Merlin and Nimue
Merlin took on Nimue as an apprentice. Malory says Nimue was the Lady of the Lake, but I think there must have been several Ladies of the Lake, unless every lake in Britain and France is joined in one huge underground pool. Anyway, Nimue learned all Merlin's stuff, after dragging him away from the delights of Camelot. She conned him into going into an underground cave, where she bound him with his own spells before taking off to do her own thing.
Merlin's Origins
Merlin was supposedly the offspring of an incubus (or is it succubus) and a princess. Hence his status as "Demon Spawn."
The Battle of the Dragons
When Merlin was a boy, there lived a stern king in Wales, hight Vortigern. He was trying to build a castle, but, every night, when his workmen went home, all the work they had done that day fell down. Vortigern would show up in the morning to find a mudhole. He posted overnight guards, but they always ran away. Finally, some obnoxious old wizard told him that he was lacking the one ingredient essential to the proper mix of cement--the blood of an innocent boy.
It took a while to find an innocent boy, but eventually somebody nabbed Merlin and dragged him up to the construction site. The king explained that they were going to kill him and put his body in the foundations to strengthen them.
Merlin thought fast.
"What we have here, Sire," he said, "is something totally Other. There are two dragons sleeping in an underground cave beneath your site, a red one and a white one, and at night they get up and fight. This reduces your day's labour to a mud pit, and explains why your guards are always missing in the morning."
"Really," said Vortigern, not buying this for an instant.
"Yes," quoth Merlin. "What you need to do is let them out, so they can fight their battle to the finish, and then you can build your castle. Try digging down deep in the middle of what will be your courtyard, and see what you find. If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'!"
So Vortigern had his men dig. And they dug, and dug, and dug. The king was getting restless. The mud was getting wetter, and a testy time was being had by all. Finally, they came to a cave, and when they got inside, they came out pretty quick, with a couple of sleepy and very grumpy dragons hot on their tails. The dragons rose into the air in a shower of mud and scales, with a lot of flapping and sputtering. They fought. They fought for several days. By the time they had been at it for a while, you couldn't tell the white one from the red, there was so much blood everywhere.
Finally, the red dragon won, and the white fell dead on the ground.
King Vortigern and his men emerged from their hidey holes and asked Merlin, "What does this mean?"
Merlin said that the Red Dragon symbolized the Cymri (the Welsh word for the Welsh people), and the White, the Saxons. It meant that, try as they might, the Saxons would never beat the Welsh.
Which is why the Red Dragon is the symbol of Wales to this very day.
Other Outstories
There are dozens of stories I haven't gone into at all. Gawain and the Green Knight. Lancelot going mad and wandering in the forest. The Questing Beast. The Loathly Lady. Tristram and Isolde. The Grail Quest. The Fisher King. The Hunting of the Boar.
Scholars have been analyzing the stories for generations. Some are found in the Mabinogi, which is the Matter of Wales. The magical elements seem to be Pagan beliefs that held on well into Christian times.
For a modern retelling of the saga, I recommend Mary Stewart's series; "The Crystal Cave," "The Hollow Hills," "The Last Enchantment,"and "The Wicked Day." Told more or less from Merlin's perspective, the stories tie together very well. Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon," presents the stories as occurring in a cross-over from Paganism to Christianity, and as such, is very entertaining. T. H. White's "The Once and Future King" is a must-read.
But, online, free, gratis, and for nothing, you can read Malory, translated into modern English. Of course, the use of the word "modern" is laughable, as all the translator has done is replace the early spellings with ones we can actually pronounce. The book is still written in the manner of Malory, with minimal punctuation, and a few words we never hear at all, these days, and others whose meanings have changed considerably. It's not always easy to spot the referents for pronouns. Still, it's really not as difficult to read as you think it's going to be. And well worth the effort, in my opinion.
It has the added bonus of stretching your knowledge of English.
Showing posts with label King Arthur According to Ronni. Show all posts
Showing posts with label King Arthur According to Ronni. Show all posts
Sunday, April 02, 2006
King Arthur, Part Five
Lancelot of the Lake. A name to conjure with. His father was King Ban, and I can't remember his mother's name off the top of my head. Anyway, this bully, Claudus, was marauding all over France, and put King Ban's castle to the torch. Ban barely got out with his wife and baby. Ban was a gentleman of advanced years, and when he looked back to see the castle going up, he collapsed. His wife set the baby down on the ground next to a small lake, and rushed to help him. The Lady of the Lake popped up, snagged the baby, and was gone before you could say "Jack Robinson." At the bottom of the lake was a whole society of rather damp damsels who really enjoyed having a little mortal prince to raise. Lance's mom scrambled for the nearest nunnery. When Lance was grown, the Lady gave him a sword and armour and told him to head out for Camelot, because King Arthur could use all the help he could get.
