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Le Morte Darthur

Sir Thomas Malory

“ Le Morte Darthur is undoubtedly the last definitive interpretation of the Arthurian myth before the dawn of the English Renaissance.”

Table of Contents

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Life of Sir Thomas Malory (1405-1471)

Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel, Warwickshire’s life remains mysterious, intriguing, and controversial as he was somewhat of a troublemaker and spent most of years in and out of prison. He was born in to a family of reputation and prestige. For generations they had lived “in the English Midlands near the point where Warwickshire, Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire meet.” John Malory, a former sheriff and current esquire who maintained land in three counties, “Philippa Chetwynd... and they had at least three daughters, and one son, Thomas, who was probably born within a year either way of 1416.” Very little is known of Malory’s younger days. At 23, he was a respectful landowner who seemed only mildly interested in politics. By 1441, he was knighted and served as a parliamentary elector for his neighbors. He quickly “married Elizabeth Walsh of Wanlip in Leicestershire, who later bore him a son, Robert.”

Yet, after his marriage, things began to change for the young knight. The year politics and civil unrest were thrown together, 1449, was the beginning of Malory’s trouble with the law. “On January 4, 1450, "[Malory] and 26 other armed men were said to have laid an ambush for [the Duke of] Buckingham in the Abbot of Combe's woods near Newbold Revel.” Then, on May 31, 1450, he was accused of raping a woman in Coventry. The two seemed to have had some sort of tryst and her husband, under the new laws about rape even when a woman consented advocated by King Richard II, brought the case to trial. “On May 31, 1450, Malory "allegedly extorts money by threats from two residents of Monks Kirby. On August 6, 1450 Malory "allegedly rapes Joan Smith again and steals 40 pounds worth of goods from her husband in Coventry. On August 31, 1450, Malory "allegedly commits extortion from a third Monks Kirby resident. On March 5, 1451, a warrant is issued for his arrest, and a few weeks later, "he and various accomplices were alleged to have stolen cattle in Warwickshire -- 7 cows, 2 calves, 335 sheep, and a cart worth 22 pounds at Cosford, Warwickshire (116-22). Buckingham, taking with him 60 men from Warwickshire, attempts to apprehend Malory, but "in the meantime Malory apparently raided Buckingham's hunting lodge, killed his deer, and did an enormous amount of damage" -- 500 pounds worth.” His “rap sheet” only got longer as he was in and out of jail until Henry IV’s reign when his political allies, the Yorkians, pardoned him.

He soon returned the favor by helping in Edward IV and the Earl of Warick’s expedition to take back the castles of Alnwick, Bamburgh, and Dunstanborough, that Lancastrians had seized in earlier years. After the castles were taken back, Malory settled down. Or so it seemed…“In 1468 and again in 1470, ‘he was named in lists of irreconcilable Lancastrians who were excluded from royal pardons for any crimes they might have committed. Most of those excluded were at liberty; but the Morte Darthur shows us that Malory was in prison, completing his work.’” Back in prison, he had ample time to write. In October 1470, he was freed again, but died shortly after. He was “buried under a marble tombstone in Greyfriars, Newgate, which, despite its proximity to one of the jails in which he had been imprisoned, was the most fashionable church in London. On the day of Malory's death, King Edward landed in Yorkshire, and two months later the Yorkists were back in power.” His tombstone is said to have read, “Valens Miles” or ‘valiant knight.’ The controversy, ambiguity, and irony of Malory’s life still remain a mystery – one that (perhaps) can only be found in between the lines of Le Morte Darthur. (Riccardi)

Malory and the Legend of Arthur

Le Morte Darthur is thought to have been written around 1469 during one of Malory’s  many stints in prison. In creating Le Morte Darthur, Malory relied mostly on French legends and reworked them from an English perspective. “Malory's original book was called The Book of King Arthur and His Noble Knights of the Round Table and was made up of eight romances that were more or less separate. William Caxton printed the work in 1485 and gave it the misleading title of Morte d'Arthur.” Caxton first pubished the work in 1485. “Caxton’s edition was divided into 21 books and 506 chapters!” Another manuscript was discovered in 1934 at the Fellows Library of Winchester College. This second manuscript is the one we use most commonly today.

http://www.enotes.com/le-morte/

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0831410.html

Critical Reception: Here is what a few scholars (chosen somewhat arbitrarily!) have to say about the Le Morte Darthur. The dates indicate the times when the critics published their work.

