King Arthur: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

[[File:king_arthur.jpg|frame|link=http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/42-25648773/arthur-draws-the-sword-from-the-stone|Now me, [[Discworld|I'm more impressed by whoever put the sword there to begin with]].]]

 

The genres used may vary from [[Historical Fiction]] ([[Doing In the Wizard|no magic]] and Saxon [[The Horde|hordes]] as [[Mooks]]), to [[Heroic Fantasy]], and the story can be set either in the Dark ages [[After the End|after the fall of Rome]] or in the present day, when King Arthur [[Rightful King Returns|has returned]].

 

* King Arthur: [[The Hero]], [[The Captain]] and [[Knight in Shining Armor]].

* Sir Bedivere: Arthur's [[Power Trio|oldest companion, besides Kay]]; [[Bash Brothers]] with Kay and vice-versa. As the spotlight shifts to other (newer) characters, both remain Arthur's [[The Good Chancellor|court officials]].

 

The primary [[Public Domain Artifact]]s associated with the myths are:

** The only magic power Excalibur was ever traditionally specifically accredited with was [[Power Glows|glowing brightly]], and that not always, but the ''scabbard'' was said to stop the wearer from bleeding, making it almost invaluable on the battlefield. It was said that the wielder of Excalibur could never be defeated in combat, but the actual mechanics of how this was possible were never traditionally [[Incredibly Lame Pun|set in stone]] (if even stated at all).

** [[Absurdly Sharp Blade|Insane sharpness]] is another reasonably-constant quality of the sword

* The Stone of Giramphiel

* Excalibur's ivory scabbard, which could shield life

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Give Me a Sword]]: Arthur sometimes pulls out the sword without noticing, because Kay sent him to get him a sword.

* [[The Good King]]: Arthur is the [[Trope Codifier]]

* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: [[Merlin]] is only half human. His father may have a been a [[The Fair Folk|Fae]], [[The Devil]], an incubus, or [[The Messiah|no one]].

* [[Heroic Bastard]]: Most prominently, Galahad, son of Lancelot. Sometimes Mordred, [[Depending on the Writer]]. Though he is conceived out of wedlock, Arthur himself is not technically a bastard since his father marries his mother before his birth. In Malory, Arthur also fathers a son named Borre before he meets Guinevere - later a knight of the Round Table.

* ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur|Le Morte Darthur]]'' by Thomas Malory, an Early Modern English compilation of the earlier stories and epics, fusing the French ''Lancelot'' cycle with other stories like ''[[Tristan and Iseult|Tristan and Isolde]]'', completed in 1470 and printed in 1485.

* T. H. White's ''[[The Once and Future King]]''

{{examples}}

* [[Fate/Zero]] revolves around mages [[Summoning Ritual|summoning heroic spirits]] to help them fight for the [[Public Domain Artifact|holy grail]]. Since the strength of a summoned hero is [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|proportional to the renown of their legend]] Arthur is unsurprisingly considered to be one of the perfect saber class summon. Well, [[Sadly Mythtaken|almost]] [[Gender Flip|perfect]].

* In an episode of ''Time Trouble Tondekeman'', our time-traveling protagonists accidentally screw up the part where Arthur is supposed to draw the Sword from the Stone, and once they realize who their new-found friend actually is, must set "history" back on track, coincidentally also sparking the British love of footy.

* ''[[Code Geass]]'' draws from Arthurian myth, most prominently with Britannia's [[Super Prototype]] [[Humongous Mecha]] being named for Knights of the Round Table (Lancelot, Gawain) and the presence of the Knights of the Round, described as the Emperor's twelve elite soldiers. There's also Arthur, the stray cat that follows the Lancelot's pilot around, apparently for no other reason than to bite his hand whenever he lets his guard down.

 

* Camelot is a recurring element in [[The DCU]]'s [[Backstory]]. Characters linked to Arthur's court include:

** The Demon [[Etrigan]], a fiend from Hell summoned by Merlin to defend Camelot in its final hour against Morgaine le Fey. Morgaine has gone on to become a recurring foe of both [[Wonder Woman]] and the [[Justice League of America]].

* ''[[Dracula vs. King Arthur]]'': In which [[Dracula]] is transported to his timeline and begins a conquest to take over Camelot, turning many of Arthur's knights {{spoiler|and even his wife}} along the way.

 

* ''[[The Sword in the Stone]]'', a [[Disney]] animated version of the first book of T.H. White's ''[[The Once and Future King]]''.

* ''Lancelot du Lac'', a deglamorized telling of the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot story by Robert Bresson

* ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'' is essentially a parody of various facets of the King Arthur legend, the Round Table, and medieval fiction in general. Ironically, because one of the Pythons was in fact an Arthurian scholar, this film is at times also one of the most ''accurate'' cinematic representations of the myths. For instance, it is the ''only'' film to properly depict Lancelot as he is written in Malory. No, ''really'' -- Malory's Lancelot is a mentally unstable berserker prone to slaughtering innocents at almost no provocation, then collapsing in abject apologies afterward. ''Spamalot'', the film's musical adaption, makes him [[Invisible to Gaydar]], which is...tangential from Malory, to say the least. (Other writers were apparently more [[Ho Yay]]-oriented with Lance.)

