Camelot at Christmas

Tis the season…

For those living in the Dark Ages, winter was a long drawn out affair. It was cold, food was scarce and the threat of death was ever present, like a knife dangling over ones head, waiting to claim its next victim. It really was a fight for survival. Nothing was guaranteed - at least of all your life.

From the very beginning, the darkest days of winter was a cause to celebrate. The people needed something to look forward to and spring seemed so very far away.

Arthur and his knights celebrated Christmas - if the stories are to be believed. In fact, Christmas at Camelot was usually very memorable and you wouldn't want to miss it, because Arthur’s Christmas feast were renowned.

There was music so exquisite that it lifted your eyes towards the Heavens. Singing raised the spirit. Dancing made your heart beat in time with the drums and served as a reminded to the guests that they were alive, and they were part of something special.

The Great Hall was lit with expensive candlelight, probably made of beeswax, and a fire burned brightly in the hearth, so no one felt the cold. This was a safe place, and the worries of the world could be left outside the castle gates. Nothing bad could happen to you when you were enfolded in the warm embrace of Camelot’s strong and mightily walls.

 

Feasting at King Arthur’s Court

 

 And the food…every type of delicacy was served - no expense spared. The first course arrived to a fanfare of music, as if the meal itself was royal. Soups, bread, fish, spice cakes, the list was endless - no one went hungry here. There was so much food that the tables bowed with the weight of it.

For every two knights there were twelve separate dishes. Beer overflowed and the wine kept on coming. It was a good time to be alive.

Let us not forget the entertainment. Bards traveled from afar to tell their magnificent tales of knights and dragons, villain's and heroes. Jesters and magicians made sure everyone was having a good time. Maybe they would even have had a snowball fight - can you imagine that? The knights of Camelot battling it out in the snow, slipping over on the ice as they threw a wet ball of snow at their next victim! Gifts were exchanged and Arthur looked on and thought this is the life; this is how it should be.

How do I know all of this? You ask…

The Arthurian Christmas feast is described in the tale Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Can you remember that story? I have blogged about it before, but if you have missed it you can read about here.

Truthfully, I have no idea how Arthur celebrated Christmas. Nothing of social etiquette was written down in the Dark Ages - in fact hardly anything on any subject was written down - which is why it is called the Dark Ages. All we can do is have an educated guess, but the problem with guesses, even educated ones, is that they can be wrong. The medieval text, that I am using as reference, was written in the late 14^th Century. The author, of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, who goes by that famous name, anonymous, was probably writing about medieval feasting in the 14^th Century, it was what he knew after all. Although, I do not think a beheading game was a particularly popular party game in the 14^th Century - anonymous must have made that bit up. 

But let us imagine, for one moment, that the text of the Green Knight is accurate. What would theses 12 dishes look like?

I am going to take an educated guess…and I have already told you what that means.

Pottage, a kind of soup, but I am thinking of a rich one made with the finest cuts of beef, no dollops of fat and gristle in this soup - unless you asked for it.

Roasted Goose perhaps, or maybe roasted Partridge – how about both?

Salmon

Dry cured hams

A boars head? That always looks good on a table.

Venison

Cheese

Eggs - maybe preserved ones, because chickens generally stop laying during the winter months.

Pastries

The only fresh vegetables would have been seasonal, but back in the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages for that matter, it was not recommend to eat raw fruit and veg, for fear of dysentery – one of the biggest killers of the time.

But hey, they had ale and mead and wine and beer, to wash it all down with. I should imagine there was many a rosy face at these feasts. And these feast went on for days. It would have cost a fortune to host, so Arthur would have certainly had to have been very wealthy.

I often imagine what it would have been like at one of these feasts - noisy, I should think and busy. Eating until you felt like you have been stuffed. Surrounded by your friends and foes alike - for I doubt very much all the knights liked each other - can you imagine the egos and the competition between the knights to be the best and the favorite of the King?!

Still, I think everyone would have had a good time...

Although maybe not Gawain, he had next Christmas to look forwards to, when it would be his turn to bare his neck and face the Green Knight's axe.

Sir Gawain

Sir Gawain is one of my favourite knights -- I think I might have said that before. Why do I like him so much? Oh come on, he took up a challenge issued by the Green Knight. And when I say green, I mean the knight was green. We are talking green skin, green hair...green!

Apart from that very odd quest, what do we know about him?

It is said he was Arthur's nephew. He was the son of Arthur's sister Morgause and King Lot of Orkney. His brother was Mordred. He is a true friend to Lancelot and an all round good egg.

Eoin Macken - played Gawain in Merlin

Gawain is everything Lancelot is - without falling in love with the wrong person and therefore causing war and mayhem. He is courageous and strong. Fierce to his enemies, but kind to the weak. A friend to young knights and a defender of women. He is also next in line to Arthur's throne -- not that he would ever consider challenging Arthur for it.

Now, Lancelot may have had the Holy Grail Quest and the affair, but Gawain, as I have already alluded to, had the Green Knight. I don't think you can get better than the Green Knight. It is my favourite Arthurian tale and comes from a late 14th Century chivalric romance, called...wait for it...Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is written in verse, by that famous poet anon (although the poet is commonly referred to as the Pearl Poet), and is one of four narrative religious poems all of which are written in the North West Midland dialect of Middle England...all very J.J.R Tolkein -- but I think Gawain had it a lot worse than Frodo Baggins -- as Gawain had to do this quest all on his own without the help of Elfs and such...

For those who are not familiar with the tale, I shall share with you a very abridge version of events


Camelot, New Years Day,

The New Year celebrations are interrupted by a Green Knight, on a green horse, who challenges the knights to a friendly contest. He asks if any knight of Arthurs' is brave enough to chop off his head. It is a slightly odd challenge, but Gawain takes him up on the offer and chops his head off. But the Green Knight does not die, instead he picks up his head and tells Gawain to meet him at the Green Chapel this time next year so he can return the favour.

Gawain, unsurprisingly, is ever so slightly concerned, but he is a knight and he never goes back on his word. As the year ends he set out to find the Green Chapel. He discovers a rather spectacular castle and he meets Bertilak de Hautdesert and his beautiful wife. Bertilak assures him that the Chapel is two miles away and welcomes him into his castle, for it is a honour to have a Knight of the Round Table as a guest.

The next day Bertilak goes hunting, but he tells Gawain to give him whatever he might gain during the day. Bertilak's wife then tries her best to seduce him, he allows her one kiss, which he then gives back to Bertilak. The next day he gives her two and he gives Bertilak what he gains. The third day she gives him a girdle of green and gold silk -she tells him if he wears it he will stay safe from harm. She then gives him three kisses. That evening he gives Bertilak three kisses but keeps the girdle for himself.

The follow day he sets out to meet the Green Knight. He finds him sharpening his blade. Gawain bears his neck, although he flinches on the first swing and is berated by the Green Knight. The second time he holds still, but the Green Knight only nicks his skin. The challenge is over and the Green Knight reveals himself as Bertilak and they part on good terms. He returns home to Camelot a hero.

"When bold Sir Gawain got back home

they bought out cake and ale

and huddled round a roaring fire

to hear him tell his tale."

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Tony Milton and Arthur Robins

Is there any truth in the tale? Oh, why not! If Arthur can defeat 960 men in one charge at Badon Hill, then I am sure we can allow Gawain's rather bazar beheading game with someone who is green.

Take Care

Mary xx