1858: Thomas Wight: “And therefore, reader, I advertise thee to deale with this book as thou wouldest doe with thy house or thy garment, if the one doe want but a little repaire thou wilt not (madly) pull downe the whole frame, if the other hath a small spot or a staine thou wilt not cast it away or burne it, gold hath its drosse, wine hath its lees, man (in all ages) hath his errours and imperfections. And though the times are now more accute and sharp-witted, using a more eloquent and ornated stile and phrase in speech and writing then they did, who lived so many yeares past, yet it may be that in the age to come, our successours may hold and esteeme of us as ridiculously as many of our over-nice critickes doe of their and our progenitours, as we are refined in words I wish we were reformed in deeds, and as we can talke better, it were well if wee would not doe worse. Wee perceive their darknesse through our light, let not our light blind us that we may not see our owne ignorance.”

1895: Roger Ascham: “S. Paul saith, that sectes and ill opinions, be the workes of the flesh, and frutes of sinne; this is spoken, no more trewlie for the doctrine, than sensiblie for the reason. And why? For, ill doinges, breed ill thinkinges. And of corrupted maners, spryng peruerted judgementes. And how? there be in man two speciall thinges: Mans will, mans mynde. Where will inclineth to goodness, the mynde is bent to troth: Where will is caried from goodnes to vanitie, the mynde is sone drawne from troth to false opinion. And so, the readiest way to entangle the mynde with false doctrine, is first to intice the will to wanton liuyng. Therefore, when the busie and open Papistes abroad, could not, by their contentious bookes, turne men in England fast enough, from troth and right iudgement in doctrine, than the sutle and secrete Papistes at home, procured bawdie bookes to be translated out of the Italian tonge, whereby ouer many yong willes and wittes allured to wantonnes, do now boldly contemne all seuere bookes that sounde to honestie and godlines. In our forefathers tyme, whan Papistrie, as a standyng poole, couered and ouerflowed all England, fewe bookes were read in our tong, sauyng certaine bookes of Cheualrie, as they sayd, for pastime and pleasure, which, as some say, were made in Monasteries, by idle Monkes, or wanton Chanons: as one for example, Morte Arthure: the whole pleasure of which booke standeth in two specially poyntes, in open mans slaughter, and bold bawdrye: In which booke those be counted the noblest Knightes, that do kill most men without any quarell, and commit fowlest aduoulteres by sutlest shiftes: as Sir Launcelote, with the wife of King Arthure his master: Syr Tristram with the wife of kyng Marke his vncle: Syr Lamerocke, with the wife of King Lote, that was his own aunte. This is good stuffe, for wise men to laughe at, or honest men to take pleasure at. Yet I know, when Gods Bible was banished the Court, and Morte Arthure received into the Princes chamber. What toyes, the dayly readyng of such a booke, may worke in the will of a yong ientleman, or a yong mayde, that liueth welthelie and idlelie, wise men can judge, and honest men do pitie, And yet ten Morte Arthures do not the tenth part of so much harme, as one of these bookes made in Italie, and translated in England.”

1971: D.S. Brewer: “Malory both in his actual style and in his treatment of the story in the beginning shows himself a beginner, and unluckily far too many reader have been permanently put off by Malroy bu the incompetencies of his first stories. He is a beginner of genius and even in the first main section the magnificent story of Balin and Balan reveals his power and depth, but as a general rule Malory naturally enough gets better as he goes further and clarifies to himself, and for us, (not necessarily conceptually) the nature of his task and the effects he desires” (89).

