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Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur

Summary:

It is difficult to summarize the work of Malory for several reasons. For one, it is a great, sprawling work that, even in condensed form, can be quite long. Another, and more essential point, is that the length is a stylistic representation of thematic qualities. The episodic nature of Malory’s writing revolves around action and adventures with little more to it. In the lives of these knights there is no ‘why?’ to what they do. The very nature of chivalric life is active and based on the chance of an adventure. Therefore, to omit one incident is to omit them all. They are all equal in that each time the knight’s life hangs in the balance. Also, Malory’s inclusion of every detail, including names, helps to create a sense of documentation and a sense of history to an otherwise fantastical story. It grounds the work in reality and likens it to its ancestors, such as the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, and La3amon.

Some have looked at Le Morte D’Arthur as being separated into three thematic divisions. The first of these is ‘The Rise of King Arthur’s Kingdom,’ which takes place in books I and II (for clarity, book divisions will be according to the Vinaver/Winchester 8 book division and not the Caxton 21). In this section, Malory sets up several motifs for the rest of the work including adventure, historicism, magic and the supernatural, and courtly culture. This first section focuses on Arthur from his conception, the taking of the throne, to his assertion of power. Arthur goes to Europe and solidifies his reign as one of the greatest warrior kings and by the end of Book II, has established peace for his kingdom.

It is then, in a peaceful England that the focus shifts to Arthur’s knights in the section of Books III, IV, and V termed ‘The Glory of Arthur’s Kingdom.’ The first of these sections is Book III and focuses on the shining example of knighthood, the man to whom all other knights aspire, Sir Launcelot du Lake. The book begins with life settling back down at home, Arthur has returned from Rome, and all is well. It is explained that Launcelot is the greatest knight of the kingdom so he has earned his spot as the first knight to be of focus. Also, it is stated up front that Queen Gwynevere favored him above all other knights and that likewise he loved her above all other ladies. However, after there has been ample time to rest, Launcelot’s eagerness to go out into the kingdom leads him to seek adventures. Thus, Launcelot and his nephew, Sir Lionel, leave the court and venture deep into a forest.

After riding quite a while Launcelot decides to take a nap under an apple tree. Sir Lionel does not fall asleep and instead becomes distracted by a strong knight, Sir Turquine, who he then challenges. Sir Lionel loses to the knight and is taken prisoner. Sir Ector de Maris also goes out in the forest, hoping to join Sir Launcelot, but is taken prisoner by Sir Turquine as well. Meanwhile, four witches discover Launcelot, one of which is Morgan le Fay, who enchants him, captures him, and takes him to a castle. When he wakes, the queens confront him, warning that if he does not choose one of them as his lover, he will be kept a prisoner for the rest of his life, but having an undying love and devotion to Queen Gwynevere, he refuses.

Feeling hopeless, Launcelot expresses his problem to the damsel serving him dinner. She proposes that she help him escape in return for his service to her father in a tournament. He agrees to be there the following week and she lets him go. On his way, he gets lost and ends up sleeping in an unoccupied bed. However, later in the night, a knight named Belleus gets into the bed and thinking Launcelot is his mistress, starts to kiss him. Launcelot jumps out of bed and begins fighting the knight. Finally, Belleus surrenders to him so Launcelot agrees to tend his wounds. The knight’s mistress then enters and gets upset at the sight of her wounded knight. Belleus and Launcelot try to soothe her but she asks for a favor from Launcelot—that King Arthur make Belleus a knight of the Round Table. He tells them to come to court at the next high feast so that they may make this request to Arthur and then he leaves.

By the following week, Launcelot is able to find his way to the tournament and is successful in helping the damsel’s father in slaying all his opponents. Afterward, he asks if anyone knows where he may seek adventure and he is sent to Sir Turquine. Launcelot and Turquine begin to fight and they are very well matched. They stop and Turquine offers to end the fight unless his name is Sir Launcelot, in which case he must continue fighting to avenge his brother, who was killed by Launcelot. Launcelot, being an honest and noble person, proclaims that he is Sir Launcelot and proceeds to decapitate Sir Turquine. He has Sir Gaheris, who had been injured nearby, release all the prisoners and tell the one’s of the Round Table to meet him at the court at the next high feast.

