The story
of King Arthur would be nothing if it did not have the sorcerer Merlin. Being an extremely influential character
throughout Arthur’s life, Merlin was also around before Arthur was born. Arthur
was brought to Sir Ector by Merlin to be raised as a normal boy, but fate had
much bigger plans for future king. Merlin served as Arthur’s advisor and relied
on him for help in dire situations along quests. Arthur turned to Merlin for
advice before battles and tough situations. This led King Arthur to acquire the
legendary sword Excalibur. With help from Merlin King Arthur was able to slay
many beasts and kings throughout England. Lang gives the reader a direct message that
Arthur relies on Merlin in the quote: "…Arthur had many battles to fight
and many Kings to conquer before he was acknowledged lord of them all, and
often he would have failed had he not listened to the wisdom of Merlin..."
The number
three is a recurring motif on King Arthurs many stories. Sir Gareth encounters
the three brothers on his quest with the Lady Linet. He meets a knight in black
armor, a knight in green armor, and a knight in red armor, all of which Sir
Gareth slay. Another example in which the number three is seen is when Arthur
asks Sir Bedivere to throw Excalibur back into the lake. Arthur received
Excaliber from the Lady of the Lake while he was with Merlin, but towards the
end of the story he no longer wants it. In the first of three instances, Sir Bedivere
hides the sword and plans on retrieving it later for his self but Arthur
becomes suspicious when Sir Bedivere replies with nothing after King Arthur
asks what happened. On the second of three instances, Arthur then sends Sir
Bedivere back to dispose of Excaliber but he returns with the same story that
nothing happened. Arthur then threatens Sir Bediveres's life and sends him for
the third time and when he returns he explains that a hand rose from the water
and caught the sword as he threw it in.
Characters
in Romance literature usually have visions or dreams that lead them or give
them information relevant to their quest throughout the story. In the story of “The
Questing Beast” King Arthur has a strange dream where "he thought the land
was over-run with gryphons and serpents which burnt and slew his people, and he
made war on the monsters, and was sorely wounded, though he still killed them
all." Arthurs dream came true when later in that same story Arthur and his
knights encounter a strange beast that is a combination of a serpent and
gryphon. Another example is when a squire has a dream that a king went on a
pilgrimage and his squire was slain. The squire had a dream that he found a
gold candle and was stabbed. When the squire woke up, he shouted for help
because he had actually been stabbed and he was holding a gold candle.
Magical/supernatural events occur
often in the book King Arthur: Tales from
the Round Table. One example is when King Arthur and all of his are at the
round table during the story of “The Coming of the Holy Graal.” Enjoying a
Pentecost supper, the knights at the round table suddenly heard a clash of
thunder and then a bright light shone into the room. Everyone gazed at each other
dumbfounded, then the Holy Graal floated into the room and food appeared before
them all as if by magic. Sir Gawaine along with several other nights was
astonished at what they saw, so they devoted themselves to search for the
Graal.
In the story of “The End of it All,”
King Arthur is betrayed by his nephew Sir Mordred. Arthur entrusted Sir Mordred
to govern the land while he was gone from England to fight Sir Lancelot. Sir
Mordred accepted the responsibility but his intents of what to do with Arthur’s
kingdom were evil. Sir Mordred betrayed King Arthur trust by sending letters announcing
Arthur had died in battle and Sir Mordred was now crowned king. Sir Mordred
also betrayed Queen Guenevere forcing her to marry him even when he that her
husband King Arthur was still alive. King Arthur then retured only to be denied
landing by Sir Mordred and faced a great resistance forcing Arthur to retreat.
Sir Mordred also betrayed Arthur by turning his own people against him. King
Arthur eventually killed Sir Mordred but at a great cost: only three of Arthurs
Knights survived the battles.
A test of honor confirms a hero’s
morals and what they believe to be is right and also his or her pledges. In the
story of “What Beaumains Asked Of The King”, Beaumains, known as Sir Gareth, is
tested of honor when Lady Linet asks King Arthur to recruit knights to help
rescue her sister. Seeing this as an opportunity to prove himself to everyone,
Sir Gareth asks Arthur to let him go on Linet’s quest. Arthur complies with Sir
Gareth’s request but only to make Linet furious because Sir Gareth is a kitchen
boy. Sir Gareth encounters many knights that he must defeat in order to keep
his promise and fulfill his test of honor. After slaying the knights, Lady
Linet realizes that Sir Gareth is an honorable man and will keep a promise to a
total stranger. Sir Gareth fulfills his promise in the end of the story by conquering
the Red Knight and rescues Lady Lyonesse.
King Arthur is the ideal example of
a nearly perfect yet flawed hero. Throughout the stories, King Arthur proves to
be a powerful, fair, and openhanded ruler. King Arthur hardly ever commits a
mistake and has the respect of almost all of his fellow knights. Although
Arthur may seem like the perfect hero, there is one thing about him that could
be called a flaw: he is too reliant on the people around him. The downfall of
King Arthur was the fact that he put too much trust into the people close to
him. A prime example of this is when King Arthur left Sir Mordred the position
of King. Sir Mordred betrayed King Arthur which led to vicious battles with
many casualties.
Morgan Le Fay is a prime example of
the evil enemy. Arthur's sister, Morgan Le Fay, disliked her brother and had a
strong skill in magic which caused trouble for Arthur. Later
in the story Morgan Le Fay steals Arthur’s scabbard while he was resting. Arthur
pursued her but she tossed the scabbard into a lake and escaped afterwards. The
next morning Morgan Le Fay sent Arthur a mantle that was decked in jewels in
hope the he would forgive her but Arthur was suspicious. The Lady of the Lake
appeared to him and warned him to let the messenger put it on first. She fell
down and burned to ashes instantly and King Arthur was outraged. Morgan Le Fay
had become Arthur's evil enemy because she let her hate control her actions.
An archetypal female figure in the
book is The Fair Maid Of Astolat. The Fair Maid is the daughter of Sir Bernard,
the Baron that helped Sir Lancelot to prepare for the tourney. The Fair Maid
falls into the category of an archetypal female figure because she is just an
innocent maiden who falls in love with Sir Lancelot. Instantly falling in love
with Sir Lancelot, the Fair Maid asks him to wear her token to the tourney.
Hoping the token will disguise him, Lancelot accepts. The Fair Maid later asks
Sir Lancelot if he would be her husband but he declines. Because the Fair Maid
was naïve and illogical from her heartache, she killed herself because she
swore to herself she would never love anybody but Sir Lancelot.
The story of King Arthur would be
nothing without his many quests he and his fellow knights undertake. Although King Arthur: Tales From the Round Table is
a collection of many famous stories about King Arthur and his companions, the
most famous is the quest for the Holy Graal. Known by many, the story of the
quest for the Holy Graal has been passed on for hundreds of years. Not only
does the book tell the quest of the Holy Graal, but it also tells famous
stories such as “The Drawing of the Sword”, “The Sword Excalibur”, “The Passing
of Merlin”, “How Morgan Le Fay tried to kill King Arthur”, “Lancelot and
Guinevere”, and may more.