1979 : Richard Barber: “Malory succeeded in both isolating many of the incidents, often told in passages many pages apart in the French, and in strengthening such links as remained, especially if they offered a point of contact between his own tales” (136).

ABOUT THE WORK

Introduction

Le Morte Darthur is a wonderfully crafted myth about the rise and fall of a kingdom. It is the first major prose and English and considered the greatest by many. Malory took French legends and blended them with English alliteration and English values. What holds these seemingly separate stories together is the impending doom that is felt throughout the myth. The story creates characters that are both shattered by political conflict and wrought by personal conflict and the philosophy of death and destruction carry through the books.

“The historical basis of the Arthur legends is the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain. In the three centuries after the first settlement of the Germanic invaders in that island, the Britons were gradually driven in to the mountains of Wales and Cumberland and the peninsula of Cornwall, or they fled across the Channel to turn Armorica into Britaany. Meanwhile they suffered almost uniform defeat. But for a while about the year 500 they won victories that for nearly half a century checked the Saxon advance. Their leader was Arthur, a good general, but probably not a king.” Nennius’ chronicles, written three hundred years after Arthur’s successes give us a glimpse into the “hero-in-the-making.” Yet, Malory’s work still remains, “the best and clearest comprehensive story of King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table that the Middle Ages have left us” (Neilson).

Character List:

Below is a list of characters found in Le Morte Darthur. I am sure there are many more, but the majority of major characters are here. It is a bit hard to keep track of everyone in the story so the list is in alphabetical order as a quick referencing guide. (Note: I did not alphabetize “king”, “duke”, “queen”, etc.)

Andret: Tristam’s cousin, but loyal to Mark

Arthur: king and son of Uther Pendragon

Lady of Astalot: in love with Launcelot

Aunowre: A sorceress who tries to get Arthur to be unfaithful

Balan: Sir Balyn’s brother

Balyn: the Knight of two Swords

Sir Baudwin of Britain

Bodywyne: Mark’s brother

Borre: Arthur’s son

Sir Brastias and Sir Jordanus : knights of the duke

Duke of Cambenet, King Brandegoris of Stranggore, King Clariance of Northumberland, King Urience, King Cradelmas, King Nentres, Cador: rides with Lancelot

King Carados: swear to kill Arthur

King Claudas: joins Arthur’s enemies

King Damas: the cowardly king

Sir Ector and his wife: elected wards over Arthur

Archbishop of Canterbury: counseled by Merlin

Elyane: Pellas’ daughter

Duke Eustace of Cambenet: battles against Arthur

Sanam

Evelake (Mordrayns): A four-hundred-year-old wounded knight

Excalibur: Arthur’s sword

Gains: beheaded by Gawain

Galahad: Elyane and Lancelot’s son

Garlon: an invisible knight

Guinevere: Arthur’s wife and Lancelot’s lover

Igraine: wife to the duke and then to the king

Sir Kay : Sir Ector’s son

Sir La Cote Male Tale : The Knight with the Ugly Coat

Lady of Avilon: wears a scabbard at all times

Lady of the Lake: gives Arthur his sword

Lavine: fights with Lancelot

Lionors: An earl’s daughter whom Arthur is attracted to and first son’s mother

King Lot of Lothian, King Uriens of Gore, King Nentres of Garlot, king of Scotland, King with the Hundred Knights, king of Carados: attend a great feast in Wales and some try to make war with Arthur

Ladinas and Gracian: two French knights

Lancelot du Lake: Ban’s son

Laudgreaunce: gives Arthur the Round Table

Launceor of Ireland: killed by Balyn

Lucan and Bedivere: the last two knights left standing with Arthur in his final showdown with Modred.  

