who then returned with the message the hear horns and are warned by a “gentilwoman” to leave or they would die. Some well armed knights are dispatched from the castle to take the knights prisoners but are quickly killed or flee, while the knights take some of the horses and follow the survivers into the castle, were the kill quite many people. As they wonder on what they have done and are quite sure to have sinned. But why had God given them the strength to kill them? A priest in the castle tells them that there is no need for self-doubt since the former lord (Earl Hernox) of this castle was fataly wounded thrown into prison by his three sons, who before that had raped and then, when she told her father, killed her sister and afterwards killed priests and destroyed churches. The priests also says, that Earl Hernox forsaw the arrival of servants of God to redeem this injustice. '''D(!) E I'''

'''Cpt 9: '''
Earl Hernox dies in Galahad’s arms and with his last breath asks the knight to go and seek out the Maimed King, for he will be healed by Galahad.
The three knights and Percival’s sister depart and on their travel they meet a white stag with four “lions” (?lyons) in a vast forest which they folllow to a hermitage were an armored priest conducts mass in a chapel, which the four travelers attend. In mass they see the white stag become a man and the lions turn into another man, a lion (…), an eagle, and an ox, that all receive a blessing at the altar and leave, somehow incorporeal, through the painted glaswindow. Then the knights hear a voice that tells them that like this the Virgin Mary received his son. They ask the priest about what had happened and he explains to them, that they are choosen to learn about secrets of God himself and that they will bring an end to the “Sancgreal” (Sangreal – Holy Grail, probably: the quest for the grail).
The white stag and the lions are a symbol for Jesus and the Evangelists but assumes that the knights won’t see these anymore. The knight’s rejoice and travel past a castle on the next day, when a knight bearing a message comes after them. '''E B'''
'''
Cpt. 10: '''
The knight from the castle asks Percival’s sister to give a dish full of her maiden blood as it is custom. The three knights defend her and even manage fend off a superior number of knights (soldiers), Galahad seemingly going berserk, until nightfall. They are then invited into the castle to rest and learn about this custom. '''I A'''

'''Cpt. 11 '''
Bors, Galahad, Percival and his sister accept and learn that the blood of a maiden is needed to cure the Lady of the castle.
Percival’s sister offers to heal the lady with her blood and voluntarily gives enough to heal the lady as well as to kill herself. Her last wish is her body to be send forth on a ship so that, as she forsees, she will arrive in due time at the city of Sarras where she is going to be buried under a tower were Percival and Galahad,too, shall be buried at some point in time. Percival fullfills her wish and even adds a letter that contains all her deeds to her dead hands. After a strong tempest the three knights see a wounded knight praying to God for help and being chased by a “dwarf” and Bors sets out save that knight. '''B D E'''

'''Cpt.12: '''
Galahad and Percival pray all night for Bors save return. And when they leave the chappel the find everyone in the castle dead and hear a voice that names this God’s vengeance for the shedding of virgin blood. They then find 36 the well preserved tombs of the “maydens that were martred for the seke ladyes sake”, all of whom were of royal blood. Then they leave the castle. '''E'''

'''Cpt. 13: '''
While Lanceleot is resting near the “waters of Mortoyse” he receives a vision that aks him to board the first ship that he may find. On a beach he finds a ship without sail or oars and as soon as he enters he is overwhelmed with joy and falls asleep. As he awakes he finds Percival’s dead sister on a bed in the ship and reads of her and her brother’s deeds.
Lancelot stays onboard the ship for a month and ist sustained by prayers alone. One night he meets his son Galahad and both are full of joy and, as he sees Percival’s dead sister on the bed, tell each other stories of their deeds. Lancelot is especially keen to hear and praise the sword Galahad procured on the ship of Solomon. Both travel together on the ship for half a year and worship good, while again and again fight against wild beasts on unchartered isles, which is not elaborated on since it has nothing to to with the grail.'''B E'''