Launcelot rides back into the forest and comes upon a lady who needs defense from a knight who is attacking women in the forest. He agrees to help her and kills the knight. Then he rides further and comes across a bridge. There is a guard on the bridge who prevents him from passing so Launcelot kills him too. Past the bridge is a town but he is repeatedly warned not to enter because he has killed the guard. He proceeds anyway and kills the two giants living there. Because of this, he is offered lodging. In the night, he hears a noise and discovers three knights attacking one. Because this is unfair, Launcelot comes to the outnumbered knight’s aid and kills the three. It turns out that the knight he protected is Sir Kay. The two happily go off to bed, but Launcelot wakes early, switches armor with Kay, and leaves. Switching armor allows Kay to ride back to court without incident, as few would risk challenging the notorious Launcelot. However, being in Kay’s armor has left Launcelot vulnerable. Several knights, some of the Round Table, challenge him but he is victorious over all of them.

Further in the forest he meets the grieving wife of Sir Gilbert the Bastard, who has just been killed in battle. He tries to comfort her then departs, only to come across the sister of a very wounded Sir Meliot de Logres, who has just battled with Sir Gilbert the Bastard. Because Sir Meliot is a knight of the Round Table, he agrees to help her take care of him. She reveals that the only way to save him from death is to obtain the sword and a piece of cloth from Sir Gilbert’s body, which lies in the Chapel Perilous. He does this successfully but is twice asked not to take the sword, once by knights and again by a maiden. He says no and the maiden, who is actually a sorceress, tells him that it was a trick and if he had agreed, he never would have seen the Queen again. A relieved Launcelot returns to Sir Meliot and heals him completely.

Launcelot is then tricked two more times. The first is by a woman who asks him to rescue an eagle out of a tree. Once up there, unarmed, a knight arrives, ready to kill him. Without armor and only a stick for defense, Launcelot kills the knight. Further in the forest Launcelot reaches his final adventure, an incident with a man and his wife. The husband is about to kill the wife out of jealousy but Launcelot steps between them, unable to allow a man to harm a lady. However, the man tricks him into turning his head and kills his wife while Launcelot is not looking. Launcelot forces him to go report his actions to the Queen, who not only reprimands him, but also forces him to carry the body to the Pope to ask forgiveness and back again. In the meantime, Launcelot returns to the court in time for the high feast where the many people who benefited from his adventures meet him. They recount his great acts of heroism and praise him as the greatest knight of the time.

This glory does not last forever, however, as can be seen in books VI, VII, and VIII. This is ‘The Fall of Arthur’s Kingdom,’ where deceit, lies, and infidelity lead to the destruction of a kingdom. While Lancelot is praised, seeds of guilt are also planted and are ready to come to fruition in the final books. Also, Lancelot’s love for Gwynevere is proved to be less than virtuous. The jealousy that ensues is what ultimately destroys the kingdom. Gwynevere is moved to banish Lancelot because their actions were a catalyst for the fall and a new King takes the throne.

Author:

Sir Thomas Malory : (c. 1405- d. 1471) “The Knight Prisoner”- Although it is not certain, many agree that the author was Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revell, Warwickshire. Assuming he is, not much is known about his early life. He was knighted in 1442, and he served in the English Parliament in 1445. He seems to have been a violent person who committed a series of crimes, including extortion, robbery, attempted murder, and rape. However, the validity of these charges is questionable due to the highly tumultuous times. The Civil War, known as the War of the Roses, caused great division and corruption within the country, leading many to suspect the charges were false. Most of his life from 1451 was spent in prison, and he probably did most of his writing there. He completed the work, which he called The Book of King Arthur and His Noble Knights of the Round Table, in 1469 or 1470. The main sources for this work were the group of French Romances known as The Vulgate Cycle, the French prose Tristan, the Alliterative Morte Arthure, and the stanzaic Le Morte Arthur. William Caxton published Malory's work after his death in 1485, re-structured it and entitled it Le Morte D’Arthur.

