Post #6: Endurance of the Arthurian Legend

For a thousand years, the Arthurian Legend has been passed down from generation to generation. How has this tale lasted all this time? Simply because it is the greatest medieval romance ever to be told. It is full of love and romance, drama, magic, chivalry, and last but not least, adventure. All these elements would keep anyone interested, from a thousand years ago, to now.

From the beginning of the story, to the end, there is plenty of drama. Arthur's father, King Uther Pendragon, ruler of all Britain, has been at war with the Duke of Tintagil for many years. Uther heard word of the duke's wife, Lady Igraine's, beauty, so he arranged a truce with him. During the feast, Uther became very fond of Igraine, and asked her to be his wife. Being the loyal woman she is, she refused. Enraged, the King sought Merlin the Prophet for help. Merlin made Uther appear as if he were the duke, so that Igraine would give herself to him. "The plan succeeded: Igraine was completely deceived by the King's impersonation of the duke, and gave herself to him, and conceived Arthur."(Le Morte D'Arthur 22). Now if that kind of drama doesn't get someone hooked, I don't know what will.

Another element of the Arthurian Legend that is very interesting is the magic and fantastic. The story of how Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone to become king, and how the Lady of the Lake gave Arthur Excalibur, from the movie Excalibur, and the story of Sir Gawain, in the piece Sir Gawain and The Lady Ragnell, are both perfect examples of the magic. The sword in the stone was immovable. Every person who tried to pull it out failed, until young Arthur easily lifted it out. Arthur ends up breaking the sword in the stone, so the Lady of the Lake appears from the water and gives him the magical sword Excalibur. In the piece Sir Gawain and The Lady Ragnell, Sir Gawain marries a hideous, ogre of a woman for the sake of Arthur. Even though she is disgusting, Sir Gawain still treats her with the respect any woman diserves. By doing so the hideous woman transforms into "a slender young woman with beautiful blue eyes and a serene, smiling face. "(Sir Gawain and The Lady Ragnell 24). Both of these examples show the fantastic in the Arthurian Legend.

There are many other medieval romance elements in the Arthurian Legend that make it such an interesting story, drama and magic are only a few. This legend has lived for over a thousand years and will, without a doubt, live on for a thousand more.