* ''[[King Arthur (film)|King Arthur]]'' (2004), in the Dark Ages setting. A bit of a flop, it was infamous for a poster that gave flat chested [[Keira Knightley]] [http://badtaste.it/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/alg_keiraknightley_3.jpg what can only be called Photoshop surgery on her breasts.] It's unusual among popular portrayals for having Arthur as a Roman officer. It was also unusual for [[Dan Browned|claiming]] to be [[Very Loosely Based on a True Story]]. The writers studied up on the various candidates for the historical Arthur and settled on a "historical" account (actually written several hundred years after the events supposedly took place) that the public are [[Aluminum Christmas Trees|generally unfamiliar with]], namely that Arthur was the commander of a legion of [[Fish Out of Water|displaced Sarmatians]], [[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]] and [[Fighting For a Homeland]], who became leader of the Britons after the fact. Ironically they got it [[Golden Mean Fallacy|from both sides]] [[Unpleasable Fanbase|for their trouble]], in part because they decided to mix up an [[Demythtification|unfamiliar historical portrayal]] with [[Executive Meddling|newly bizarre]] [[Hollywood History|Hollywoodisms]], such as the aforementioned Kiera Knightley as Guinevere, a blue, [[Breast Plate|Breast Plated]] Pictish (!) [[Warrior Prince|Warrior Princess]].

 

* Edmund Spenser's ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'' contains a barely recognizable version of Arthur.

* Alfred Tennyson's ''[[Idylls of the King]]'', a series of long poems, was very influential in the 19th century.

* [[Mark Twain]]'s ''[[A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court]]''.

* T. H. White's ''[[The Once and Future King]]''.

* ''The Weirdstone of Brisingamen'' by Alan Garner conflates Norse and Arthurian myth with real places in England. The cave with the sleeping Knights (and their horses) is a local legend in Alderley. Well worth reading.

* ''Sword at Sunset'' by Rosemary Sutcliff takes the legend back to its roots, including partly Romanized Britons fighting off invading "Sea Wolf" Saxon raiders, the difficulty in gathering and maintaining mounted warriors, horses barely big enough to carry large men and saddles without stirrups, near-starvation every winter, ambiguous mysticism and superstition regarding both curses and the Hill Folk, rare chainmail armor stolen from enemy war chiefs in place of "shining armor", and a dilapidated ex-Roman hill fort replacing "Camelot".

* ''[[Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit]]'' is a [[Historical Fantasy]] novel by [[Mercedes Lackey]] [[Word of God|inspired by a Welsh tradition]] that King Arthur had not one but ''three'' different queens, all named Gwenhwyfar ("Guinevere"). The protagonist is the third and youngest, the [[Action Girl]] daughter of a Celtic king.

 

* The ''[[Fantasy Island]]'' episode "King Arthur in Mr. Roarke's Court", which brings Arthur (played by Robert Mandan), onto that 70s island, leaving a guest whose fantasy was to meet King Arthur (Tommy Smothers) to keep him out of trouble 'till Roarke can put him back in his proper place and time.

* ''[[The Adventures Of Sir Lancelot]]'', the first UK series made in colour.

* An episode of ''[[The Time Tunnel]]'' of course had the main characters drop into Arthur's Britain — while [[Merlin]] appeared in the [[Mission Control|control room]] to paralyze the technicians and make sure they couldn't yank the travelers out until they'd helped Arthur with his current problem.

 

* [[Led Zeppelin]]'s "The Battle of Evermore" contains numerous references to Arthurian legend.

* Rick Wakeman's [[Concept Album]] ''The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table''.

* "Blood of the Kings" (from album ''Armageddon'') by [[Ariya]] deals mostly with the perception of the events and spirit of the legend. It's [[Never Accepted in His Hometown|not optimistic]] about the likely outcome of his return.

 

* ''[[Prince Valiant]]''.

 

* ''King Arthur Pendragon'', of course. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|It's there in the title.]] Heavily based on Malory's ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur|Le Morte Darthur]]'' but not afraid to plunder other sources if need be, and notable for magic causing the timeline to advance rapidly from the Dark Ages (complete with marauding Picts and Saxons) right through to the 15th century during the course of Arthur's reign allowing just about any Arthurian tale from any of myriad versions of the myth to be fit in somewhere. The ''Great Pendragon Campaign'' explicitly identifies the phases of Arthur's reign with periods in the history of England, from the Norman Conquest to the Wars of the Roses, in terms of the political situation and the available technology.

