#sir Lucan

[queer-ragnelle]

Seeking a book to read this winter break?

Brand "New" List of Additions to the Arthurian Preservation Project Archive

In time, all books will be added to my Retellings List or Medieval Literature List respectively, and possibly a third page for handbooks/informational resources. Retellings may be under construction for a bit as I reformat to accommodate the influx in links. There are some duplicates—Alan Lupack's and Mike Ashley's anthologies occasionally contain a one-off story I've otherwise included in an individual volume of collected works by the author.

Links connect to corresponding PDFs on my Google drive where they can be read and downloaded for free. But if you like what I do, consider supporting me on Ko-Fi. I haven't yet read these listings in full; I cannot attest to their content or quality. A big thank you to @wandrenowle for the help collecting!

Modern Retellings

Merlin in Love by Aaron Hill (1790) — Opera about Merlin & his love interest Columbine.

The Fortunate Island by Max Adeler (1882) — A family shipwrecks on an island only to discover its populated with Arthurian knights, including Dinadan, Bleoberis, & Agravaine.

Sir Marrok by Allen French (1902) — Werewolf knight.

The Story of Sir Galahad by Mary Blackwell Stirling (1908) — Illustrated retelling of Malory's Grail Quest.

The Story of Parzival by Mary Blackwell Stirling (1911) — Illustrated retelling of Eschenbach's Parzival.

Stories From King Arthur and His Round Table by Beatrice Clay (1913) — Illustrated retelling of Malory.

Cloud Castle and Other Papers by Edward Thomas (1922) — Contains two Arthurian entries: the story Bronwen The Welsh Idyll about Agravaine & his lady Bronwen, & the essay Isoud about the Prose Tristan.

Collected Poems by Rolfe Humphries (1924-1966) — Contains Dream of Rhonabwy about Owain & Arthur's chess game, A Brecon Version about Essylt/Trystan, Under Craig y Ddynas about Arthur's "sleeping" warriors, & The Return of Peredwr about the Grail Hero's arrival to court.

Peronnik the Fool by George Moore (1926) — The quest for the Holy Grail based on Breton folklore.

The Merriest Knight by Theodore Goodridge Roberts (1946-2001) — Anthology of short stories all about Dinadan.

The Eagles Have Flown by Henry Treece (1954) — A third Arthurian novel from Treece detailing the rivalry between Artos & Medrawt, with illustrations this time.

Launcelot, my Brother by Dorothy James Roberts (1954) — The fall of Camelot from Bors perspective, as a brother of Launcelot.

To the Chapel Perilous by Naomi Mitchison (1955) — Two rival journalists report about the goings on in Camelot.

The Pagan King by Edison Marshall (1959) — Historical fiction from the perspective of Pagan King Arthur.

Kinsmen of the Grail by Dorothy James Roberts (1963) — The Grail Quest but Gawain is Perceval's step dad.

Stories of King Arthur by Blanche Winder (1968) — Illustrated retelling of Malory.

Drustan the Wanderer by Anna Taylor (1971) — Retelling of Essylt/Drustan.

Merlin's Ring by H. Warner Munn (1974) Gwalchmai is a godson of Merlin's that uses his ring to travel through the magical & real worlds.

Lionors, Arthur's Uncrowned Queen by Barbara Ferry Johnson (1975) — Story of Arthur's sweetheart & mother of his son, Loholt.

Gawain and The Green Knight by Y. R. Ponsor (1979) — Illustrated prose retelling of SGATGK poem.

Firelord (#1), Beloved Exile (#2), The Lovers: Trystan and Yseult (#3) by Parke Godwin (pseudonym Kate Hawks) (1980-1999) — Book 1 Arthur, book 2 Guinevere, book 3 Trystan/Yseult.

Bride of the Spear by Kathleen Herbert (1982) — "Historical" romance retelling of Teneu/Owain.

Invitation to Camelot edited by Parke Godwin (1988) — Anthology of assorted Arthurian stories from authors like Phyllis Ann Karr & Sharan Newman.

Arthur, The Greatest King - An Anthology of Modern Arthurian Poems by Alan Lupack (1988) — Anthology of modern Arthurian poetry by various authors including E. A. Robinson, William Morris, C. S. Lewis, & Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The White Raven by Diana L Paxson (1988) — "Historical" romance retelling of Drustan/Esseilte.

Merlin Dreams by Peter Dickinson (1988) — Illustrated by Alan Lee.

The Pendragon Chronicles edited by Mike Ashley (1990) — An anthology of Arthurian stories, including some translations such as the Lady of the Fountain, and retellings by John Steinbeck & Phyllis Ann Karr.

Grails: Quest of the Dawn edited by Richard Gilliam (1992-1994) — Anthology of Grail Quest stories.

The Merlin Chronicles edited by Mike Ashley (1995) — Anthology about Merlin from authors like Theodore Goodridge Roberts & Phyllis Ann Karr.

The Chronicles of the Holy Grail edited by Mike Ashley (1996) — Anthology about the Holy Grail from authors like Cherith Baldry & Phyllis Ann Karr.

The Chronicles of the Round Table edited by Mike Ashley (1997) — Anthology of assorted Arthurian stories from authors like Cherith Baldry & Phyllis Ann Karr.

Sleepless Knights by Mark H Williams (2013) — 1,500 years have passed but Lucan the Butler’s still on the clock.

Medieval Literature

Three Arthurian Romances (Caradoc, The Knight with The Sword, The Perilous Graveyard) [This is on the Internet Archive & cannot be downloaded. If someone could help with that, lmk!] translated by Ross G. Arthur

Le Bel Inconnu (The Fair Unknown) translated by Colleen P. Donagher

Segurant The Knight of the Dragon (Portuguese) edited by Emanuele Arioli

An Anglo-Norman Reader by Jane Bliss

Stanzaic Morte Arthur / Alliterative Morte Arthure edited by Larry D. Benson

Sir Perceval de Galles / Ywain and Gawain edited by Mary Flowers Braswell

Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales edited by Thomas Hahn

Prose Merlin edited by John Conlee

The Middle English Breton Lays edited by Eve Sailsbury & Anne Laskaya

Il Ciclo Di Guiron Le Courtois Volumes 1-7 (Italian)

Wace's Roman de Brut / Layamon's Brut by Robert Wace & Eugene Mason

Arthurian Literature by Women edited by Alan Lupack & Barbara Tepa Lupack

Handbooks

Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance by Lucy Allen Paton (1960)

A Companion to the Gawain-Poet edited by Derek Brewer (1990)

The Mammoth Book of King Arthur edited by Mike Ashley (2005)

A Bibliography of Modern Arthuriana 1500-2000 by Ann F. Howey & Stephen R. Reimer (2006)

[joemerl]

And Mordred and Lucan et al.

[kulttuurinkurittama]

Some wine?

@gwalch-mei's 20 days pinup challenge, day 3, Kitchens

Some Lucan in our lives. I'm still playing around with his face but I'm pretty happy with the rest of his design

[taliesin-the-bored]

Arthurian characters I interpret as acespec:

Galahad, the Grail Heroine, and Bors: They generally have no apparent trouble or qualms with the eternal chastity thing (except Bors when he gets cursed, but he gets cursed).

Brangaine: In La Tavola Ritonda, she tells Gouvernail that she never wants to have sexual relationships, and in a text I haven't yet read or been able to identify, she apparently stops Kahedin from sleeping with her by using a magic pillow to make him fall asleep, a role which is Camille's in Kaherdin and Camille.

Dinadan: In LTR, they call him the Wise Man Who Does Not Love, and while he has a romantic interest in LTR, their relationship isn't sexual. To the best of my knowledge, he has no other romantic interest and no sexual relationship in all of medlit and pretty much always scorns both concepts. Usually aro, demiromantic in one text, and always ace.

Lucan: It's not anything he says or does, but unless you count the actions of Lucano the evil half-giant half-lion in LTR, he doesn't have any romantic and/or sexual relationships in any medlit I know of. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but in my mind, he's on the aro and ace spectrums.

Happy Ace Week to all who celebrate!

Edit: I had somehow left out Dinadan, who I originally meant to include a picture of. I guess you could say he's implicit. Truly one of the aroace icons of all time. He ran so Jughead could also run.

[grail-lifesupport]

Brunor's first day on the job as a kitchen knight isn't going as planned...

(from left to right, Brunor, Gareth and Lucan the butler)

[poparthuriana]

Alleged A-Listers: Arthur, Bedivere, Galahad, Gawain, Guinevere, Kay, Lancelot, Merlin, Morgan le Fay, Percival, Tristan

Neglected Siblings: Aglovale, Agravaine, Clarissant, Daniel son of Brunor, Dornar, Elaine of Cornwall, Ganieda, Gaheris, Hector de Maris, Kay, Lucan, Madog son of Uther, Safir

[waldmaerchen]

I really never uploaded this?

It‘s just a short „everyone lives and is happy (more or less)“ au where Alastair notices a familiar scent in the streets and follows it up to the roof, just like Malory planed.

Alastair gets a dad-hug and they have a very meaningful conversation.

✨The end ✨

[allsingalongagain]

Not me thinking too much about my latest fic even after I posted it, but

hunting as a sort of Lycan courtship ritual? A mutually understood chase, prey trying to show how evasive and cunning they can be, and predator in turn displaying the strength of their senses and their sheer relentlessness in successfully hunting them down.

And Alastair just having no idea this is a thing, another part of his heritage he's not been informed of - there was never any reason for any of the other Half-Breeds to bring it up, after all. So it's just instinctive for him when he catches Gray's scent in the woods that day. A gauntlet's been thrown, and no matter the intent he means to prove his worth, to finish the hunt -

And Grayson has no idea this is a thing, of course, because why would he? He's never been of a mind to talk to a Half-Breed before, and even if he had, it would've never been about this. So maybe he thinks he's being nice, like he's offering Alastair a training bout on the man's terms. Maybe he's feeling a little contrary, a little arrogant, thinking he can match Alastair's skills - maybe not match, but beat. And maybe it's only after he's led his trail all over the woods and fields and is waiting for the end result that Grayson realises the thrill that's buzzing inside him, not at the thought of winning but that he might be caught, not just fear but excitement -

And if they weren't already together at the time it'd be a perfect opportunity for them to realise just how well matched they are, in more ways than one.

