The Lamentation of King Arthur William Bell Scott

King Arthur Pendragon is a legendary Briton leader who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early sixth century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. Above, Belgium Tapestry depicting King Arthur

• Lancelot, knighted at Merlin’s and Gawain’s request • Foster mother is the Lady of the Lake, who gave Arthur Excalibur • Trustworthy knight; affair with Lady Guinevere • Affair revealed by Agravain and Mordred • Author sentences her to burn at the stake for treason • Gawain refuses to participate in punishment Lancelot & Guinevere, Donato Giancola (2004)

Study of Guinevere for Sir Lancelot in the Queen's Chamber 1857, Dante Gabriel Rossetti • Lancelot rescues her, killing Gawain’s brothers, Gaheris and Gareth • Gawain pressures Arthur into war with Lancelot • Arthur goes to France to fight, leaving her in care of Mordred • Mordred plots against Arthur • Arthur mortally wounded (Le Morte d’Arthur, by Sir Thomas Malory) • Dies at Isle of Avalon • Guinevere meets Lancelot one final time, then lives in convent or possibly the Tower of London • Lancelot also lives as a hermit

The Holy Grail • a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions • most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper • said to possess miraculous powers. • kept by the Fisher King, it kept him alive from his debilitating injury • Galahad was to find it; illegitimate son of Lancelot & Elaine, the Fisher King’s daughter • Other seekers- Perceval, Bors, and Lancelot • Perceval original seeker, but fails in quest & swears to return • Bors only knight to return after they take Grail to the Middle East How at the Castle of Corbin a Maiden Bare in the Sangreal* and Foretold the Achievements of Galahad: illustration by Arthur Rackham, 1917 *references the Holy Grail, but can also mean “royal blood”

• referred to in literature such as Alfred Tennyson's Arthurian cycle the Idylls of the King. • Gained popularity after sexualized imagery in Richard Wagner's late opera Parsifal • associated with female fertility • Movie associations: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) (adapted in 2004 as the stage production Spamalot); was a comedic adaptation. • Excalibur attempted to restore a more traditional heroic representation of an Arthurian tale, in which the Grail is revealed as a mystical means to revitalise Arthur himself, and of the barren land to which his depressive sickness is connected. • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and The Fisher King are more recent adoptions. The Damsel of the Sanct Grael by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Tristan and Isolde Herbert James Draper (1863– 1920) • Tristan is a knight of the Round Table, sent to retrieve Isolde, so that she could marry his uncle, the King of Cromwell. • They accidentally consume a love potion and face many trials while trying to hide their passionate love for one another • Associated with talent with the bow and scimitar • Inspired Richard Wagner’s famous opera Tristan and Isolde

Sir Ector & Sir Kay • Foster dad of King Arthur, at Merlin’s behest • raised Arthur with his own son, Kay • Arthur was Sir Kay’s squire until Sword in Stone competition • Sir Ector & Sir Kay first to pledge fealty to Arthur as the new king Uther Pendragon & Lady Igraine • father of Arthur by sleeping with enemy’s wife (Gorlois & Lady Igraine) • names means “head dragon” or “dragon head, ” hence the dragon for the standard • Uther is best known from Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain • Uther marries Igraine and they have another child, a daughter called Anna (in later romances she is called Morgause, sister to Morgan le Fay) • Arthur later has adulterous affair with Morgause, begetting an illegitimate child, Mordred • Mordred is half-brother to Sir Gawain Uther Pendragon by Howard Pyle, from The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, 1903

Sir Gawain Pyle, Howard, "Sir Gawain the Son of Lot, King of Orkney" from: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. New York: Scribner's, 1903. University of Rochester. • Mordred’s half-brother, nephew to Arthur • Faced the Green Knight, a challenge presented secretly by Morgan le Fay to reveal Lancelot & Guinevere's affair • formidable but brash warrior, fiercely loyal to his king and family • friend to young knights, a defender of the poor, and as "the Maidens' Knight", a defender of women as well • In some works, his strength waxes and wanes with the sun • When his brothers Agravain and Mordred plot to destroy Lancelot and Guinevere by exposing their love affair, Gawain tries to stop them, due to friendship with Lancelot • When all brothers but Mordred are killed, he seeks revenge on Lancelot