Sir Lucas, Sir Griflet: Along with Sir Kay, they serve the three kings at all Hallowmass

Manessen: Accolon’s cousin

Marhault: defeats Gawain and Ywain

Mark: wants to avenge Launceor’s death

Damsel Meledysaunt : (Ugly-Talking): scolded by Lancelot for constantly mocking others

Dunedin: imprisoned with Tristam and Palomydes

Melias: rides with Galahad

Melliagaunce: kidnaps Guinvere

Merlin: a man of wonders and counsels Arthur

Modred : Arthur’s second son and enemy

Morgan le Fay: Arthur’s sister

Nineve: Damsel of the Lake; killer of Merlin

Palomydes: tries to get with Isode

Sir Phariance: A worshipping knight

Pinel: tries to poison Gawain

Sir Placidas: fights with Sir Kay

Priamus: A Saracen knight

King Rience of North Wales and King Leodegrance of Cameliard: make war on each other

Duke of Tintagil : Duke of Cornwall

Tristam: Knight with the Black Shield

Sir Ulfius: a noble knight

Uther Pendragon: King of England and Arthur’s father

Urry: healed by Lancelot

Ywain: Morgan Le Fay’s son

Plot Summary

The following is a brief outline of the nine books in the text. There are only subtitles which are meant to provide a very short description of each book and each chapter. You can click on the link to read the actual summary of each chapter.

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Mal1Mor.html

BOOK I:  

BOOK II

BOOK III

BOOK IV

BOOK V

BOOK VI

Book VII

BOOK VIII

BOOK IX

Analysis of Three Major Characters :

King Arthur: Malory’s Arthur is ‘’undoubtedly the most powerful and persistent in the British imagination.

Lancelot: Malory’s Le Morte Darthur focuses on a completely different emphasis from the French versions of Lancelot. In Malory’s version, we find Lancelot as the first knight of the Round Table. In the French version, Lancelot is not nearly as chivalrous or brave. The fact that he is Guinever’s lover does not seem as important in Malory’s works as in the French cycle. Through Lancelot, “He [Malory] seems to have been concerned to diminish the distinction between religious and secular chivalry, and to remove the religious atmosphere of purification and repentance as a keynote of the Quest” ( Barber 137).  Lancelot’s death is also different in Malory’s version (as opposed to the French cycle). “The French version makes him die, rather uncharacteristically, of religious devotion; but Malory gives the cause as his enduring love for Guinevere. A certain premonition of disaster before the great battle between Arthur and Modred heightens the tension, while the aftermath shows the totality and human intensity of the tragedy” (Barber 138)

Guinevere

THEMES

Chivalry: The lifestyle and moral codes followed by the medieval knights. Malory blends military, social, and Christian ethics for the knights of the Round table (and knights in general) to follow.

Courtly Love
Although courtly love is not emphasized as much in Le Morte d’Arthur as it is in the French Romances there are many examples of courtly love:

1) Sir Gareth defeats the Red Knight, and wins the love of Lady Lyonesse. Gareth represents the ideal love. 2) Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere’s love is adulterous, but also idealistic. “After his introduction into the text, it is clear that many of Launcelot's heroic actions are designed to please the queen. He is clearly her favorite, and justifiably so, since in all of his adventures, Launcelot is brave, honorable, and strong. Because Launcelot fights to please and honor Guinevere, and not God, he is excluded from the quest for the Holy Grail. This image of courtly love changes when Launcelot is called upon to fight to save Guinevere's life.” Launcelot rescues his lover from Melliagaunce, and then kills him. The two suffer because of their love, but they love each other nevertheless.

Honor and Chivalry
The knights of the Roundtable must have honor. Arthur's knights owe him honor, but, more importantly, they owe honor to God. “For nearly all of the knights, their adventures, battles and tournaments, are fought to honor their king, or more immediately, themselves.” Examples of this include: 1) Gawain’s fight for personal and family honor 2) Launcelot’s fight for the queen's honor 3) Galahad, Bors, and Percival place honor of God ahead of personal honor, vanity, and pride. “Malory makes individual character an important element of his story, and how each character conducts himself, in an honorable fashion, is a key point in the text.”

