4. “Yet some men say in many parts of England that King
Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into
another place; and men say that he shall come again…”
― Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur
5.
6. Theater: Film:
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949
John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy: Knights of the Round Table (1953), based on Le Morte
d'Arthur by Thomas Malory
The Island of the Mighty (1972)
Sword of Lancelot a.k.a. Lancelot and Guinevere (1963), a
Laurence Binyon: King Arthur (1923), film directed by Cornel Wilde and starring Mr. Wilde as
Lancelot
with music by Edward Elgar The Sword in the Stone, a 1963 Disney animated film about
D. G. Bridson: King Arthur (1937), Arthur's childhood, loosely adapted from T.H. White's
take on the legend.
with music by Benjamin Britten Camelot, a 1967 film adaptation of the successful 1960
Broadway musical of the same name, in turn heavily based
J. Comyns Carr: King Arthur (1895), on the last three of T.H.White's quartet of novels
with music by Arthur Sullivan Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a comedic parody of the
traditional King Arthur legend.
Camelot (1960), by Alan Jay Lerner John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur, based largely on
and Frederick Loewe. Malory and probably the highest rated serious Arthurian
film
Merlin was a Broadway musical in First Knight, a 1995 movie based on the abduction of
1983 featuring illusionist Doug Guinevere by the knight Malagant. It featured Sean
Connery as Arthur, Richard Gere as Lancelot, and Julia
Henning and music by Elmer Ormond as Guinevere.
Bernstein. Quest for Camelot is a 1998 animated feature with King
Arthur ruling over a besieged Camelot.
Spamalot, adapted from the film King Arthur, a motion picture released on July 7, 2004,
claiming (despite being heavily criticised for its historical
Monty Python and the Holy Grail 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.
Merlin and the Book of Beasts 2009 Laura Harris plays the
daughter of Guenevere and Arthur
7. Books: Merlin's Godson by H. Warner Munn
King Arthur and his Knights (1903) King of the World's Edge (1936)
by Maude Radford The Ship from Atlantis (1967)
Howard Pyle - In a four volume set Merlin's Ring (1974)
including: Taliessin through Logres (1938) and
"The Story of King Arthur and His The Region of the Summer Stars
Knights" (1903) (1944) by Charles W. S. Williams
"The Story of the Champions of the (poem cycles)
Round Table" (1905) The Once and Future King by T. H.
"The Story of Sir Launcelot and His White including
Companions" (1907) The Sword in the Stone (1938)
"The Story of the Grail and the The Queen of Air and Darkness (or
Passing of King Arthur" (1910) The Witch in the Wood) (1939)
Kairo-kō (1905) by Natsume Sōseki The Ill-Made Knight (1940)
War in Heaven (1930) by Charles W. The Candle in the Wind (1958)
S. Williams, a "modern-day" (20th The Book of Merlyn (1958)
century) quest for the Holy Grail
That Hideous Strength (1945) by C. S.
The Little Wench (1935) by Philip
Lewis
Lindsay
Porius (1951) by John Cowper Powys
8. King Arthur and His Knights of the The Mists of Avalon (1983) by Marion
Round Table (1953) by Roger Zimmer Bradley
Lancelyn Green The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen
The Great Captains (1956) by Henry Lawhead
Treece Taliesin (1987)
Sword at Sunset (1963) and The Merlin (1988)
Sword and the Circle (1981, juvenile) Arthur (1989)
by Rosemary Sutcliff
Pendragon (1994)
The Merlin series by Mary Stewart
Grail (1997)
The Crystal Cave (1970)
Avalon (1999)
The Hollow Hills (1973)
The Guinevere trilogy by Persia
The Last Enchantment (1979) Woolley
The Wicked Day (1983) Child of the Northern Spring (1987)
The Prince and the Pilgrim (1995) Queen of the Summer Stars (1991)
The Acts of King Arthur and His Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn
Noble Knights (1975) by John (1993)
Steinbeck
Knight Life (1987), One Knight Only
Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel by (2004) and Fall of Knight (2007) by
Thomas Berger (1978) Peter David
The Three Damosels (1978) and The The Road to Avalon (1988) by Joan
Enchantresses (1998) by Vera Wolf
Chapman (the latter with Mike
9. The Last Pendragon by Robert Rice The Guenevere novels by Rosalind
(1991) Miles
The Arthor series by A. A. Attanasio Guenevere, Queen of the Summer
The Dragon and the Unicorn (1994) Country (1999)
The Eagle and the Sword (1997) The Knight of the Sacred Lake (2000)
The Wolf and the Crown (1998) Child of the Holy Grail (2000)
The Serpent and the Grail (1999) The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard
The Child Queen (1994), The High Cornwell
Queen (1995), (collected in Queen of The Winter King
Camelot(2002)), Prince of Dreams Enemy of God
(2004), and Grail Prince (2003) by Excalibur
Nancy McKenzie By Jane Yolen:
Arthur, King (1995) by Dennis Lee Sword of the Rightful King
Anderson
The Young Merlin Trilogy
I am Mordred (1998) and I am
Morgan le Fay (2001) by Nancy By Gerald Morris:
Springer The Squire's Tale
Hallowed Isle by Diana L. Paxson: The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady
The Book of the Sword (1999), The The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf
Book of the Spear (1999), The Book of Parsifal's Page
the Cauldron (1999), The Book of the The Ballad of Sir Dinadan
Stone (2000).
