Le Morte d'Arthur

Section 1 pg. 583-585

Summary:

King Uther is advised by Merlin to have his son, the future king Arthur, brought up by the family of Sir Ector. Soon King Uther becomes ill and dies causing fights between barons over who would become king. The Bishop of Canterbury, with the help of Merlin, devises a method to find the next king of Britain. This method was that whoever was able to pull free a sword set into a block of marble and an anvil was the true king. Sir Ector thus decided to bring Author and Sir Kay, Sir Ector’s son, to the tournament. However when Sir Kay found that he had forgotten his sword he had Author go retrieve it. Unfortunately Author was unable to enter the building where Sir Kay’s sword was kept. Thus to fulfill Sir Kay’s wishes Author rode to bring back the sword in the stone to Kay. Author succeeded in removing the sword where all others had failed. He then had to replace the sword and prove several more times that he indeed was the true king.

Vocabulary: None

Reflection:

Since this reading was only a short excerpt from the book it is difficult to get a feel for the characters. I do however fid it interesting how Author must prove he can remove the sword not once or twice but multiple times. Before removing the sword though Sir Kay appears to have quite a grasp on Author’s actions from a semi- sibling point of view for although my brother will retrieve things for me in nearby rooms I doubt that he would act as Arthur and not only head back many miles to get it but go so far as to fetch a replacement for the original object he could not retrieve.

Section 2 pg. 586-597

Summary:

Sir Lancelot went out with Sir Lyonel in search of adventure, when passing by an apple tree sir Lancelot suddenly became very tired and went to sleep. While he slept Sir Lyonel stood watch until he saw four knights, one taking the other three as prisoners. Sir Lyonel went to challenge this knight who was Sir Tarquine a ferocious knight, sadly though Sir Lyonel lost and was also taken as a prisoner to Sir Tarquine’s castle. A comrade of Sir Lancelot, Sir Ector ended up at the castle of Sir Tarquine and was soon taken prisoner like the others. As this was all taking place Sir Lancelot still slept until awaken by four queens who took him as a prisoner unless he would take on of them as his paramour, he refused. Fortunately a young noblewoman freed Sir Lancelot in return for his services in an upcoming tournament for her father, King Bagdemagus. Sir Lancelot, in this tournament is fighting against many even Knights of the Round Table whom he injures badly. He then leaves the company of King Bagdemagus and his daughter and is rewarded with many gifts.

The next day Sir Lancelot sees a young noblewomen and asks her if she knows of any adventures and she tells him of Sir Tarquine’s castle. Thus Sir Lancelot heads to challenge Sir Tarquine as they fight neither gains any advantage over the other. Soon Sir Tarquine makes a truce with Sir Lancelot that if he is any knight with the exception of one they will be friends, but alas Sir Lancelot is that one exception and ends up beheading sir Tarquine anyway and freeing all his prisoners. Sir Lancelot then rode off but was soon followed by Sir Ector, Sir Lyonel, and Sir Kay. Sir Lancelot eventually came across a knight mistreating a women and sir Lancelot proceeded to split the knight’s head. Sir Lancelot reached a gate keeper who wouldn’t let him pass and after killing him Sir Lancelot reached a castle where he was attacked by two giants whom he soon killed thus releasing nearly sixty women from their prison.

Much later when Sir Lancelot was sleeping in the home of a hospitable young woman he heard Sir Kay outside and aided Sir Kay in dealing with three knights attempting to challenge and attack Sir Kay. In the mourning Sir Lancelot donned on Sir Kay’s armor as to allow Sir Kay to return home for the Pentecost undisturbed. Thus Sir Lancelot was often challenged due to others thinking he was Sir Kay and they are surprised when they find they are actually fighting Sir Lancelot the most famous knight of King Arthur’s court.

Vocabulary: paramour-a lover

Reflection:

I have no predictions because this is just bits and pieces of the book; however I do think Arthur will die based on the title. Based on this reading I think Sir Lancelot is a fairly caring knight due to how he treats Sir Kay and switches armor with him because Sir Lancelot though ahead and knew how to aid Sir Kay in returning home for Pentecost unharmed. I enjoyed how Sir Lancelot was the hero on several occasions by freeing prisoners from castles but he never took any of the castle treasure for himself, he just let the prisoners have it. Malory appears to have a writing style where a lot happens in a short period of time if this exert is directly taken from the book. He gets to the point without a lot of detail and embellishment but it keeps the readers attention because something is always happening.

Section 3 pg. 599-604

Summary:

Sir Modred decided to take charge of Arthur’s throne by writing a letter announcing Arthur’s death. As king he attempts to gain Queen Gwynevere as his wife but she deceives him and builds up a defense against him. Sir Modred begins to gain support from the lesser nobles for what will become a battle against King Arthur. After the battle is fought King Arthur finds Sir Gawain injured the two speak of Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawain writes to him asking for him to return to help Arthur; Sir Gawain then dies. Sir Modred sets up another battle against Arthur in which a truce is made with all of Sir Modred’s terms agreed to due to a dream Arthur had in which Gawain’s ghost appeared to offer him advice. However Sir Modred’s and king Arthur’s Armies had been told to attack at the glint of a sword and by mistake the battle began and ended with only four men surviving. Two of these men are King Arthur and Sir Modred who fight until Sir Modred lies dead and Arthur is badly wounded. Sir Lucas and Sir Bedivere aid Arthur and try yet fail in trying to move Arthur to a more suitable shelter. King Arthur then sends Sir Bedivere multiple times to throw the sword Excalibur back into the water and report back what he sees. King Arthur then asks Sir Bedivere for one last favor to take him to the water’s edge and from there into a barge to take King Arthur from life to death. King Arthur is buried and The Archbishop of Canterbury as well as Sir Bedivere become hermits devoting themselves to Arthur’s tomb. Some though believe Arthur is not dead thus his tomb is inscribe in Latin with words saying, “Here lies Arthur the once and future king”

Vocabulary: Vouchsafed- to grant or consent

Succor- something that brings relief

Reflection:

My prediction that Arthur would die was correct. Although I didn’t predict that people would believe he didn’t die. I think that a section of this shows how simple misunderstandings can be blown out of proportion causing unbelievable consequences. This is demonstrated when King Arthur and Sir Modred meet to discuss the terms of a truce and a soldier pulls out a sword because of a snake and the battle quickly erupts from there. I also find it fascinating how Arthur has to tell sir Bedivere multiple times to throw the sword into the Lake because Sir Bedivere can’t bring himself to do it. I find Arthur to be a strong leader who can keep his head in even the most difficult times when chaos is erupting from all over the battlefield. Sir Modred is a scoundrel in his attempt to usurp the throne but it proves true that for Sir Modred power corrupts fortunately though that does not appear to be true with Arthur. Based on his actions I don’t think Sir Modred is following the code of Chivalry very well.

Between King Arthur and Sir Lancelot I find Arthur to be the better leader but Sir Lancelot to be the better man in how he is always looking for adventure but adventure that always seems to help someone. However Arthur also shows desirable traits in how he tries to please his cousin by bringing him a sword. In the packet there is more information on Sir Lancelot’s endeavors than King Arthur’s, but in conclusion I find Sir Lancelot to be the better man.