Fate and Destiny
“Characters are fated to meet one another on the battlefield or in tournaments, and fated to win or die based on an action that occurred much earlier, and for which, they may hold no responsibility.” Examples include: 1) Balyn is fated to kill his dearest friend and brother. 2) The burial spot of Launcelor is fated to be the sight of the battle between Launcelot and Tristram, who are destined to fight each other. “This fate or destiny is not attributed to God or other spiritual matters, but instead to characters present in the text. Both Merlin and the Lady of the Lake act as representatives of fate, manipulating the characters and their actions to create a fate they predict.”

Obedience
“Obedience is an element of the duty and responsibility that all knights owe to their king and God.” Obedience to Arthur is a part of every knight's code, even when bedience results in certain death. There are several examples of obedience to Arthur's commands, where to do so will bring harm to the knight. One such example occurs at the beginning of the quest for the Holy Grail, when Arthur learns of the sword in the floating stone. Arthur learns that the legend promises that only the best knight in the world can claim the sword, and if any others try to pull out the sword, they will be cursed. Launcelot refuses Arthur's order to try, but Gawain willingly obeys Arthur's order because Arthur is his king and he has commanded it. In another section, Arthur orders Guinevere to be put to death. In this instance, Gawain refuses to obey his king's command, but his brothers, who also object, are present. As a result, Gareth and Gaheris are murdered by Launcelot during his rescue of the queen.

Revenge
Much of the action in this epic revolves around revenge. The eye for an eye motif runs through the individual character's stories. For instance, Sir Pellanor kills King Lot, and Lot's son, Gawain, to avenge his father's death, will later kill Pellanor. In another example of revenge, Gawain and his brother, Gaheris, murder Lamerok, whom they accused of an adulterous relationship with their mother. This feud, between Lamerok and the sons of King Lot, has motivated many of the sons' actions before culminating in death. Finally, it is Gawain's insistence that his brothers be avenged that leads to the destruction of the Round Table. Because Arthur and Gawain are pursuing Launcelot, they leave Britain and the queen unattended and Mordred seizes both. Had Gawain been able to pass on the need for blood revenge, the battle in which he and Arthur were destroyed, would not have happened. Ultimately the theme of revenge, most particularly the familial blood revenge, runs throughout the epic and leads to the destruction of all that Arthur had created

Symbols

A few key symbols include:

The Grail: [ The name of a legendary sacred vessel, variously identified with the chalice of the Eucharist or the dish of the paschal lamb, and the theme of a famous medieval cycle of romance.]

Excalibur

Statue (from the Tristam tale): The statue that Arthur designed by Arthur and his chief advisor is thought to represent a political system in which there are various sovereignties and each is separate, but equal to one another. William Piper notes that while Arthur controls the twelve kings, Merlin actually controls him – “in attaining eminence that commemorates the statue.” He finds that there is a symbolic union between Merlin’s statue and Arthur’s kingdom. Through this political representation, Malory is trying to link politics to art. Thus, Arthur’s England is really Malory’s England and Arthur’s politics provides Malory and entrance through literature into politics as well.

STUDY HELP

Essay Questions

These questions are adapted from:

