#arthur king of the britons

[average-geo-enjoyer]

*knocks on the door* does anyone take Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

I forgot my apple pencil at home and resorted to using my aquarel paint (that I got 8 years ago and never used) to draw King Arthur x Sir Bedevere. Do we call it duck shipping idk

I will probably make more, that movie has a surprising potential for Fandom but I can't find the fandom

[right-stopthat-its-silly]

(insert photo compilation of King Arthur from "Holy Grail" being a very cute 🥰 yet very silly 😜 bearded king 👑)

OMG YES, WITH PLEASURE. We 👏stan👏 Arthur, King of the Britons in this household.

👑🧔‍♂️🌞 (he really said)

[vicshush]

Tags from @promithiae : "#*sits down with a microscope*ok were going to have a lecture on microbiology and what [a] virus is #no humors aren't a thing #no pus isn't a part of the healing proccess no a wound isn't "supposed” to do that oh my god #ok. now we're going to talk about vaccines and why you're getting stuck with about 15 needles #listen you dont want to catch a modern cold it's evolved too far from anything your immune system would be familiar with- #ok. evolution. right. so uuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh how comfortable are you with heresy"

hypothetical scenario for you all: the real king arthur returns. you meet him and you welcome him into your home. what is the first thing you do with him? keep in mind, this is a man from the 500s (he died in 542), and you are from the 21st century (2024).

[skylessknights]

KING ARTHUR (2004) set design appreciation: ― Hadrian's Wall: Arthur's quarters [2/?] inspired by @lady-arryn wonderful set design series [x]

KA20TH CELEBRATION | Day 4 - Home

AN: Here's part II of the Hadrian's Wall series for today's @ka20th prompt. This one was interesting because we never truly got to see Arthur in his own quarters. I know we had the scene where he slept with Guinevere but that was it. Wish we got to see more!

Also to anyone who's writing fics for this film, feel free to use this has visual inspiration if you're struggling with imagery or what-not💖 (P.S. This was probably one of the hardest things to gif, the colouring/lighting in those scenes are horrible 😭)

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

My favorite arthurian tv shows and minisiers (part 1/2)

(My favorite movies here)

More details under cut. Some of these I love, some are so bad so good, some are beautifully epic, some are just funny.

The Adventures of Sir Galahad: Short one season tv show (15 episodes) about Galahad having to recover Excalibur after it was stolen. Also the one and only show where Galahad and Mordred interact.

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot: 30 episodes of self contained light and sometimes comedic adventures focusing on Lancelot living at Camelot. Still very much enjoyable today! Other characters who appear are Merlin, Arthur and Guinevere.

Arthur of the Britons: The first attempt to make a tv show focusing on Celts and a Celtic Arthur. Episodes are self contained. Kind of strange sometimes, and the only arthurian characters are Arthur, Kay and Ector.

The Legend of King Arthur: An 8 episodes BBC show which adapts Malory. This is the best arthurian tv show ever created! It also has an amazing Morgan and a stellar Mordred. Actually made me cry!

Entaku no Kishi Monogatari Moero Asa: Toei original anime (no manga) of 30 episodes that follow Arthur's journey to reclaim Camelot after it was conquered by a villain.

The Boy Merlin: Very short 6 episodes series about Merlin as a kid discovering his powers. It was very light and with an historical aesthetic.

Merlin: Two episodes miniseries, extremely popular! It follows Merlin from his childhood to the death of Arthur. While it is not my favorite, it has some great scenes in the second part where Guinevere, Mordred and Lancelot are introduced.

The Mists of Avalon: Miniseries adaptation of a novel I really dislike - but I love this miniseries. It might actually be one of my favorite arthurian series. It focuses on Morgana and her relationship with Arthur and Guinevere. It also has an amazing Mordred and Morgause, one of the rare times where we see Morgause.

[queer-ragnelle]

Arthur of the Britons (1972-1973) | More clips at Arthuriana Daily

[gingersnaptaff]

🔥 hot takes on anything Arthuriana related

btw love your welsh legal history posts

Oh, hello!!!! I love ur blog so like hi, hi, hi!!! Ahh, thank u for saying u like the legal posts!! They're super fun to do so I'm glad you've enjoyed them!!!!! :D sleep deprived but okay, hot takes.

Purely Welsh myth but Arthur should've left Bendigeidfran's head where it was. Like bruh, you brought the misery upon yourself. Plus, I don't think I've seen a lot of lit exploring this aspect of the myth but I think it would be fun cuz it shows Arthur as being hubristic which does get glossed over I think.