10. The Princess, the Crone, and the By Anonymous
Dung-Cart Knight King Arthur and His Knights of the
The Lioness and her Knight Round Table (Illustrated Junior
The Quest of the Fair Unknown Library, Deluxe edition, September 1,
Squire's Quest 1950)
The Adventures of Sir Givret the To the Chapel Perilous Naomi
Short Mitchison (1955)
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Our Man in Camelot by Anthony
Great Price (1975) (The sixth book in the Dr
David Audley series uses the Arthur
By Molly Cochran and Warren myth as a MacGuffin in a modern spy
Murphy thriller.)
The Forever King By Parke Godwin
The Broken Sword Firelord (1980)
The Third Magic Beloved Exile (1984)
The Quest for Merlin by Nikolai The Last Rainbow (1985)
Tolstoy Non-fiction (1985)
The Tales of Arthur, books of The
The Coming of the King: The First Keltiad, by Patricia Kennealy-
Book of Merlin by Nikolai Tolstoy Morrison
(1988)
The Hawk's Grey Feather (1991)
Stones of Power by David Gemmell
The Oak Above the Kings (1994)
Ghost King (1988)
The Hedge of Mist (1996)
11. A Dream of Eagles (Camulod Albion, a trilogy of historical novels
Chronicles) by Jack Whyte by British author Patrick McCormack
The Sky Stone (1992) (1997, 2000, 2007)
The Singing Sword (1993) The King Awakes and The Empty
The Eagles' Brood (1994) Throne by Janice Elliott, set in a
Medieval-style society several
The Saxon Shore (1998) generations after a nuclear war. Both
The Sorcerer Part 1: The Fort at novels deal with the return of King
River's Bend (1997) Arthur and his friendship with a
The Sorcerer Part 2: The Sorcerer: youth from the post-holocaust world
Metamorphosis (1999) Merlin's Bones by Fred Saberhagen
Uther (2001) The Idylls of the Queen by Phyllis
Clothar the Frank (titled The Lance Ann Karr
Thrower outside of Canada) (2004) Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem;
The Eagle (2006) the coming of Arthur is foreseen by
The Lost Years of Merlin Epic, by the chief of Segontium in the last
T.A. Barron page of the book
The Lost Years of Merlin (1996) The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein
The Seven Songs of Merlin (1997) The Dragon Lord by David Drake
The Fires of Merlin (1998) Merlin's Mirror (1975) by Andre
The Mirror of Merlin (1999) Norton
The Wings of Merlin (2000) The Return of Merlin (1995) by
Deepak Chopra
12. Camelot 3000, a comic book series Merlin (1978) by Robert Nye
that reincarnates Arthur and his In the series The Secrets of the Immortal
knights in the far future Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott there are many
mentions of artifacts and people in the legends
The Dark Is Rising, a series written
of King Arthur.
