Angl-Am - User contributions [en]

Le Morte Darthur Book 10

2007-12-13T09:31:43Z

Nahl3372:

{{Template:Malory 21 Books}}

Chapter 1:
Arthur wants to get to know Tristam’s name and what it’s all about with that shield and tells him to fight with him if he wouldn’t do so. So they fight and Arthur gets hurt. That is the reason why Ywain gets wroth and wants to fight against Tristam, too. Then he gets hurt, too.
Afterwards Tristam rides into a forest and comes to a castle where he sees 1 man fighting against 9 other men and in his opinions the man fighting on his own is Palomydes. Then he tells the others that it’s not honourable to fight against only one person The one of them tells him to be Breunis Saume Pité and wants him to go away, but Tristam stays and helps the one man.

Chapter 2:
Then the two of them fight against the rest and Palomydes gets wounded. Then he thanks Tristam to have saved his life. Then follows a conversation about the fact that they are enemies to each other but it doesn’t matter anymore up from now. Then they decide to meet in two weeks at a special place so that Palomydes gets the chance to fight against him without being wounded. Palomydes explains how he came into the fight against the 9 knights (he wanted to fight against Breunis Saume Pité, because he has slain the damsel that was under his will). Then they ride together further into the forest where they see a knight sleeping under a tree. As they wake him he starts to fight against them, so that that fall from there horses. Then he goes away. Afterwards Tristam wants to follow that knight but Palomydes needs some rest. So they decide to departe and ride different ways and to meet in two weeks.

Chapter 3:
So Arthur follows the knight and comes to a place where he sees a lady weeping on a dead corpus. Then she tells him that he has been slain by a knight that hates knights of Arthur. Then he asks for her husbands name and she tells him that is was Sir Galardoun. Then he continues riding and meets Gawayne and Bleoberys who tell him that they have been hurt by the same knight, too and Tristam tells them that he has met that knight, too. So Tristam decides to search him. As he rides away, he meets Sir Kay and Dinadam who tell him that have fought with that knight, too. After that conversation he rides away and finds a place to rest for six days.

Chapter 4:
Sir Tristam meets two knights who want to fight with him, but he doesn’t want to, because he is afraid of getting wounded and not being able to fight against Palomydes in two days. So he tells them that he cannot fight against them, but they don’t care and so they fight. Tristam is much better them so that the two of them fall off their horses and Tristam rides away. Then they follow him, because they want to fight against him again, but Tristam explains who he is and what the name of the knight is, he wants to fight with. Then they are very impressed and glad to have met Tristam, because he is a very good knight.

Chapter 5:
Sir Tristam rides to the place where he wants to meet Palomydes (a long time ago Merlyn prognosticated that at that place the two best knights of Arthur’s time would fight against each other) and then a knight appears and they fight against each other without knowing who they are. The Gouvernail and Launcelot’s knave are very afraid of one of them could kill the other. Then Tristam and Lancelot tell each other their names and are very shocked and upset, because they admire each other very much. Then they go to Camelot, where they meet Sir Gawayne and Sir Gaheris.

Chapter 6:
Then they bring Sir Tristam to King Arthur’s court and meet Arthur who is very happy that Tristam is back. Then Tristam tells him what happened and they talk about Lancelot who fought anonymous, because he didn’t want to be identified as somebody from Arthur’s court. Then King Arthur makes Tristam a knight of the Round Table and Tristam promises to stay there.

Chapter 7:
King Mark is very wroth about Tristam being that successful and that there is still so much love between him and Isolde. So he sends some scouts to find something out about what he is doing. Then Mark rides with two of his knights –Besules and Amant- to England. Then Mark asks a knight where to find Tristam and he tells him that he is in Camelot and known as a very good knight and why it is so. Then Mark tells his knights that he wants to kill Tristam, but they don’t want to and so he kills Besules. Then Amant and the knave are very wroth and decide not to fight on Mark’s side any longer and to tell Arthur about it.

Capitulum xlv
Fourth day of tournament. Sire Lamorak wins the praise of the day against 30 knights, helped by Lancelot and King Bagdemagus.

Capitulum xlvj
Fifth day of tournament. Lamorak safes “thre brethren of sir gawayns” from being dishonoured in iuste by Palomydes, for the sake of Arthur being of their kin.

Capitulum xlvij
Palomydes fights Corsabryn for a damoysels sake, and wins. Dynadan fights well at iustes, but is smitten of his horse by Lancelot, at the bidding of Sir Galahalt, in order to make fun of him.

