Writers during the Middle Ages created new versions of the Arthurian legends. In the early 1100s, an Englishman named Geoffrey of Monmouth produced the History of the Kings of Britain, which presented Arthur as a national hero. New influences, such as Christianity, transformed the ancient legends. An old Celtic Arthurian tale about the search for a magic
King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. © ARCHIVO ICONOGRAFICO, S. A./ CORBIS.
Cauldron, or kettle, for example, became a quest for the Christian Holy Grail. Another key influence was the medieval concept of chivalry, the code of conduct that inspired the courtly behavior of the Knights of the Round Table.
Numerous versions of the Arthurian legends were produced during the Middle Ages. French writer Chretien de Troyes wrote poems on Arthurian subjects between 1155 and 1185. He focused on magic and marvels and introduced the theme of the quest for the Holy Grail. The Grail also inspired Wolfram von Eschenbach, a German who wrote his epic poem Parzival around 1200. Other romances of the period developed the character of Merlin and featured the romantic entanglement of Lancelot and Guinevere.
In 1485 Sir Thomas Malory, an Englishman, wove together many strands of the Arthurian legends in a volume called Le Morte d’Arthur (The Death of Arthur). The best-known version of the legends, Malory’s work has served as the basis of most modern interpretations. Many writers since Malory have adapted the Arthurian legends. In 1859 the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson published the first part of Idylls of the King, a book-length poem about Arthur and his knights. Between 1917 and 1927, the American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson published three poems on Arthurian subjects: Merlin, Lancelot, and Tristram.
One of the most popular modern Arthurian novels is T. H. White’s The Once and Future King (1958), which originally appeared in four separate volumes over the course of two decades. Other writers, such as Mary Stewart and Marion Zimmer Bradley, have retold the Arthurian story from different points of view, including those of the women in Arthur’s life. The legends have also inspired the Broadway musical Camelot (1960), made into a film in 1967, and the films A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949) and Excalibur (1981).
World History
