In the Arthurian Legend, the loyalty and honor of knights and people alike is very important and symbolized a high level of trust. However, just like loyalty has a high impact on everything, the impact of betrayal is even greater. The betrayal of Guinevere, Lancelot, and Mordred, are the most important parts in the Arthurian Legend because not only do they affect each other, but lead to the death of King Arthur.
The very first person that lead the pack of people who not only betrayed Arthur, but leads to his death, was Guinevere. Guinevere starts it all by getting into an affair with Arthur's greatest knight, Sir Lancelot. During a discussion in The Once and Future King, Arthur receives a letter from Lancelot’s father asking for help against …show more content…
After he and Guinevere are caught in the act, he is exiled to France and deemed a traitor. In King Arthur: A Casebook Guinevere is sentenced to death for adultery and her affairs with Lancelot, this is going on while Lancelot is on his way to France because he was being exiled. “The law was such in tho dayes that whatsomever they were, of what astate or degré, if they were founden gylty of treson there shuld be none other remedy but deth”(Kennedy 160). This is stating that no matter who the person was, if they were found guilty of treason, there is no other way to treat it other than death. For Guinevere, this means that she is going to be burned at stake. Just because she’s a queen, doesn’t mean that she's above the law. However, upon hearing that Guinevere was to be executed, he immediately returns in order to save her. With the help of Sir Ector he successfully saves Guinevere from being burned at stake, but also made things a lot worse for both himself and the kingdom. While he was rescuing Guinevere, Sir Lancelot kills 2 other knights, Gaheris and Gareth, which were Gawain’s brothers. Lancelot is now an even bigger traitor to the kingdom, and escapes for good in order to avoid contact with Gawain and Arthur. Arthur is furious and Gawain seeks for revenge, this anger leads to Arthur waging war against Lancelot and leaving the kingdom in the hands …show more content…
By doing this he needs find someone trustworthy to look after his kingdom while he is gone, he found none other than Mordred. Mordred is Arthur’s nephew and sometimes considered his illegitimate son through Arthur’s half sister Morgause. In Le Morte d'Arthur, during Arthur’s absence, Mordred crowns himself king and makes Guinevere his queen. “As Sir mordred was ruler of all England, he caused letters to be made... and called lords together, and there he made them chuse him king, and he was crowned at Canterbury” (Malory 445). Mordred is writing fake letters that were stating Arthur has been slain in his battle with Lancelot, later he calls many lords together. Mordred speaks to all the lords and tells them to choose him king, he was crowned at Canterbury. Through lying about Arthur’s death, Mordred is able to crown himself king and take the kingdom for himself. Upon hearing this, Arthur immediately returns to his kingdom to take it back. In a dream, Arthur is warned not to fight Mordred right away, so he sends 2 knights to make a temporary peace treaty. However, an anonymous knight draws his sword to try and kill an adder but it is seen as a declaration of war, the Battle of Camlann begins. Nearing the end of the battle Arthur charges at Mordred and impales him with a spear, but Mordred impales himself even more and damages Arthur's skull with his sword. During Arthur’s
The very first person that lead the pack of people who not only betrayed Arthur, but leads to his death, was Guinevere. Guinevere starts it all by getting into an affair with Arthur's greatest knight, Sir Lancelot. During a discussion in The Once and Future King, Arthur receives a letter from Lancelot’s father asking for help against …show more content…
After he and Guinevere are caught in the act, he is exiled to France and deemed a traitor. In King Arthur: A Casebook Guinevere is sentenced to death for adultery and her affairs with Lancelot, this is going on while Lancelot is on his way to France because he was being exiled. “The law was such in tho dayes that whatsomever they were, of what astate or degré, if they were founden gylty of treson there shuld be none other remedy but deth”(Kennedy 160). This is stating that no matter who the person was, if they were found guilty of treason, there is no other way to treat it other than death. For Guinevere, this means that she is going to be burned at stake. Just because she’s a queen, doesn’t mean that she's above the law. However, upon hearing that Guinevere was to be executed, he immediately returns in order to save her. With the help of Sir Ector he successfully saves Guinevere from being burned at stake, but also made things a lot worse for both himself and the kingdom. While he was rescuing Guinevere, Sir Lancelot kills 2 other knights, Gaheris and Gareth, which were Gawain’s brothers. Lancelot is now an even bigger traitor to the kingdom, and escapes for good in order to avoid contact with Gawain and Arthur. Arthur is furious and Gawain seeks for revenge, this anger leads to Arthur waging war against Lancelot and leaving the kingdom in the hands …show more content…
By doing this he needs find someone trustworthy to look after his kingdom while he is gone, he found none other than Mordred. Mordred is Arthur’s nephew and sometimes considered his illegitimate son through Arthur’s half sister Morgause. In Le Morte d'Arthur, during Arthur’s absence, Mordred crowns himself king and makes Guinevere his queen. “As Sir mordred was ruler of all England, he caused letters to be made... and called lords together, and there he made them chuse him king, and he was crowned at Canterbury” (Malory 445). Mordred is writing fake letters that were stating Arthur has been slain in his battle with Lancelot, later he calls many lords together. Mordred speaks to all the lords and tells them to choose him king, he was crowned at Canterbury. Through lying about Arthur’s death, Mordred is able to crown himself king and take the kingdom for himself. Upon hearing this, Arthur immediately returns to his kingdom to take it back. In a dream, Arthur is warned not to fight Mordred right away, so he sends 2 knights to make a temporary peace treaty. However, an anonymous knight draws his sword to try and kill an adder but it is seen as a declaration of war, the Battle of Camlann begins. Nearing the end of the battle Arthur charges at Mordred and impales him with a spear, but Mordred impales himself even more and damages Arthur's skull with his sword. During Arthur’s