Capitulum xlviij
Sixth day of tournament. Lamorak fights in anger to safe his two brothers and wins. At dinner Dynadan provocates Sir Galahalt, complaining that he will never succeed at tornament as long as Lancelot is put against him on purpose.

Capitulum xlix
Seventh day of tournament. Against his own promise Lancelot attacks Dynadan diguised as a woman. As a result everybody laughs about Dynadan. The prices of the tournament were given 1. to Lancelot, 2. to Lamorak, 3. to Palomydes and 4. to King Bagdemagus.

Capitulum l
King Mark sends Tristram in disguise (without coat of arms) to a tournament in Cornwall were Galahalt and King Bagdemagus conspire to kill Lancelot. Because of Tristram’s disguise he is taken to be Lancelot and therefore is attacked by many knights. Tristram survives through his own strength, but is hurt. King Mark then deceives Tristram and puts him into prison. As a result of this, Isoud raises King Marks own knights against him.

Capitulum lj
Mark tries to deceive Tristram into going on a cruisade with faked letters from the pope, but fails. Instead Percyvale delivers Tristram from prison. In breaking his own oath not to do so King Mark puts Tristram into prison again by force. This time Sadok and Dynas put King Mark into prison and Tristram and Isoud escape by ship.

Capitulum lij
Tristram takes part in tournament where he meets Lancelot and is given a castle by him. Because Tristram is now close to King Arthur he announces a great tournament in which all kingdoms of the British isles are to take part.

Capitulum liij
Tristram meets Breuse and Palomydes at a well. Sir Bleoberys wins against Palomydes and then chases Breuse, who is false knight. Breuse manages to engage three other knights that he runs into on his flight to defend him. After some fuss the thre knights, Ector, Percyvale and Harre find out that Breuse is the “bad guy”, but Breuse escapes.

Capitulum liiij
Palomydes hates Bleoberys now (see chapter before). Parcyvale hears from Palomydes about his brother’s, Lamorak’s, death, caused by Sir Gawayne and his brothers.

Capitulum lv
a.) Tristram meets Dynadan as he is hunting in the woods. They discuss whether a lover is the better knight or those that do not love a lady. As they discuss sir Epynegrys rides along who is known to love a woman too. Dynadan challenges Epynegrys to iuste with him to proof that he, not being a lover, is the better knight. Dynadan looses and parts from Tristram disgruntled.
b.) Tristram then rides home to Ioyous Gard (his castle) and finds that two knights, Agravayne and Gaherys, have slain one of his knights. Tristram beats both of the in battle twice and leaves them.

Capitulum lvj
Tristram tells Isoud about Dynadans attitude towards love, and she invites Dynadan to lodge in their castle, which he does without meeting Tristram whom he searches.

Capitulum lvij
Tristram and Dynadan meet on the road (on their way to the tournament in Lonaჳep) and iuste. Tristram misses on purpose and pretends to put himself under the protection of Dynadan. They ride on together and meet Sir Gareth. Dynadan looses against him in iuste and as they recognise each other they, the three of them, ride on together. Then they meet another knight who hits Gareth out of his saddle. Dynadan refuses to revenge Gareth as he sees the strength of that other knight. Tristram fights him instead and wins. It turns out that other knight is Palomydes and being defeated by Tristram he surrenders to him. Now all for ride on together acknowledging Tristram as their superior.

[[TOPICS p.350-p.370:]]

'''Marriage & Fidelity (characteristics of Men & Women)'''

Men fight about/for women p. 350

Women comfort men p. 351

cannot fight for their rights, but need Men for that p. 353

women as counsellor

isoud arms Tristan (helm) p. 367

'''Violence (legitimate/illegitimate)'''

to defend women (is good) p. 353

'''Family ties'''

Allies in fighting (good and evil) p. 352

more important than justice p. 352, p.365

'''History vs. fiction'''

'''Christianity, miracles and heathenism'''

Mir.: “a stinke of his body whan the soule departed” p. 353

Chr.: Baptism as something that gives value to a person p. 354

'''Honour'''

strong at fighting p. 350, p.351,

to stay on your horse p. 354

cheating honourable (Lancelot disguised) p. 355+356

conspiracy is not honourable p. 356

But stealing bell Isolde is? p. 356 ff

Dishonourable is hitting a knight lying on the ground p. 362

Or riding over him p. 363

Or fighting with many against one p. 363

'''Names:'''

King Arthur

Sir Lamorak

Sir Lancelot

King Bagdemagus

Sir Palomydes

Sir Gaweyn

Sir Corsamyn: minor character

Sir Dynadan a joker and song writer, well beloved, but also contintually mocked and laughed at

