What did I just read?

    Yeah… so Avalon High. I’m not even really sure where to begin with this one. The premise is completely different than any other Arthur story we’ve read. A modern day high school setting is definitely a unique twist on an old story. I can understand how this book could give an ok introduction to the Arthurian legend, but the story itself is so ridiculous that it could only be for children. The ending alone is enough to raise a few eyebrows. Sword vs. Gun? Better surrender. I’m not sure when swords starting beating guns out again, even Excalibur.

    I also cannot stand the whining of teenage girls. So listening to Ellie ramble on about Lance was almost unbearable. We get it, you like him. Let’s move the plot along since we’ve gotten through half of the book and achieved essentially nothing. I guess like what kids in high school also do.

    I should try and pick a few good things out of this story, though. I did like how they linked characters together. Ellie’s parents are historians and can see the story of Arthur unfolding in modern times through their daughter, which was pretty interesting. Will being a football quarterback captain and class president are decent comparisons to what would equate to being “King” in a high school today would mean. The parents of Will and Marco stir up similar feelings as in the real story. If I liked anything out of this book, it was the character web. My one complaint was the relationship between Lance and Jennifer. Yes it had to happen, but no one in high school would ever be that cool over having his girlfriend cheat on him with his best friend. No, high school is full of drama. Will did already like Ellie, but shit would still hit the fan between Will and Lance. I’ve never seen someone be so cool and genuinely happy about that.

    So yeah, overall I did not enjoy this read. This is probably because I’m not a middle school girl, but oh well. Different, yes. Entertaining, not so much. Still, it is pretty interesting to see the story of Arthur change so drastically from how it was told 1500 years ago. That speaks some volume as to the power this story has commanded over time.

I still like Ike

    I really enjoyed the twist of Arthur in modern day New York City running for Mayor. There were a few odd twists, such as the time traveling and demons, but those were pretty funny to read about. Having a small demon pop out and throw a building up in flames was hilarious. The sassy young Merlin was also a fun change, especially since he was essentially running the campaign as a child while no one knew why he was there who wasn’t in the time traveling loop.

    My biggest issue with this passage was actually that Gwen betrayed Arthur to Morgan. That’s just cold! In all of the other stories of Arthur that we read, Gwen and Morgan never conspired together. It was always just Gwen and Lancelot with Morgan off grooming Mordred to overthrow Arthur. This was definitely a twist to me, and one that I thought was a little uncalled for. I would storm off too if I was Arthur when he figured out what had happened.

    As for Arthur’s views, I saw a lot of 500 A.D. Arthur in his answers. The most notable example was his response to gun control, of using broad swords instead because they’re too heavy for kids but a great workout. A lovely thought, but I have yet to meet the gun that loses in a sword fight (except for Avalon High… I’m not getting into that in here). Abortion was a really interesting concept actually. Women suffer through the pregnancy and procedure, so in turn the man pays the cost so as to share in the suffering. I feel like all of his views show his chivalry coming out, but it just isn’t modern enough to be effective anymore. Granted, Arthur has barely had any time in the present. He learned a tremendous amount in such a short time that I feel given longer to prepare and adapt, he could truly be a great leader to New York or even the United States. But unfortunately for this story he is just not ready yet.

    Like I said in the title - If I had to vote for Mayor of New York City today, I would not vote for Arthur. I still like Ike.

A Little Incest Never Hurt Anyone

    Seeing women in power was a nice change in Mists of Avalon. In basically all of the stories during this time period women are depicted as weak, dependent, or evil. To see women as priestesses and to have a female goddess is a big step forward in how women can be viewed in a positive light. Of course this story came well after the first Arthurian tales, and women’s rights movements have made a little progress since then.

    Unfortunately, the animalistic rituals and incest kind of dominated this story and were hard to overlook. Obviously the title of this post is wrong and incest causes serious issues over time. However, before medical research, incest was the easiest way to keep bloodlines pure and keep royalty in power, so it was a very common occurrence. What is shocking though is that brother and sister relationships were never ok. Despite this, Viviane sets up the fertility ritual knowing that Morgaine is being given to Arthur. Just as concerning as the incest portrayed is whatever drugs are used in these rituals. Not only are drugs dangerous, but they are being given to children! Whatever effect they would have on a full grown adult will only be multiplied in kids. I know this is before medical research, but man that’s irresponsible.

    As a side note, I thought it was really funny when Merlin asks Arthur if he prefers the sword or the scabbard. Arthur chooses the sword and Merlin is like yeah but seriously keep the scabbard. I think this is a very typical response of someone younger versus someone older.

Overall this was an interesting twist on the conception of Mordred and on depicting women in a different light than usual. Yes it got weird, but the story itself was enjoyable. I just never want to accidently stumble into Avalon if that’s what they do over there.

At Least Romeo and Juliet Got to Hang Out

    I feel bad for the Lady of Shalott. The entire story it feels like she just always had it bad for no real reason. No one knows her, she can’t leave her weaving or interact with the real world in any way, yet she has a mirror that lets her see what she is missing out on. I think the mirror poses a very interesting question: If she didn’t have that mirror she wouldn’t know any better and would live in a sort of ignorant bliss, weaving because it’s all she’s ever known. So did she need to have the mirror? Obviously for the story she did, but what about in a different situation. Is it better to keep someone in the dark to prevent them from pain? Personally I don’t think so, but that’s the question that popped into my head as I read this.

