What should I read to better appreciate the legend of King Arthur?
It all depends on what you are looking for to appreciate Arthurian legend. Thomas Malory's Motte D'Arthur is a long and very archaic in language treatment of the legend but can be hard going.T.H. White's The Once And Future King is a twentieth century treatment of the legend,the first part The Sword in the Stone was made into an animated movie by Disney.Then there are numerous books that trace Arthurian legend from the very sparse historical sources through to the legends we know today these books are of varying quality from excellent to banal so tread carefully. Some books worth considering include: In Search of King Arthur, King Arthur:Dark Age Warrior to Mythic King and The Search for Arthur.Lastly there are various novels based around King Arthur and Camelot,once again they are of differing quality. Some decent examples are Mists of Avalon, Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon cycle and Bernard Cornwell's Warlord trilogy,There is a vast collection of literature on Arthurian legend,all of wildly varying quality, so whatever version of Arthur is your favourite you are certain to find something to whet your appetite
How was King Arthur a kind man?
In tales, Arthur is normally viewed as a very popular and respected king, and so presumably was normally a kind man. But in some of the tales he is shown to be quite cruel. In the great “Prose Lancelot” he is unfaithful to his Guenevere, and foolishly and stupidly falls in love with a Saxon princess, who betrays him. I suppose you could say Arthur was kind to the Saxon princess. In the “Post-Vulgate Arthurian Cycle”, Arthur is a rapist. But in the Welsh romance “Culhwch and Olwen”, Arthur breaks his rules to honor Culwch, Kai (that is Sir Kay) objects. Arthur responds: “Not so, blessed Kai. It is an honour to us to be resorted to, and the greater our courtesy the greater will be our renown, and our fame, and our glory." This idea of Arthur as a resort for the helpless appears in many later tales. But it is an institutionalized sort of kindness. In the later romances, Arthur is always kind to Gawain, and very much influenced by him, though in these later tales Gawain is a vicious murderer of good knights. Arthur seems blind to this. Arthur is notoriously generous, which can be seen as a sort of kindness.
Does anyone know the connection between King Arthur round table Knights, Knights Templar, HOLYGrail?
Actually King Arther was semi-legendary, meaning he is based upon a real person - probably a British/Roman tribal leader of the 6th century. This leader, whoever he really was (historians aren't sure), left such an impression on the people of England that through the centuries the story of him and his followers grew and grew, and was added to, until it became the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. I know that when the Knights Templar was formed several hundred years later, it based its philosophy on the traditional legend of King Arthur and his knights. This involved very specific ideas of honor and morality in society, which the Knights Templar wished to also represent. The idea of the round table is a table where there is no head of the table, where everyone is equal, where everyone is responsible to one another, and to the moral/ethical code of the group of knights. I would, if I were you, google King Arthur, read a bit about the legend and the ideals of the Knights of the Round Table. Then google Knights Templar and read a little about that. You will begin to see the whole picture. Get excited about it - this will be a fun project. Good luck! ;)
Can anyone tell me the climax of the story of king arthur and the knights of the round table?
There are different stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table each with its own climax. Arthur's last battle in which his nephew/illegitimate son Mordred is slain is probably closest to being a climax to a theoretic complete Arthurian tale covering Arthur's full reign. See http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/geo... for the earliest full history of Arthur. But one could hear arguably claim that Arthur's defeat of the Roman army was the high point of his reign, and therefore the climax. Of course, the Round Table is not mentioned in this version. So read the next version by Wace (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10472) which mentions the Round Table. In the later Lancelot series of romances, the quest for the Holy Grail is the high point of Arthur's reign. This version of the Arthurian story is summarized at http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/v... . Or you can read the early “Historia Brittonum” (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/nennius-full.html ) which tells of Arthur’s twelve battles against the Saxons. Here the battle of Badon, the last of these battles, would be the climax. According to Gildas, a writer of that period, the battle of Mons Badonicus was the greatest and almost the last battle of the Britons against the Saxons. See http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gildas-full.html .
Has anyone read both A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline Le'engle and Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel?
If you have, I noticed something really weird. The planet Meg, Calvin, and Charles tesser to in A Wrinkle in Time is called Camazotz. In Silverwing, the god of Goth and the rest of the vampyrum spectrum is named Cama Zotz. Is that weird, or what? Camazotz, Cama Zotz...noticing anything? Has anyone else noticed this?
Who was King Arthur? Where can I find his entire story?
For a fair view of the legendary Arthur I suggest, in this orderThe Search for the Holy Grail. (author Unknown)Sir Gwayane and the Green Knight (Author Unknown)Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de TroyesThe Death of Arthur By Sir Thomas MalloryThe Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord TennyisonThe Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James KnowlsThe Once and Future King by T.H. White.The Book of Merlyn by T.H. WhiteThe Legend and Stories of King Arthur by Howard PyleMists of Avalon by Marron Bradley
Do you believe in the tale of King Arthur? If so, to what extent? If not, then why?
I believe in the existence of a “king” if you can call a local warlord such, but the Round Table, Guinevere, the search for the Holy Grail, Merlin etc are all stories of fiction, added on to fit the age of chivalry of the mediaeval period.There actually WAS a King Arthur! However, to find the man behind the legend, it is necessary to forget all about the later additions to the story, In actual fact, Arthur doesn’t seem to have been a king at all. The earliest evidence. we have of this man goes back to the Dark Ages, that period after the last Roman troops left England around 410AD and the start of the main Saxon incursions. This is the period to which the earliest stories about Arthur belong. Nennius, a Welsh cleric from the 9th century, writes of this era, specifically the time around and after 500 AD. Drawing on ancient parchments, he introduces Arthur as having no dynastic right, saying “There were many more noble than he”. Next he talks of Arthur’s campaigns as follows:-”Arthur fought against the Saxons alongside the kings of the Britons, but he himself was the leader in the battles.” He seems to have been regarded as a Dux Bellorum, a major chieftain/leader and warrior. Nennius ends this sketch by telling us that the twelfth Battle was on Mount Badon (uncertainty exists as to the location of Badon nowadays). And that:-”in which-on that one day- there fell in one onslaught of Athur’s nine hundred and sixty men; and none slew them but he alone, and in all his battles he remained victor”In Nennius’. Annales Cambriae, he gives the impression again that Arthur was a commander in chief, not a king. Under the year 516 or 518 he writes:-”The battle of Badon, in which Arthur carried the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ for 3 days an 3 nights, on his shoulders and the Britons were victorious.”21 years later, we learn the following:-”The battle of Camlaun in which Arthur and Medraut were slain”Around the year 600 there is a brief mention of Arthur by a Welsh poet, Aneirin, who talks about a group of nobles who died fighting the Saxons at Catterick. He says of one of them, that “although he was no Arthur, his valour was great.”After this, Arthur shows up mainly in stories and descends into the realm of legend where figures such as Lancelot and Sir Gwain start appearing.This is probably the best depiction of the real Arthur .
What are the best books on the legend of Merlin and King Arthur?
This is all you need
Question on Sir Mordred from the king arthur stories?
im writing a paper on Mordred and I cant find why Mordred became King arthur's enemy. anybody know? I know in some of the stories King Arthur was killing a bunch of babies and one of them was Mordred and he didnt die, so was it like a revenge thing? But what is the main reason? cuz there's like 5 different versions of the king arthur stories, and not all of them have the killing babies part. If anyone can provide some sources that I can use that would be great. I've been googling it for a while and cant find anything and I didnt really read much of the king arthur stories, i just at one part mordred n arthur kill each other.