'''Cpt. 14: '''
On a Monday Galahad is picked up by heavily armored knight who tells him, that he had passed enough time with his father and a voice tells them, that they will only see each other again on Judgement Day. Thy bid farewell to each other and Lancelot ist driven out unto the sea again for another month full of prayers.
Lancelot finally arrives at a castle whose doors are open but guarded with two lions but before he canenter he is reprimanded by a voice that he will need the strength in the Lord more than his armor. (actually a suddenly appearing dwarf hits him after he readies sword and armor O_o )
Lancelot thanks the Lord and manages to enter the castle through open doors and non-aggressive lions. Only a last door is closed to him and he tries to open it. '''B E'''

'''Cpt. 15: '''
With all his strength he can’t open the door. He only hears an angelic voice praising the Lord. So he prays for God to let him in if he had done something in his life that had pleased him. The door opens and he sees that inside there is a richly decorated and bright altar, some angels and a holy vessel with a priest holding mass in front of it. Lancelot is warned to by that mysterios voice but after seeing the priest struggling while holds the young child of two other people aloft he enters to help the priest. And feels instantly burned and weakend. He falls to the ground, absolutely powerless, and is brought outside. There he is found the next morning and the people of the castle decide to look after him although he seems dead for many of them. '''B E'''

'''Cpt. 16: '''
For 24 days they serve Lancelot and as he suddenly awakes he is furious about it since he was shown great secrets and miracles in his sleep. He perceives those 24 (25th day he awakes) as his punishment for his 25 years being a sinner and he remebers that he hadn’t worn the hair-shirt (“hayr”) a hermit had given to him as he promised a year ago. Afterward wears the hair-shirt beneath his other clothing. He also is told that he will never see the Grail any closer than he already has and he accepts it, grateful for the mercy shown to him by God.
He then gives his full name and is happily greeting by the king for he is at the Castle of Carbonek and at King Pelles court.
The King relates the sad story of his dead daughter whereof Lancelot is genuinely sorry. After four days he wants to leave the court and suddenly during their last meal, that the Grail had provided, all the windows and doors of the castle close magically. A single knights shouts outside the castle that he wihes to enter and finally the king himself asks him, from a window, what this knight's business is and that he surley is not one knight of the quest and not in the service of the Lord. The knight introduces himself as Hector de Marys, brother of Sir Lancelot. When the king tells him that Lancelot is inside his castle, Sir Hector tells the king that his (Hector's) sorrow and shame are thereby doubled and that the "good man of the hill" said the truth about Gawayns and his dreams. The Sir Hector leaves as fast as possible.'''B I E'''

'''Cpt. 17: '''
Sir Lancelot departs from King Pelles to travel back to the realm of Logrys and after a long travel he rests at a white Abbey. Here he finds a newly made tomb with an inscription stating that this is the grave of Bagdemagus of Gore who had been killed by Sir Gawayn. Lancelot mourns the loss. On his further way he visits the Abbey where Galahad won his shield and finally reaches Camelot, where he is greeted happily. More than half of the knights had been killed on their quest so far. The Sirs Hector, Gawayn and Lyonel were among those returned. Lancelot tells them all about his adventures and about the adventures of Percival, Galahad and Bors, of which he knew through the letter of Sir Percival's dead sister. He also tells the king that only one of these three knights will return to his court.'''B D'''

'''Cpt. 18: E G I'''
After many travels Sir Galahad comes to an Abbey, where he meets King Mordrayns (who must be quite old be now). The King tells him that he is the purest of all knights asks him to embrace him so that he may die (of age) in his arms. Galahad does as asked and even prays to God to visit him and god hears his prayer and the King departs.
As he travels on pure Galahad calms a boiling well, called Callahady's well, with a touch of his hand. And he later reaches the Abbey where Badgemagus tomb could be found and extinguishes the flames of teh burning tomb of Simeon, which only the knight that passes all other knights of the table round could accomplish and in which Sir Lancelot had already failed. Galahad relieves the spirit of a sinner that had done wrong to Joseph of Arimathea 354 years before by granting him a proper burial. [not sure I got the "who is who" right here]'''E G I'''

BOOK 17, CHAPTER NINETEEN

Galahad departs and meets Bors and Percival on the way. Together, they ride to the castle of Carbonek. The son of their host King Pelles shows them the sword that struck Joseph through the thigh; it's broken, and one by one they try to make it whole again, but only Galahad succeeds. He gifts the repaired sword to Bors.

