Kennedy's Camelot




A Modern Camelot: The Kennedy Brothers

When I hear or think about the word "Camelot" I immediately think "Kennedy."  The Kennedy family has often been associated with the  legendary Camelot.  The men were attractive, young, influential, and charismatic. The women and children were beautiful.   President Kennedy and the first family were certainly photogenic. Did the Kennedy's hold the keys to the kingdom for a while--a modern Camelot?  Some people would say "yes."  Others might call the Kennedy Camelot a piece of Madison Avenue myth making.  Christopher Snyder's statement "Like all myths it contains truths, though not usually literal ones" (The World of King Arthur) might be applied to Kennedy's Camelot, the  presidency and the political activism of his brothers.   

"Creating Camelot," is an exhibit at the Newseum, on display until March 16, 2014.  The show features the photography of Jacques Lowe, personal photographer of President John F. Kennedy.  How are legends made?  Photographs are one way to create visual narratives and lasting impressions that shape history.  

Jacques Lowe's photographs helped construct a romanticized portrait of a president and his family.  In contemporary society there are many ways to create, reproduce, and spread stories, images, and  impressions. Archiving information, documenting history or creating myths, has never been easier with modern technology.   When people hear the phrase "going viral," they do not associate it with influenza epidemics.  In King Arthur's day, it was the bard or storyteller that carried news or fashioned a captivating tale.  Stories traveled by foot, horse, and ships--a slower pace then today's news. 

Where is the truth in a story if it is not literal?  Whether it is a 20th century president or a 6th century king, the pictures, emotions, and embellishments of the storyteller might actually be closer to the truth then a dry listing of facts. Here is an example of literal truth and truth.  Looking at the itemized, paper receipt of groceries bought with food stamps is a true record of poverty.  However, the grocery receipt is not as powerful a picture as my friend Gary's story.  He once told me he didn't like coffee because "As a kid I was left alone for the weekend.  The only thing in the house to eat was a jar of instant coffee crystals." Gary's family had bouts of underemployment.  It is true that instant coffee will not feed a child's hungry belly.  Both the receipt and Gary's instant coffee indicate true things; but only one truth is an indelible story from over thirty years ago. 

Maybe, as suggested by Christopher Snyder,  the truth  of the Arthur's Camelot is about what makes a virtuous king,  or the beginnings of a national identity, or the romantic vision of an ideal place and time.  Perhaps  the same could be said for Kennedy's Camelot captured in the photographs by Jacques Lowe on display at the Newseum.

The Attempt to Disillusion Me

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32900000
King-Arthur-arthur-and-gwen-32900096-500-661.jpg

What characteristics come to mind when thinking of King Arthur? Who is he as not just a King, but as a man? For me, I envision someone who is courageous and brave, which he demonstrates through the different battles he fights. He believes in fairness and equality, which is represented through the idea of the Round Table, where no one sits at the head of the table making all the Knights equal. He's a protector of his people, and as a result he has earned their respect, loyalty, and love.

Arthur is the ideal King. He is symbolic of what other Monarchs should strive to be like. He is a King who does not just cares for his people in words, but serves them in action. I think that has a lot to do with King Arthur's appeal. He seems to base his decisions on what he truly believes is in the best interest of his people and his kingdom before anything else. His actions and behaviors makes him the type leader people wish they have.

Our text, from last week, tried to disillusion me, and, thanks to Dr. Mitchell-Buck's underlining, I noticed it.  In our Who Was Arthur reading from Snyder, there was a very brief description of Arthur as a "tyrannical monarch" (15). One of the OED definitions of a tyrant is "a ruler who exercises his power in an oppressive, unjust, or cruel manner", so I never imagined King Arthur in this role.  The description in the reading actually shocked me because it was so far from the ideas of what I have had about Arthur as a King.

The Most Menacing Picture of King Arthur I could Find
http://images.rtsguru.com/articles/images/2000/1386/KA.jpg

Yes, I am aware that my ideas were naive. Most rulers will have someone, somewhere who has the perspective that they are an unfair, I just never pictured it with King Arthur. However, I guess on reflecting on it, Arthur, was a King and he was a ruler. Not everyone can be happy, and someone is going to be his enemy or someone in his kingdom is going to be suffering somehow like from hunger or poverty.