He showed up at Camelot just in time for the big Pentecost Tournament, which had been advertised far and wide. While jousting, he whacked some knight a bit too hard and killed him. Arthur was understandable miffed, as one just doesn't go whacking the king's knights in a permanent way at a tournament. Lancelot was sorry, not having realized how much better he was at fighting than everybody else in the realm. He had a few tricks up his sleeve, learned from living for years among the magic women of the Lake. Using them to raise the whacked knight from the dead, Lance ingratiated himself with both Arthur and Guinevere.
He became Number One Knight right away, and that ticked off the rest of them. And then, to top it off, Guinevere fell in love with him. So, there you have the roots of the mess. Arthur thinks Lance is the greatest thing since stirrups, Guinevere goes to mush whenever he walks in the room, as does Lance when she comes in, and the knights are grumblefussing about this new guy who is showing them all up. And then, there's Elaine. Elaine falls in love with Lancelot, too. She manages to lay hands on one of Merlin's old shapehifting spells, and disguises herself as Guin. Lance falls for it, just as Ygraine did a generation before, and Elaine has to retire from the court, due to her delicate condition. She bears a son, and calls the poor baby Galahad. She raises him to be The Perfect Knight. He doesn't go around seducing innocent maidens, setting up camp at fords to take on all comers, or showing off at tournaments.
This is where the Grail Maiden shows up, with the promise that the Grail is the thing that every knight needs, and that only the pure in heart will ever get hold of it. A lot of the younger generation of knights rush off for years at a time, pursuing the dream of the Holy Grail. Eventually, Galahad achieves it.
Oh...and then there's Mordred.
Mordred presents a conundrum for Arthur. He is Arthur's nephew. He wants Arthur to acknowledge him as son. It was not all that uncommon for a childless lord to designate his nephew as his heir, so I don't really know what Mordred hoped to gain by forcing Uncle Arthur to tell the world about having boffed his half-sister, thus starting a branch of the family tree that looks like "Deliverance!" Mordred, being a sneaky sort, is going around trying to destroy what he is destined to inherit. Given the love triangle, he has plenty of fodder. Eventually, he manages to engineer a Situation in which a cadre of knights find Lance in Guin's room, with Arthur nowhere in sight. That's enough to get Guin charged with adultery and treason. As Arthur has been dead set on establishing a rule of law rather than whim, he has to charge Guinevere. Lance takes off, after a battle in which he kills several of Arthurs best buds, leaving Guin to face the music all by herself. Talk about trouble in paradise!
Lance shows up just as the executioner is about to put the torch to the woodpile that is the designated execution for traitors, and snags Guinevere off to his castle, Joyeux Garde. Of course, happiness eludes them, as any decent writer of country songs could have said, and the castle is renamed Dolorous Garde and Guin goes into a convent. Lance shows up back at Camelot, begs forgiveness, and is just in time to fight the final battle alongside his former best friend.
For, yes, there is a final battle. Mordred has his own gang of knights, as he has succeeded in undermining Arthur's authority. The Knights of the Round Table are divided, and battle ensues. The flower of British Chivalry is arrayed on the field. Arthur is sick at heart, because he knows that, no matter who wins, his dream of a united Britain is destroyed. Not the greatest attitude with which to be going into battle.
Eventually, the two have to meet in one-on-one combat. Arthur runs Mordred through, but, with a dying thrust, Mordred delivers a mortal wound to Arthur, as well. Arthur's new best bud, Bedivere, hauls him out of the fray, and over to the marshy edge of a little lake. Arthur tells him to throw Excalibur into the water. Bedivere thinks this is a very odd request, and doesn't do it. He hides the sword in the weeds and comes back to lie to the dying king. Arthur asks what happened when sword hit water, and Bedivere answers that it rippled a bit, and that was it. Arthur knows he's lying and sends him back to do it again. They go through the same routine again. The third time, Bedivere actually tosses the sword, and lo...a hand comes up out of the water, catches the sword by the hilt, brandishes it three times and draws it down under the water. That was the signal for the death barge to arrive. It comes out of the mist, and three queens help Bedivere load the (still) dying Arthur onto it. Then barge, queens, king and all drift off to the Lake Isle of Avalon, where Arthur will be healed of his wounds and will stay, to return when Britain direly needs him.
He showed up at Camelot just in time for the big Pentecost Tournament, which had been advertised far and wide. While jousting, he whacked some knight a bit too hard and killed him. Arthur was understandable miffed, as one just doesn't go whacking the king's knights in a permanent way at a tournament. Lancelot was sorry, not having realized how much better he was at fighting than everybody else in the realm. He had a few tricks up his sleeve, learned from living for years among the magic women of the Lake. Using them to raise the whacked knight from the dead, Lance ingratiated himself with both Arthur and Guinevere.
