#arthurian texts

[mask131]

A fantasy read-list: A-3

Fantasy read-list

Part A: Ancient fantasy

3) Medieval fantasy - the Arthuriana

While one root of the fantasy genre lies within the mythologies of the world, the other is coming from numerous medieval tales and supernatural stories, most of them being centered around what we call today the “Arthurian myth” or the “Arthuriana”. Though, in truth, the genre of these texts is a bit bigger - it is the “Matter of Britain”, which is larger than the Arthurian texts themselves.

And we will begin our list with... French texts! It might surprise you - you might say “But aren’t Arthurian texts all English?”. No. The Matter of Britain designates all the medieval texts that are not the “Matter of Rome” or the “Matter of Thebes” (aka coming from the texts and topics of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece). Britain is, of course, England, as in “Great-Britain”. But if there is a GREAT Britain, it means there is a “Little Britain”... And this Little Britain is none other than the Bretagne region of France, aka the north-west of France. The Arthurian myth is half-rooted in England, yes, but another half of the origins and founding texts of the Arthurian legend come from France. The famous Broceliande forest is in France, not in England. 

# The founding texts of the French Arthurian literature are without a doubt the novels of Chrétien de Troyes. Considered the very first French novel of history, they created many of the well-known “Arthurian legends” of today. There is a total of five of these novels. Two are indirectly tied to the Arthurian world - Eric and Enide, Cligès. Two are right at the heart of the Arthuriana: Yvain or the Knight of the Lion, as well as Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart. And his final novel is incomplete, but it is the one that created the most famous part of the Arthurian literature: Perceval or the Story of the Grail, the first literary apparition of the famous “Holy Grail” (fun fact: the Grail wasn’t originally a cup, but a fish-plate. Go read the book, you’ll understand Xp). 

# Equating and rivaling Chrétien’s novels, we find the lais of Marie de France. A “lai” is actually a short fiction typical of the Middle-Ages, something halfway between a narrative poem and a fairytale, telling short, concise, but very efficient stories. We have a LOT of lais that came to us anonymously, carrying numerous literary stories or folktales of medieval times - but in France the most famous lais are those attributed to a certain “Mary of France”. She wrote twenty or so VERY famous lais that are seen as one of the defining feature of old medieval French literature. We are talking Bisclaveret, one of the oldest werewolf stories, we are talking of the supernatural romance of Guigemar, we are talking about the twin-shenanigans of Le Fresne, about the tragic love of Chevrefoil, and about the Arthurian lai of Lanval, about a man in love with a fairy but wooed by Guinevere herself. 

Mind you, there are other lais not composed by Marie de France, such as the one of Guingamor or the one of Sir Orfeo, but they are mostly anonymous.

# The works of Robert de Boron. Robert de Boron continued the work started by Chrétien de Troyes (and also took inspiration from the poet’s Wave semi-historical semi-fictional work, such as the Roman de Brut, a historical chronicle where Merlin and dragons appear), and built the next “step” in the Arthurian myth in France. Unfortunately we do not have his full work anymore, merely a fragment of his poem “Merlin” (where he presents the famous story of the “born of a demon” episode), a short “Perceval” story, and his full “Estoire du Graal ou Joseph d’Arimathie”, which is where the background of the Grail as the cup that collected Christ’s blood appears. Together they are considered as “le Petit Cycle du Graal”, “The Small Cycle of the Grail”, preceeding the following item...

# More interestingly, after the enormous success of Chrétien de Troyes’ work, there was an entire series of books that were created, remembered today as the Lancelot-Graal, or the Prose Lancelot, the Vulgate Cycle. These are five texts in prose (in opposition to Chrétien and Boron’s verse works), who continue or rewrite the previous author’s texts - these are L’Estoire del Saint Graal (L’Histoire du Saint Graal/The History of the Holy Grail), L’Estoire de Merlin (L’Histoire de Merlin/Merlin in prose),  Le Lancelot (also called Lancelot in prose or Lancelot proper), La Queste del Saint Graal (The Quest of the Holy Grail), and La Mort d’Artu (The death of Artu). This cycle was followed by three prose texts known as “The Post-Vulgate Cycle” (Histoire du Saint Graal, Merlin, Queste-Mort Artu) which are merely the transcription in prose of some of Boron works, mixed with a rewrite of the “Tristan en prose”, an old novel of the Tristan and Iseult cycle (and the first that links the legendary duo with the Arthurian world).

# The Roman de Perceforest is a quite unique work designed to unite the “romans d’Alexandre” (Alexandrian novels, a big branch of medieval French literature centered around the adventure of Alexander the Great) and the Arthurian novels - more importantly, Perceforest is the oldest known literary version of the fairytale Sleeping Beauty.

