Sheridan Le Fanu

Lancelot’s treason is not just a betrayal of King Arthur, but also a betrayal of Knight’s of the Round Table to whom he swore an oath. The Pentecostal Oath, sworn by each member of the Round Table, establishes the values of this Arthurian chivalric community. In this oath, they bind themselves to Arthur as their king and agree to a standard of behavior. As they take their oath, Arthur “charged them never to do outerage nothir mourthir, and allwayess to fle treason, and to go gyff mercy unto hym…

The poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is carefully crafted and has allowed many literary historians to criticize and analysis the significance for said poem. One of the literary criticisms that stands out is Donald Howards’ criticism, “Structure and Symmetry ‘Sir Gawain’,” which provides readers with an effective interpretation of the poem. Howard provides his readers with his understanding of the book and his ideas, while also bringing up the potent idea of influential symbols throughout the…

Fleur spun away from him and stared into the fire. “Was it like that with the others? When we kissed, did you think of the other women you’d kissed or done more with?” “No.” How could she possibly think that? “It is so much more with you. Everything is so much more with you.” “How many others were there?” she asked. Percival hated answering this question. He did not want to hurt her. “Besides Caron, there was one other woman, but we were very young and foolish. It was once.” “I see.” Fleur…

The poet of the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, uses symbolism and imagery to discuss the opposing forces of nature and civilization. The medieval world struggled against nature and it was more of a threat to them than it is today. With their rise of civilizations, it demonstrated an attempt for people to separate themselves from nature. In the poem, the imagery of the green knight is used to suggest a connection to nature as he can be described as “completely emerald green” (Gawain, 150),…

In his work, Morte Darthur, Malory covers a lengthy period of time with few words through the narratives of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Throughout the text, Malory does not waste words on smooth transitions, instead bluntly marking the beginning and end of each tale. These blunt and straightforward transitions are a classic trait of Malory’s writings. Though Malory draws from the French tales of Arthur and his knights, Malory does not choose to approach the narrative in the…

I Am Mordred is a novel based on Mordred who is the son of King Arthur of Camelot and his sister, Queen Morgause of Lothian. After Mordred was born, King Arthur found out Mordred was fated, by Merlin, to kill him. With this knowledge, King Arthur makes a decree to have all babies set out in coracles to be killed. The coracle Mordred was in was found by a fisherman and Mordred was the only baby alive among the many he was sharing the coracle with. They take him in and when he is only 6, a woman…

After Merlin had been tutoring for a while, Kay started to become jealous. He would like to go on adventures like Wart so after Wart came back from another education session they got into a fight. Wart felt empathy for Kay and confronted Merlin about his tutoring. Merlin explained why he cannot tutor Kay and after some debate, they settled on a compromise. Wart and Kay would go on an adventure together. Merlin instructed them to follow a glade into the forest for their quest, and soon Wart and…

Sir Garwin and the Green Knight supply a medieval setting during the time of King Arthur and his knights. During this period, knights followed a certain code that ensured "heroic and gentlemanly behavior". In this romance, the knight's code questioned in regards to Arthur's bravest knight, Gawain. Lancelot is usually portrayed as the best of the Round Table in modern tales. However, earlier versions of King Arthur's group display his nephew, Gawain, as the greatest of them all. The Gawain Poet's…

The legends of King Arthur date back to 9th century. Many authors throughout history have written about the great King Arthur. The first written description of his entire life, from death to birth, came in the 12th century and was written by Geoffrey of Monmouth. There are many skeptics about some of the stories of his life, mostly because so many different authors have written about his life and they are all different. From the wizards and magic to the extraordinary battles he fought, and…

Any honorable knight in medieval times needed to prove their worth by displaying one of the most noble traits – chivalry towards women. In Perceval: The Story of the Grail, the main character Perceval attempts to prove his worth in this way, but his obliviousness makes this difficult. One knight marvels over Perceval’s cluelessness, saying, “as God is my witness, his wits are distinctly scattered.” Throughout the epic poem Perceval: The Story of the Grail, the naive Perceval attempts to treat…