After they have all sat down for dinner, nine foreign knights come to meet Galahad - three from Gaulle, three from Ireland, and three from Denmark - and sit with them.

An old, sick man wearing a gold crown is brought into the room where dinner is held, lying in a bed. Without identifying himself, he welcomes Galahad and tells him that he's long wanted to meet him, and sends King Pelles and his son away.

CHAPTER TWENTY

A man in the garments of a bishop and four angels descend from heaven; the bishop is holding a cross, and letters written on his forehead identify him as Joseph, the first bishop of Christendom. The angels who accompanied him return, two of them bearing candles, one a towel, and one a spear with blood dripping from it. Galahad takes some of the blood and anoints the sick man's legs with it, making him healthy again.

Then, Jesus himself appears and blesses everyone present. He gives Galahad a special plate and tells him it can't be in Britain any longer; Galahad should take his sword, Bors and Percival, and depart on a ship that he'll find waiting for him at the coast. Jesus also prophecies that two of them won't return from their quest.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Galahad asks the three knights from Gaulle to greet Lancelot for him if they go to Arthur's court, and then departs. On the ship, Galahad prays and is granted the gift that he'll be able to die when- and wherever he chooses, and his soul will go on to eternal life.

Upon their landing in Sarras, Galahad heals a cripple. Percival buries his sister there, who had died in the meantime. They see the tyrant king and tell him the story of their quest, but he throws them into prison.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Eventually the king dies, asking forgiveness of the three, which they grant. The people of Sarras make Galahad their new king; he accepts, but soon after his coronation, he dies during Mass.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Percival and Bors grieve for him, Percival so much so that he enters a hermitage to live as a holy man for a year and two days, before he, too, dies. Bors buries him next to his sister and Galahad and then returns to Britain, where he is warmly welcomed at court and the story he has to tell is written down in books.

END OF BOOK 17

2007-08 AM Le Morte Darthur (1485)

2007-11-15T21:26:45Z

BettinaKorte: /* Topics */

{|align=right width=40%
!bgcolor=#FFFF80|Dieser Kurs in das sogenannte Aquarium A10 1-121a verlegt.
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denkt über mögliche Arbeitsthemen nach, notiert sie, setzt Eure Namen dahinter (vier Tilden <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> und das Wiki macht daraus eine Unterschrift)
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Übliche Freitag Abende: 20:00, nach dem Seminar, Tannenkampstr. 12, Wochenausklang dieses Semester mit Tafelrunde und Artus-Filmen. Wäre nett, wenn Ihr mir bei der Filmbeschaffung helfen wolltet. --[[User:Olaf Simons|Olaf Simons]] 14:38, 4 November 2007 (CET)
|}
* '''Time:''' Fridays 4-6 pm
* '''Place:''' A10 1-121a
* '''Contact:''' [[User:Olaf Simons|Olaf Simons]]

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The legendary King Arthur, the mysteries around his sword Excalibur, the stories of his quasi democratic Round Table, Arthur's tragic struggle between love, treason and an all too powerful enemy invading the British Isles have inspired the European audience at least since the early 12th century. The wave of Provencal, Middle High German and Middle English versified Arthurian romances composed around 1200 merged into the production of the first modern European prose romances in the 15th century which culminated - another century later - in the ''Amadis'', the "arch romance" devoured by ''Don Quixote''. The 17th and 18th centuries distanced themselves both from the erroneous histories related here and from the genre of romances they had inspired. A new interest arose at the beginning of the 19th century with the new nationalism of the age, its self proclaimed "romanticism", its quest for lost identities one could hope to find in the "dark ages". A rediscovery of "medieval" texts followed in which the Arthurian world offered the most interesting mythical images; it is today omnipresent as a cultural phenomenon with a mass production of fantasy novels, video games and movies.

