Morte Darthur: The Most Christian King

“… I woot not how it was,” said the King, “but as it is said, Sit Lancelot slew them in the thickest of the press and knew them not. And therefore let us shape a remedy for to revenge their deaths.” (Morte Darthur pg. 337, second to last paragraph) This quote is a prime example of how Arthur and his his peers, portrayed by Malory, may not have been the most Christianly of people. Arthur and his Court are supposedly Christian, as the tale usually goes. Arthur is known as “the most Christian King there ever was”. But, the more we look into this part of Morte Darthur, the more we see that there may be still be some traces of paganism. In the quote that was presented, Arthur speaks about how is going to take revenge against Lancelot for diminishing is honor and glory by sleeping with his wife and killing his men. If Arthur is such a Christian king, why is try to get revenge? On top of that, he is getting revenge for …show more content…
To begin with, Arthur’s mentor, Merlin, is displayed receiving the sword from the Lady of the Lake (the water goddess spoken about earlier). To begin with, Merlin is a wizard, which is definitely not of Christian origins. Plus, the water goddess spoken about earlier comes up again. When the water goddess is giving the sword to Merlin, the sword burns with a green haze. This is symbolism of paganism and nature. We see this same thing when we read about Gawain and the Green Knight. Nature is displayed as a very powerful force that does not involve itself with man’s laws. Of course, the sword spoken about is Excalibur, the sword of power, and since it is glowing green it is symbolizing that nature is the power and that women is giving it Merlin. As spoken of before, Christians believe that power comes from God, not nature or people, so why would Arthur derive his power from these examples rather than