He became Number One Knight right away, and that ticked off the rest of them. And then, to top it off, Guinevere fell in love with him. So, there you have the roots of the mess. Arthur thinks Lance is the greatest thing since stirrups, Guinevere goes to mush whenever he walks in the room, as does Lance when she comes in, and the knights are grumblefussing about this new guy who is showing them all up. And then, there's Elaine. Elaine falls in love with Lancelot, too. She manages to lay hands on one of Merlin's old shapehifting spells, and disguises herself as Guin. Lance falls for it, just as Ygraine did a generation before, and Elaine has to retire from the court, due to her delicate condition. She bears a son, and calls the poor baby Galahad. She raises him to be The Perfect Knight. He doesn't go around seducing innocent maidens, setting up camp at fords to take on all comers, or showing off at tournaments.
This is where the Grail Maiden shows up, with the promise that the Grail is the thing that every knight needs, and that only the pure in heart will ever get hold of it. A lot of the younger generation of knights rush off for years at a time, pursuing the dream of the Holy Grail. Eventually, Galahad achieves it.
Oh...and then there's Mordred.
Mordred presents a conundrum for Arthur. He is Arthur's nephew. He wants Arthur to acknowledge him as son. It was not all that uncommon for a childless lord to designate his nephew as his heir, so I don't really know what Mordred hoped to gain by forcing Uncle Arthur to tell the world about having boffed his half-sister, thus starting a branch of the family tree that looks like "Deliverance!" Mordred, being a sneaky sort, is going around trying to destroy what he is destined to inherit. Given the love triangle, he has plenty of fodder. Eventually, he manages to engineer a Situation in which a cadre of knights find Lance in Guin's room, with Arthur nowhere in sight. That's enough to get Guin charged with adultery and treason. As Arthur has been dead set on establishing a rule of law rather than whim, he has to charge Guinevere. Lance takes off, after a battle in which he kills several of Arthurs best buds, leaving Guin to face the music all by herself. Talk about trouble in paradise!
Lance shows up just as the executioner is about to put the torch to the woodpile that is the designated execution for traitors, and snags Guinevere off to his castle, Joyeux Garde. Of course, happiness eludes them, as any decent writer of country songs could have said, and the castle is renamed Dolorous Garde and Guin goes into a convent. Lance shows up back at Camelot, begs forgiveness, and is just in time to fight the final battle alongside his former best friend.
For, yes, there is a final battle. Mordred has his own gang of knights, as he has succeeded in undermining Arthur's authority. The Knights of the Round Table are divided, and battle ensues. The flower of British Chivalry is arrayed on the field. Arthur is sick at heart, because he knows that, no matter who wins, his dream of a united Britain is destroyed. Not the greatest attitude with which to be going into battle.
Eventually, the two have to meet in one-on-one combat. Arthur runs Mordred through, but, with a dying thrust, Mordred delivers a mortal wound to Arthur, as well. Arthur's new best bud, Bedivere, hauls him out of the fray, and over to the marshy edge of a little lake. Arthur tells him to throw Excalibur into the water. Bedivere thinks this is a very odd request, and doesn't do it. He hides the sword in the weeds and comes back to lie to the dying king. Arthur asks what happened when sword hit water, and Bedivere answers that it rippled a bit, and that was it. Arthur knows he's lying and sends him back to do it again. They go through the same routine again. The third time, Bedivere actually tosses the sword, and lo...a hand comes up out of the water, catches the sword by the hilt, brandishes it three times and draws it down under the water. That was the signal for the death barge to arrive. It comes out of the mist, and three queens help Bedivere load the (still) dying Arthur onto it. Then barge, queens, king and all drift off to the Lake Isle of Avalon, where Arthur will be healed of his wounds and will stay, to return when Britain direly needs him.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
King Arthur Part Four
This is the fourth part of the story of King Arthur.
Let's see. We had left him having acquired Guinevere and Excalibur, the former from King Leodegrance, and the latter from the Lady of the Lake.
He spent some time whacking knights who set up camp at bridges and fords and insisted that knights who wanted to cross same fight for the right. According to Malory, it was about now that he found out the story of his birth. He was a bit ticked at Merlin for not telling him before. Especially before he got to messing around with Morgan le Fay (remember her?), her being his half-sister and all. Merlin told him he should have kept his trout in his trousers, because she was knocked up, and nothing but trouble could come from that! Not only was a child coming who had a good dose of Morgan's "fay-ish-ness," but Arthur had become a sinner, in a pretty big way. This put him out of the running in any contest demanding purity of spirit or body. Forever. There has been a lot of speculation over they years as to whether Morgan knew Arthur was her brother. Some folks want her to be a very knowledgeable witch. She may have had an agenda of her own. She may have been old enough to be upset at the quick change-over from father to step-father, even if he was the king.
