*Sniff Sniff* Last Post

With this being the last post, I will have quite a lot to talk about.   The class in general was always a pleasure going to.  I enjoyed everyone’s comments brought to each discussion, as well as the energy throughout the class. It wasn’t one of those ‘sit back and let the teacher talk for an hour and a half (some lecture classes).   I enjoyed the class from start to finish. I now know a hell of a lot more about King Arthur than I did coming into the class. Coming into the class I really had no idea who or what King Arthur actually was except a king during the medieval era (my actual thoughts). Coming out of this class, I’ll be able to further explain all the mythologies, tales, and tribulations that has brought the origins of the legend of King Arthur.

 

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                From all the stories we read this semester, I have a few that I would call my favorites for this class. I really enjoyed the story of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, that was probably the first one where the stories started to peak my interest, even though “The Knight of the Cart” was interesting too.  However, I found SGGK was weird in which made me like it even more. Another story that I liked was obviously the Grail Quest.  The quest stories would always have me deep into the pages. I like some of the romance section but when I read stories I follow well with more actions than talking.  Being said I did like the poems of the Lady of Shalott and The Passing of Arthur. It was really cool dissecting them in class so I could better understand what was being said.  Once and Future King was really great to read. It was new seeing the young Arthur, especially after watching Sword in the Stone.  Knight Life sort of intrigued me, mostly because it was seeing the same old Arthur but changing the time period and throwing him into New York City. Before we were assigned to read it and the professor was explaining it I felt it sort of reminded me of the movie Enchanted, except without all the Disney influence. I liked the twist of Medieval Arthur living in modern times (even running for mayor).  I would have to say that Avalon High was a real joy to read. Like I said in my earlier post, it was a guilty pleasure of mine. All the other readings weren’t bad to read. They each help give different interpretations of Arthur, but the ones that I pointed out were most interesting to me. 

 I don’t think there would be anything I would change from this class, it was a very enlightening.  Our professor, Mitchell-Buck was a veryyyy good instructor. The energy and enthusiasm she brought to each class really made it always a pleasure to be in class. Maybe this is just wishful thinking for the future, but it would have been awesome to watch Quest for Camelot. I think it would be a great addition to next semester’s class! Thank you so much for putting together such a great lesson about King Arthur. Thanks a ton for the donuts and not having us WATCH Avalon High.

-JH

Arthur vs. Predator

I’m still sticking to my movie idea of King Arthur vs. Predator.  I feel as though if it weren’t a movie, then it could be a comic book or graphic novel for sure! I had the idea when I saw my dad looking at one of the Wolverine vs. Predator comic. It gave me some ideas of Arthur vs. Alien, but Predator is pretty badass, and I’d like to see two badass fighters go at it.  I think if I were to cast Arthur in such a role, I think it would be Chris Hemsworth, just because I’ve seen him as Thor and it would see him just as fitting playing King Arthur.

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I did like Ruth’s idea about the BBC version with Mi6/SIS agents. However, whenever I think of this I think of James Bond (probably because I watched Skyfall the other night).  But I think would have definite potential.  Would Daniel Craig be a good Arthur, if it were ever a topic?

With regards to my theory of Leonardo DiCaprio playing Lancelot (in any King Arthur film adaptation) I still think it would be a perfect match.  I know we all dislike Lancelot, but the attractive features that characterize him match perfectly to how any girl would see Leonardo DiCaprio (well…in my opinion). Even if he is a hated character but is “beautiful” on screen, I do recall a certain movie in which DiCaprio played a vicious plantation owner (Django Unchained). Here we have the same scenario because everyone loves Leonardo DiCaprio, but his character is a terrible, cold hearted plantation owner, in which the audience is obviously going to hate. However, being the hated character that he is, we still find him interesting nonetheless. In fact, besides Christoph Waltz’s character, Calvin Candie (DiCaprio) was my second favorite character in the movie. This, in my opinion, would be the same outcome I could see happening if DiCaprio were to ever be casted as Lancelot.

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"A Knight Life at Avalon High" By King Gary

Last week was very stressful and trying to get to the blog was the least of my worries (my bad).  I wanted to first share my thoughts on “Knight Life” before I head into thoughts on Avalon High. With “Knight Life”, I did enjoy the take on Arthur coming to terms with the modern times and seeing the familiar characters from previous readings.  I wasn’t into the political aspect of the story even though it did give the story a new twist on the Arthurian legend.  I did like the topics the reporters gave Arthur, including abortions and gun control.  I felt, like we discussed in class, that Arthur was honest with regards to his answers to those topics, even though the reporters thought his opinion as controversial.  I liked this outspoken Arthur, because he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, even if it wasn’t appropriate.  I really enjoyed the fight scene between Arthur and the waiter.  It brought back that sense of the heroic Arthur who fought the waiter/demon.  After reading these excerpts and discussing the author, Peter David, I did some further research and found out that he was actually in charge of running Marvel’s Incredible Hulk.  More relatively, David did a sequel to “Knight Life” and made “One Knight Only” which depicts Arthur Penn as President.  I would think this would be another interesting read to future classes…perhaps.