The course will focus on William Caxton's edition of Sir Thomas Malroy's ''Le Morte Darthur'' first published in 1485 - most certainly not the elegant, witty and beautiful reading earlier versified romances provided, yet the text which most effectively compiled the plots of the preceding romantic production.

Why was there an audience for this book at the "beginning" of the "Modern Period"? How did it relate to the preceding production of romances and histories? How does it compare to the fashionable ''Amadis'' the next century was to love so much? How does it read within the context of the 19th and 20th century renaissance of the Arthurian world? The course will offer a cultural history of the text and its fictional world.

==Oct 26 2007: Introduction==
Brainstorming. Who needs what? Who is going to conclude this course with a piece of written work? Introduction History of Malory's Book.

==Nov 2, 2007: Reading into the (peculiar) text ==
Discussion of seminar topics - and advice to claim and specify them in the section bellow. We read into ''Le Morte Darthur'', Caxton's preface and chapters 1-3. Concepts of history, aspects of fatalism. Also: Great vowel shift and Caxton's spelling.

==Nov 9, 2007: Caxton's Book 1==
'''Homework:''' Read Book one. Seminar discussion: Arthur's dubious birth, miracles, reading experiences. Also: comparison with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_the_Round_Table_%28film%29 ''Knights of the Round Table'' (1953)], the movie we eventually watched.

==Nov 16, 2007 ==

==Nov 23, 2007 ==

==Nov 30, 2007 ==

==Dec 7, 2007 ==

==Dec 14, 2007 ==

==Dec 21, 2007 ==

==Jan 11, 2007 ==

==Jan 18, 2008 ==

==Jan 25, 2008 ==

==Feb 1, 2008 ==

==Feb 6, 2008 ==

===Topics===

Those who are planning to join the seminar may contribute thoughts on what they'd like to do in the following list:

* Sources in Europe's mythology and history
* Foreshadowings - a world of predetermination [[User:Katharina K.|Katharina K.]] 21:31, 8 November 2007 (CET)
* Family ties [[User:BettinaKorte|BettinaKorte]] 22:26, 15 November 2007 (CET)
* Justice [[User:Johanna Ehrhardt|Johanna Ehrhardt]] 12:39, 9 November 2007 (CET) Johanna Ehrhardt
* The use of repetitive patterns
* Who has to solve the problem? - special and normal quests
* Plot constructions
* The renaissance of chivalry at the beginning of the modern era
* Love and gender relations [[User:Julia Mudder|Julia Mudder]] 18:05, 9 November 2007 (CET)
* Miracles and the Arthurian World
* Politics
* Marriage and fidelity[[User:Freya|Freya]] 09:06, 7 November 2007 (CET)
* The legitimation of violence [[User:Inga|Inga]] 13:34, 9 November 2007 (CET)
* The legitimation of power
* Christianity--An add-on to the story or an inert part of it? Christian Schultz-Brummer[[User:Nahl3372|Nahl3372]] 18:05, 7 November 2007 (CET)
* The text which shaped our view of the medieval world: Malory's King Arthur and Mark Twain's ''Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court'' (1889)
* From Fantasy to video game Arthur's table round in modern culture (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur_in_various_media en.wikipedia.org] for modern adaptations of the sujet)
* King Arthur and the Amadis (Commercializing of King Arthur) --[[User:Sebastian Henatsch|Sebastian Henatsch]] 17:47, 10 November 2007 (CET)
* The presence of the Arthurian world in the world of chap books
* Individual ideas on Malory's ''King Arthur'' and modern versions and adaptations - be creative, propose topics and we will think about them

===Texts===

First of all: Read a German translation if you feel lost - I began my life with Middle English texts with a reading of Chaucer in German, which I then, a week later, combined with a second reading of the original. I read the original Chaucer aloud to get into the funny language (fill in your Plattdeutsch that helps), with the German text still in my mind I had little problems with the original and soon realised that I could from now onwards read such stuff without reading a German text before.