# A section should be left here for the various novels involving the fairy Mélusine, one of the main characters of the French medieval legends. In fact, she is recognized (by Georges Dumézil’s work and those that continued it) as one of the two archetypal fairies of the middle-ages (the Melusinian fairy being the fairy entering the human world to live with humans, opposing the Morganian fairy who snatches humans into the otherworld). The legend of Mélusine was most notably recorded in Jean d’Arras “Roman de Mélusine”, and in Coudrette’s own “Roman de Mélusine”.

# There are many, MANY more literary works of medieval France, but to stay in the angle of “ancient fantasy” I will merely quote two more. On one side, la Chanson des quatre fils d’Aymon, a famous medieval epic which notably depicts the figure of Maugis the Enchanter, the other main sorcerer of medieval texts alongside Merlin (he has his own poem, La Chanson de Maugis d’Aigremont). On the other, the one one, the classic, the best-seller, the unavoidable Roman de Renart, the Novel of Reynart, the tentacular set of texts depicting the numerous adventures of the most famous European trickster in an animalistic parody of the Arthurian world.

If we jump outside of France to England, we have a different set of texts:

# The works of Geoffrey of Monmouth. This man wrote some of the earliest works part of the “Arthurian myth”, and from which a lot of elements were taken to create the “Arthuriana”. While his most famous work is “Historia Regum Britanniae”, a semi-historical chronicle of the kings of Britain which contains one of the earliest appearance of King Arthur as we know him today, he also wrote two texts fundamental to the figure of Merlin: Prophetiae Merlini, and Vita Merlini. 

# Otia Imperialia, by Gervase of Tilbury. It was a work created as a gift to emperor Otto V, and it was supposed to be an encyclopedia of geographical, historical and scientific matters - but it is actually containing a LOT of mythical and legendary elements, including entire part of the “Arthurian myth” presented as historical facts - hence its latter name “The Book of Marvels”. 

# Of course, we can’t list the major Arthuriana English works without talking about the most famous one: “Le Morte d’Arthur”, the final result of the “evolution” of the Arthurian myth. Thomas Malory’s attempt at creating a complete legend uniting all of the English and French Arthurian texts (though heavily inspired by the Lancelot-Graal cycle I described above). This text became the “definitive Arthurian text” in England for a very long time - and in more recent days, it was the main inspiration for the famous Arthurian novel “The Once and Future King” by T. H. White.

And while the Arthurian corpus is mostly made of English and French texts, you also have Arthuriana sources in other European countries - such as in Germany, where you can find Lanzelet, by Ulrich von Zazhikhoven, which marks the first apparition of Lancelot in German literature. 

#fantasy read-list #read list #fantasy #read-list #arthurian myth #medieval literature #medieval fantasy #arthurian texts #french middle-ages #french literature #arthuriana #arthurian literature #ancient fantasy

[talesfromtheenchantedforest]

going to King Arthur's court to find a knight to help you with your problems really seems like the medieval equivalent of rolling up to a Taco Bell at 1AM where the drunk ultimate frisbee team is elbow-deep in nachos and are very enthusiastic about helping you fight off your horrible in-laws or your encroaching neighbor but have the focus and direction of a pile of puppies

#i'm pretty sure this applies to every text in the arthurian canon

[silver-peel]

I am the weakest, the most wanting in wisdom, I know, And my life, if lost, would be least missed, truly 🪓🌿

(below the cut are more doodle of lord and lady Bertilak with Gawain, look up at your own risk)

please excuse my weird hand writing.... actually, pls excuse everything....

#arthuriana #arthurian legend #sir gawain and the green knight #Gawain #lord bertilak #lady bertilak #my art #one of my obsession during hiatus #i mean gay knights #I'm back #medieval text is such a unique character

[daliathewitch]

Guinevere: hey, sweet! Wanna meet? 😉

Lancelot: Wouldn't your boyfriend mind?

Guinevere: I don't have a boyfriend.

Lancelot: Then who's that guy on the photo with you?

Guinevere: My husband.

Guinevere: But we're just friends!

#arthuriana #arthurian mythology #lancelot x guinevere #queen guinevere #sir lancelot #lancelot du lac #lancelot #king arthur #arthurian legend #shitpost #text post

[frostbite-merun]

I got reminded BBCs Merlin exists and that spiraled into remembering a bunch of other really, really shitty adaptations of Arthurian canon and now I'm mad so I'm going to list some true facts about it that should hopefully demonstrate why adding "gritty realism" to it pisses me off so much

-Morgan le Fay serves as a Rita Repulsa-esque figure who throws problems at Arthur. She is also a wholly separate person to Morgause, the mother of Mordred. Morgan le Fay is a badass sorceress who's only motivation for being a Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain(tm) is that Guinevere snubbed her in some way.

-It's full of Welsh folklore, especially regarding faeries, and initially started as a recounting of a bit of Welsh military history before people started adding their OCs to it. It then broke containment and spread across europe, especially during the renaissance.