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On a side note, I was watching a movie this weekend that had a scene relevant to King Arthur.  If anyone has heard of the movie, The World’s End, there was once scene where the main character, Gary (also refers himself as King Gary…actual name is Gary King) gets mad because one of his friends won’t drink beer.  He makes fun of him by asking if King Arthur asked for water after he fought in countless battles. I wish I could find a clip of this scene.  It is harder to explain because it’s funnier when the whole scene is played through.   Check it out if you want, it’s a great film either way.

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                As for Avalon High…I feel like this was the most interesting read from this class.  Don’t get me wrong, I did like the epic Grail Quest and the tale of Arthur’s youth, but this interpretation was actually a guilty pleasure.  I enjoyed all the drama and seeing the characters as high school students (and Merlin as a teacher) I would definitely keep this as a future read for other classes.  Even though some parts were a bit cheesy or over dramatic, it’s a teen drama, which means the audience is going to be people of that demographic who thrive off that stuff.  The story overall was very different than what I expected.  It was like King Arthurian times met any typical high school movie. However, I would have very much read this book than watching the movie on Disney.  After hearing all the reviews, I’m glad I missed out on such a terrible film adaptation. Enjoy the photo.

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-JH

 

Late Night Thoughts/FanFiction, Holt

Now that we have finished the Mist of Avalon, I was once again fascinated at getting a different perspective in which the women portrayed were the main focus even though Arthur was involved.  To me, it was interesting to see the female characters actually have a lead story built in besides Guinevere (even though she was included too). I do like change ups in story and this shed some new light as to how what the women were saying and thinking during that time. It was good to be in their shoes for once instead of being in the knights’ the whole time. Even coming through a guy’s point of view, I’ve wondered at times during some of the past readings what possibly could have been going through some of the maiden’s head.  When combined feminism with the Mist of Avalon, the part when Lancelot doubted Morgaine could climb the Tor because of her skirt really stuck in my head. Her best quote was “…surely men know that women have legs like their own. It cannot be so much of an offense of modesty to see what they must be able to imagine.”  I think this was the perfect quote to compare when talking about the ideas of feminist.  Morgaine wasn’t afraid to get rough and dirty as all maidens are supposed to have some moral of staying clean and proper for their men. Lancelot was surprised that she was out of the ordinary, but men today are shocked how women can do the same things men can do, even better. I am interested in reading Knight Life. I am looking forward to the kid-type merlin and a 1980’s Arthur running for mayor.

Unlike everyone in class, I thought the ritual of the hunting of the dear was stranger than the incest between Arthur and Morgaine.  It took me a while to realize that Morgaine was under the influence of something (basically drugs). However, the whole process of hunting the deer had me a bit lost until I read further and with a little more assistance in class.

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When we discussed fan fiction, I didn’t quite understand what it was until I investigated it further. I had an idea of what it was but my perception was a little off.  There is actually a site: www.fanfiction.net in which you can see all types of genres based on shows, games, movies, etc. All fan fiction. Some of the stories are so detailed to add an extra storyline to what has already been conceived.  It is crazy how people can carry on with such an imagination with their favorite novels or movies. I always thought of fan fiction for TV shows were related to spin off shows. For example “Breaking Bad” was a television show, but they are doing a spin off show concentrating on Saul “Better Call Saul” could this be a fan fiction? I don’t know how spin offs work but that’s what’d I’d imagine a fan fiction to be.

Versions of Arthur Concluded, Holt

Before we move onto the Mists of Avalon, I’d like to conclude my thoughts on the age difference found from our past readings to T.H. White’s version of King Arthur.  With our presentation on “The Sword in the Stone” and T.H. White’s version of the young Arthur or ‘Wart’, we get a new perspective of Arthur in his very younger days.  He was very scrawny and naïve to most of his surroundings.  Comparing this to previous versions of Arthur where we didn’t even get to experience him as a child. I think seeing Arthur’s up and comings were a great new way of understanding Arthur and even if they are told in different versions, we’ve come to notice different tales told in a variety of versions (i.e. Dracula). It was also interesting to see Merlin in a new light. As discussed in class as previously reading being the son of the Devil, Merlin is just as real as you or me, except his a powerful magician with a tremendous beard. I enjoyed Merlin’s silly approach to things in the story, as well as Arthurs. It was a lot better than the serious Merlin in the early readings who predicted everyone’s death.   Also seeing the difference between a clean and organized Merlin (Death of Arthur) rather than a disorganized messy Merlin (Once and Future). 

