Medieval Romance
Among the popular tales to gain a permanent place in world
literature are the romances of chivalry that originated in western
Europe during the twelfth century. These stories are romantic
narratives of high adventure glorifying the hero-knight and such
illustrious kings as Arthur of Britain.
The vibrant pageantry of medieval romance derives from the
concept of chivalry--the rules and customs of knights in the Middle
Ages. A knight first swore supreme allegiance to God, becoming a
special defender of the Christian faith. Second, he affirmed his
loyalty to his liege lord, promising to uphold the laws of the realm
and to bring honor to himself and his liege through courage and fair
play in battle. And third, he vowed to protect the weak and helpless-
-widows, orphans, serfs (slaves bound to the land), and all ladies in
distress. The main themes of medieval fiction were set up by the
chivalric code, and the action of the stories deals with knights who
attempt to live by this code.
In addition to their highly idealized accounts of knightly
adventure, the medieval tales often reveal some realistic aspects of
life in the Middle Ages--a life that was crude, barbaric, and even
cruel. Fair play often is forgotten as knights quarrel among
themselves and engage in struggles for power. Loyalty to the liege
lord frequently is put aside in favor of gainful plots against the realm.
Knightly protection is more often reserved for ladies of high rank and
wealth than for poor serfs, widows, and orphans.
The romances of chivalry gave medieval readers a splendid
vision of a new world--a world in which the dull routines of everyday
existence would be replaced by adventure and excitement; a world
in which the grim and sordid would be cleansed with glittering fancy;
a world in which good would triumphantly conquer evil. Perhaps it is
these same visions that appeal so much to the modern reader of
medieval fiction.
Origins of the King Arthur Legend
The medieval tales that were written about King Arthur in the
twelfth century were based upon an oral legend that was already
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centuries old. The legend of Arthur originated in Wales. There, as
early as the sixth century, storytellers were celebrating his heroic
deeds. It seems likely that their stories were inspired by Arturius (or
Arthur), a British chieftain who helped to defend Britain against the
Saxon invaders. During five centuries of telling and retelling, the
Welsh embroidered Arthur's courageous exploits with fiction and
fantasy and pagan belief. They endowed him with superhuman
qualities and surrounded him with supernatural beings. The Welsh
may have been the first to tell how Arthur, healed of his fatal
wounds, would return to rule Britain one day.
By the twelfth century, Arthur's fame had spread from Wales to a
province of France called Brittany, and from Brittany throughout
France and western Europe. The Norman Conquest of 1066, which
imposed the French culture and language on England, made it
natural for a British legend to migrate quickly to France during this
period. Seeing the legendary Arthur as a perfect feudal and
Christian king, the French endowed him with the principles of
chivalry, attached to his court a number of colorful knights, and
made him the hero of their metrical romances.
Sir Thomas Malory
In the fifteenth century, Sir Thomas Malory brought together the
first complete English collection of King Arthur stories in his Le
Morte d'Arthur (The Death of Arthur).
Malory drew together the many strands of French romance and
wove them into eight prose tales that present a unified account of
the life and adventures of the legendary king and his knights of the
Round Table. He finished his work in 1469 or 1470, a time of great
instability in England. The right of Edward IV to the throne was
contested in the War of the Roses. The king himself was devoted to
a life of pleasure in a corrupt court. Malory's portrayal of King Arthur
as the ideal of knighthood presented a stark contrast to the reigning
monarch.
Retelling Arthur's Story
The eight prose romances that make up Malory's Morte
d'Arthur have inspired innumerable poets, novelists, and
playwrights--among them Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the Victorian poet
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laureate, who was fascinated with the pageantry and adventure that
he found in Malory's tales of King Arthur and undertook to write his
own version. The result was twelve long poems published in 1891
as The Idylls of the King.
Several twentieth-century writers have tried their hand at retelling
Arthur's story. British author T.H. White published one of the most
popular versions, The Once and Future King, in 1958. This work has
been adapted into a musical for stage and screen under the
title Camelot.
Drawing from many sources, the British novelist Mary Stewart
told the story through the narrative voice of Merlin in a series of
novels known as the "Merlin Trilogy," published in the 1970s.
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