As to the English texts:

Malory's original manuscript is lost. For more than 400 years the edition Caxton had published in 1485 was the authoritative source. In 1934 the Winchester manuscript was discovered - a text between Malory's and Caxton's text. Traces of Caxton's ink have been found on the manuscript's leafs, Caxton knew the Winchester volume, he did, however, base his own edition on another, lost manuscript.

Modern scholarship has focused on the Winchester manuscript as the better text. The Norton Critical edition - it cost me 16 Euro a couple of months ago - is based on the Winchester manuscript; it includes, however, passages from Caxton's wherever his version is more detailed. The aim is a reconstruction of what might have been Malory's text, a text without omissions. The Norton edition is well commented and equipped with an extensive dictionary as well as a choice of critical articles. It does finally offer the most important sources Malory exploited. The Norton edition is my recommendation for all of you who like to work with a fully commented scientific edition.

I myself am more interested in Caxton's fist edition as published in 1485 and offered by EEBO - the text is, however, difficult to read:

* [http://eebo.chadwyck.com/search/full_rec?SOURCE=pgimages.cfg&ACTION=ByID&ID=22102180&FILE=../session/1183624385_29976&SEARCHSCREEN=CITATIONS&SEARCHCONFIG=config.cfg&DISPLAY=ALPHA Sir Thomas Malory, ''Le Morte Darthur'' (London: William Caxton, 1485)]

To facilitate things I offer an html-edition of the same text (scroll down a bit to get beyond the reproduction of the first page):

*[http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1485-morte-darthur.html Sir Thomas Malory, ''Le Morte Darthur'' (1485) html-text of Caxton's edition]

My impression is that Caxton's is the easier text to read. The publisher focused on the plot, he lost some of the descriptions and he omitted some of the author's self referential remarks. Yet he structured his text and produced a straight forward version. My html-edition (also available as a word-file) is a simple transcript to be read with an additional list of difficult words to be found at [[Le Morte Darthur (1485):Dictionary]] - expand this list, wherever you miss words. I have contacted the Druckzentrum and they promised to provide a print-version of my Caxton html-edition by September. Contact me if you want to start your reading earlier and if you want to read the Caxton text. I will try to provide provisional copies in that case. We should also open Wiki-space at [[Le Morte Darthur (1485): Protagonists]] - for a who is who?

===Excerpts/Summaries===
[[Le Morte Darthur Book 1]] 
[[Le Morte Darthur Book 2]] 
[[Le Morte Darthur Book 3]] 
[[Le Morte Darthur Book 4]] 

===Literature===

*Eugéne Vinaver, ''Malory'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1929).

*Bennett, J. A. W. (ed.), ''Essays on Malory'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963).

*Moorman, Charles, ''The Book of King Arthur. The Unity of Malory’s Morte Darthur'' (University of Kentucky Press, 1965).

*Matthews, William, ''The Ill-Famed Knight. A sceptical inquiry into the Identity of Thomas Malory'' (Berkeley/ Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1966).

*Lambert, Mark, ''Malory. Style and Vision in Le Morte Darthur'' (New Haven/ London: Yale University Press, 1975).

*Benson, Larry D., ''Malory’s Morte Darthur'' (Cambridge, Mass./ London: Harvard University Press, 1976). 289 pp.

*Dillon, Bert, ''A Malory Handbook'' (Boston, Mass., G. K. Hall & Co., 1978).

*Ihle, Sandra Ness, ''Malory’s Grail Quest. Invention and Adaptation in Medieval Romance'' (The University of Wisconsin Press, 1983).

*Whitaker, Muriel, ''Arthur’s Kingdom of Adventure. The World of Malory’s Morte Darthur'' (Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer/ Barnes and Noble, 1984).

*Spisak, James W. (ed.), ''Studies in Malory'' (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications western Michigan University, 1985).