Also, Geraint needs to be chucked off a cliff. I volunteer to do it.

And I don't think Guinevere / Gwenhwyfar was ever a goddess. There's nothing to suggest she was at all. That's silly. That's stupid.

Also, authors stop using Bedwyr for the Lancelot stand-in when u don't want to put him in. EDERN IS RIGHT THERE.

(This isn't a hot take but I have many bugbears either Marion Zimmer Bradley and have a deep, deep dislike for her work. She's just ehdjxjcjx)

Also, this is a Welsh myth thing but I guess I'm putting it in because Arthur does have Welsh gods in his retinue and has his roots in Welsh things but can we stop using Gwydion as a good guy, pls? He is a Bad, Bad man.

Also, Arthur was never a real person but a lot of the lads who got folded into the mythos are and that gets overlooked because we all want this king to be super fuckin real and for what? I think if we'd had evidence for a real Arthur then we'd have gotten it by now.

Also somebody pls write me a book about real irl cousins urien and peredur / percival. I need it like I need air.

[caer-gai]

Kay & Arthur - The Last One by Maisie Peters

[medievalandfantasymelee]

THE HOT MEDIEVAL & FANTASY MEN MELEE

QUALIFYING ROUND: 115th Tilt

King Henry V Plantagenet, The Hollow Crown (2012-2016) VS. Arthur Pendragon, Arthur of the Britons (1972–1973)

Propaganda

King Henry V Plantagenet, The Hollow Crown (2012-2016) Portrayed by:

“Hal is Shakespeare’s sexiest history protagonist by virtue of sheer range. He’s a roguish rake, a dashing prince, a rugged king and you bet your ass Tom Hiddleston serves cunt all the way through. I know y’all love Loki and I promise you he’s even sexier blonde.”

Arthur Pendragon, Arthur of the Britons (1972–1973) Portrayed by: Oliver Tobias

“Young Celtic leader that tries to unify the Celtic tribes against the Saxon invaders. This Arthur (not yet king) is smart, cunning and very hot”

Additional Propaganda Under the Cut

Additional Propaganda

For Henry V:

“I can't believe [it took so long for people to submit] text propaganda for Hiddleston!Henry V. Did everyone just look at him in leather trousers and lose the power of speech? I teach with this film, and I am convinced that the leather trousers are responsible for more than one student missing key plot details in that scene (and possibly for more than one epiphany re: sexuality.)...

[Gifset]

"... Thea Sharrock directed this, and she clearly Knows about the female gaze. Surely any time you see a man drawing a longbow like that, it's an invitation to think about hands and arms and shoulders (shoulders!) in other contexts. From a characterization standpoint, too, the coiled physicality of his Henry and how he uses it are really interesting. Also this man's cheekbones should be illegal. And the wooing scene where he lays aside his crown and kneels as if in homage to the princess who is about to be signed over to him via treaty in the next room? Hot damn, I do love a good use of courtly love imagery.”

For Arthur Pendragon:

[thisbluespirit]

Martin Jarvis as Karn in Arthur of the Britons 2.1 "The Swordsman" (HTV, 1973)

[franzis-frantic-thoughts]

Good morning, everyone! Get ready for a ☆*: .｡. o Tragedy o .｡.:*☆

S02E09 — The Lady of the Lake

Merlin saves a Druid girl from a bounty hunter's cage, but there is more to her than meets the eye.

[historyfiles]

New Banner Feature:

Post-Roman Britain: the post-Roman period in Britain was one of gradual social collapse in the face of unstoppable invasion, with a series of small states or kingdoms emerging and falling in the space of two centuries.

[right-stopthat-its-silly]

(insert photo compilation of Graham Chapman having a very cute, snuggly-wuggly beard <33 ❤️)

Okay now that midterms are over (thank god) let me get to some of these asks, Yonder! Thanks for sending them in. 😎❤️

(Like half of these are from Holy Grail, sorry)

[beastlyanachronism]

It's a fun theory but as a huge Once and Future King fan, I can confidently dispel the idea that Jeeves is Merlyn in one fell swoop: Merlyn canonically has terrible fashion sense and will wear robes with owl droppings on them. I don't care how many centuries have passed — that's not Jeeves.

However, Jeeves could well be Merlyn's son or brother, which frankly gets funnier the more you think about it

I love the idea that Bertie is directly descended from Prince Arthur. As has been pointed out, it doesn't make sense for this to make him the reincarnated King Arthur (why would he be his own descendant?) and besides, King Arthur is not meant to be reincarnated but rather to reappear from his hidden retreat

But still, if that direct royal line ends with Bertie, there could be a prophecy that he has to be the one to wake King Arthur (and Merlyn) from their slumber under the tor in Cornwall. And Jeeves, as Merlyns' relative, is just the person to help him.

