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!

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!

Original Thoughts of Arthur

I'm still working on my influence map, so I haven't included images from the assignment, but the assignment has made me think about who Arthur, what characteristics he has, and who influences him. I wanted to start this blog with listing my original thoughts of King Arthur, and hopefully see how they change over the semester.

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While Arthur is usually referred to as “King Arthur”, I realized that I rarely think of him in this role. My general impressions of Arthur is of a young boy or man coming of age or to power. He is learning who he is and the type of ruler he wants to be. My vision of Arthur is rooted from movies likes Disney's "The Sword and The Stone" where he becomes King at the end, and is wearing a crown and robe that are too big for him that he still needs to grow into, much like I

see him needing to do as King.

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Because I associate Arthur as someone who is young and becoming King, I consider him to be inexperienced and in need of guidance, and what character better fills this role then Merlin. In my mind, Merlin plays the role of a puppet master who usually is an old man, but has been portrayed as a young person. He pushes, manipulates, and counsels Arthur in his decisions, which Arthur sometimes listens to without conflict and other times challenges. Merlin plays a vital role in Arthur’s life because he develops and guides Arthur to become a king with the influence of magic. I have a difficult time thinking of Arthur without Merlin. On the BBC show Merlin, Merlin and Arthur are described as “ two-sides of the same coin”, which is a perfect interpretation of their relationship.

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From my exposure with King Arthur, he seems to always be on a journey to become King. The stories usually end with him being crowned and becoming King Arthur, but until then Arthur needs to prove himself worthy of being King. An image that sticks out to me, that shows Arthur is the real King, is the Sword in the Stone where he needs to pull the sword out of the stone in order to prove that he is the actual King. That story of Arthur is a good representation for me. He constantly needs to prove to himself and people that he is worthy enough to be King.

The last idea that I associate with King Arthur is his Knights of the Round Table. The concepts of Knights make me think of bravery, duty, and honor. I picture men going into battle fighting for a worthy cause. I think of Arthur's Knights as fighting for just causes, and dedicating their lives to quests. The video link is from "Monty Python and The Holy Grail" when Arthur and his Knights come across the French and ask about the Grail. While this is one of my favorite parts of the movie, it represents the quest that Arthur and his Knights supposedly went on in search of the Holy Grail.


                                       

                                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yjNbcKkNY

These are not all the ideas I have about Arthur, but highlight the major contributors to who Arthur his. All of these ideas shape a concept of a young man learning how to be King, so I think it will be interesting to see a perspective of Arthur as older and already crowned and in a position of power.

King Arthur, Monty Python, and Merlin

Okay...just me, posting on a blog here. I think I will write about my influence map, and how it relates to my ideas on King Arthur. My influence map is posted below (unless my computer skills aren't with me today).

As you can see, there are movie references on my map. This is because my ideas on King Arthur have been based mostly on movies I have seen. Juvenile? Maybe, but who could forget...

"'Tis but a scratch!" (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

I'm sure your image of King Arthur may be a noble knight who looks something like Fabio, but mine is Graham Chapman from Monty Python chopping off the limbs of the stubborn Black Knight. As for the way I envision Arthur's other foes, well, I'll let you see for yourself...

 In fact, I thought King Arthur was an actual, real-life historical figure up until I was in middle school.

Wait...he wasn't real...was he?

As you can see, my knowledge of King Arthur is limited... 

"Get on with it!!"

The next movie I added to my influence map is The Sword in the Stone. I probably watched this movie about fifty times with my grandparents as a kid. The imagery was so appealing to me, and I couldn't get over how adorable Merlin was with his annoying bird-friend.

Aren't they cute?

Merlin has always been the most fascinating character to me in the King Arthur legends. It's because of him that I have no idea why anyone believes that the legends are true. I can believe in a noble king, but I find a wizard hard to buy. How could this have actually happened? Then again, I believe things in the Bible that may seem far fetched to some. Either way, I'm fascinated by Merlin. Who was he? What did he do? What was his relationship to Arthur? I seem to care more about Merlin than Arthur himself (which is why Merlin is in the center of my influence map).

(I wonder if this "witch" from Monty Python was a reference to Merlin at all)

I also added images of chivalry and courtly love on my influence map. There is a modern image of chivalry because I think the virtues that King Arthur had are valued in society today. It seems that women are put in powerful positions in these legends. Courtly love seems to give a woman a respectable position, instead of the damsel in distress. Although, it is hard for me to believe that two people can be in such a close relationship without any tension...Anyhow, that's all I have to say for now. I leave you with the song of The Knights of the Round Table. Farewell!