"Sir Mordred" (1902) by H. J. Ford • Convinces Arthur to go to war with Lancelot • Mordred usurps Arthur’s throne in Arthur’s absence • Gawain is mortally wounded & writes to Lancelot, asking for his help for King Arthur to defeat Mordred "Sir Mordred" (1902) by H. J. Ford • Arthur’s illegitimate son • Best known for killing King Arthur • Virtually everywhere Mordred appears, his name is synonymous with treachery. • He appears in Dante's Inferno in the lowest circle of Hell, set apart for traitors • Is killed by Arthur, after mortally wounding him

Merlin • legendary figure best known as the wizard in Arthurian legend, but known in vast more stories • stories conflict as to whether he was good or bad, a help or a hindrance • his downfall was loving a woman called Nimue (or other variations of that name; also known as Vivienne) • he taught her his magic, and she bespelled him inside a cave/tree/something, depending on the story • Numerous depictions and portrayals based upon him: Gandalf the White, Albus Dumbledore, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Qui-Gon Jinn • Even Disney has their own Merlin in The Sword and the Stone Gustave Doré’s illustration of Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”, 1868. (Merlin conferring with Arthur)

Morgan Le Fay • alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana • powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend • she becomes an antagonist to King Arthur and Queen Guinevere • said to be the daughter of Arthur's mother, the Lady Igraine, and her first husband, Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, so that Arthur is her half brother (by Igraine and Uther Pendragon) • she becomes an adversary of the Round Table when Guinevere discovers her adultery with one of her husband's knights; she eventually reconciles with her brother, and even retains her original role, serving as one of the four enchantresses who carry the king to Avalon after his final battle Morgan Le Fay, Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys

Avalon "The last sleep of Arthur" by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne. Jones. • legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend, famous for its beautiful apples • place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged • where Arthur is taken to recover from his wounds after the Battle of Camlann, his final battle with Mordred • an "Isle of the Blessed“ • parallels elsewhere in mythology, in particular the Irish Tír na nÓg and the Greek Hesperides, also noted for its apples. • Literally means "isle of apples • "Isle of Avalon" is a song by Iron Maiden on their 2010 album The Final Frontier that deals with the mystic powers of Avalon

Excalibur • Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone (the proof of Arthur's lineage) are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate • sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain

The Lady of the Lake How Sir Bedivere Cast the Sword Excalibur into the Water. Illustration from: Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur. London: Dent, 1894 • Various writers associate her with, or named her as Nimue, Viviana, Vivienne, Elaine, Ninianne, Nivian, Nyneve, Nimueh and other variations • Known for giving Excalibur to Arthur • Accepted Excalibur from Sir Bedivere after Arthur’s death (he threw it into the lake) • she always reappears at a pivotal moment of the episode, establishing the importance of her character within Arthurian Literature, especially in Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory • Walter Scott wrote an influential poem, The Lady of the Lake, in 1810, drawing on the romance of the legend • The three "Ellen songs" from Scott's poem were set to music by Franz Schubert although Schubert's music to Ellen's Third Song has become far more famous in its later adaptation, known as "Ave Maria".

Other notables: Tintagel: is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village and nearby Tintagel Castle are associated with the legends surrounding King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. The village has, in recent times, become attractive to tourists and day-trippers from many parts of the world and is one of the most-visited places in Britain. Camelot: the most famous castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12 th-century French romances and eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world. The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status. The symbolism of the Round Table developed over time; by the close of the 12 th century it had come to represent the chivalric order associated with Arthur's court.

And finally… • Middle Ages/ Medieval Literature • Ideas of chivalry Famous works/authors • Geoffrey of Monmouth- tons and tons of Arthurian writings • Sir Thomas Malory- Le Morte d’Arthur • Unknown- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight