#arthur's inability to be a courtly lover

[gawrkin]

(From The Character of King Arthur in Medieval Literature by Rosemary Morris)

I suppose that, taking this and the reblog about Livre D'Artus into account, this doesn't bode well about Arthur's three mistresses from the Welsh Triads...

[desolator-thedragon]

Unpopular Arthurian Opinions

I /hate/ Lancelot.

I mean, I hate him more than Mordred and that’s saying something. Mordred has good reasons to resent Arthur (almost being killed as a kid can do that to a guy). Guinevere was has many “Faerie Lover” characteristics, so her unfaithfulness also has a reason (typically, your otherworldly girlfriend only stayed around for about 7 years, so her unofficially calling it quits with Aurthur makes some sense too). But Lancelot.!!!!! Lancelot is always remembered as Arthur’s greatest knight which is a real kick in the teeth to Gawain who was (in the older, Welsh versions) not only Arthur’s nephew but his /heir/. Then this Charlemagne expy comes along and suddenly Gawain is only remembered for the Green Knight (which is, all things being equal, a very cool story and portrayal) or, in later versions, as a rapist knight. What the hell?!?!?!?!? A rapist?!?!?? Not my Gawain, HELL NO! Lancelot’s inability to stay away from Guinevere brings down Camelot! And everyone loves to blame Guinevere, but again, it’s really REALLY not just on her! For goodnes sake even Tristan and Isolde has the excuse of a love potion (and the fact that Isolde didn’t want to be in an arranged marriage), but not Lake Boy! Oh no, he just had to take courtly love to the (tragic) extreme!

Anyone have any unpopular Arthurian opinions they want to get off their chest?

[rachelbracewriting-blog]

Malory’s Round Table as Insubstantial Myth

The legends surrounding King Arthur and his Round Table occupy a unique position as collective myth continually added to by successive storytellers. New versions implicitly refer to old versions, with layers of outside textual fact that influence every recreation of Arthur. Within Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, Arthur’s court operates upon the established tradition of chivalric code. Generally, the Round Table defines chivalry as fellowship with brother knights, Christian deeds, courtly love, loyalty to the King, and a Christian lifestyle. Based upon these behavior requirements for the Round Table, Malory’s Arthur never truly succeeds in forming a Round Table. The knights engage in highly secular behavior and are cited regularly forgetting confession or other Christian religious aspects. Their secular exploits take far more of their focus than any Christian missions. They are loyal to certain factions, but not the concept of the Round Table, and Arthur is more loyal to his knights than they are to him. Arthur, as King, often gets pushed around by his knights and wields far less power than he should as the greatest Christian King. The King, and the Round Table by proxy, have sinful beginnings, and this sinful behavior continues throughout the course of the Round Table. Courtly love within the court gradually exceeds the bounds of propriety, culminating in high treason. Based upon the tradition of the Round Table’s self-definition, the Round Table suggested within Le Morte D’Arthur does not exist and thus cannot fail and end as it never began.

All the knights have no qualms about prioritizing personal loyalties over a general fellowship amongst Round Table knights. Sir Aggravayne, in order to bring about the fall of Lancelot admits that “Falle whatsumever falle may, I woll disclose hit to the Kynge”1. He does not care what happens to the kingdom, the Round Table, or Arthur, nothing will stop him from fulfilling his personal vendetta against Lancelot. His actions originate from self-serving purposes, rather than loyalty to the honor of the knighthood. Within his plot to bring down one knight, Aggravayne will sacrifice anything and even use the King himself as a tool in this plan. On an opposing note, Gawain refuses a direct order from Arthur due to personal loyalty to Lancelot, stating “I woll never be ayenste Sir Launcelot for one dayes dede: that was whan he rescowed me frome Kynge Carados of the Dolerous Towre and slew hym and saved my lyff”2. Gawain feels justified in ignoring a direct request from his King due to one, single incident when Lancelot saved his life. In a fellowship of knights, it would be expected that your brothers in arms would rescue you if necessary. The meaning Gawain places upon Lancelot’s actions implies Lancelot has done something exceptional, rather than a basic service expected of your fellows. Both Gawain and Aggravayne’s actions reveal the failure of the Round Table knights to exhibit fellowship amongst themselves.

The dominant examples of fellowship we see, other than singular interpersonal relationships, occur when knights form factions within the court. Gawain informs Aggravayne and Mordred their plan is faulty, as “there aryse warre and wrake betwyxte Sir Launcelot and us, wyte you well, brother, there woll many kynges and grete lordis holde with Sir Launcelot”3. There is no doubt in Gawain’s mind that not only will some knights side with Lancelot, but many kings and lords as well. The supposed great Christian kingdom, if given the choice, would side against the king and the Round Table. Even the Round Table would fracture into loyalty groups for Lancelot. This factional fellowship is exemplified in Bors, who tells Lancelot “Sir, for I drede me ever of Sir Aggravayne, that waytith uppon you dayly to do you shame, and us all”. He does not just dread the shame that Aggravayne means to deal to Lancelot, but the shame to ‘us all’. This ‘all’ is implicitly understood to mean the group of knights loyal to Lancelot through friendship and family ties, and not the entirety of the court. Bors drives this home with the statement that “and as we have takyn much weale with you and much worshyp, we woll take the woo with you as we have takyn the weale”5. Despite their adventures being made possible by Arthur’s court, Bors connects the good they have experienced with Lancelot, and therefore they will take the woe with him as well. It sets up Lancelot as a secondary king figure in the court, allowing knights to choose either Arthur’s Round Table or Lancelot’s group. The factional nature of Arthur’s court directly undercuts the Round Table ideal of fellowship.

Not only are the Round Table knights not loyal to each other, they express very little loyalty to King Arthur. Aggravayne brings up the knights’ collective knowledge of Guinevere’s affair with Lancelot, stating “hit ys shamefully suffird of us all that we shulde suffir so noble a kynge as Kynge Arthur ys to be shamed”6. Aggravayne shames the knights for doing nothing about the affair, yet he does this to gain support to attack Lancelot, rather than in support of the king’s honor. The knights rarely remember their commitment and oath to Arthur. Arthur accuses Gawain of this, stating “ye have nygh slayne me for the avow that ye have made; for thorow you ye have berauffte me the fayryst and the trewyst of knyghthode that ever was sene togydir in ony realme of the worlde”7. Gawain begins the trend of Round Table knights swearing to follow the Grail, and conveniently forgetting that this oath is directly at odds with their oath to Arthur. They owe King Arthur fealty and their regular presence at court, yet they all swear to follow the Grail until they have found it or die. Arthur’s placement of blame upon Gawain is not unfounded, but the true blame lies in all the knights’ lack of loyalty to their oaths of fealty to him. Lancelot takes the lack of loyalty the farthest, declaring “And for thys cause now am I sure of mortall warre, for these knyghtes were sente by Kynge Arthur to betray me”8. Lancelot frames the ambush as a betrayal of him by Arthur, creating a relationship opposite from what should exist. He owes Arthur loyalty, he swore an oath, and he broke this oath by sleeping with Arthur’s wife. Yet Arthur becomes the guilty party, betraying Lancelot and causing the war. In all these cases, the knights forget their oaths to Arthur, and without those oaths they are not part of the Round Table. The knights of Arthur’s court never act as part of his Round Table, for they rarely acknowledge the loyalty to the King that comes with membership in that brotherhood.

This total absence of loyalty compounds with Arthur’s inability to wield his own kingly power to destabilize the ideal of the Round Table. The prestige that comes from membership in the Round Table is degraded by Arthur’s inability to act as a strong ruler, as it turns them into a loose association of knights rather than a famous army under a powerful king. Arthur’s lack of control is apparent when Gawain essentially orders Arthur to declare war: “And therefore I requyre you, my lorde and kynge, dresse you unto the warres, for wyte you well, I woll be revenged uppon Sir Launcelot”9. Gawain places himself within the position of power by using Arthur’s titles to imply an equal footing that gives Gawain the right to declare war for Arthur. Gawain exerts power over Arthur more than any other knight, a fact Arthur recognizes, stating “I shall never have reste of hym tyll I have destroyed Sir Launcelottys kynne and hymselff bothe – other ellis he to destroy me”10. The ‘he’ who will destroy Arthur is ambiguous and could refer either to Lancelot and his knights or Gawain himself, whose hatred will force Arthur to ruin his entire court. King Arthur never recognizes that he is not required to follow Gawain’s orders. His self-fulfilling prophecy of Gawain’s power comes true when Lancelot tells Arthur to take Guinevere back and the narrative voice states “But full fayne [Arthur] wolde have bene accorded with Sir Launcelot, but Sir Gawayn wolde nat suffir hym”11. Arthur becomes a ragdoll tossed around by Gawain, a figurehead Gawain wields in order to accomplish his own goals. Arthur’s kingly power vanishes, and his own subject proceeds to keep Arthur from taking back his queenand ending the war. Arthur’s inability to control his own court and knights makes it unlikely he ever held sway over the Round Table knights. A Round Table without a strong king at its head cannot exist as the Round Table of Arthurian legend.