Anyway, she was preggers, and married off to one of the northern kings--Uriens of Gore, I think. Word came to Arthur that the baby was born on May Day, and that it was a boy. Merlin was so totally freaked by this news that he came up with the scathingly brilliant idea that they should round up all the noble baby boys born around that time, and float them out to sea on a barge. I guess Arthur thought, "Oh, well, in for a penny, in for a pound," and agreed to this preposterous scheme. The barge foundered, and all the babies were lost at sea except for one that washed ashore to be rescued and raised. Any guesses as to which baby survived? Yup, got it in one! Morgan's. Hereinafter referred to as Mordred.
Arthur had a few more fights on his hands after that, as certain of his allies had babies involved in the sweep.
Then, for years, there was a lot of slaying going on, with spears all to-shivered on each other's shields, and helms cleft asunder, and all that.
When Arthur married Guinevere, she brought the Round Table and a hundred knights as her dowry. That started the whole Round Table thing, as it would seat a hundred and fifty. All the knights had to compete for the seats, and there were many more knights than seats. Still, one seat had to be kept vacant, and Merlin again did his trick with the flashing gold letters, putting up the names of the winners of all the seats. The empty one was called the Siege Perilous, and if the wrong knight sat in it, he would die. But it was all good, because they didn't much sit there at all, what with jousting, questing, chasing giants, rescuing damsels and hunting deer--and this is all before the Sangreal and Lancelot.
They actually loaded up and went to the continent. Whoever had charge of Rome by that time sent an embassy to Arthur, saying, "You're part of the Roman Empire--pay up!" and Arthur said, "No, you pay me." and the messengers said, "If you want Rome to pay you, you'd better come and get it!" So they did. They had all kinds of fun, and got penpals in Germany, Italy, and Africa. I kid you not. It's right there in Malory. Look it up.
It's break time again. Don't worry--Lancelot is coming into the story soon.
Let's see. We had left him having acquired Guinevere and Excalibur, the former from King Leodegrance, and the latter from the Lady of the Lake.
He spent some time whacking knights who set up camp at bridges and fords and insisted that knights who wanted to cross same fight for the right. According to Malory, it was about now that he found out the story of his birth. He was a bit ticked at Merlin for not telling him before. Especially before he got to messing around with Morgan le Fay (remember her?), her being his half-sister and all. Merlin told him he should have kept his trout in his trousers, because she was knocked up, and nothing but trouble could come from that! Not only was a child coming who had a good dose of Morgan's "fay-ish-ness," but Arthur had become a sinner, in a pretty big way. This put him out of the running in any contest demanding purity of spirit or body. Forever. There has been a lot of speculation over they years as to whether Morgan knew Arthur was her brother. Some folks want her to be a very knowledgeable witch. She may have had an agenda of her own. She may have been old enough to be upset at the quick change-over from father to step-father, even if he was the king.
Anyway, she was preggers, and married off to one of the northern kings--Uriens of Gore, I think. Word came to Arthur that the baby was born on May Day, and that it was a boy. Merlin was so totally freaked by this news that he came up with the scathingly brilliant idea that they should round up all the noble baby boys born around that time, and float them out to sea on a barge. I guess Arthur thought, "Oh, well, in for a penny, in for a pound," and agreed to this preposterous scheme. The barge foundered, and all the babies were lost at sea except for one that washed ashore to be rescued and raised. Any guesses as to which baby survived? Yup, got it in one! Morgan's. Hereinafter referred to as Mordred.
Arthur had a few more fights on his hands after that, as certain of his allies had babies involved in the sweep.
Then, for years, there was a lot of slaying going on, with spears all to-shivered on each other's shields, and helms cleft asunder, and all that.
When Arthur married Guinevere, she brought the Round Table and a hundred knights as her dowry. That started the whole Round Table thing, as it would seat a hundred and fifty. All the knights had to compete for the seats, and there were many more knights than seats. Still, one seat had to be kept vacant, and Merlin again did his trick with the flashing gold letters, putting up the names of the winners of all the seats. The empty one was called the Siege Perilous, and if the wrong knight sat in it, he would die. But it was all good, because they didn't much sit there at all, what with jousting, questing, chasing giants, rescuing damsels and hunting deer--and this is all before the Sangreal and Lancelot.
They actually loaded up and went to the continent. Whoever had charge of Rome by that time sent an embassy to Arthur, saying, "You're part of the Roman Empire--pay up!" and Arthur said, "No, you pay me." and the messengers said, "If you want Rome to pay you, you'd better come and get it!" So they did. They had all kinds of fun, and got penpals in Germany, Italy, and Africa. I kid you not. It's right there in Malory. Look it up.
It's break time again. Don't worry--Lancelot is coming into the story soon.
King Arthur According to Ronni, Part Three
Scroll down a bit--the story starts with Part One.
Pretty much, the first thing Arthur had to do was fight all the barons who didn't think he should be the High King. Quite a few supporters had emerged, some from across the channel. According to Malory, his first battle saw him outnumbered, and the whole turned into a game of musical horses, where they all went around knocking each other off their horses, and snagging the horses to mount one from their respective side who had been unhorsed. I think the entire horse population of Britain changed hands during that battle. Arthur emerged victorious, of course, and the barons subsided, grumbling.
One of the kings who had been defeated in the battle was headed home past Cameliard, home of Leodegrance and his lovely daughter Guinevere. Just for grins and giggles, he decided to lay siege. Leo sent word to Arthur, and Arthur came galloping to the rescue. Arthur and his Gwen were married shortly thereafter, and all the allies went home to rest up for further adventures.
While Arthur was having an adventure, involving a fight with an unknown knight, the sword from the stone was broken. The ubiquitous Merlin said, "Hey, I know where to get another," and took Arthur to a lake. There were two odd things about that lake. First, there was a lady wandering the shores, and second, there was this arm, clothed in white samite, sticking up out of the water, holding a sword. "There's your sword," said Merlin, "Make nice with the Lady, and she might give it to you." So he did, and she did, and that's how Arthur acquired Excalibur. Merlin asked him which he liked better, the sword or the scabbard. Arthur, thinking it was a silly question, said, "The sword, of course!" Merlin told him not to lose track of the scabbard, for it was magic, and that he could not be killed while he had it. Arthur said something like, "Whatever," and tossed the scabbard onto his saddle and proceeded to polish the sword.
Pretty much, the first thing Arthur had to do was fight all the barons who didn't think he should be the High King. Quite a few supporters had emerged, some from across the channel. According to Malory, his first battle saw him outnumbered, and the whole turned into a game of musical horses, where they all went around knocking each other off their horses, and snagging the horses to mount one from their respective side who had been unhorsed. I think the entire horse population of Britain changed hands during that battle. Arthur emerged victorious, of course, and the barons subsided, grumbling.
One of the kings who had been defeated in the battle was headed home past Cameliard, home of Leodegrance and his lovely daughter Guinevere. Just for grins and giggles, he decided to lay siege. Leo sent word to Arthur, and Arthur came galloping to the rescue. Arthur and his Gwen were married shortly thereafter, and all the allies went home to rest up for further adventures.
While Arthur was having an adventure, involving a fight with an unknown knight, the sword from the stone was broken. The ubiquitous Merlin said, "Hey, I know where to get another," and took Arthur to a lake. There were two odd things about that lake. First, there was a lady wandering the shores, and second, there was this arm, clothed in white samite, sticking up out of the water, holding a sword. "There's your sword," said Merlin, "Make nice with the Lady, and she might give it to you." So he did, and she did, and that's how Arthur acquired Excalibur. Merlin asked him which he liked better, the sword or the scabbard. Arthur, thinking it was a silly question, said, "The sword, of course!" Merlin told him not to lose track of the scabbard, for it was magic, and that he could not be killed while he had it. Arthur said something like, "Whatever," and tossed the scabbard onto his saddle and proceeded to polish the sword.
King Arthur According to Ronni, Part Two
If you've just tuned in, scroll down to the next post, which is titled "King Arthur According to Ronni." If the story of King Arthur, retold with no dignity whatsoever doesn't appeal to you, then just come back later.
Ta, ducks.
Something that didn't come out in Part One that will be important later: Gorlois and Ygraine have a daughter. Maybe two, but, one for sure. Her name is Morgan. They call her "le Fay," which means she's a bit odd, in a talk-to-the-animals sort of way.
Meanwhile, the Saxons keep coming, and Uther maintains an uneasy alliance among the myriad tiny kingdoms that comprise Britain. Whenever it's off-season for Saxons, they bicker amongst themselves. And Uther isn't getting any younger. Oddly enough, he's actually getting older. In fact, when Arthur is about 15, Uther croaks. It happens in the off season, so the kings all fall to fighting each other over who gets to take over the High Kingship. They decide to get together for Christmas, at another 400 party. Or is it 399, now? Anyway, they're planning a tournament. All the dukes, kings, knights, squires, pages, ladies and all the folks who take care of them show up in one place and pitch their tents. When they emerge in the morning, looking for the loo, imagine their surprise to see a big rock where there was just a churchyard the day before. Even more surprising was the anvil on the rock, and strangest of all was the sword sticking out of the top. On the rock there's a flashing sign (thanks, Merlin) that says, "Whoso pulleth the sword from the stone is rightwise born King of Britain."
That threw the cat among the pigeons! So, one after the other, the titled gentry all try to pull it out, but not a one of them can budge it at all. Eventually, they get tired and decide to get some sleep, because there's a tourney the next day.