Sir Galahalt

King Mark Isoud’s husband, tries to kill Tristram by treason

Sir Tristram

La beale Isoud

Sir Percyvale

Sir Sadok King Marks Knight, helps Tristram and Isoud

Sir Dynas King Marks Knight, helps Tristram and Isoud

Sir Breuse a false knight, minor character

Sir Bleoberys

Sir Ector

Sir Harre

Sir Epynegrys

Sir Gareth good Brother of Sir Gawayn, nephew of King Arthur

Sir Agravayne evil Brother of Sir Gawayn, nephew of King Arthur

Sir Gaherys evil Brother of Sir Gawayn, nephew of King Arthur

Pages 350-370 summarized and worked at by Christian[[User:Nahl3372|Nahl3372]] 10:31, 13 December 2007 (CET)

Le Morte Darthur Book 10

2007-12-13T09:29:46Z

Nahl3372:

Le Morte Darthur Book 10

2007-12-13T09:27:54Z

Nahl3372:

Le Morte Darthur Book 10

2007-12-10T15:19:40Z

Nahl3372:

Le Morte Darthur Book 10

2007-12-10T15:16:52Z

Nahl3372:

2007-08 AM Le Morte Darthur (1485)

2007-11-30T10:45:26Z

Nahl3372:

{|align=right width=40%
!bgcolor=#FFFF80|denkt über mögliche Arbeitsthemen nach, notiert sie, setzt Eure Namen dahinter (vier Tilden <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> und das Wiki macht daraus eine Unterschrift)
|}
* '''Time:''' Fridays 4-6 pm
* '''Place:''' A10 1-121a
* '''Contact:''' [[User:Olaf Simons|Olaf Simons]]

----

===Excerpts/Summaries===
*[[Le Morte Darthur Book 1]]
*[[Le Morte Darthur Book 2]]
*[[Le Morte Darthur Book 3]]
*[[Le Morte Darthur Book 4]]
*[[Le Morte Darthur Book 5]]
*[[Le Morte Darthur Book 6]]
*[[Le Morte Darthur Book 7]]
*[[Le Morte Darthur Book 8]]
----

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 ==
'''Homework:''' Three Groups read Books 2/3/4 .

'''Class:''' Discussion: Why have the Arthurian and Germanic mythological worlds become that attractive? - Fantasy, NS-Ideology, Lord of the Rings, Starwars. Simple option: We live in a complex time and need the simplified worlds.

Is it just about simplifications? Why has fate become such a topic?

Returning to ''Morte Darthur'' we wondered whether Malory's world is one of clear morality, open conflicts between good and evil. We read into the first books and tried to discuss passages to get a notion of good-evil options, and did not get a simple moralistic point at all.

==Nov 23, 2007 ==
'''Homework:''' Read Book 5.

'''Class:''' History vs. Epic. Is this a world of archaic dimensions?

==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[[User:Katharina Debney|Katharina Debney]] 11:44, 23 November 2007 (CET)
* 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
* 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--What is its function in the stories? Christian Schultz-Brummer[[User:Nahl3372|Nahl3372]] 18:05, 7 November 2007 (CET)
*The Heroes at King Arthur's Court: Stereotypes or Individuals?
*Battle Scenes
*Hidden and Lost Identities
* A Renaissance of Chivalry at the Beginning of the Modern Era
* Geography in Malory's ''Le More Darthur''
* The Public in Malory's ''Le More Darthur''
* ''Le More Darthur'' - History or Romance?
* 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)[[User:Ulrich K.|Ulrich K.]] 17:57, 29 November 2007 (CET)
* 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) [[User:Jens|Jens]] 11:05, 16 November 2007 (CET)
* 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?

===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. <font color=red>'''bought'''</font>
*''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. <font color=red>'''bought'''</font>
*''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]]

2007-08 AM Le Morte Darthur (1485)

2007-11-07T17:05:09Z

Nahl3372:

{|align=right width=40%
!bgcolor=#FFFF80|Dieser Kurs in das sogenannte Aquarium A10 1-121a verlegt.
----
denkt über mögliche Arbeitsthemen nach, notiert sie, setzt Eure Namen dahinter (vier Tilden <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> und das Wiki macht daraus eine Unterschrift)
----
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]]

----

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
* Geography and space
* Family ties
* Justice
* 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
* Miracles and the Arthurian World
* Politics
* Marriage and fidelity[[User:Freya|Freya]] 09:06, 7 November 2007 (CET)
* The legitimation of violence
* 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
* 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?

===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.

===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]]

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