The only Round Table tenet which the court follows well is that of courtly love, however they bypass the stipulation that this love be in moderation and stay loosely within Christian values. Lancelot and Guinevere’s entire relationship undermines the Round Table’s courtly love tenet through its excesses, as “Sir Launcelot lyeth dayly and nyghtly by the Quene”12. Even for courtly lovers, this level of regular personal interaction far exceeds the amount that would make one a ‘good’ courtly lover. Further, the language Lancelot uses when speaking to Guinevere displays his delusion, such as when he tells her “Moste nobelest Crysten Quene, I besech you, as ye have ben ever my speciall good lady, and I at all tymes your poure knyght and trew unto my power”13. Considering their affair, Guinevere most definitely is not the noblest Christian Queen, and she is not really his special lady, as she already belongs to Arthur. Courtly love was intended to encourage knights to accomplish greater feats of bravery in the name of their ladies. Lancelot admits to taking this too far in his love for the Queen, stating “And all my grete dedis of armys that I have done, for the moste party was for the Quenys sake, and for hir sake wolde I do batayle were hit ryght other wronge: and never dud I batayle all only for Goddis sake”14. His love for the Queen skews his vision and his purpose, transforming into a form of courtly love gone dangerously wrong. The Round Table, as a balance of courtly love, brave deeds, and Christian behavior, is called into question by the excesses of Lancelot and Guinevere’s love affair.

The necessity of Christian, pure behavior stipulated by the Round Table’s code never manifests within the knights own actions. The Round Table’s sin originates with Arthur’s conception, where “after the deth of the duke, Kynge Uther lay with Igrayne more than thre houres after his deth, and begat on her that nyght Arthur”15. While the later marriage of Uther and Igrayne gives Arthur legitimacy, he is conceived out of wedlock on a recently widowed, nonconsenting woman. It is a conception marred by lies and subterfuge, and while technically legal it does not fall under the umbrella of Christian behavior. Before the Round Table is fully formed, Arthur himself engages in sinful behavior which Merlin reveals to Arthur, stating “ye have lyene by youre syster and on hir ye have gotyn a childe that shall destroy you and all the knyghtes of youre realme”16. Arthur’s sins ensure that his court is doomed by his actions before it even begins. His incestuous relations with his sister definitely exceed the realm of Christian behavior, and are not excused by his lack of knowledge of their relation, for he still sleeps with her out of wedlock. The knights regularly engage in relations out of wedlock, following Arthur’s footsteps, and Gawain is even told “whan ye were made first knyght ye sholde have takyn you to knyghtly dedys and vertuous lyvyng; and ye have done the contrary, for ye have lyved myschevously many wyntirs”17. Gawain is shamed for the ways in which he turned away from Christian deeds. This behavior is bred in Arthur’s court however, as a holy man declares the difference between the court and Galahad is Galahad’s lack of sin, “and that ys the cause he shall enchyve where he goth that ye nor none suche shall never attayne – nother non in youre felyship – for ye have used the moste untrewyst lyff that ever I herd knyght lyve”18. The condemnation of Arthur’s entire court during the Grail Quest demonstrates how the Round Table has become a breeding ground for sin and an un-Christian lifestyle. The court’s inability to achieve the Grail is spelled out as caused by their untrue lives, a lifestyle which, if they actually held to the tenets of the Round Table, would never have become normalized. The Round Table, rather than demonstrating their expected Christian purity, instead continually falls into sin and vice, traits which are incompatible with the court of previous Arthurian traditions.The inability of Arthur’s court to embody the expected chivalric codes acts to prevent a true Round Table from ever forming. The eventual downfall of Arthur’s kingdom becomes the downfall of an average court, rather than a mythic one. Within the confines of Arthurian legends, certain qualities are expected of a typical Round Table. Traditional Round Tables must have bonds of fellowship, loyalty to the king, Christian purity and actions, a moderate amount of courtly romance, and a king with the power to direct those within his court. The Round Table presented within Le Morte DArthur exhibits none of these qualities, making it a dysfunctional vision of an Arthurian court that does not deserve its title of ‘Round Table’.

Sir Thomas Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, ed. Stephen H. A. Shepherd (New York: Norton & Company, 2004), 646.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 647.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 646.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 648.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 651-652.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 646.

Sir Thomas Malory, “The Noble Tale of the Sankgreal,” in Le Morte DArthur, ed. Stephen H. A. Shepherd (New York: Norton & Company, 2004), 503.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 653.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 659.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 658.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 664.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 646.

Malory, “The Deth of Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 649.

Malory, “The Noble Tale of the Sankgreal,” in Le Morte DArthur, 519.

Sir Thomas Malory, “How Uther Pendragon Gate the Noble Conqueror Kyng Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, ed. Stephen H. A. Shepherd (New York: Norton & Company, 2004), 5.

Malory, “How Uther Pendragon Gate the Noble Conqueror Kyng Arthur,” in Le Morte DArthur, 32.

Malory, “The Noble Tale of the Sankgreal,” in Le Morte DArthur, 515. 

Malory, “The Noble Tale of the Sankgreal,” in Le Morte DArthur, 516.