*Jackson Parins, Marylyn, ''Malory the Cristical Heritage'' (London/ New York: Routledge, 1988).

*McCarthy, Terence, ''Reading the Morte Darthur'' [= ''Arthurian Studies'', XX] (Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 1988), 187 pp. third edition with new title: ''An Introduction to Malory'' [= ''Arthurian Studies'', XX] (Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 1996), 176 pp.

*Takamiya, Toshiyuki/ Brewer, Derek (eds.), ''Aspects of Malory'' (Woodbridge: D.S. Brewer/ Rowman & Littlefield, 1991).

*Field, P. J. C., ''The Life an Times of Sir Thomas Malory'' [= ''Arthurian Studies'', XXIX] (Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 1993), 218 pp.

*Archibald, Elizabeth/ Edwards A. S. G. (eds.), ''A Companion to Malory'' (Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 1996), 252 pp. + Appendix

*Kraemer, Alfred Robert, ''Mallory’s Grail Seekers and Fifteenth-Century English Hagiography'' (New York: Peter Lang, 1999). 105 pp. + Notes

*Field, P. J. C., ''Malory: Texts and Sources'' [= ''Arthurian Studies'', XL] (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1998), 313 pp.

==Films==
* ''Knights of the Round Table'' (1953), based on ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' by Thomas Malory, with Robert Taylor as Lancelot, Ava Gardner as Guinevere, and Mel Ferrer in the role of Arthur. '''bought'''
*''Sword of Lancelot'' a.k.a. ''Lancelot and Guinevere'' (1963), a film directed by Cornel Wilde and starring Mr. Wilde as Lancelot, Jean Wallace as Guinevere, and Brian Aherne as Arthur.
* ''The Sword in the Stone'', a 1963 Disney animated film about Arthur's childhood, loosely adapted from T.H. White's take on the legend.
* ''Camelot'', a 1967 film adaptation of the successful 1960 Broadway musical of the same name. It starred Richard Harris as Arthur, Vanessa Redgrave as Guenevere, and Franco Nero as Lancelot.
* ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975), a comedic parody of the traditional King Arthur legend. It was later adapted into a successful Broadway musical called ''Spamalot''. Arthur was played by the late Graham Chapman in the film.
* John Boorman's ''Excalibur'' (1981), based largely on Malory and probably the highest rated serious Arthurian film. It features Nicol Williamson as Merlin and Helen Mirren as Morgan Le Fay.
* ''First Knight'' (1995), a movie based on the abduction of Guinevere by the knight Malagant. It featured Sean Connery as Arthur, Richard Gere as Lancelot, and Julia Ormond as Guinevere.
* ''Quest for Camelot'', an animated feature from Warner Bros. Animation, released in 1998, features King Arthur ruling over a besieged Camelot.
* ''King Arthur'', a motion picture released on July 7, 2004, claiming (despite being heavily criticised for its historical inaccuracies) to be more historically accurate about the legend of Arthur as a 5th century, British-born, Roman Commander, with respect to new archaeological findings; similar in story line to Jack Whyte's books. '''bought'''
*''The Last Legion'' (2007) - a film about the last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus who survives his fall from power and finds a new life in Britain. The movie links Romulus to the legends of King Arthur. In this movie, Arthur's father Uther Pendragon is brought up by a Roman general and a Malayalee woman (Aishwarya Rai)
----
The list is incomplete as Percival, Tritram and Isolde (got one movie of that) and Lancelot-stuff will belong into the same field. We might skip animated movies. --[[User:Olaf Simons|Olaf Simons]] 21:21, 11 November 2007 (CET)

===Links===
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Malory en.wikipedia.org: Thomas Malory]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morte_d%27Arthur en.wikipedia.org: Le Morte d'Arthur]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur en.wikipedia.org: King Arthur]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur_in_various_media en.wikipedia.org: King Arthur in various media]
*[[King Arthur: Films]]
* [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/lookup.html The electronic Middle English Dictionary]

[[Category:Winter 2007-2008]]
[[Category:Aufbaumodul]]