#the last knight of camelot

[filletedfennysnake]

“average arthurian retelling includes 100% whump” is actually a just statistical error. average arthurian author includes maybe 15% whump. Cherith “Hurt/Comfort” Baldry, who has kay beaten up and homoerotically nursed back to health over 10,000 times per book, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

EXCUSE ME KAY FANS CHERITH BALDRY HAS PUBLISHED A NEW KAY NOVEL

CORRECTION: This is a collection of her short stories, some are new some were published in various collections.

Heartbreakingly hilarious given I just bought two of Mike Ashley books to reread her short stories.

Still, some of these I've never read before!! I'm so excited!!

[grayrazor]

I'd like it if period piece movies were allowed to have colors again.

[vooruitmariek]

march to camelot wrapup ✨

[umihoshi]

7 Deadly Sins is so unappolagetically cringe and whimsy. It's like introducing your friends to your cat who you love so so much, cuz he's silly and funny and actually really smart. but objectively, it's the ugliest critter you will ever see.

[fluffypotatey]

Since I very sincerely doubt Uther managed to kill ALL the Dragonlords (they're knights, not the KGB, and it was a lot easier to disappear back then) imagine them returning to Albion from Rome or whatever to find Cousin Balinor's only son is ruling Camelot and the Druids, is best friends with an immortal knight and one dude that's been raised from the fucking dead, is bonded to THEE oldest dragon they've ever heard of (and who is also nuttier than squirrel stew) and a semi-feral hatchling that barely listens to four (4) people max and hisses/bites/claws at the rest, and oh yeah, is married to a fucking Pendragon.

Family dinners must be a hoot and a half.

oh to be a fly on the wall when they finally make an audience in Camelot. oh to see Merlin's face morph from apprehension to wonder to exhaustion to horror because they're telling Arthur everything they know.

[grailwishes]

new character tags ( blorbos first ) ^-^

📖  *  guinevere pendragon.   ‣  queen of camelot.

📖  *  cassandra of troy.   ‣  princess prophetess.

📖  *  helen of sparta.   ‣  the most beautiful woman.

📖  *  maid marian / william scarlet.   ‣  lady of the merry men.

📖  *  saito momoka.   ‣  wisteria & peaches.

📖  *  yuuki cupid saito.   ‣  last hope of humanity.

📖  *  percival.   ‣  the dove knight.

📖  *  gawain.   ‣  knight of the sun.

📖  *  agravain.   ‣  knight of iron.

📖  *  sieg.   ‣  balmung's heir.

📖  *  siegfried.   ‣  dragon slayer.

📖  *  emiya shirou.   ‣  hero of justice.

📖  *  cú chulainn / sétanta.   ‣  hero of ulster.

📖  *  fiore forvedge.   ‣  yggdmillennia's true talent.

📖  *  jeanne d'arc.   ‣  holy maiden.

📖  *  rama.   ‣  brahmastra.

📖  *  asterios.   ‣  chaos labyrinth.

📖  *  nursery rhyme.   ‣  born of fairytales.

📖  *  bazett fraga mcremitz.   ‣  god's holder.

📖  *  waver velvet / lord el-melloi II.   ‣  cringefail professor.

📖  *  grey.   ‣  grave for you.

📖  *  charlemagne.   ‣  joyeuse ordre.

📖  *  name.   ‣  tag.

[heliabel]

We love a biblically accurate Morgause 👏🏻

[bioluminescentcat]

I love Merlin fanfics that are like:

"To pass through this cave you must say your full name and titles!"

So the knights and Arthur all go through while merlin is internally panicking about having to say allllll those titles. And the whole revealing magic thing as well, yeah.

i imagine it goign something like

"I am Merlin."

"Your title please?"

"Servant of Camelot?"

"And?"

"Merlin of Ealdor..?

"AND?"

"Son of Hunnith?"

"Are you even trying?"

"...Yes?"

"That's not even both your parents!"

"I don't know my dad."

"Yes you do."

"Nope."

"Yes."

"Nuh uh."

"I can tell when your'e lying!"

"FINE! Son of Balinor!"

