Sir Thomas Malory - who was he? And what does he have to do with King Arthur?

"Doo after the good and leve the evyl, and it shal brynge you to good fame and renomme."

(Do after the good and leave the evil, and it shall bring you to good fame and renown.)

                                   

If you have been reading my blogs then you may well have seen me mention Thomas Malory before. He is credited with writing Le Morte d'Arthur - the death of Arthur. You may have heard of it?!

Le Morte d'Arthur was first published in 1485 and is now one of the best known works of Arthurian literature. Many of the stories that were to follow, including the works of White and Tennyson, were strongly influenced by Malory's work.

Sometimes I think that my hunt for Arthur is like looking for a shadow in a darkened room. There are stories whispered in your ear that seem compellingly true, only they are not - take Glastonbury Abbey for example. There are stories that are so improbable that at first you dismiss them, only to realise later on that maybe you should have paid them a little more attention. Ironically, sometimes the hunt for the author of these famous stories, leaves you just as baffled as the stories themselves. And this is true when we look at  Le Morte d'Arthur.

Who actually wrote it?

There are several Sir Thomas Malory's recorded living at that time, so it is a bit like the children's game Guess Who? Do you know the one I am talking about?....Is it a man? Does he have a beard? Did he write Le Morte d'Arthur?

If only it were that easy!

Scholars generally agree that Sir Thomas Malory was born sometime in the early 15th Century. He was a nobleman who resided in Newbold Revel, Warwickshire. This Sir Thomas had a rather notable career. He inhereited his father's estate in 1434, but he did not really conform. He spent most of his life in and out of prison. His name has a long list of alleged crimes attached to it, theft, attempted murder, rape, extortion. He even escaped from Coleshill Prison, but instead of keeping a low profile, he robbed the Cistercian Monastery! He was arrested, but he must have had friends in very high places, for after two years lounging in prison, he was released through a royal pardon.

It is a thought he was a Member of Parliament - why should that come as a surprise? And he may have fought in the Hundred Year War. He was knighted in 1441.

I am surprised, what with all his shenanigans, that this Malory had time to write a masterpiece about chivalry and honour, but then again, he did spend a great deal of his time in jail, perhaps he was bored?! 

In 1460 he found himself in the notorious harsh, Newgate Prison, and it was during this time that he wrote Le Morte d'Arthur.

It does not sit easy with many that a man who was clearly the very opposite of chivalry should write a best-seller about a King who could not be dishonourable even if he tired. There have been countless attempts to link Le Morte d'Arthur with somebody - anybody - else, but it always comes back to this Warwickshire, Sir Thomas.

Sir Thomas died in prison on 31 July 1485 and Le Morte d'Arthur was published posthumously by William Caxton.

Le Morte d'Arthur

 “Malory did not invent the stories in this collection; he translated and compiled them..." Elizabeth Bryan 

Malory translated existing stories and piled them together into one big book. Originally Malory called his works;

"The hoole booke of kyng Arthur & of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table"

But Caxton had something to say about that. The book became surprisingly popular and was reprinted many times over the centuries, although sometimes things were added into the works and likewise, sometimes things were taken out. Originally Malory umbrellared eight books under Le Morte d'Arthur, but for some unfathomable reason, Coxton dived the original eight in to 21, which makes a staggering 507 chapters! 

It is what it is, a work of fiction. I don't think you can take anything away from it that is historically accurate. But, the stories are great and seemingly everlasting because they have stayed the test of time. I wonder if Malory, while dying in prison, had any idea how influential his work would become.

King Arthur's Sister in Washington Court - Book Review

This blog is going to be a little bit different, although still in keeping with the Arthurian theme. Today I am going to talk about a rather wonderful book called King Arthur's Sister in Washington Court by Kim Iverson Headlee.

Those of you who read a lot of Arthurian literature may well have come across Kim's work before, The Dragon's Dove Chronicles, perhaps?

King Arthur's Sister in Washington Court ( I am going to call it KASIWC from now on ), caught my eye because it sounded really intriguing. Arthurian legend meets baseball - what a concept!

Kim, I think, set herself quite a challenge when she wrote it, because this is a sequel to Mark Twain's  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - so hats off to her for that.