Overall I felt that the “Once and Future King” version of Arthur gave me a better perspective at a more ‘real-er’ version of him. Hearing a godlier version of him in the “Death of Arthur” books felt a little too overwhelming even though the things he did were pretty badass.  I felt that the version in T.H. White’s version was more relatable only for the fact that he seemed more human and seeing him grow from a thin boy to a king, we could see his uprising and how he changed the throne and led the knights of the roundtable.  As I said in class, if I could have the best of both books combined into one Arthur, I would have envisioned my Arthur as the Aragorn type in which he had a personality, feelings, and could lead an army of undead.

-J.H

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Lady of Shalott: Final Thoughts

To conclude the poem of Tennyson’s “Lady of Shalott”, I would just like to follow up with just a few more thoughts before moving on to the “Idylls of the King”.  When it comes to the lady looking down the stream into Camelot, I knew it wouldn’t be a smooth sail into the town when the comparison “Like some bold seer in a trance, seeing all his own mischance- With a glassy countenance did she look to Camelot”.  After finding out that ‘mischance’ basically meant bad luck, I knew things were not going to end well for this lady.  Like we discussed in class, I agree that dying from your blood freezing would definitely be a terrible way to go, but at least she was singing up to that point and supposedly died without pain.  I don’t think I’d sing knowing that my body was going to end up lifeless in some town I’ve never been to.  As for the townsfolk of Camelot “crossing” themselves for fear, I would also be frightened to see a dead woman’s body flowing down a stream.  It would definitely add more hype had these townsfolk assume that the grim spectacle to be an “omen” as we had discussed.  Lastly I would just like to say that I stand to my comment made earlier during class which was my theory as to how Tennyson portrayed Lancelot as the bravest of the other fear-stricken knights because he was brave enough to say something positive about the “unknown” lady.

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I thought this photo representation of the Lady of Shalott by John Atkinson Grimshaw was pretty spot on and was the exact what I had imagined when reading the poem.  The white robe that she was wearing and how it looks like she is pale from her frozen blood paints a perfect image.  

J.H

King Arthur: First Week Thoughts

While finishing my readings and Influence Map this week, I have come to a realization on how blind I was coming into this class. Mythology and medieval times is one thing, but actually diving in to this “fable” that is King Arthur, I am prepared to embark on a knowledge quest on what this legend was all about, when I thought he was actually real to begin with (even if he is or isn’t).  Of course the media persuaded my mind to thinking that such a legend actually existed.  My first witnessed experience with King Arthur had to have been when watching the Disney movie, The Sword in the Stone, which wasn’t a good first representation of the character but as a child it had me to believe that there was a powerful sword in a rock and whoever could pull it out would be deemed king (Arthur/Wart).  Quest for Camelot was also a child favorite of mine, which had some relevance to the King Arthur tale. After that I guess I had all these run-ins with medieval movies that only the name “King Arthur” stuck with me and gave me the mindset that all these movies were about him and that He was an actual person (especially with the 2004 movie, King Arthur).  Even the movie DragonHeart would make me think of the name King Arthur even though now I realize it has nothing to do with him.  My general understanding at the time was that only these words associated me with the Medieval Times: Camelot, Excalibur, swords, knights, Lancelot, Dragons, and King Arthur. I have definitely improved my understanding of the Medieval Times now, but back in the day I was very close minded when it came to the Renaissance Era.

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As we talked about in class on Wednesday with regarding the size of Arthur’s shinbone, I did agree with everyone’s opinion about what that “size” resembled in a much bigger picture.  Obviously, there aren’t many people today that have the same size shinbones as Arthur may have had, but the book stated about Arthur’s skull and face to that of basically a giant.  Understanding what detail the book went into to explain Arthur’s size could literally mean that he was powerful in that his features were inhuman or that of a God.  Relating power to size is a common characteristic that most people give to others who have demonstrated heroics or exceptional honor to many.  A great example would be God himself. He has been depicted in movies to be a huge man, sometimes muscular, bearded and mostly long haired (almost wizard-like).  We give him this label because he was the creator of the universe and created life in its simplest form.  I don’t think people would give a description of someone who created all living things as “oh he looks like my elderly neighbor”.  From this class, I am hoping to gain knowledge about who King Arthur was as a whole and what he did to make people respect him and keep him in legends that have made him sound like an actual historical figure today.

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