-Loads of the knights have superpowers. Straight up superpowers. Gawain gets stronger (and in some sources, bigger) the higher the sun is in the sky. Kay has some sort of fire shit going on... It's great. People would add their own guys to the round table and give them Cool Powers because they could. Though mostly it was just super-strength. This fell out of favor as it was Christianized because people are COWARDS.

-Lancelot is a French guy's OC, and despite the whole thing being full of those, Lancelot is the most OC of them all (affectionate). The second most OC of the bunch is a dude known for his edgy coat that he always wore that belonged to his dead dad (I am not joking)

-Half of the dudes are described as 'the fairest' or 'the most handsome'. Some have the caveat of 'second only to Arthur'. I legit read a description of how handsome a random knight was that filled a full page once. This is hilarious.

-There's a knight called Bedivere (he whose name has no set spelling) and he's my favorite. He has a prosthetic hand, is head butler, and is the only bitch to survive the big last battle in retellings that I respect. He's also one half of a comedy duo with Kay, also in retellings that I respect. I am admittedly biased because I played him in a middle school production of a really bad adaptation of a knockoff spamalot

-People just fucking murder each other on accident all of the time to show off how STRONK they are. After jousting got added they started having the horses die when lance met shield which DOESN'T MAKE SENSE but is there to, once again, show how STRONK the knights are.

-More on the note of casting, but there are dark skinned people in the canon. Specifically Moors (which is old europe for muslim north-african people with dark skin, a term not really used anymore because it wasn't actually one ethnic group but several). MORE SPECIFICALLY there is one explicitly biracial knight who's the son of one of the other knights and a (and I quote) "Moorish Princess". His name is Morien because people have never been subtle and was one of the knights for whom the tales waxed poetic about how stronk and handsome he was.

-Saved the best for last but this all gave way to the an early historical examples of larping and possibly kinning. King Edward the Third loved a knight named 'Sir Lionel' so much to the point where he'd hold big round table tourneys where everyone would larp as different characters from Arthurian legend (himself always being Lionel) and even named his son after him. The kicker? Lionel doesn't actually have that much in the way of story. He has like one story to himself and is functionally a sidekick in every other appearance I can find. King Eddy 3 had a Blorbo.

All of this to say that Arthurian canon is lovely and goofy and if I see someone make Morgan le Fay into Mordred's mom again I will spew fire and rain hot, bloody terror from the skies. I also think we should start adding OCs to it again and nobody can stop us.

#long post #i just love this shit so much #i didn't even get into the goofiness that is merlin #text post #queue #king arthur #arthurian legend #arthurian mythology

[jessicadmj]

Every episode of BBC Merlin

magical creature comes to Camelot Merlin: hey guys there's this bad magical creature in camelot, we should do something about it Arthur: lol you crazy Merlin: I'm being fr tho Arthur: ok I'll talk to my dad about it Arthur: hey dad there's this creature in the city Uther: no there isn't Arthur: yeah there is Uther: ok screw you and get out of my sight. you're my only son and heir to the throne but I know what's best bc my head is up my arse Arthur: well ok then creature usurps Uther or endangers camelot in some extreme way Merlin: ok so we have to take care of the beast ourselves Arthur: yeah I guess Arthur attempts to fight the creature while merlin secretly uses magic to save the day Uther: wow you guys were right. I'm sorry, I'm going to listen in the future. I love you son Arthur: I love you too dad Merlin: so you're gay for me, right? Arthur: no lol credits roll and they kiss passionately off-screen bc the writers were too afraid to show the truth. next episode is exactly the same

#bbc merlin #merlin #merlin bbc #arthur pendragon #uther pendragon #merther #gwen #guinevere #the once and future king #bbcmerlin #morgana #text post #camelot #arthurian legend #arthurian mythology

[blvvdk3ep]

should've been born a medieval knight sucking n fucking busty maidens and dying at the ripe age of like 26 in a duel defending the honor of a regional lord with whom I had an insanely homoerotically charged relationship with dom/sub undertones

#but alas #this life is my burden #god gives his weakest soldiers his mightiest battles #text post #this post is about being #transgender #and about being obsessed with #arthurian mythology #knights #medieval #middle ages

[adhd-merlin]

well, I may not *makes air quotes* "know things" but that won't stop me from having thoughts about them

#me about characters in arthurian texts I've never even read #*

[anneslovegood]

ya know what makes sir gawain and the green knight so hilarious? the fact that gawain didn’t have to behead the green knight. no where in the text does it say so. the green knight only required someone from king arthur’s court to STRIKE him, and that he could do the same to that person in a year and a days time. the green knight never said where he had to be striked

#text post #sir gawain #sir gawain and the green knight #the green knight #arthuriana #arthurian literature #king arthur #literature #knights of the round table

[pendragaryen]