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-182,pageNum-59.html

  1. It has sometimes been argued that Le Morte Darthur was not originally intended as a unified legend, but was merely a sequence of unrelated tales. Accordingly, Eugéne Vinaver, in his great edition of Malory, used the title The Works of Sir Thomas Malory. (Professor Vinaver has since modified his position on the tales.) In addition, manyh other medieval scholars feel the same way. Thus, it is really up to the reder to decide. What arguments could be made for and against the interpretation of Malory’s “works” as coherent legend?
  2. Unlike many of the novels we read today, Malory’s narrative method seems to lack any chronological base. Discuss the implications of this type of narrative. Does it help or hurt the text?
  3. Trace Malory’s development of Gawain’s character. What are Gawain faults? What are his virtues? Is his character consistent?
  4. Merlin sets up Arthur’s kingdom partly through the agency of the Archbishop of Canterbury. What (if any) is the significance in the fact that the archbishop is brought back at the end of story as a hermit?
  5. Discuss Malory’s use of symbolic settings in Le Morte Darthur. Would the story change if the settings were to change? For instance, what would the story be like if it was set in a modern (urban or rural) setting?
  6. Discuss how some of the motifs in Le Morte Darthur are interrelated. Refer to the section on motifs if necessary.
  7. What do you think of the morality in Le Morte Darthur. Do you think Malory is critical of any of his characters? Pay close attention to the relationships between characters you choose to talk about.
  8. Take a critical approach (Queer theory, Deconstruction, Poststructuralist, Feminist, etc) to one or two of Malory tales. Begin with the bibliography or webliography given at the end of this page. Explore what modern critical theorists have to say about the work and take a stance for or against the consensus.

Further Reading: Want to read more about Arthurian legends and Sir Thomas Malory? Here is a list of books that you should check out!

Field, P.J.C. The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Malory. Boydell & Brewer, 1993 (1999 PB).

Lacy, Norris J., editor. The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York, Garland, 1996.

Lupack, Alan, and Barbara Tepa Lupack . King Arthur in America. Cambridge, D. S. Brewer, 1999.

Malory, Thomas. Le Morte Darthur: The Winchester Manuscript, by, ed. Helen Cooper. Oxford Univ Pr, May 1998.

Mancoff, Debra, editor. King Arthur's Modern Return. New York, Garland, 1998.

Stewart, H. Alan. "King Arthur in the Comics." Avalon to Camelot, 2 (1986), 12-14.

Thompson, Raymond H. The Return from Avalon: A Study of the Arthurian Legend in Modern Fiction. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood, 1985.

Wheeler, Bonnie. Ed. The Malor Debate: Essays of the Texts of Le Morte Darthur.

The Works of Sir Thomas Malory , ed. by E. Vinaver (3 vol., 2d ed. 1967); studies by P. J. C. Field (1971), B. Dillon, ed. (1978), and T. Takamiya and D. Brewer (rev. ed. 1986).

Webliography

"Arthur, King." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology.  Ed. J. Gordon Melton. Vol. 1.  5 th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 90. 2 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Thomson Gale. California State Univ, Northridge. 26 October 2005 <http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3403800329&source=gale&userGroupName=csunorthridge   &version>.’

Chivalry." Renaissance: An Encyclopedia for Students. Ed. Paul F. Grendler. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. 154-        156. 4 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Thomson Gale. California State Univ, Northridge. 26 October 2005 <http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3409200103&source=gale&userGroupName=csunorthridge&version=1.0>.’

GARDINER, H. C., and J. MISRAHI "Holy Grail, The." New Catholic Encyclopedia . Vol. 7. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 26-29. 15 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Thomson Gale. California State Univ, Northridge. 26 October 2005 <http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3407705337&source=gale&userGroupName=csunorthridge   &version=1.0>.

"Le Morte d'Arthur: Themes." Epics for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. October 2003. 26 October 2005. <http://www.enotes.com/le-morte/10732>.

Standsby, Williams. “A Preface to La Mort d'Arthure: the History of King Arthur and of the Knights of the Round Table. ” Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 . 11. 1858, pp. xxi-xxvi. Gale Literature Center . Gale Group Databases. CSUN Library, West Lafayette, IN. 25 October 2005. < http://galenet.galegroup.com/>

Bibliography

Barber, Richard. The Authorian Legends. Totowa: Littlefield, Adams, & Company, 1979.

Brewer, D.S. “The Present Study of Malory.” Arthurian Romances: Seven Essays. Ed. D.D.R Owen. New York: Harper and Rowe, 1971. 83-97.

Maynadier, Dr. G.H. “Malory.” Lectures on Harvard Classics. Ed. William Allen Neilson Phd. New York: PF Collier and Son Company, 1914. 232-237.