The bottom line? I'm pretty sure this means than the Once and Future King is reawoken when a slightly foozled niblick shot sends a golf ball down a certain badger sett and bonks him on the noggin

Just when I thought I'd seen the end of wild fan theories in SH, I came across this one about Jeeves & Wooster.

I hereby declare it is hubris so much as to speculate that there is an end of wild fan theories.

[queer-ragnelle]

SAXONS ☞ BRITONS Kai, Arthur of the Britons | Cerdic, Merlin of the Crystal Cave | Derfel, The Winter King

[gingersnaptaff]

Y Mab Darogan 1

(Stained glass window depicting Cadwaladr and his flag in Llandaff Cathedral, Charles Powell, 1919)

(King Arthur (top left), St Tewdrig, and St Cadwaladr, stained glass window in Llandaff Cathedral. Situated in the North Aisle, Charles Powell, 1919)

'The awen predicts they will make haste;

We shall have treasures, possessions, and peace

And broader leadership and lively leaders;

And after war, dwellings in every area;

Men fierce in fight-clamour, furious warriors,

Swift in attack, slow to leave defence-

Fighters that scatter foreigners as far as Caer Wair'

- the opening first lines of Armes Prydain

Something a bit different today but I thought I'd yell about ‘Y Mab Darogan’ or The Prophesied Son, who was seen as a messianic figure in Welsh literature and was appellated to four* (!) different lads (including King Arthur). This will be a long one so please have a snack and a drink at hand. You're gonna need ‘em.

Now, Y Mab Darogan as a concept first crops up in the 10th Century poem ‘Armes Prydain’ (The Prophecy of Britain) from the Book of Taliesin. Andrew Breeze postulated that the poem was written in about ‘940 AD.’ Taliesin’s status as ‘a seer’ write Gwyneth Lewis and Rowan Williams in their introduction to The Book of Taliesin: Poems of Warfare and Praise in an Enchanted Britain means that ‘it is not at all surprising’ to find a collection of Prophetic poems alongside the others within Llyfr Taliesin. ‘Its themes,’ Lewis and Williams further write, ‘are recycled in several later poems looking forward to a reunification of the British - usually Under the leadership of Gwynedd - and the advent of a heroic deliverer.’

It's a call for all Celtic nations (Welsh, Scots, Irish, Cornish, Britons, Manx) to come to arms against the Anglo-Saxon invaders - as can be seen in the lines 'long-haired champions, masters of war/ Will come from Ireland to drive out the Saxons.', 'Both loyal men will come from Alt Clud, / A resplendent army to drive them from Britain' 'A powerful host will come from Llydaw (Brittany),' 'Let the Cymry rise up, a war-like company' and 'On all sides shame will be the Saxons destiny' and, although it doesn't feature King Arthur proper it's writing kinda alludes to his death.

To zoom through some background, Hywel Dda (yes, he of Law fame) was seen as very much toeing the line to the Angles - who y'know were (and kinda still are) Wales’ traditional enemies. Now, for ol’ Hywel, this had meant that when Edward the Elder ruled over Wessex had had to cleave to him to ensure that Wales didn't get battered within an inch of its life as had all other Celtic nations in Britain (so the Gaels, the Picts, etc, etc). However, once he was out of the picture and his son, Athelstan, had taken over, an alliance of the kingdoms of the Strathclyde*, Dublin, and Scotland had all risen against him. In a break from tradition - y'know, the whole Men of the North business where it was acknowledged and expected that the Welsh would aid their compatriots - Hywel vehemently denied the three kingdoms’ aid leading to their defeat at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.

Obviously, this pissed A LOT of Welsh lads off.

I mean, yeah, it'd piss me off too. if I expected a battle only to find out we weren't getting one cuz some lawmaker lad had to keep his neighbours happy I'd be LIVID. So this poem was written! No word if Hywel read it, but I imagine his Goodreads review would've been a firm one star.

In it, it refers to ‘Thus they'll avenge Garmon's* friends with force/ Four hundred and forty years on' and, according to the Annales Cambriae (my absolute beloved) in 537AD there was: ‘The Strife of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut perished; and there was plague in Britain and Ireland.’ which means ‘404 years’ after that is 941. Therefore, the poem is very much looking forward to the annihilation of the Saxons in 941 which kinda happened because Edmund had to accept a humiliating treaty at Leicester in 941, giving the north-east of England to the Viking leader Olaf Guthfrithson.