"Now we're getting somewhere! And what would that make you?"

"The Last Dragon Lord."

"Now the rest of them!"

heavy sigh

"Emrys, Most Powerful Warlock, Protecter Of Arthur Pendragon, Guardian of the Once and Future King, King of the druids, magic incarnate- ect ect

[queer-ragnelle]

Beginner’s Guide to Medieval Arthuriana

Just starting out at a loss for where to begin?

Here’s a guide for introductory Medieval texts and informational resources ordered from most newbie friendly to complex. Guidebooks and encyclopedias are listed last.

All PDFs link to my Google drive and can be found on my blog. This post will be updated as needed.

Pre-Existing Resources

Hi-Lo Arthuriana

♡ Loathly Lady Master Post ♡

Medieval Literature by Language

Retellings by Date

Films by Date

TV Shows by Date

Documentaries by Date

Arthurian Preservation Project

The Camelot Project

If this guide was helpful for you, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi!

Medieval Literature

Page (No Knowledge Required)

The Vulgate Cycle | Navigation Guide | Vulgate Reader

The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle

The Marriage of Sir Gawain

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

The Welsh Triads

Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory

Squire (Base Knowledge Recommended)

The Mabinogion

Four Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes

King Artus | scan by @jewishlancelot

Morien

Knight (Extensive Knowledge Recommended)

The History of The King's of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Alliterative Morte

Here Be Dragons (Weird or Arthurian Adjacent)

The Crop-Eared Dog

Perceforest | A Perceforest Reader | PDF courtesy of @sickfreaksirkay

Wigalois | Vidvilt

Guingamor, Lanval, Tyolet, & Bisclarevet by Marie of France

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Grail Quest

Peredur (The Mabinogion)

The Story of the Grail + 4 Continuations by Chrétien de Troyes

Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach

The Crown by Heinrich von dem Türlin (Diu Crône)

The High Book of The Grail (Perlesvaus)

The History of The Holy Grail (Vulgate)

The Quest for The Holy Grail Part I (Post-Vulgate)

The Quest for The Holy Grail Part II (Post-Vulgate)

Merlin and The Grail by Robert de Boron

The Legend of The Grail | PDF courtesy of @sickfreaksirkay

Lancelot Texts

Knight of The Cart by Chretien de Troyes

Lanzelet by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven

Spanish Lancelot Ballads

Gawain Texts

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle

The Marriage of Sir Gawain

Sir Gawain and The Lady of Lys

The Knight of The Two Swords

The Turk and Sir Gawain

Perilous Graveyard | scan by @jewishlancelot

Tristan/Isolde Texts

Béroul & Les Folies

Prose Tristan (The Camelot Project)

Tristan and The Round Table (La Tavola Ritonda) | Italian Name Guide

The Romance of Tristan

Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg

Byelorussian Tristan

Educational/Informational Resources

Encyclopedias & Handbooks

Warriors of Arthur by John Matthews, Bob Stewart, & Richard Hook

The Arthurian Companion by Phyllis Ann Karr

The New Arthurian Encyclopedia by Norris J. Lacy

The Arthurian Handbook by Norris J. Lacy & Geoffrey Ashe

The Arthurian Name Dictionary by Christopher W. Bruce

Essays & Guides

A Companion to Chrétien de Troyes edited by Joan Tasker & Norris J. Lacy

A Companion to Malory edited by Elizabeth Archibald

A Companion to The Lancelot-Grail Cycle edited by Carol Dover

Arthur in Welsh Medieval Literature by O. J. Padel

Diu Crône and The Medieval Arthurian Cycle by Neil Thomas

Wirnt von Gravenberg's Wigalois: Intertextuality & Interpretation by Neil Thomas

The Legend of Sir Lancelot du Lac by Jessie Weston

The Legend of Sir Gawain by Jessie Weston

[comicaurora]

So based on that last ask with King Arthur is he choosing to fall in love with Gwen even if she has a high chance of falling for Lancealot? If so, it's tragic. Doomed to love another that won't fully love you back.

Does Arthur even just tell Lancenalot to get the hell put of the kingdom some loops?