The story is about Morgan le Fay, Queen of Gore, and is set in the year AD 600, (Morgan was lucky enough to survive the purge in Mark Twain's book). We all know of Morgan's magical prowess and she has vowed revenge upon the Yankee, Hank Morgan - who in Mark Twain's book caused a great deal of trouble for Arthur and his court.

Morgan casts a spell which is supposed to take her to 1879 Connecticut - she wants to stop Sir Boss (Hank) from ever traveling back to her time and destroying her world, but her spell goes drastically wrong and she finds herself in Washington DC In the year 2079.

She adapts remarkably quickly to modern life - she survives her first encounter with a flying limousine - which she is convinced is some sort of magical dragon. And thank goodness for magic, for she would never have been able to walk in stilettos without it!

Morgan lands on her feet and becomes the Campaign Manager for the American President, Malory Beckham Hinton - whose ambitions are so great that Morgan believes that one day the President will rule absolutely and elections will be a thing of the past.

Somehow, Morgan ends up being the owner of the London Knights - the world-champion baseball team and after that things really get interesting...

Morgan's stormy relationship with Sandy, the general manager of the Knights, is hysterical - I have lost count how many times she fired him! The story is packed with action and you never quite know what Morgan is going to do next ...will she throw the game by using magic or will she refrain herself this one time?

She also tells some incredibly amusing anecdotes about the Knights of her brother's Round Table.

To be absolutely honest, although the title and synopsis intrigued me, I was a little bit wary to start with, simply because baseball is not a national sport where I come from. The only encounter I have ever had with baseball is on my children's Nintendo Wii and I must admit, it wasn't my finest of moments. Oh, and of course, there was that Kevin Costner film, however all I learnt from Field of Dreams was "If you build it, he will come," but apart from that, I know nothing! However, my lack of knowledge did not in any way hamper the enjoyment of the book. So please do not be put off if you are not a baseball fan.

Likewise, you do not have to read Mark Twain's book to understand what is going on in this one. KASIWC stands firmly on its own two feet.

KASIWC is an incredibly well crafted piece of work, of that there is no doubt. The story is told in the first person by Morgan herself, and boy, does she have strong opinions on just about everything - some of which may be a little controversial - but hey, she is from a different era, what can you do?

It is laugh out loud funny, but at the same time some of topics that Kim explores really made me think about how little things have actually changed between Morgan's world and our own. It gave me pause for thought.

There is humour, romance, drama, magic, King Arthur and his Knights, and baseball - what more can you ask for?

I read this book in a day - and I haven't done something like that in a long time - I simply could not put it down. Which I think, in itself, says a lot about the book.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely.

So, if you are looking for something to read that is a little bit different, then what are you waiting for? Click on the links and check out Kim Iverson Headlee, King Arthur's Sister in Washington Court, today!

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Sir Kay -- A Misunderstood Knight?

In my search for Arthur, I discovered a universal truth - most of it is made up. But hey, the stories are fascinating and timeless. Take a moment to think how old these stores are...they have stood the test of time for hundreds of years. Why is that? I think we need Arthur and his knights. They teach us so much in their stories. Chivalry, honour, equality, loyalty and faith, above everything else faith -  faith and belief in something better. Arthur tried to make something better than what had gone before. He shook things up - maybe he was more than a little radical.

Isn't there an old saying about truth being stranger than fiction? Maybe there is something in that.

Today we are going to look at Sir Kay. He may not be as well known as Lancelot or Gawain, but his story is worth telling. 

Sir Kay is one of the earliest recorded Knights of the Round Table -- and there is a great deal of literature in the form of stories and poems, about him -- there is certainly too much to talk about in one blog. But I shall do my best to give you some idea as to who Kay was....

In order to understand Kay's beginnings we need to head across the border to Wales, and look at some ancient Welsh folklore.  In particular a tale called Culhwch and Olwen.

In the poem Culhwch (Kay?) is cursed by his evil step-mother (what is it with evil step-mothers?) The curse means that Culhwch will fall in love with the giants daughter -- I guess it wasn't the done thing to love a giant?! Culhwch ask's his powerful cousin, Arthur, to help him. Arthur agrees -- for who is he to stand in the way of true love? -- and they all go on a quest until they find her. Luckily for Culhwch, Olwen falls in love with him as well, but they cannot marry unless her father agrees to the match.