                                           My other favorite Monty Python Moment
                                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8bqQ-C1PSE

Maybe King Arthur was not the perfect King in all his stories that I have imagined, but the idea of being a tyrant is not comforting one. I like the idea of Arthur being a model of a good king. Even if he makes mistake, I like the fact that that he considers the people around him, and I do not picture a tyrant doing that. There are big differences in the images I have of King Arthur and images of tyrants. I want to keep some of those ideas I have of Arthur being good because there is a big difference from the Arthur above, with a storm around him and blood dripping off his sword, and this…

http://static.tumblr.com/cwwlyeu/8LJlufqo8/tumblr_ltfnntuxnt1qb5ym2o1_500.gif

Influence Map: King Arthur

Hey everyone! For the first blog post I decided to share my influence map and discuss the importance of each picture and what it symbolizes to me. I don't know very much about King Arthur so I searched for some examples that I thought represented a king.

When I hear King Arthur I think of a strong, noble man who was born during the Medieval time period. In my map I have 8 photos starting on the left with the musical "Camelot". I chose this photo because one of the first things we discussed in class that related to King Arthur was Camelot. The style of the two on the cover is a huge significance to me and make me think of King Arthur and how people dressed back in that time period.


The next picture is a knight on their horse fighting another knight with a sword. Because of my perception that King Arthur is strong, and the fact that he is a king, makes me visualize him fighting other knights.

Next is the picture of King Arthur sitting at the round table with all of his knights. They all have their swords lightly touching the table. This may signify that they are about to go out into a battle or it may be some type of ritual. I believe King Arthur to be caring of his knights and that he cares for them more than himself.

Now we have King Arthur holding a crown over his head. To me personally, this is the typical visualization someone would create when imagining a king. I believe most kings are confident, and the holding of the crown over his head symbolizes pride and honor.

In my fifth photo, there is the book "Legends of King Arthur Through The Ages". I haven't read this book but it is a book I would read because it would talk about numerous events throughout King Arthur's life. The old time print and scenery on the cover make me think about the time period King Arthur grew up in.

The largest and most influential picture in my map is King Arthur and the woman he is with. I don't know who she is, maybe his wife, a queen, or a stranger. She seems to have some type of control over him. There seems to be a serious situation going on and maybe it tests King Arthurs true strength. It is suspenseful and suspense comes to my mind when I think of King Arthur.

The crown makes me think of King Arthur and the materialistic item that symbolizes him as a king. Most people visualize a crown on a kings head, especially during Medieval times. The crown is a strong representation because only a king or queen has the power to wear it and is seen as sentimental.

Lastly, the last photo on the bottom left is a view of England. From what we've discussed in the past couple classes, I know some or maybe all of King Arthur's life took place in England. The way the buildings look and the sun shining over them resemble King Arthur and his surroundings.

When I think of King Arthur, my mind instantly brings me to a really corny movie I owned when I was younger called the Sorcerer's Apprentice. Not the newer one with Nicholas Cage, but a 2002 version (wow that makes the movie 12 years old, yikes!) that barely even mentioned Arthur at all. It was mostly about a young boy that befriended his elderly neighbor, who turned out to be the sorcerer Merlin. There's a whole battle against good (Merlin) and evil (Morgana), of course, and in the end the evil sorceress is defeated. I put a picture from this movie on my influence map although this movie is a poor excuse for an Arthurian legend. It is still a fond childhood memory that I relate back to Merlin, magic, and King Arthur. Therefore it will always come to mind when asked about this topic. 

Oh! Such Magnificence and Fame in Your Round Shape!

The title does, in fact, refer to the Round Table; the one that brought all of King Arthur's knights together for some nice, manly bonding in politics and war ( Ah those bloody Romans).  And perhaps just to chat...no probably not.

They just look so symmetrical, it's amazing! I really like this depiction of the round table from First Knight

But you are probably thinking "Duh, the Round Table is Arthur 101" and you would be right, since it is brought up so often in Arthurian legends that it goes hand in hand with Camelot! However, to me the table also brings together the knights whom I have grown up reading about since I first began my journey with this king of legend.

The  book above was written by Gerald Morris, and is included in my influence map! I read the book in sixth grade, and it actually focuses more on Gawain, and his page Terence, then on King Arthur. This book also made me more fascinated with the knights of the round table in general ( it was also humorous as the front cover demonstrates, I mean I usually don't ride a horse in that manner). So instead of focusing on the king himself the books succeeded in glorifying Arthur through his knights and the people, much like legends show.