I think it's more like-

You become aware of your existence somewhere around the age of 3. You were born under mysterious circumstances you don't know the details of. The first time through, you were growing up in a castle. Lately you find you are growing up among peasantry.

Maybe you have brothers. Maybe you have a sister. Maybe you're an only child. Your family is distant either way. They speak welsh. They speak latin. They speak french. They speak english with american attempts at british accents.

The first few times through, there wasn't a sword. Now it's a consistent presence - a shimmering blade stuck in a plain anvil or a large boulder, haunting your hometown or a nearby forest glade. It looks different every time, feels different in your hands. It was made for you.

There are more trials every time. In the first stories the crown was yours from birth. Lately it's been further and further away, behind more tribulations and tournaments and beasts to slay. More guidance from the ageless old man you remember from the earliest days, the welsh days. He's different every time. Everything's different every time. And still nothing changes.

The crown is yours. It's inevitable. And when the crown passes into your hands, it carries the kingdom with it. It's yours now. And it's going to thrive! You hardly need to do anything. Heroes flock to you and pledge themselves as knights, then spend the decades tearing off on wild quests and adventures, getting into the kind of trouble that serendipitously always keeps the kingdom safe. The adventures feel familiar, but never quite play out the same way. Chalices, black knights, fairy women, questing beasts. You rarely see them for yourself. You're too important, after all. You're the kingdom's beating heart.

You have a queen. You don't spend much time with her. It's jarring how much she changes every time. You hate how much it surprises you the times she genuinely loves you; you never really get to enjoy it. The kingdom doesn't run itself, even if just having you around seems to make the forests grow thick and the rivers run clear. Mostly you spend time with her when you're rescuing her from abduction. You very rarely have children together. You miss them.

It didn't used to end in fire, but lately it never ends in anything but, and you never know when it's going to start. You're never home when it starts, but you spend so much time out tending the kingdom or questing anyway. But you always learn too late - treachery. Your knight, your vassal, your bastard child, your lady love. Camelot is burning. You watch your life's work precede you into the grave.

You die. You sleep under the mountain. You dream. It's quiet.

Somewhere in the world, a writer picks up a pen, and you become aware of existence somewhere around the age of 3.

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

me adding Cherith Baldry's Kay books on my goodreads "arthurian lgbtq"

[mysticsublimeperson]

AU IN WICH MERLIN GORS BACK IN TIME TO CAMELOT ON ACCIDENT AND HAS FORGOT ABOUT THE CORRECT STORY because he had heard so many thing over the years, so many versions and variations, and also he’s been living with his own head and imagination. So he tries really hard not to mess up the timeline and all that

BUT

And here is the important part

HE CANNOT SEEM TO FORGET THE LYRICS TO EVERY CHEESY POP LOVE SONG OF THE LAST CENTURY

He doesn’t mean to but while doing his chores suddenly he starts singing the lyrics to Britney Spears song…

He be polishing them swords like “shwaty is like a melody in my head that I can keep out, got me singing like..”

Cleaning Arthur’s windows like “..and though my love is rare, and though my love is true, I’m like a bird I’ll only fly away..”

Putting up camp with the knights like “I’m still standing better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid..”

A bit drunk talking about the tavern with the knights like

..the club isn’t the best place to find a lover so the bar is where I go…

[lumism]

the thought of arthur walking around the market in the very first episode to ensure that he "accidentally" runs into merlin again is even more amusing once you remember those knights who had to follow him around. imagine you at last fulfill your lifelong dream of becoming a knight of camelot and then you come to work just for the prince to make you walk in circles for an hour and then finally stop so he can shout "how's your kneewalking coming along" and make blowjob innuendos. he's so embarrassing i would have quit and moved to nemeth

[justaz]

battle of camlann but merlin wasn’t ancient as shit. he blasts the warriors around arthur away and arthur turns to see a glowering, golden-eyed merlin. he tightens his grip on his sword but isn’t able to raise it. the inconceivable notion that merlin has betrayed him runs through his mind but he cant quite grasp it. his father is screaming in his head to kill the wretched sorcerer but all arthur can see is his friend wearing a face that looks too much like morgana’s. merlin glances up at arthur and the expression of rage fizzles into one tinged with fear and concern - all too confusing for him to unpack in the midst of battle. merlin is slow to approach his side and even then he keeps his distance. before either of them can say anything, mordred appears, sword in hand, glaring at arthur.