for older children and young adults,
The Merlin Codex by Robert Holdstock
by Susan Cooper
Celtika (2001)
The Fionavar Tapestry, a fantasy The Iron Grail (2002)
trilogy by Canadian author Guy The Broken Kings (2007)
Gavriel Kay Corbenic by Catherine Fisher (2002)
The Merlin Mystery, A puzzlehunt I am Morgan le Fay: A Tale from Camelot by
book which focused heavily on Nancy Springer (2002)
Merlin and Nimue having a love after Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen (2003)
Arthur has been entombed; it offered The House of Pendragon by Debra A. Kemp
a cash prize as well as a gold, silver, I: The Firebrand (2003)
bronze and crystal wand. However, II: The Recruit (2007)
the puzzle went unsolved and the The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp
prize unclaimed. by Rick Yancey (2005)
The Down the Long Wind series by Fate/Zero by Gen Urobuchi (2006-2007)
Gillian Bradshaw (1980–82) Dracula vs. King Arthur By Adam Beranek,
Christian Beranek and Chris Moreno (2007)
Hawk of May
The Pendragon's Banner Trilogy by Helen
Kingdom of Summer Hollick (re-published UK 2007 & USA 2009)
In Winter's Shadow Book One: The Kingmaking
The Little Wench by Philip Lindsay Book Two: Pendragon's Banner
13. Book Three: Shadow of the King Sunrise of Avalon (2011)
Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell (2007) Sarah Woodbury's The Last Pendragon Saga:
Camelot Lost by Jessica Bonito (Jessica McHugh) The Last Pendragon (2010)
(2008) The Pendragaon's Quest (2011)
Avalon High by Meg Cabot Cold My Heart: A Novel of King Arthur by
The Sangreal Trilogy by Amanda Hemingway Sarah Woodbury (2011)
Sword of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor
Knight of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor
Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
The Book of Mordred by Vivian Vande Velde
The Return of Arthur: The Call of Destiny (Book
One) by Alan Fenton
The Return of Arthur: The Hour of Camelot
(Book Two) by Alan Fenton
Sons of Avalon, Merlin's Prophecy by Dee Marie
(2008)
Sarah Zettel's four-part series about the brothers
Gawain, Gareth, Agravain, and Geraint:
In Camelot's Shadow (2004)
For Camelot's Honor (2005)
Under Camelot's Banner (2006)
Camelot's Blood (2008)
Anna Elliott's Twilight of Avalon Trilogy:
Twilight of Avalon (2009)
14. What does King
Arthur have to offer
us?
What makes his
stories so compelling?
So contemporary?
So enduring?
15. “We shall now seek that which we shall not find”
― Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur
16. Welsh Legend Geoffrey of Monmouth
Historia Brittonum Historia Regum Britanniae
~828AD (History of the Kings of
Trojan origin Britain)
First source to portray King First full narrative account of
Arthur Arthur as a king
Read from source
Set in post-Roman Britain
Y Gododdin
6th-century poet Aneirin Features Arthur’s father
Uther Pendragon
Annales Cambriae
10th century AD Merlin
Many other Welsh legends Arthur’s adulterous
and stories – mostly conception
featuring Arthur as a figure Conquests
well-known to the listeners Betrayal by his nephew who
marries his wife
Among many other firsts
17. Much of the story was
his own invention
Major events taken
from a variety of
sources
Historical
Verbal legend
Welsh myths
Saxon traditions
Etc.
18. French author
Introduced aspects of
the Arthurian legend
as we know it,
especially Lancelot as
a character.
Not much is known
about the author
Major influence on
Thomas Malory
19. Wrote Le Morte d’Arthur in Little is known for sure of
English Malory
The definitive tale from Numerous knights named
which the majority of later “Thomas Malory” or
stories are derived “Thomas Malleorre” existed
Described by himself in the during the 15th century
piece as a “prisoner knight” Likely a casualty of the War
Repeatedly asks the reader of Roses
to pray for his deliverance Won by Henry VIII’s
Appears to have been father, Queen Elizabeth’s
imprisoned multiple times grandfather
for robbery, extortion, rape,
and attempted murder
The chivalry of King
Arthur’s court seems to not
have applied to Malory
himself
20. “For I have promised to do the battle to the uttermost, by
faith of my body, while me lasteth the life, and therefore I
had liefer to die with honour than to live with shame…”
― Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur
21. Possibly a war leader of the Little evidence
Celtic people left behind in Not mentioned by the one
Britain after the Romans surviving contemporary
pulled out. account of the invasion of the
Said to have led many battles Saxons
against the Saxon invaders 6th-century monk Gildas’
Famous battle at Badon Hills “De Excidio et Conquestu
Known to be a battle at Britanniae” (On the Ruin and
which the invading Saxons Conquest of Britain)
were defeated and their First mentioned by Nennius’
invasion halted for many Historia Brittonum
years Attributed to 12 battles in
Seen as a sort of last hope by so many different places
the original Britons. and times, he could not
His death may have been the possibly have been at them
tragic end to a brief British all.
revival.
22. Lucius Artorius Castus Few details beyond his
Early mention of the command information
name “Arthur” Not known to be British
(Artorius) in history or to have done
Late 100’s, early 200’s anything particularly
AD amazing for the British.
Powerful military
commander in Britain in
the late Roman period
May have been
remembered as a name
in tales and turned into
King Arthur later
23. Comparison of Lucius Artorius Castus and King Arthur
Lucius Artorius Castus King Arthur
Floruit Unknown; probably late 2nd-early 3rd century AD. Traditionally assigned to the late 5th-early 6th century AD.
Name Artorius = LAC's family name, his nomen gentile. Arthur is potentially derived from Latin Artorius, but a Celtic origin is also
possible. Treated as a native Welsh first name in medieval Latin texts (where it
is always rendered as Art[h]ur[i]us and never as Artorius).
Ethnicity The Artorii family have roots in Italy, potentially of Messapic or Traditionally linked in Welsh literature and genealogies to the British nobility
Etruscan origin; LAC might have been born to a branch of the of Cornwall.
family that settled inDalmatia.
Religion Unknown; dedications to the Di Manes, as found on LAC's At the very least, nominally Christian - according to the Historia Brittonum he
tomb, are found in both pagan and Christian inscriptions in the bore an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in one of his battles; though later
3rd century AD. texts depict him as antagonistic towards clergymen.
Military Status High-ranking, career officer in the Roman army, late in his In the medieval Latin of the Historia Brittonum, Arthur is called
career (likely as an older man) he served as Camp Prefect in a miles, "knight, mounted warrior, armed horseman" (a shift in meaning
Britain and finally as Dux Legionum("Leader of Legions") in a of miles from ancient Classical Latin, in which the word meant "professional
single military campaign. soldier, common soldier, private, low-ranking foot soldier"[34][35][36]). Also, in
the Historia Brittonum, Arthur is called dux belli (alternately dux bellorum in
some MSS), "leader of the battle(s)" (specifically, the 12 battles that he fought
with the aid of the British kings against the Saxons), but this is a conventional
Latin phrase and does not indicate that Arthur held the military title of Dux in a
Post-Roman British army (in fact, non-Roman war leaders are sometimes
called dux belli/bellorum in ancient Latin texts, including the biblical hero
Joshua, in the Latin Vulgate Bible). In later medieval Welsh sources he is
called both "emperor" and "king" (the latter title preferred in
medieval Arthurian Romance).
British Battles During battle, Camp Prefects normally remained at their unit's In the 9th century Historia Brittonum, Arthur, along with the British kings,
base with the reserve troops, so it is unlikely that LAC fought fought 12 battles in Britain against the invading Saxons and Arthur allegedly
while in Britain. LAC later oversaw an expedition of troops with slew many hundreds of Saxons by his own hand (the exact number differs in
some sort of British connection, either to Gaul or Armenia. the various manuscripts). In later texts (such as the 11th century Life of St.
Goeznovius and the 12th century Historia Regum Britanniae), Arthur is stated
to have fought battles in Gaul as well as in Britannia.
Death Unknown date and circumstances; probably died at an advanced In Welsh literature, traditionally stated to have died during the Battle of
age, potentially during his procuratorship of Liburnia(where he Camlann (of unknown location in Britain); his burial site was unknown to
was buried). medieval Welsh.
24. The Once and Future King Seen by others as a national
Seen by some Welsh and hero and figurehead of
Scots as a prophecy or “Britishness”
legend heralding the return Ironic in many ways,
of Celtic sovereignty considering that the
Some more mystical Welsh descendents of the
even believe that Arthur invading Saxons, Vikings,
and French now use his
himself will return some day image as well
to bring Britain back to its
original inhabitants
Uncle Sam
Daniel Boone
Davy Crockett
George Washington
Etc