"...these three rings represent
the unity of our kingdom.
As a knight, I took an oath...to protect Camelot, King Arthur
...and Excalibur."

With the round table, and the knights who sit there, there comes to mind the great sword of King Arthur: Excalibur. I grew up with the beautiful movie Quest for Camelot ( thus the picture) and so I have always viewed the sword as a mighty magical gift that brings the kingdom together. Yet, in the reading Geoffrey refers to the sword as Caliburn. I was puzzled at that moment but after looking into the name I discovered it was the same sword but just different context. Meaning: it is the difference between Welsh legend (Caledfwich) and the later altered name in Continental Europe: Excalibur. Yes, it bothered me immensely why the sword had different names! Glory to the internet for leading me to salvation!

Random Ramblings for the Start of Term

Fair warning to all, when I think King Arthur my mind has been programmed to first think of either Bradley James or Graham Chapman. There is of course all the notions about courtly love and tournaments and magic in there as well. But Bradley and Graham are the first things to come to mind. So I apologize in advance if I post a fair amount of their faces when I need examples. Like right now.

(They don't look too much alike.)

I grew up reading stories about King Arthur (books tend to become a big player when you suck at making friends) but they were generally watered-down children's versions of the stories. They focused more on comedy and the fun aspects of life in Camelot. Less so on the murder and betrayal and war.

King Arthur was one of those kings who seemed to be good at his job to a fault. He put everyone else before himself to a point that it was basically unhealthy. That's the preconception I've had for most of my life. I'd like to see how it changes over the course of the term.

That's not to mean he wasn't a bad-ass fighter and a great leader. Important qualities in a medieval king but he could have learned to watch his own back around his family. (Yay Mordred).
Anyway...that's about it for me.

King Arthur from high school

There's not a lot I remember about King Arthur but what I learned in ninth grade, so my influence map is based off of my knowledge of Jing Arthur from the ninth grade.
This photo represents what I remember about King Arthur the most. I do believe that King Arthur was real and not a made up character. When I think about King Arthur I think about a war hero and a strong solider. I think about tho when I see the photo of King Arthur pulling the sword for the stone.

Another photo that I remember studying well was the death of King Arthur in Le Morte De Arthur. The thing I remember the most is how sad everyone around King Arthur is that he passed away.

King Arthur and a Little Confusion

Overall I think, I am going to learn a lot from this class. I did do the readings and I have learned a lot about King Arthur that has challenged my perception of who King Arthur was. To know that he was just a man -a very large man- is really cool. I would have never of guessed that his shin bone would stand taller than the the shin bone to the tallest man at the excavation site. Also it is really interesting to learn about Arthur's father Uther Pendragon (Dragon's Head) and the time before Arthur became King.

Also, I expected there to be more about merlin in the story. I really wish there was more about Merlin because of what I do know about the King Arthur story Merlin was an interesting character that was really influential on the entire story. Furthermore, I wanted to learn about Excalibur and the Sword and the Stone.

Although, I have learned a lot so far I am still a little confused of how things are happening because I am not to familiar with the King Arthur story. I also don't think the combination of campus closings and me being gone for a class has helped in my favor either. I am confident though that things will start to make more sense once I get into the classroom and the timeline should start to complete for me.

Who is King Arthur?

Even though we have only had one week of class, I can tell many of my interpretations of King Arthur’s will be wrong.  I’m not too surprised though, especially because most of my knowledge of this time period comes from comedy and movies.  I’m excited to be proven wrong, but also a bit sad that Monty Python’s Holy Grail is slightly inaccurate. 

           There is this image of a knight that is selfless and willing to do anything for everyone else, but himself.  I question how much of what we believe in are just bedtime stories or of a man that Britain can stand behind.  Books tell us there is a man, which lived in Britain, and had the perfect ideals that is what we think of when we think of medieval knights.  When I think of a knight, in the late Roman Empire, I think of a knight more interested in plunder of other countries, than fighting for what is right.  Although there had to be at least one, possibly King Arthur, that had the right combination of ideals to be remembered throughout history.

            To me, Arthur was just an ideal, an ideal of someone that people wanted to lead them away from the life they had.  It’s not that much of a stretch to believe that people living in the dark ages wanting to not worry about death more than life.  If they had a knight to be their trail blazer, than the people of Britain would move onwards and upwards towards a better life.  I desperately want Arthur to be a real person, but I’m a bit of a skeptic.  Hopefully this class will enlighten me, and equip me with knowledge to make a better decision.

Heroes, Boar Hunting, and Hog Dogging

 As soon as I read about Arthur’s dog and boar hunting in Romance of Arthur, I realized that Arthur’s narrative is placed in the company of Odysseus and Hercules. Heroes, like Arthur, are often presented with seemingly impossible challenges. Boar hunting goes along with bravery and other extraordinary feats associated with heroes. Hercules’s fourth labor was to capture alive an enchanted, and especially nasty, boar (Classical Mythology, 9th ed., Morford et el). According to Homer’s story, The Odyssey, Odysseus was wounded by a boar as a boy. Arthur’s dog Cabal was needed to capture the boar Troynt. Of course I wondered what kind of dog Cabal might be.

Modern boar hunting dogs would give me an idea about qualities needed for the sport. An internet search provided ample information about wild boar hunting past and present. Why do people, or heroes, boar hunt? One answer might be to prove their strength, their skills, and their bravery in the    face of danger. Both in the past and in the present, boar hunting requires at least a pair of dogs   (Wikipedia). One dog is the “bay” dog. The bay dog tracks, alerts (barks), and controls the wild boar’s movement. There may be more than one bay dog. The second dog is the “catch” dog. Catch dogs take the boar down and hold the boar by the ear until a human hunter can come in for the kill. Both dogs and human handlers risk the danger of being gored by a boar tusk. Bay dogs are hounds or specialty breed dogs—like the Louisiana Catahoula. Catch dogs are understandably the larger bully breeds like the American Bulldog. So perhaps Arthur’s favorite dog, Cabal, was a muscular bully breed or hound.

 There are many dog sport trials and events that provide opportunities for humans and their dogs to compete for titles or prizes, testing their skills against the skills of others. Some of these sports are:  agility, canine free-style, rally-obedience, obedience, dock diving, herding, gun dog, tracking, scent detection, lure coursing, earth dog, barn dog, and hog dog—hog dogging. I gathered a good bit of information on boar hunting and hog dog events from a short video titled “Uncle Earl’s Hog Dog   Trial.” Uncle Earl’s Hog Dog Trial is a four day bay dog competition. To get an idea of how bay dogs     work boar in a controlled environment check out this short video            

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MezcPKXOgcE

 This year Uncle Earl’s Hog Dog Trial will be held on March 19 -23 in Winnfield, Louisiana. Now wouldn’t that be a different sort of spring break? For more information on this year’s event  http://fullboarproductions.org/ 

Wild boar hunting with dogs is extremely dangerous for the dogs. Though dog owners can equip their dogs with protective Kevlar vests and collar, there are plenty of opportunities for dogs to become injured in training and hunting. Bay dogs are at less risk. Their primary task is tracking and  controlling the wild boars through movement and barking. I couldn’t bring myself to look at any catch dog work, or training. Is using dogs for wild boar hunting like dog fighting? In Arthur’s time, the task of killing a boar was achieved by a skillfully placed blade or pointed object. Boar hunting   heroes faced the danger and risked the chance of goring and death.


 One thing that sets Arthur apart from the hero Odysseus is the care and loyalty Arthur shows toward his men. After the Trojan War ended, Odysseus and his men set sail for their homes in Ithaca. After ten years and many detours, only Odysseus made it back to Ithaca! All of his men had perished. I am guessing that Arthur may be more like the hero, and founder of Rome, Aeneas. In Virgil’s Aeneid, Trojan Aeneas left his defeated homeland with a ship load of countrymen. Traveling similar seas as  Odysseus, Aeneas arrives at his final destiny with all of his shipmates except his elderly father (who died along the way). Care for his countrymen’s welfare came first for Aeneas as it did for King Arthur.

 Part of what makes a hero, like King Arthur, are the qualities of character he exhibits in all circumstances. In Romancing Arthur we have seen a glimpse of him as a general, as a host, and as a ruler. We already know that he was large like the half-human and the half-god heroes Hercules and Achilles. He also killed hundreds in battle like Odysseus and Achilles. Like Hercules, Arthur hunts an enchanted boar. It will be interesting to see how he continues to measures up against the other legendary heroes.

Legend of King Arthur and Legend of Zelda

Thinking over what I know about King Arthur and the stories about him and what we all learned in class about him, I've noticed similarities with the Legend of Zelda.  The Legend of Zelda is basically a series of games made by Nintendo about this boy (named Link) who is a selfless, virtuous hero who in most game plots saves princess Zelda, the people of Hyrule (Zelda's castle) or some group of people.

Take a look at the intro video for my favorite Legend of Zelda game, Windwaker, that I put rto the left and you can see that there are some similarities between the boy hero Link and King Arthur.  The idea that a selfless, virtuous hero saves countless people for a cause assigned to him.  ANOTHER striking similarity is Arthur's sword excalibur and the Master Sword in the game.  Link goes into a castle to pull the master sword and only the true hero is able to pull it up from the stone inside a castle-King Arthur was the only one who was able to pull excalibur from the stone...IT'S JUST TOO SIMILAR!
I find that the legend of King Arthur has pieces that are mysterious to me (same with the Legend of Zelda); concrete details about his existence seem to be unknown or unreliable.  I think it's that aspect of legends that make them easy to believe in and glorify.  King Arthur seems to be seen almost like a god because of his selfless sacrifices and his origins are written about vaguely similar to writings about Jesus.

I'm branching off right a lot now so I think this is where I'll end my mini rant about King Arthur being similar to the Legend of Zelda and apparently Jesus.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Even though we have only read a handful of pages so far this semester, it has given me an idea of this class. For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in the tales of the Knights of the Round Table, Merlin, The Holy Grail, and Arthur himself. So far these readings have mentioned pretty much all of these things. Therefore, I have a feeling that I am really going to like this class. The readings thus far have been interesting. The parts of the readings that I found fascinating are the dog print on the rock and the size of the bone and skull of Arthur. The fact that the rock cannot be taken from the top because the paw print will always return to that spot is very intriguing. Also the idea that his shine bone reached above the knee of the tallest man is an extraordinary idea. These  readings are great examples of why I chose to  take this class.

I have been working on my influence map at the same time as I finished the reading. This combination of assignments has made me think about how I view King Arthur and his story.  I have an understanding of the Arthur story that is different than the one as told by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I have always accepted that Lancelot and Guinevere had an affair, Lancelot was not even mentioned by Geoffrey. I believed that Merlin had a much larger part in Arthur's life that this reading let on. Having watched Sword and the Stone and Quest for Camelot, I expected to see much of Merlin in this reading. Another part of the legend I was expecting to see was Excalibur, the sword only Arthur could remove from  the stone. I was also quite surprised to see Arthur as king for so much of the story, many King Arthur stories or legends lead up to his coronation, whereas this led up to his death. I would not say I did not enjoy this version of the King Arthur story but I felt like it was out of place as part of my knowledge of Arthur without the Round Table and some of the characters that I am so very familiar with when it comes to the story of Arthur.

My Mainstream Influence Map

    I have never been a big reader, nor have I been a big movie buff. Sadly my childhood was more on the TV and video game side. Therefore, the legend of King Arthur is honestly something that I have never really been exposed to. I did watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I know better than to take their word as truth. I know basic facts, and a few of the basic characters, but that's about it. Hearing everyone's answers in our trivia game definitely made me feel that I will have a lot of catching up to do on this story. Despite not having a detailed understanding, I did still have some ideas of what it was about and I did my best to represent those in my influence map:

 Figure 1: My Influence Map

    Most of my photos I'm sure represent the basic facts: knights of the round table, holy grail, Excalibur, Britain, a castle, knights and sword fights. However, I wanted to dig deeper and try to make some "informed predictions" about what else I could expect as I begin to learn about this exciting tale. The three images I have not mentioned are these predictions. My thoughts when picking them was: "If I was making a King Arthur movie, what else would I add to bring all of this together"? I added the flaming hearts for love, although the love will turn out to cause conflict later on. The evil looking Roman is for a villain, which I imagine as the Roman ruler at the time instead of a Saxon or Celt like King Arthur was commanded to fight against. My third image is the small one of the winding dirt road because, to me, it appears that King Arthur and his knights spent most of their time traveling on their horses down dirt paths such as that one.
    In just our first week of class I have come to learn a lot about this legend. Most importantly, I think I have finally seen just how large this story has become. This is one of the largest and most import stories in history. It's been represented in multiple countries, across centuries, and it still has such a large presence today. To me, this was always just a cool story, a myth. But the more we dig, the more I think I am going to see the truth in it. Even thought the story itself may be false and have had a lot added to it over the years, what the story represents is what's important and why it has lasted this long. I am truly excited to learn all that this story has to offer because the more I see, the better it gets. Can't wait to find out if that holds true all semester long!