KNIGHTS OF LORE SERIES: SIR GAWAINE & THE GREEN KNIGHT

Sir Gawaine, a fabled member of Arthur’s Round Table, was the epitome of chivalry, loyalty and honor. Perhaps more than any other knight, Gawaine served King Arthur in a manner that was good for the kingdom, even though it may be terrible for him. But with Kharma playing a role, Gawaine always turned around the negativity to be blessed with great fortune.

One tale of Gawaine that caught my eye was of his marriage. It starts innocently enough, with King Arthur roaming the wilderness at the bequest of a damsel in distress. It seems that an evil knight had taken her lover captive. When Arthur reaches the knight’s castle and challenges him, he finds that the castle grounds are enchanted. He becomes weak and yields.

Rather than slay Arthur, the knight offers him a bargain. If Arthur comes back in one year and answers a riddle he may keep his kingdom. If not, the knight wins it. Arthur accepts the terms and leaves.

When his time runs out, Arthur returns to the knight’s castle but is saddened because he doesn’t know the answer to the riddle. An ugly hag happens across him just as he is about to pay his penance and tells him the answer to the riddle.

Arthur enters the knight’s enchanted lair and is asked by the knight, “What is the one thing woman desire most?” Arthur replies with what the hag told him, “Women desire to have their will.” Arthur wins the bet and keeps his kingdom. However, the ugly hag had charged him a price for the answer. And that price was for Arthur to have one of his knights marry her.

Upon learning of Arthur’s plight, his nephew, Sir Gawaine accepts the terms and volunteers to marry the hag. He soon regrets it though because she is so hideous. He hides from her most of the time until she finally corners him and tells him that her ugliness was a curse and she had to do two things to rid herself of it, one of which was marrying a knight. She tells him that she can be beautiful half the time, either by day or night and he has to choose which. He chooses day so she can be happy mingling with Arthur’s court. This removes the other have of the evil enchantment and she becomes beautiful forever.

The other Sir Gawaine tale that I fell in love with, is perhaps the best known of the Gawaine fables. This one is called Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight. As the story goes, a great Green Knight happens upon Camelot during festival and challenges any knight to strike him once today, only to have the Green Knight repay the strike in one year. Sir Gawaine answers the challenge and beheads the Green Knight with an axe.

Unfazed, the Green Knight bends down, picks up his head, mounts his steed and warns Gawaine that they will meet again in one year to finish the bargain.

When the year is nearly up, Sir Gawaine travels to the Green Knight’s castle only to find the route dangerous and desolate. Happening upon another castle, the knight within welcomes Gawaine. After a meal and drinks, he offers Gawaine another bargain. He shall hunt the next day and give Gawaine whatever he kills. In return Gawaine must give the knight whatever he receives during the day in return.

When the knight leaves, his wife tries to seduce the honorable Sir Gawaine, but he refuses her advances. He does, however, kiss her. When the knight returns he gives Gawaine his kill and the knight’s wife gives him a kiss. This goes on for a couple of days before the lady offers Gawaine a golden ring for sleeping with her. He refuses. Finally she offers him her magickal green girdle, enchanted with the power of keeping its owner from physical harm.

Not wanting to offend the lady, and realizing this could keep him from being killed by the Green Knight, he accepts it. But when the knight returns, his wife gives him kisses that she earlier gave Gawaine, but he doesn’t give him, or even mention, the enchanted girdle.

Emboldened, the next day he heads of to the nearby castle of the Green Knight. When the Green Knight hauls back his axe he stops short of dealing a fatal blow and Gawaine flinches, not believing in the power of the girdle. The Green Knight chastises him and accuses him of cowardice, thus shaming Sir Gawaine.

On his next try, the Green Knight barely touches Gawaine’s neck, leaving a small cut. Seeing the bargain has been met, and the magick of the girdle saved him, Gawaine exults in himself. The Green Knight however has tricked him. He removes his helmet and reveals himself to be the knight whose lady gave him the girdle. It was all a test, and Gawaine failed.

Sir Gawaine kept the girdle and wore it as a reminder of this failure of his basic values. When he returned to Camelot and told his tale, the other knights were so inspired that they too began wearing green sashes on their armor.

I have included a copy of this epic poem by Yvor Winters:

Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight

BY YVOR WINTERS

Reptilian green the wrinkled throat,   

Green as a bough of yew the beard;   

He bent his head, and so I smote;   

Then for a thought my vision cleared.

The head dropped clean; he rose and walked;

He fixed his fingers in the hair;

The head was unabashed and talked;   

I understood what I must dare.

His flesh, cut down, arose and grew.   

He bade me wait the season’s round,   

And then, when he had strength anew,   

To meet him on his native ground.

The year declined; and in his keep   

I passed in joy a thriving yule;   

And whether waking or in sleep,   

I lived in riot like a fool.

He beat the woods to bring me meat.   

His lady, like a forest vine,

Grew in my arms; the growth was sweet;   

And yet what thoughtless force was mine!

By practice and conviction formed,   

With ancient stubbornness ingrained,   

Although her body clung and swarmed,   

My own identity remained.

Her beauty, lithe, unholy, pure,   

Took shapes that I had never known;   

And had I once been insecure,

Had grafted laurel in my bone.

And then, since I had kept the trust,   

Had loved the lady, yet was true,   

The knight withheld his giant thrust   

And let me go with what I knew.

I left the green bark and the shade,   

Where growth was rapid, thick, and still;   

I found a road that men had made   

And rested on a drying hill.

Click To Purchase Paul DeThroe's Dark Fiction @ Amazon

KNIGHTS OF LORE SERIES: Sir Lancelot of the Lake

Perhaps the most romantic fictional figure in the history of literature not named Romeo, Sir Lancelot has captured the hearts and minds of readers, theatre goers and movie fans for nearly a millineum. His sex appeal is timeless; changing ever so slightly to match modern ideals, the enchanted lover/fighter consistently steals the hearts of adoring young women and inspires the passionate undertakings of envious young men of each new generation who read of his adventures.

Created by author Chretien de Troyes in the twelfth century, Lancelot took the place of Mordred, who was previously cast as Queen Guinevere’s lover. The aspect that Lancelot brought to the table was the idealization of being the perfect knight until his loyalty turned to betrayal because of lust. The treachery was so profound that it brought the fabled Camelot to come to a screeching halt.  His perfidy to the unsuspecting King Arthur ranks him right up there with other great traitors such as Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of the Christ, Brutus assassination of Julius Caesar and Benedict Arnold’s traitorous turn against George Washington.

Even so, Sir Lancelot has never been reviled like other famous turncoats. Perhaps this is because his disloyalties were inspired by simple affairs of the heart, which we can all relate to.

Born to King Ban of Benwick and Queen Elaine, he was left by a lake as a child. Vivien, the Lady of the Lake took him and raised him as her own. It is striking, to me, that the Lady of the Lake gave the magickal sword Excalibur to Arthur and not Sir Lancelot. Only a mother knows the true intentions of her son’s heart and she must have had insight that he could not control his own licentious desires.

In another twist of fate, another Elaine comes into Lancelot’s life. This Elaine is the daughter of King Pelle of Astolat. He breaks her heart though, because of his love for Guinevere. She tricks him into thinking she is Guinevere and that union results in a child: Sir Galahad, the purest of all the Knights of the Round Table.

When Arthur sends his knights on the quest for the Holy Grail, everyone expects the great Lancelot to be the one to find it. His sins, however, prevent him from seeing anything other than a blurry vision of it. Later, his son, Sir Galahad is the one that finally sees the Holy Grail. After finding the much sought after relic, he requests to die, and his wish is granted. The Holy Grail is never seen again.

Sir Lancelot, though heroic and brave, is never portrayed as being as noble as his son. Though willing to serve others on the battlefield, he never embraces his role as King Arthur’s champion in such a way as to make him virtuous. Instead, he used his position to seduce King Arthur’s wife Guinevere, though by all accounts, she seduced him just as well. A mutual seduction, if you will.

When Arthur uncovers the tryst, his is furious. He banishes Lancelot and his court condemns Guinevere to death. The dashing Lancelot saves her from execution at the last moment, but instead of living happily ever after, they go their separate ways. Unable to cope with the guilt of tragically bringing an end to the fabled Camelot, Guinevere becomes a nun at a monastery while Lancelot becomes an unkempt, homeless, travelling wildman of a monk.

When Arthur overcomes his own secluded madness caused by the betrayal of Lancelot and the fall of Camelot, he challenges his bastard son Mordred, who has come to take his place a king. Lancelot returns to help his old friend and the old betrayal is forgiven, but it proves too late to save Camelot, as Arthur is fatally wounded by Mordred and taken to Avalon by his sister. Some accounts have Sir Lancelot dying as well in that battle, while others have him surviving. However, he and Guinevere are never able to rekindle the flames of the fiery tryst and live out their lives in servitude to their God in penance for their own heartbreaking sins.

As times have changed and taboos fell away, the myth of Sir Lancelot has also changed. Author Marion Zimmer Bradley portrays Sir Lancelot as a man who has such insatiable sexual appetite that he has affairs with both Guinevere and King Arthur in Mists of Avalon! One of my favorite authors, Bernard Cornwell portrays Sir Lancelot as a sniveling fool and coward in his Warlord Chronicles, which is a devastating and violent look at the Dark Ages legend.