Her father, Ysbaddaden's is not impressed, because if Olwen marries, he dies. So he issues Culhwch with around forty impossible challenges. My favourite of which is that Culhwch has to cut Ysbaddadens's hair and beard -- which isn't as easy as it sounds.

But that is not a problem. Culhwch is extraordinarily strong, he can also hold his breath under water for nine days and nine nights and he can also go without sleep for the same amount of time -- although I am not sure why he would want to do this?! Arthur, Gawain, and a fair few others, help Culhwch with these impossible challenges. In the end Culhwch is able to cut Ysbaddaden's hair and he shaves his beard to the bone and Ysbaddaden dies.

And they all live happily ever after....

Then we head to the 10th Century and look at a poem called Pa Gur.  This time the poem is all about Cai (Kay). Have a read....and see what you think.

Prince of the plunder,

The unrelenting warrior to his enemy;

Heavy was he in his vengeance;

Terrible was his fighting.

When he would drink from a horn,

He would drink as much as four;

When into battle he came

He slew as would a hundred.

Unless God should accomplish it,

Cei's death would be unattainable.

Worthy Cei and Llachau

Used to fight battles,

Before the pain of livid spears [ended the conflict].

On the top of Ystarfingun

Cei slew nine witches.

Worthy Cei went to Ynys Mon

To destroy lions.

Little protection did his shield offer

Against Palug's Cat 

(In case you were wondering Palug's cat was a terrifying man eating cat in Welsh folklore.)

Kay comes across in Welsh literature as having a fiery temper, who could drink any man under the table! He wasn't a man that you would want to cross. However, his loyalty to Arthur is unquestionable.

In later works, Geoffrey of Monmouth, makes Kay the count of Anjou and King Arthur's steward, which kind of stuck from there on in.

After that, things took a turn for the worse for out worthy knight. Chrétien de Troyes, the late 12th Century French poet, turns Kay into a troublemaker, with little honour -- a complete contrast to Lancelot or Gawain -- perhaps that is why he did it. Kay enrages Perceval  so much that Perceval ends up breaking his shoulder. Kay is not chivalrous, he hits women rather than protect them, and comes across as a traitor.

Wolfram von Eschenbach, a German poet, agrees with de Troyes, but he argues that Kay acted like this to keep order. Umm...I am not convinced by his excuse for Kay's behaviour!

We then head into modern literature. Now, I could list all the movies that he has been portrayed in, but I think that could become just ever so slightly tedious. But the general theme in most of these films is that he is a hot-headed idiot. But, his loyalty to Arthur is always unquestionable.

Isn't it strange how stories become twisted and changed. If Sir Kay really did exist, I very much doubt he was anything like he is portrayed in literature. But then again - who knows. To quote Hartley (who is one of my favourite authors, ) 'The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.'

Mary xx

Let's dig King Arthur up!

Remember, in a previous blog about Geoffrey Monmouth ...how he published his work at a politically sensitive time...the Welsh were revolting... and how they claimed that "Arthur would rise again...?" Well, it was time to put an end to this nonsense. It was time to dig up his body and show the world, well the Welsh, that he was in fact, dead.

Around this time there had been strange occurrences at Glastonbury Abbey. The monks had had some nocturnal visions. And that is not all...King Henry II told the abbot that he knew the exact whereabouts of Arthur's body, for a Welsh barb had whispered in his ear that Arthur was buried in the Saxon graveyard within the Abbey.

The monks dug in the exact location that the King described and sure enough they discovered a huge oak coffin beneath a lead cross bearing the inscription. "Here lies King Arthur buried in Avalon."

Inside the coffin there were two bodies. A man and a woman. It is said that the woman's golden hair crumbled away when the monks touched it. The bodies were said to be that of King Arthur and his Queen, Guinevere.

Unfortunately, King Henry died before he could see the bodies.

Now I love the idea of visions and a Welsh barb whispering secrets to a king...But...There is always a but....A fire had badly damaged the Abbey and they were in desperate need of funds and finding Arthurs tomb came at just the right time.

  "....as businessmen, medieval abbots were nothing but pragmatic..." Michael Wood.

They had proof that Arthur was in fact dead and they now had a major tourist attraction which would draw pilgrims, in their thousands, for years to come.

But, even though they had now produced the body, people still believed and some still do, that Arthur would one day rise again. He was after all, "King Arthur, the once and future King."

Mary xx