* ''[[GURPS]] Camelot'', which includes rules for three possible settings: "Traditional", "Historical", and "Cinematic" with the option of mixing-and-matching depending on what you want to be accurate mythology, what you want to be realistic Dark Ages, and what you want to be [[Rule of Cool]]. All three Camelots are referenced in ''GURPS [[Infinite Worlds]]'', which notes that the "Historical" Arthur (Artotrius Riothamus) is one of many Arthurs found in otherwise non-mythic timelines, fitting just about any theory as to who the "historic" Arthur was.

* TSR's ''Amazing Engine'' game, ''Once And Future King'' supplement. The game takes place during the 46th century (4,500-4,600 A.D.) throughout the Earth's solar system, with everyone involved (including King Arthur and his knights) using high tech devices and weaponry. Merlin is a computer program with [[Artificial Intelligence]]. How did this come about? Scientists created clones using DNA from 5th century British warriors and programmed their brains with the principles of chivalry. The clones [[Turned Against Their Masters|rebelled against their creators]] and took over the solar system by force.

 

* The Kingdom of Bretonnia ''[[Warhammer]]'' is heavily based on Arthurian myth [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|mixed with medieval France for good measure]]. Not only is this blatantly evident in the chivalric codes and customs of its knights (including a recurring motif modeled on the Holy Grail), but also in the realm's devotion to the "Lady of the Lake."

 

* Henry Purcell wrote the "semi-opera" ''King Arthur, or The British Worthy'' (1691), at least one number of which, the ''Cold Song'', is popular today. The libretto by John Dryden dumps pretty much all characters apart from Arthur and Merlin in favour of a new cast of new characters; Arthur ends up marrying Emmeline.

* [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''Parsifal'' is somewhat loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Arthurian romance ''Parzival''. Wagner's earlier ''Lohengrin'' also tangentially touches the Grail myth. Note that Wagner moves the action from the 5th to the 10th century A.D.

* Eric Idle and John Du Prez's musical ''[[Spamalot]]'', an adaptation of ''Monty Python And The Holy Grail'' focusing on being very silly.

 

* Though they don't appear in the story proper, the [[Last-Disc Magic|exceedingly powerful]] Knights of the Round summon in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' is clearly based on Arthur and his knights.

** The name is a reference to ''[[Knights of the Round]]'', an old Arthurian-themed side-scrolling beat-em-up.

* ''[[Backyard Sports|Backyard Skateboarding]]'' has the unlockable Excaliboard ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|obviously]] based on Excalibur) and mentions of the Knights of the Round Table in the [[Medieval European Fantasy]] level, Merry Old Englandland.

* ''[[Tears to Tiara]]'' is a prequel of sorts in an [[Alternate Universe]], showing the rise of King Arthur with the help of a Demon King, Arawn.

* ''[[Tomb Raider]]: Legend'' [[Deconstruction|deconstructs]] the King Arthur myth by making Excalibur in reality a really, really ancient artifact that [[Older Than They Think|predates the Arthur myth]] and is mentioned in various other myths and legends. "Every culture's got one." ''[[Insufferable Genius]]'' [[The Scrappy|Alister]] constantly states how [[Lampshade Hanging|unlikely the legend is to be true]], while Lara remains optimistic and [[The Ditz|Zip]] just thinks Excalibur is a cool sword and [[Overused Running Gag|constantly]] confuses it with the sword in the stone. When he realises this is [[Berserk Button|irritating]] [[The Chew Toy|Alister]] greatly, he continues to do this [[Obfuscating Stupidity|deliberately]]. Lara approves. In the end, it turns out that {{spoiler|Excalibur is real, as is King Arthur and Avalon, and Lara gets to use the sword as a weapon on the final boss.}}

* There are several references in the ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' video game series to the Arthurian legends. In Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword there is a Lord called Uther who has a brother named Hector which may be a reference to Ector, Arthur's foster father. Also in Blazing Sword, there is a tome called Excalibur. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance has Gaiwain{{spoiler|, also known as Greil}}and an early sword called Ettard could be named after the Lady Ettard. In the sequel to POR, Radiant Dawn, there is a mage called Pelleas which is the name of the knight who loved the Lady Ettard. There are also the twin swords Ragnell and Alondite. Ragnell was the name of Sir Gawain's wife, Alondite is supposedly the Japanese pronounciation for Lancelot's sword, Arondight.

 

* In ''[[Fate/stay night]]'', {{spoiler|Saber is a female Arthur}}. The prequel ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' also has {{spoiler|Lancelot as Berserker, bearing the appropriate grudge against Arturia/Saber}}. The [[Alternate Universe]] ''Fate/Extra'' also has {{spoiler|Gawain as an enemy-exclusive Saber (your Saber is a gender-flipped Nero)}}.

 

 

* ''[[The Legend Of Prince Valiant]]''

* ''[[King Arthur and the Knights of Justice]]'' had a modern professional American football team transported back in time to fill the roles of the knights of the round table.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Royalty and Nobility Tropes]]

[[Category:Dark Age Europe]]

[[Category:Classic Literature]]

[[Category:Oral Tradition]]

[[Category:Public Domain Character]]