[heliabel]

Can we just take a minute to truely appreciate Sir Lucan The Good. Like this guy has known Arthur for YEARS. He knows what Arthur's temper can be like, yet he still tries to persuade him not to fight Mordred at the end of Camlann:

// Arthur: 'Now give me my spear', said Arthur (...)

Lucan: 'Sir, let him be,' said Sir Lucan, (...) 'for here, we be three alive,' \\

Of course, Arthur fights Mordred anyway, but (spoilers!) it's how Lucan dies that really gets me. When Lucan and his brother, Sir Bedivere go to lift Arthur up off the Chapel floor that they are sheltering in from battlefield thieves, he's observed only through Arthur's eyes; "he beheld Sir Lucan, how he lay foaming at the mouth, and part of his guts lay at his feet."

Which is an absolutely awful fate for anyone, but especially for this sweet man, who was so loyal and so genuine, which is hard to say for many knights of the round table funnily enough.

[mosaicofdreamsanddragons]

Reading the end of Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur part three:

Arthur: gets a vision tell him not to go fight Mordred or he will die. Also Arthur: well, that means I kill Mordred! Of to the battle felid I go!

I was wondering who Sir Lucan is and why I don’t know who he is…and then he immediately dies in front of a dyingArthur and I’m like, oh. That’s why

Arthur swears Lucan’s death will grieve him for the rest of his life…but as he is also dying that’s not going to be long

I get the feeling Bedivere thought blood loss was effecting Arthur when he was asked to throw Excalibur into the water

I’m surprised they don’t explicitly say that the lady who calls Arthur her brother is Morgan

Oh nope, here it is. They do tell us this is Morgan just later

Also Nimune (Nineve here, but explicitly called the Lady of the Lake) is married to a Sir Pelleas and she keeps him in an enchanted slumber so he won’t suffer…so this whole “Arthur sleeping for eternity” is not invented for him, it’s already actively being used.

Gwen sneaks of to join a nunnery…like you go girl but who is running the country now?

Lancelot: slowly realizing he killed every Gawain sibling but Mordred the one who killed Arthur

Lancelot actually goes to visit Gwen in private! I was worried for a second he wouldn’t

They have a very interesting conversation as Gwen asks him to leave as their love sorta destroyed camelot and also tells him to go on with his life

And he’s like, what do you think I’m going to go marry someone else? After all this? I’m going to become a monk to!

Lancelot goes to see Gwen when she dying and doenst make it by half an hour…only to learn her dying wish was to never see him again with mortal eyes. Wow. That’s got to hurt. He does arrange her funeral though and does bury her by Arthur…how that happened when Arthur’s in the lake I do not know

Oh and then Sir Lancelot’s brother shows up just to find out the brother he’s been searching for is dead too? Someone likes tragedy

Arthur dies and there like ten more pages about Lancelot and Gwen.

[queer-ragnelle]

BBC Merlin walked to Arthur & Merlin (2015) could run.

[corvidfeathers]

the problem with letting pov characters in a story get within conversational distance of each other is uh oh I might be dismantling the pov character’s carefully curated self-image to the audience a little tooooo soon

[each-uisge-enthusiast]

my personal griflet take is that he is both actually a faerie and not aware he is a faerie and the reason he seems to eat shit w such consistency is because he has not yet realised the iron in the armour and the weapons is actually severely fucking up his game

[taliesin-the-bored]

A few things which are “canon” somewhere for people who are worried they’re stretching it too far

Arthur was killed by a giant cat. 

Arthur killed the cat.

Arthur didn’t fight the cat. Kay did.

Kay and Bedivere use salmon as taxis. 

Lucan is half giant, half lion. (This Lucan, Lucano in the original Italian, is evil and not related to Bedivere). 

King Arthur raided the land of the dead.

The human knight Caradoc Briefbras has three half siblings: a dog, a horse, and a pig.

A large portion of Arthur’s troops was killed a while before Camlann by his nephew’s attack ravens in self-defense. Arthur and said nephew were playing chess at the time and neither did much to stop it.

Merlin retired peacefully and went to live in the countryside with Taliesin.

Wherever Arthur walks, plants die. They don’t grow back for years.

Arthur had a spunky (half?) brother who died in battle after making a mysterious oath.

Dagonet is more or less able to run the kingdom when Arthur is gone. His biggest error is overspending on mercenaries.

Guinevere has an evil almost identical twin half-sister.

Hector beat up all the best knights except for Galahad while possessed by a demon.

Gawain plays tennis.

Gawain has used a chessboard as a weapon.

Near the start of his reign, Arthur left Lot in charge of the kingdom and went on a quest with a sassy parrot.

Gawain or Galahad succeeded Arthur as king. 

[grail-lifesupport]

Gringolet has died at least once.

https://books-openedition-org.translate.goog/pup/3346?lang=en&_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

he doesn't stay dead though...