    While the story is sad, I also find it very dramatic. The story is driving home a point, but this girl has never even MET Lancelot and is so hung up that she curses herself and dies over this man in a mirror. Love at first sight is something I understand, that’s a very common occurrence in stories. I’ve even watched it happen in real life. But to die… that’s a whole new level. Lancelot never saw her, never knew her, yet she died over him. This wasn’t protecting someone you love, or sacrificing yourself for them. No, to me her death was because she decided her life that she had been living wasn’t worth living anymore. Lancelot was merely the tipping point.

    To want a new life and to throw your old one away is a feeling that I think many people have and can relate to. This story is dramatic because it’s a metaphor for lost love, for the ones that got away. I don’t know if I can agree that death should ever be an escape, but I do understand that life can feel unbearable sometimes. For the Lady of Shalott there could be no light at the end of the tunnel, but I’d hope for anyone reading this that they know for people that aren’t cursed there is always a light, you just don’t always know when it’s going to shine.

How Did He Do It?

               The one question that remained unanswered throughout the entire story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for me was HOW THE GREEN KNIGHT SURVIVED HAVING HIS HEAD CUT OFF?? Was that belt truly magical? If the belt was magical, he could actually (try to) chop Gawain’s head off and he would have lived. Then we would have known that that’s why the green knight lived as well. However, the green knight only nicks Gawain’s neck, and then explains the entire test to him. Because he doesn’t actually cut his head off, I couldn’t be 100% certain that the belt was magical at all! Maybe she just said that the belt would make him invincible as a test and he failed. It seems just as likely as a belt actually giving him invincibility.

                Aside from this issue, I did really enjoy the story. The test that the Green Knight came up with was pretty ingenious. Not only was it entertaining for the court, but it gave a very true test of Gawain’s honor. As a knight he is supposed to honor all agreements, and in this test he actually makes two. Now why someone would agree to be decapitated in a year, I have no idea. But Gawain does fulfill all parts of both agreements, except for the final day with the King. By keeping the belt he hopes to survive his execution. Unfortunately, this fails his test of honor.

                The craziest part of the whole story though is the ending. Sir Gawain returns to the court wearing his belt to remind himself of his failure. Next thing you know, everyone is doing it! Green belts are IN, they represent HONOR. If there was any lesson to be taken away from the story, this ending kills it. It’s a Disney ending to me, everything has to end perfect and happy ever after. This story had me right up until that ending, but the ending was just terrible. Yes I understand that the court was doing it to make him feel better, but did he really need to feel better? It’s just a reminder that he’s human and needs to focus on doing better in the future. That’s a lesson everyone should carry with them in life. That’s how I would have ended this story.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

            That is the question that must be popping into knight’s heads every time they are asked to agree to something. Because EVERY TIME, it backfires. The gullibility is almost as unbelievable as a bridge made out of one gigantic sword. The troves of women that the knights get are also unbelievable, but that has enough material for its own post.

Blind trust has been a recurring theme in all of the stories we have read, with The Knight of the Cart being no exception. Everyone in that time period was easily tricked and coerced into completely terrible situations. Right off the bat King Arthur is tricked into giving up Guinevere. Good start. Later, Lancelot sets off on his second attempt to find Sir Gawain and is tricked by a dwarf working for Prince Méléagant and imprisoned. There is also a letter that tricks both Guinevere and Lancelot’s party to return home, where Méléagant now demands his fight with Lancelot (who obviously can’t be there).

The other recurring theme is the idea of promises. There are many promises made and all of them must be upheld. While innately that seems ok, some of these promises are ridiculous. The easiest of them all in this story is that Lancelot convinces his jailer to let him fight in the tournament, and that on his word he will come back afterwards. He’s a knight! Once we walked out of the door he would never need to go back to being a prisoner. Yet he complies and is luckily aided by Méléagant’s sister.

The one odd point about the way this story was written was definitely the ending with the final battle with Méléagant. Lancelot arrives, just in time to switch places with Gawain, and that’s it. End of story. No battle, no winner or loser. It’s as if the story gets cut off right before the climax! I guess it allows us to make our own ending, or maybe the writer just ran out of paper. Either way, it was still an entertaining story with plenty of love, action, and drama for everybody.

Everybody's Doing It!

               After having written about courtly love and how it conflicts with the marriage vows during this time period for the position paper, I have plenty to say about The Saga of the Mantle. This text was my primary example of the issues brought about by these conflicting systems.

                In one corner we have marriage. At this time marriages were typically arranged by the parents, with the man occasionally having some part in the selection, and this marriage was for either economic or political gain. Love was not at all a priority when it came to who someone chose to wed.

                In the other corner is courtly love: a list of rules to abide by when showing love and affection. To follow these rules was to be noble and chivalrous. However, a number of these rules conflict directly with how marriage went back then. Rule number one for example: “Marriage should not be a deterrent to love”. Really? How these two systems could ever coincide is mind-boggling!

                In comes this story about a man and his mantle, here to exploit the flaws in how this society conducted. I thought that using a “magic” mantle was actually a really great example to use for this story. The women (not the men) in the court all try on this mantle one by one, with it never fitting one properly. So now all of the women in this court, including the queen herself, are found guilty of adultery and shamed by this stranger. One woman, however, asks permission from her man. His reply that he will love her either way and that she doesn’t need to put it on is really what this story is about; love, faith, and trust. These are all values that all marriages need to be successful, and to try and fit into a mantle to claim purity isn’t going to solve anything.

                My take on this story, as was my position for the position paper, are that the marriage rules needed to change. Well, more of an update. In modern society we marry for love. Although with a 50% divorce rate I am starting to wonder how much that’s still occurring. I think that reading this story in this time period gave me a chance to see how the world has evolved and that even back then; people saw those flaws and the need for a change. It just wasn’t time yet.

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!