Also, the poem invokes two famous leaders - Conan of Brittany, and Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon of Gwynedd - in the line: 'Cynan and Cadwaladr, warlords in the armies' Cadwaladr is seen as hot shit - basically on par with Arthur as a ‘Great Deliver’ figure for the Welsh - and, somehow, the Welsh Dragon has become known as Cadwaladr's flag. Cadwaladr is also important because Henry VII (yeah, HIM) claimed descent from him. The hoped-for leader is seen as returning from exile - just as Cadwaladr is said to have done and Henry VII would later do once he'd hot-footed it to France to get aid - or arriving from over the sea - as Owain Lawgoch would later unsuccessfully attempt to do in the 1300’s - and ‘on their return they … overthrow corrupt or alien rulers within Wales, and rally other Welsh kingdoms to resistance and ultimate victory over the English.’

Now, as I previously alluded to, King Arthur is pretty much absent from the early corpus which makes up the ‘Mab Darogan’ legend. The ‘fierce resentment’ of the Armes Prydain makes no mention of him, and, therefore, we must look elsewhere.

We find it in the Gwyddelian composed Historia Brittonum. He's specifically indicated as fighting the Saxons (ons of the main tenets of the job, I think we'll all agree) and doing… okay. T. Charles Edwards states, ‘The victories of a Gwrthefyr, or an Arthur, might be glorious but they had no future,’ and, I think, it is this utter glory and utter ineffectualness that highlights the two main tenets of what makes you mab darogan, well, y mab darogan.

Arthur ‘echoes the achievements of Gwrthefyr’ in his chapter and so brings with it another key building block of y mab darogan. He is an echo of what has coms before and what will - hopefully, futilely - come again. A warrior will rise and lead through Britons - the Welsh, the natives of the land - to a brief taste of freedom before slipping away in a haze.

Furthermore, T. Charles Edwards states, ‘Perhaps the main concern of the author of Historia Brittonum is to encourage the Britons to come to terms with defeat of loss and territory.’ Arthur, like Macsen Wledig before him, is a rallying point for the Welsh. A flashpoint. Arthur is the ‘British Dux’ or warlord, the rebellious leader at will bring the Saxons to heel.

The legend of him being Y Mab Darogan amongst the Welsh is thought to have taken widespread hold after this. He's seen as a rallying cry for various rebellions and poets made use of his stature to advance various other disaffected Welshmen's causes. The Anglo-Norman text ‘The Description of England’ states that ‘openly they [the Welsh] go about saying,... / that in the end, they will have it all; / by means of Arthur, they will have it back... / They will call it Britain again’ So this would firmly put him in the bracket of The Welsh Lord and Saviour, kiss fuckin kiss. Furthermore, Daniel Helbert in his essay, ‘The Prophetic Hope in Twelfth Century Britain,’ states ‘at the close of the twelfth-century, the idea that King Arthur would return from the grave and lead his people to victory was not a new one,’ for the power and popularity of this legend both within Britain and on the continent as a whole (i.e. in Brittany where Arthur - and, later, Owain Lawgoch - is also seen as a somewhat Messianic figure in his own right) had an ‘allure’ to it. This suggests that, to me, the ‘Breton/Briton Hope’ was always a powerful sticking point in people's heads. Arthur had already left an indelible mark on culture, be it Welsh, Anglo-Norman, or otherwise, and people would use it in whatever ways suited them.

But I also must caution against believing this outright. *sigh* Arthur is Welsh*, yes. The building blocks of his myth are Welsh. I do not dispute that. However, O.J. Padel says that no contemporary Welsh source of a prophecy concerning Arthur's return to Britain has been found, and Charles T. Edwards further states: ‘Although the use of a Welsh battle-poem has been suspected, perhaps rightly no such source is likely … And if there was such a poem celebrating Arthur's battles, its date remains entirely uncertain.’ While there exists plenty of poetry on Arthur's ‘descendants’ as it were, Owain Lawgoch and Owain Glyndŵr, there is nothing particularly concrete for Artie and, furthermore, we must both rely on non-Welsh texts AND Henry VII's propaganda during the Wars of the Roses when he was challenging the Plantagenets for the English throne.

(Personally, Arthur just likes to be a tricksy bastard and I wish he'd CEASE AND DESIST. Bro, I went to ur fuckin Grotto in Corwen* when I was a kid. You OWE me.)

Conversely, Arthur has been used to legitimise the English’s rule over the native Britons. Edward I, after his conquest of Wales, used ‘Round Tables’ to celebrate and justify his conquest of Wales - one of many Big Kicks in the Teeth for us, ngl, other than letting the Prince of Wales be a baby because he only babbled*, and having the true last Princess of Wales, Gwenllian, be shut up in a monastery when she was a baby - and the consequent ‘reunification’ of Arthurian Britain. The Galfridian texts also were even used to justify Edward's claim over the Scottish throne - after the House of Dunkeld came to an untimely end with Margaret, the Maid of Norway's, death at sea when she was only 7 - as Arthur conquered Scotland. Geoffrey of Monmouth, I'm hitting your ghost over the head with a boot. One with iron toe caps. And smeared in dung. Arthur's use as a colonial tool by both the Normans’ and the Plantagenet dynasty cannot be overstated. To do so is a great disservice that doesn't do anybody - least of all the Celtic countries who had their great mythological king beaten into this oppressive tool to try and bring them to heel - any favours.

Aled Llion Jones writes in Darogan: Prophecy, Lament, and Absent Heroes in Medieval Literature that the imagined victory of y mab darogan represents a ‘return to a united, unified legendary state of organicism’ which was once conjured in a long-lost son called ‘Unbennaeth Prydain or ‘The Sovereignty of Britain. Furthermore, Brud and Brut (that's Prophecy and History for all you non-Welsh speakers out there) were near-homonyms in medieval Welsh and the Brut y Brenhinedd - ‘Chronicles of the King's,’ which are an adaptation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae - was framed as being the story of how British lordship over Ynys Prydain had been gained, flourished, and lost to the Saxons. Prophecy, therefore, provided how it would ultimately be won back by those who would come after Arthur.

But, I mean, Wales would have to wait to find out who their next Mab Darogan would be. Next week: Owain Lawgoch's Hot Shit Tour of France: How he Became Y Mab Darogan, Fucked About in Guernsey and Got Assassinated When He Was Cutting His Hair.

Some notes!

*Garmon is St. Garmon the Gaulish Bishop who visited Britain in the first half of the fifth century

*You could make the case that Owain Gwynedd could be seen as Y Mab Darogan considering his various run-ins with the Normans. However, you could say that about The Lord Rhys also and, if we’re getting into the meat of it, neither of those two lads are even seen as having faulty alarm clocks. Or chillaxing beneath a mountain.

*Strathclyde wasn't incorporated into Scotland until the 11th Century when it was annexed into the Kingdom of Alba. It would still be known as Ystrad Clud at this time.) 

*Technically, Brythonic which is the forerunner to the Britons but, like, the language of the texts he is primarily featured in is Old Welsh. I know he's seen as an English figure but that's wrapped up on years and years of colonialism.

*That baby was later known as King Edward II whose reign was less than impressive, but extremely gay. Nice to see him committing to the Remarkable cosplay ngl. (Idk if he ever did that. I just think it's fun to imagine he did. Bet he was Lance.) 

*The Grotto was so fuckin fun. If I can dredge up a photo of the Red and White Dragon fighting then I'll fuckin slap it up because ooooh, baby, it was SO COOL. Also, they had an animatronic Arthur asleep under a mountain. ANYWAY.

*Myrddin/Merlin was also associated with prophecy in the early Welsh texts particularly those about the mab darogan.

Background Reading and Sources:

Land of My Father's by Gwynfor Evans

The History of Wales by J. Graham Jones

Wales: England's Colony? by Martin Johnes (A Banger.)

The Book of Taliesin by Gwyneth Lewis and Rowan Williams

The Arthur of the Welsh by Rachel Bromwich (T. Charles Edwards is included in it. Strongly recommend it.)

The Earliest Welsh Poems by Joseph Clancy

Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature by O. J Padel

The Welsh Triads by Rachel Bromwich

Lastly a quick aside: this is my theory but it is entirely possible that Arthur disinterring Bendigeidfran's head in Branch 2 of the Mabinogi could be seen as him taking up the 'heroic deliverer' role from an earlier Celtic hero. Certainly, while his head remained buried at Gwynfryn (White Hill, speculated to be Tower Hill in London) 'no oppression would ever come from across the sea to this island while that head was in its hiding place.' Bendigeidfran, like Arthur, was seen as the High King of Britain, and there is certainly an echo of Arthur about him. Arthur, in a fit of hubris, disclosed the head of Bendigeidfran from its resting place because 'it did not seem right to him that this Island should be defended by the strength of anyone, but his own.' And this 'was known as one of the Three Unfortunate disclosures,' so the Mabinogion says.

I'm not an academic but it is perhaps something to think about.