Once, I had an empire in a golden age

I was held up so high, I used to be great

They used to cheer when they saw my face

Now, I fear I have fallen from grace

Once, I was the great hope for a dynasty

Crowds would hang on my words, and they trusted me

Their faith was strong, but I pushed it too far

I held that grudge 'til it tore me apart

Power went to my head, and I couldn't stop

Ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off

And here I sit alone, behind walls of regret

Falling down like promises that I never kept

And I feel like my castle's crumbling down

And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground

And you don't want to know me

I will just let you down

You don't wanna know me now

My foes and friends watch my reign end

I don't know how it could've ended this way

Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor

People look at me like I'm a monster

Now they're screaming at the palace front gates, used to chant my name

Now they're screaming that they hate me

Never wanted you to hate me

T.S.

#this basically SCREAMS 'Morgana'!!! or is it just me?! it CAN'T be just me!😭💔 #morgana #morgana pendragon #merlin bbc #taylor swift #morgana le fey #castles crumbling #fave songs #song #lyrics #speak now #from the vault #arthurian legend #my edit #text post #words

[fieldsofvarley]

these passages happening only pages apart….one man’s love as the greatest weakness is another’s man’s greatest strength. rejection of love for fear of death and embrace of love as the highest joy

#adultery wins ☹️ #text post #arthuriana #arthurian legend #lancelot #lancelot du lac #lancelot of the lake #king claudas #the vulgate #guinevere #queen guinevere #medieval #medieval literature #king arthur #fieldsofvarley #🏹 #lancelot and guinevere

[siegeprecipitous]

BLINDING LIGHT

lancelot, e. a. robinson (1920) | last and first men (script), dir. johann johannsson (2020) | "solar fury", NASA (2017) | the dream of launcelot at the chapel of the san graal, edward burne-jones (1895) | the sun, edvard munch (1909)

#arthuriana #lancelot #grail quest #web weaving #idk how to tag this honestly. #arthurian legend #described in alt text

[merlinjoyer]

You know, what upsets me is that Morgana died a villain. In the original story, Morgana was on the road of redemption and helped Arthur defeat Mordred, and then she was the first person to meet him in Avalon. She tried to save him

And it really makes me so sad that it's not in the series. That Morgana stayed a witch and didn't become a "fairy" "Le Fay".

#arthuriana #morgan le fay #bbc morgana #morgana pendragon #arthur pendragon #merlin #bbc merlin #arthurian mythology #text tag

[bureauen]

google how to be normal about women

#i made uhh this based on le morte d'arthur #these two lovely insane rabid mentally ill ladies are lancelot and guinevere #and lancelot is a lesbian now. becuase what is cooler that infidelity? thats right #lesbian infidelity #i am obsessed with them you don't understand #also lancelot stays insane as in the original text #inside every guy is a woman having a mental break #le morte d'arthur #art #comics #drawing #original character #i think. lol #arthurian legend #lancelot #guinevere #if u are wondering i have made arthur and merlin #no suprise. i made merlin some twink. #gawain is a she/they now though. some things for the worse but also some things for the better. she/they gawain lets gooooo #anyway. #slay #ALSO IGNORE MY NOTES LOL. #its for my class on january 6th

[daliathewitch]

Kay, acting like mother in that one situation, towards Arthur and his friendship with Lancelot

He's like: I don't like your new friend, I'll be honest. I can feel there's something wrong with him a HUNDRED KILOMETERS away. You should be really careful, boy, I'm telling you this friendship of yours won't lead to anything good🙄

And after the horrible events:

You see? See?! I told you that and I was right all along! Gosh, why don't you ever listen to me? Oh, there there, don't cry now. You'll find someone better I guarantee that. (Secretly planning to destroy that bitch, who made his precious child cry)

#arthurian legends #arthuriana #arthurian mythology #king arthur #arthur #kay #sir kay #text post #loud thoughts #lancelot #I feel like Kay is a bit over protective about those he care about #ESPECIALLY about Arthur #you can say that Kay liked Lancelot but I just can't see it

[trans-cuchulainn]

i have a note in my phone that was meant to be for keeping track of my opinions about various retellings so i could eventually do a round up and recommend them but is PURELY just me bitching about them at this point

it's fun to see the common threads in my bitchiness tho. "why the fuck is merlin ENGLISH" being one that shows up a few times

#can somebody please write a YA arthurian retelling that doesn't annoy me #there are so many merlin-focused retellings and they're nearly all bad #also the way the books interpret 'britain' compared to how it's used in medieval texts #is. hmm. let's just say there's a common theme of american authors who haven't considered geography very much #and are assuming modern borders and making things england only #just the general obliteration of wales is very noticeable #a merlin who knows classical greek but not welsh. why. #but seriously if i did a full write up of my objections to some of these it would be SO long and SO bitchy #néide has opinions about books