History:

While the identity of the author is not truly known, it really does not matter much toward interpretation of the work. What is clear is that any of the Thomas Malory’s of the century would have lived through unsettling times. The early portion of the fifteenth century for England was centered on the Hundred Years War. Towards the end there was little hope, leading to a declining view of England as a whole. Shortly after the end of that war was the War of the Roses, which divided the country and called into question the rightful king. Both incidents might lead a writer to look back on a time where England was on top, unified, and had a king proved to have rightful heir to the throne, fictitious or not. Much of these themes are reflected in Le Morte D’Arthur and without making any sort of direct mention to the present, Malory shows that division and the pursuit of individual desires can lead to the fall of a nation.

Manuscripts:

There should be at least some note to the debate of the original manuscript. Of course, for many years, all people had known of Malory was the Caxton edition. His unification of the work into its 21 books, and multiple chapters outlined by rubrics led many to refer to the work as the first novel. However, in 1938 the Winchester MS. was discovered and proved to be another version of the work, completely separate from Caxton. It is believed that both were taken from separate intermediary versions and that neither directly derive from the original. The Winchester MS. was then adapted by Arthurian scholar, Eugene Vinaver, who conjectured that the story was never intended to be one work but instead, 8 separate books in a series. This concept was widely accepted, especially because it explained the problems of continuity in the Caxton version. Although, some still feel there is a better sense of clarity from Caxton, the Vinaver edition, entitled The Works of Sir Thomas Malory, and first published in 1937 is widely accepted as the scholarly edition.

Sources:

Bibliography

Bennett, J.A.W., ed. Essays on Malory. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963. Primarily examines the history of the Winchester Manuscript versus the Caxton text, but also looks at thematic elements of the story.

Brewer, Derek, and Toshiyuki Takamiya, ed. Aspects of Malory. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1981. A Collection of Essays ranging from language use, to comparisons to other works, and the questioning of authorship in Malory.

Lambert, Mark. Malory: Style and Vision in Le Morte Darthur. Forge Village: The Murray Printing Co., 1975. Takes a linguistic and stylistic approach to the work and also expounds on writing conventions of the period.

Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte D’Arthur. Ed. Keith Baines. New York: Signet Classics, 2001. Primary Source:This is a concise rendering of Malory’s work, modeled after the Winchester version, containing 8 books. The language is almost completely modernized.

Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte D’Arthur. Ed. John Matthews. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.: 2004. Primary Source: This is a complete, unabridged version of Malory’s work modeled after the Caxton Edition, containing 21 books. Much of the spelling has been regularized, although sentence structuring remains the same.

Malory, Sir Thomas. The Works of Sir Thomas Malory. Ed. Eugene Vinaver. Oxford: Clarendon Press: 1990. Primary Source: The definitive Winchester Manuscript version, assumed to be the closest to Malory’s original. However, it is somewhat hard to find and relatively expensive.

McCarthy, Terence. Reading the Morte Darthur. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1988. Summarizes each section, looks at the story through several critical perspectives, and gives historical background for the work and author.

Webliography

Electronic Full Text of Le Morte D’Arthur: Vol. I : Provided by the University of Virginia Library, this gives the full text online of the first 9 books (Caxton division).

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

Electronic Full Text of Le Morte D’Arthur: Vol. II : Provided by the University of Virginia Library, this gives the full text online of books 10-21(Caxton division).http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Mal2Mor.html

Le Morte d’Arthur e-book : Full text online rendered by Steve Thomas.

http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/m/malory/thomas/m25m/

Le Morte d’Arthur: Wikipedia Entry : Includes a small summary, history of the text and relevant links.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morte_d%27Arthur

Thomas Malory: Wikipedia Entry : Shows limited biographical information on the author as well as the impact of his work. Contains links to historical and bibliographic information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_Malory

Web Links: Sir Thomas Malory : Provides numerous scholarly links to websites related to the work and life of Sir Thomas Malory, compiled by professor Dr. Debora B. Schwartz.

http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl513/courtly/malory.htm

Winchester Manuscript : Gives a history of the finding and relevance of the Winchester Manuscript as well as several prints of Malory’s work modeled after the Winchester version. Website maintained by James Grout.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/saxonadvent/winchesterms.html

Web Report by

Sarah Minogue