merlin tries to draw the former knights attention away from arthur, tries to goad him into fighting merlin instead, but mordred is deadset on fighting arthur. he calls morgana over instead and says emrys’s fight is with her while his is with arthur. with the extra seconds of back and forth, arthur isn’t as shocked when he raises his sword against mordred’s. morgana and merlin blast each other great distances until they’re far away from modred vs arthur and land on the front line between the two armies. both armies back off and watch the light show as morgana and emrys battle until morgana’s army uses the distraction to close in on camelot’s army.

three battles occurring at once until morgana gets a lucky hit in and merlin goes flying. he lands next to a gwaine who is currently bleeding out. he smiles when he sees who’s next to him “merlin!” which sounds so much like his greeting every time they ran into each other before gwaine became a knight. he reaches out and heals gwaine’s wound and leon just looks up at him for a moment before going “you’re always full of surprises, aren’t you merlin?” merlin grins and goes “i got one more” he stands up on surprisingly steady legs and calls on kilgharrah. in for a penny, out for a pound. arthur is already fuming at him, might as well rip the bandaid off right?

kilgharrah attacks morgana’s army while merlin orders aithusa to stand down. camelot’s army is able to march through the charred army and bring down those who remain, mordred is loosing but persevering through rage and spite alone, morgana is screaming (like she always is nowadays). merlin and morgana battle once more until mordred and morgana’s armies have fallen. merlin makes a tactical retreat to arthur who is still staring at him wearily (and definitely irate). he requests permission to kill morgana which is baffling but she is his sister and he’s always cared for her even after her betrayal so he supposes it makes sense. once he gives it, their fight doesn’t last longer than a minute. emrys was always stronger than her, he was just buying time.

camelot emerges victorious though they don’t seem all that excited about it. the other warriors cheer and clap each other on the back, but arthur is just watching merlin. the knights watch them uneasily. merlin returns arthur’s gaze. “is that the fucking dragon i killed?” merlin looks up at kilgharrah who is needlessly burning the remains of morgana’s army. merlin turns back to him “yes.”

[thenerdyalien]

My headcanon about Arthur's mortality (or how I think he was able to survive before Merlin came to Camelot)

"(The griffin is a creature of magic.) It is born of magic, sire, and it can only be killed by magic." - Gaius, S1E5

Alright, since Merlin is trending again for no reason I'll share one of my lastest headcanons I came up with during my last Merlin rewatch.

There was something about this line from Gaius and the way the camera then directly pans out to Arthur that made me think of an interesting headcanon that would explain how Arthur managed to survive so long without Merlin.

You see, according to this logic, because he was born of magic, Arthur can only be killed by magic (or weapons forged by magic *winkwink*). So he could never really die from simple illnesses or battle wounds unless those were directly inflicted by magic. And, since Uther started the purge against magic right after Arthur was born, he probably wouldn't have had much contact with it in his early years (at least until he became a knight and started going out on quests, raids, etc).

That would explain why (much like Merlin) he seems able to endure so many injuries (broken ribs, poisoned arrows, etc) that other knights can't. (I mean, just the fact that this man didn't sustain some severe brain damage from all the times he's been knocked out is impressive lol)

What I'm saying is that being born of magic must have given him some sort of endurance that other mortals don't have, because by Gaius' logic the circumstances of his birth in itself made him a sort of creature of magic (just like Merlin).

It would also make for a good Canon divergence fic in which this was the reason that made Uther start the purge in the first place (to protect his son from the only thing that could kill him)...and it can get even more angsty if you add in the fact that Merlin is literally magic itself, but I digress.

Anyway, I'm probably reading way too much into this. I doubt the writers would've thought so far ahead as to put foreshadowing so early on in the series. But I just thought it was an interesting headcanon and just another fun parallel between Merlin and Arthur.