The next day dawns clear and chilly. Everybody heads out to the tournament field. Kai discovers that he's left his sword behind at the inn, and sends Arthur, who is acting as his squire, back to get it. He finds the inn all locked up, as the innkeeper, his entire family and all his employees are over at the tournament. Arthur is wondering what to do, what to do. Kai needs a sword. Suddenly a little lightbulb goes off over his head, or at least, it would have, if Edison had been born a lot earlier. "Woh," he thinks, "there's a sword sticking out of that stone in the churchyard. I'll just get it for Kai." And he does.
When he shows up at the tournament, Kai knows right away that it's not his sword. Kai is a real bright spark. Still, he's not above claiming it--after all, Arthur gave it to him, right? Ector, of course, calls him on it. Kai has to admit that Arthur pulled the sword. Ector has to admit that Arthur is not really Kai's brother. Arthur has to put the sword back, and everybody has to try and pull it out again. Some of the knights are getting a bit testy, what with postponing the tourney and all, but they all figure that if this kid can pull it out, anyone can, right?
Not.
After everyone has a go, Merlin trots Arthur up there, and out it comes, as if that rock and anvil were made of butter.
All the kings, dukes and knights commence to muttering and mumbling, grousing and grumbling, and eventually a question rises to the surface of the babble. Just who is this kid? Inquiring minds want to know. Ector wants to know. Kai wants to know. Arthur really wants to know. So Merlin tells them the story of the battle and the shapeshift and all that. Oddly enough, most of them remain skeptical. So, Merlin says, "Tell you what. Let's all go home and think it over, and we'll get together at Candlemas, and see how we all feel then." So they did, and with exactly the same result. Merlin, getting a bit testy himself by then, sent them off, to reassemble at Easter. And then, Pentacost. By Pentacost, the Saxons would be back, so something would have to be done. The Saxons actually came early that year--maybe it was a mild winter--and Arthur had whacked quite a few of them with just the little band of knights who believed he was "rightwise king of Britain." So, when Pentacost rolled around, the common people showed up as well as the knights and other high born types, and they raised such a fuss that the nobles said, "Oh, very well! The kid can be High King! Just don't trash all our castles!"
And that's how Arthur became the High King of Britain.
More to come.
Ta, ducks.
Something that didn't come out in Part One that will be important later: Gorlois and Ygraine have a daughter. Maybe two, but, one for sure. Her name is Morgan. They call her "le Fay," which means she's a bit odd, in a talk-to-the-animals sort of way.
Meanwhile, the Saxons keep coming, and Uther maintains an uneasy alliance among the myriad tiny kingdoms that comprise Britain. Whenever it's off-season for Saxons, they bicker amongst themselves. And Uther isn't getting any younger. Oddly enough, he's actually getting older. In fact, when Arthur is about 15, Uther croaks. It happens in the off season, so the kings all fall to fighting each other over who gets to take over the High Kingship. They decide to get together for Christmas, at another 400 party. Or is it 399, now? Anyway, they're planning a tournament. All the dukes, kings, knights, squires, pages, ladies and all the folks who take care of them show up in one place and pitch their tents. When they emerge in the morning, looking for the loo, imagine their surprise to see a big rock where there was just a churchyard the day before. Even more surprising was the anvil on the rock, and strangest of all was the sword sticking out of the top. On the rock there's a flashing sign (thanks, Merlin) that says, "Whoso pulleth the sword from the stone is rightwise born King of Britain."
That threw the cat among the pigeons! So, one after the other, the titled gentry all try to pull it out, but not a one of them can budge it at all. Eventually, they get tired and decide to get some sleep, because there's a tourney the next day.
The next day dawns clear and chilly. Everybody heads out to the tournament field. Kai discovers that he's left his sword behind at the inn, and sends Arthur, who is acting as his squire, back to get it. He finds the inn all locked up, as the innkeeper, his entire family and all his employees are over at the tournament. Arthur is wondering what to do, what to do. Kai needs a sword. Suddenly a little lightbulb goes off over his head, or at least, it would have, if Edison had been born a lot earlier. "Woh," he thinks, "there's a sword sticking out of that stone in the churchyard. I'll just get it for Kai." And he does.
When he shows up at the tournament, Kai knows right away that it's not his sword. Kai is a real bright spark. Still, he's not above claiming it--after all, Arthur gave it to him, right? Ector, of course, calls him on it. Kai has to admit that Arthur pulled the sword. Ector has to admit that Arthur is not really Kai's brother. Arthur has to put the sword back, and everybody has to try and pull it out again. Some of the knights are getting a bit testy, what with postponing the tourney and all, but they all figure that if this kid can pull it out, anyone can, right?
Not.
After everyone has a go, Merlin trots Arthur up there, and out it comes, as if that rock and anvil were made of butter.
All the kings, dukes and knights commence to muttering and mumbling, grousing and grumbling, and eventually a question rises to the surface of the babble. Just who is this kid? Inquiring minds want to know. Ector wants to know. Kai wants to know. Arthur really wants to know. So Merlin tells them the story of the battle and the shapeshift and all that. Oddly enough, most of them remain skeptical. So, Merlin says, "Tell you what. Let's all go home and think it over, and we'll get together at Candlemas, and see how we all feel then." So they did, and with exactly the same result. Merlin, getting a bit testy himself by then, sent them off, to reassemble at Easter. And then, Pentacost. By Pentacost, the Saxons would be back, so something would have to be done. The Saxons actually came early that year--maybe it was a mild winter--and Arthur had whacked quite a few of them with just the little band of knights who believed he was "rightwise king of Britain." So, when Pentacost rolled around, the common people showed up as well as the knights and other high born types, and they raised such a fuss that the nobles said, "Oh, very well! The kid can be High King! Just don't trash all our castles!"
And that's how Arthur became the High King of Britain.
More to come.
Friday, March 31, 2006
King Arthur According to Ronni
OK! For those of you who are not familiar with The Matter of Britain, I shall endeavor to boil it down and put it in a nutshell.
There's this king, see, and his name is Uther Pendragon. He decides to throw a party and invite the 400. Among the 400 is the crusty old Duke of Cornwall, Gorlois. Gorlois had a lovely young wife, hight...oops, sorry...called Ygraine. Uther takes one look at Ygraine, and falls into the worst case of lust in the history of humanity. Ygraine notices this right off, and, like the faithful wife she is, points it out to Gorlois. Why Gorlie baby had to be told that the king was following his wife around like a puppy dog is beyond my comprehension, but I guess there are none so blind as those that will not see. Anyway, once clued in, Gorlois gets a tad bit hot under the collar, and wants to challenge the king. Ygraine, realizing that might not be the smartest thing, tells her husband that they should just...like...split. So they did.
When Uther notices the absence of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, he begins to make enquiries, and discovers that they left in the night, without leaving a note or anything. He had been sitting around thinking the fair Ygraine was going to fall into his lap like a ripe plum. It's good to be the king, and all that. So, now he's a mite miffed, and wants to set off in hot pursuit. He has advisors, some of whom offer the voice of reason--Gorlois owns a couple of pretty stout castles in Cornwall, and is a valuable ally and subject, being rather crusty and uncompromising in the defence of the West. Uther really, really tries to forget about Ygraine. He gets pale. He gets sick. He gets woeful. He sends for Merlin. Merlin had been busy for years, establishing a rep for prophecy and magic, and Uther's man, Ulfius, thinks he's just the guy to have an idea or two. And, boy, does he!
He rolls up and says something to the effect of, "You really want to get this wench, your kingship?" and Uther says, "You betcha!" So, Merlin tells him to mount up the army and head for Cornwall, and he'll think of something along the way.
Well.
Merlin knows something nobody else knows. He knows that the offspring of Uther and Ygraine will be able to unite all the little kingdoms that are falling one by one to the invading Saxons. He really doesn't want to say that to Uther, as Uther wants to think he is the one to do that. You might say that Merlin has his own agenda.
So, Gorlois hears that the king is coming after his wife. As you can imagine, he's not too thrilled at that, so he puts her in Tintagel for safekeeping, and takes the bulk of his army to Terribel, his other castle, to fight the king's men. Tintagel is the more easily defended of the two, which is why he leaves Ygraine there.
So Merlin decides how to get Uther into Tintagel. In his arsenal of spells, there's one which can cause a shapeshift, so that Uther looks just like Gorlois, and the defenders of Tintagel will let him in. It's even good enough to fool Ygraine. He only asks one tiny little favour in return--the couple's first born son. Uther is a tad bit skeptical, but Merlin could sell iceboxes to Eskimos, and before you can say "Bob's yer uncle," Ulfius and Uther are treading the narrow causeway out to Tintagel. They march right up to the gate, with Ulfius disguised to look like Gorlois' best bud, and, lo and behold, it works! They are in like Flynn!
It was either a heck of a spell, or Ygraine thought, "Oh, well, if it quacks like a duck, etc.,"and a good time was had by all. Well, a good time was had by Uther. The stories don't much say if Ygraine had fun, and we are fairly sure Ulfius was not to thrilled with waiting outside the chamber door.
They might could have got away with it, too, except for one thing. Uther's men and Gorlois' men had been going at it all night over at Terribel, and a messenger shows up bright and early in the morning with the sad news that Gorlois has been killed. Ygraine says, "What?! Then who was in my bed last night?" Uther pops out of Merlin's spell and says, "'Tis I, your present king and future husband, and we'd better not have too long an engagement--just in case." Ygraine realizes that marrying Uther would really be for the best and besides, it's good to be the Queen.
Sure enough, nine months later, here's the baby, and there is some controversy in the kingdom about whether or not he is legitimate. Uther figures it's just as well that Merlin is going to take the baby, and, sure there will be others whose status will not be in doubt, hands him off to the wizard at the postern gate.
History does not record how Ygraine felt about this.
So, Uther and Ygraine rule on, and Merlin takes Arthur up north to be raised by Ector. Merlin doesn't tell Ector who he is fostering, and Arthur grows up with Kai, Ector's son, as a brother.
And, on that happy note, we will take a little break. Stay tuned for part two.
There's this king, see, and his name is Uther Pendragon. He decides to throw a party and invite the 400. Among the 400 is the crusty old Duke of Cornwall, Gorlois. Gorlois had a lovely young wife, hight...oops, sorry...called Ygraine. Uther takes one look at Ygraine, and falls into the worst case of lust in the history of humanity. Ygraine notices this right off, and, like the faithful wife she is, points it out to Gorlois. Why Gorlie baby had to be told that the king was following his wife around like a puppy dog is beyond my comprehension, but I guess there are none so blind as those that will not see. Anyway, once clued in, Gorlois gets a tad bit hot under the collar, and wants to challenge the king. Ygraine, realizing that might not be the smartest thing, tells her husband that they should just...like...split. So they did.
When Uther notices the absence of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, he begins to make enquiries, and discovers that they left in the night, without leaving a note or anything. He had been sitting around thinking the fair Ygraine was going to fall into his lap like a ripe plum. It's good to be the king, and all that. So, now he's a mite miffed, and wants to set off in hot pursuit. He has advisors, some of whom offer the voice of reason--Gorlois owns a couple of pretty stout castles in Cornwall, and is a valuable ally and subject, being rather crusty and uncompromising in the defence of the West. Uther really, really tries to forget about Ygraine. He gets pale. He gets sick. He gets woeful. He sends for Merlin. Merlin had been busy for years, establishing a rep for prophecy and magic, and Uther's man, Ulfius, thinks he's just the guy to have an idea or two. And, boy, does he!
He rolls up and says something to the effect of, "You really want to get this wench, your kingship?" and Uther says, "You betcha!" So, Merlin tells him to mount up the army and head for Cornwall, and he'll think of something along the way.
Well.
Merlin knows something nobody else knows. He knows that the offspring of Uther and Ygraine will be able to unite all the little kingdoms that are falling one by one to the invading Saxons. He really doesn't want to say that to Uther, as Uther wants to think he is the one to do that. You might say that Merlin has his own agenda.
So, Gorlois hears that the king is coming after his wife. As you can imagine, he's not too thrilled at that, so he puts her in Tintagel for safekeeping, and takes the bulk of his army to Terribel, his other castle, to fight the king's men. Tintagel is the more easily defended of the two, which is why he leaves Ygraine there.
So Merlin decides how to get Uther into Tintagel. In his arsenal of spells, there's one which can cause a shapeshift, so that Uther looks just like Gorlois, and the defenders of Tintagel will let him in. It's even good enough to fool Ygraine. He only asks one tiny little favour in return--the couple's first born son. Uther is a tad bit skeptical, but Merlin could sell iceboxes to Eskimos, and before you can say "Bob's yer uncle," Ulfius and Uther are treading the narrow causeway out to Tintagel. They march right up to the gate, with Ulfius disguised to look like Gorlois' best bud, and, lo and behold, it works! They are in like Flynn!
It was either a heck of a spell, or Ygraine thought, "Oh, well, if it quacks like a duck, etc.,"and a good time was had by all. Well, a good time was had by Uther. The stories don't much say if Ygraine had fun, and we are fairly sure Ulfius was not to thrilled with waiting outside the chamber door.
They might could have got away with it, too, except for one thing. Uther's men and Gorlois' men had been going at it all night over at Terribel, and a messenger shows up bright and early in the morning with the sad news that Gorlois has been killed. Ygraine says, "What?! Then who was in my bed last night?" Uther pops out of Merlin's spell and says, "'Tis I, your present king and future husband, and we'd better not have too long an engagement--just in case." Ygraine realizes that marrying Uther would really be for the best and besides, it's good to be the Queen.
Sure enough, nine months later, here's the baby, and there is some controversy in the kingdom about whether or not he is legitimate. Uther figures it's just as well that Merlin is going to take the baby, and, sure there will be others whose status will not be in doubt, hands him off to the wizard at the postern gate.
History does not record how Ygraine felt about this.
So, Uther and Ygraine rule on, and Merlin takes Arthur up north to be raised by Ector. Merlin doesn't tell Ector who he is fostering, and Arthur grows up with Kai, Ector's son, as a brother.
And, on that happy note, we will take a little break. Stay tuned for part two.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)