Through it all Sir Lancelot still survives in books, novels, plays and movies. There are restaurants, flour brands and Ipad protectors that bear his name. He is a character in video games about King Arthur. His character has been played by such notable actors as Richard Gere, Nicholas Clay, John Cleese and Jeremy Sheffield, amongst others. Not too shabby for literary history’s most famous adulterer.

Click To Purchase Paul DeThroe's Dark Fiction @ Amazon

KNIGHTS OF LORE SERIES: KING ARTHUR, the once and future king

Alright, alright, technically King Arthur was a king and not a knight. I will concede that point. However, Arthur, accordingly to legends, fought like a knight, led knights into battle, sent them on quests and created a force so great it is still being talked about, and even copied today. Just look at Marvel Comics Avengers and D.C. Comics League of Justice. Don’t think they borrowed the idea of heroes gathering to save humanity from lurking evil from the Knights of the Round Table? I would beg to differ.

By most accounts, the story, legend, myth of Arthur is the first and perhaps greatest mainstream story of medieval times. However, much is still in the air about Arthur. No one knows for sure when he lived, or if he even lived at all. They didn’t call it the dark ages for nothing!

The Arthurian legends begin in the 5^th Century CE. Whatever exploits he had at the time were kept alive by bards, singing poems about him around hearths and bonfires. It wasn’t until the 12^th century that the once and future king became immortalized in print. Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welsh monk penned ‘The History of the Kings of Britain’, and in that tome, Arthur became perhaps the first non-conquering king to become forever renowned in world history.

Before that there was Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and the Caesars of Rome. Arthur was different. He fought for his people and to save his homeland. That was all he ever wanted. That is why he is still beloved today.

In the darkness of the 4^th century, Britain gained its freedom from Rome, the great city-state of the day, whose fingerprint is still felt in the world. Because of the power vacuum left by Rome’s abandonment of Britain, Saxon’s from the North Country and Picts from Scotland decided to move in, push the Brits out and stake their claim. Uther Pendragon was the King of Britain at this point. He was a worthy king, strong but maybe too headstrong.

Merlin enters the picture and uses his magick to trick a rival king’s wife into thinking Uther was her husband. They slept together and Arthur was conceived. In return for this favor, Uther promised Merlin the child. Merlin, the great druid seer, knew that Uther would not be able to totally defeat the Saxons because he was too arrogant. So he took Arthur to live with some country folk, not only to keep him from harm’s way of the ever-invading Saxon’s, but also so the boy could learn humility.

Everyone knows how the rest of the story goes. Uther dies, Arthur is not yet a man, and is still unknown. Merlin sets a magickal sword inside a stone and proclaims that whoever pulls it out shall be King of Britain. When Arthur loses his older brother’s sword just before a great festival and knight games, he sees the Sword in the Stone and pulls it out. Without even knowing it, he becomes King of Britain and changes the world forever.

The boy king is challenged by all the other kings of Britain and defeats them all to become the One King. After garnering his power and emboldening his people, he decisively defeats the Saxons and sets the stage for his homeland to experience a golden age. All is right with the world, peace has come at last, the harvests are plentiful, and churches begin to pop up.

This great time reaches its apex when Arthur marries the Welsh noblewoman Guinevere and creates the Knights of the Round Table. What follows is one of the greatest dramas ever written, even though it has been re-written hundreds of times. Betrayal, lust, greed, evil magick, incestuous relationships; it’s all there. In the end, Arthur and his evil bastard, incestuously born son, Mordred slay each other in battle over who should be King of Britain. Arthur’s sister (who happens to also be Mordred’s mother) takes the fatally wounded King Arthur to her veiled utopian society called Avalon, where she serves as the high priestess of her pagan gods and goddesses. (Note: In some versions Mordred is Arthur’s nephew who has an affair with Guinevere, in other’s it is Arthur’s trusted knight Lancelot who betrays him with a tryst with the king’s wife.)

That is where most stories would end. But how you can ‘end’ a story about a once and future king? Arthur’s destiny is to come back to defend Britain when she needs him most. Seeing how he didn’t come back during World War I or II, it makes you wonder how bleak things will get before he actually returns to protect his homeland once more.

For those of us who do look forward to the return of King Arthur of Britain, that wait might soon be over. The second in line for the British throne is none other than Prince William Arthur. Coincidence? Perhaps Princess Diana and Prince Charles tempted fate by naming their son Arthur, or perhaps destiny says this is the right time. Now where is Merlin?

Click To Purchase Paul DeThroe's Dark Fiction @ Amazon

Number 1 Witch of All-Time: Morgana Le Fay of Camelot

Unattributable to any one author, but originally credited to twelfth century author Geoffrey of Monmouth, the legend/myth of King Arthur’s Camelot is the greatest fantasy story of all time, in my opinion. There are so many great characters from the story, but the one we will touch on the most in this blog is Morgana Le Fay, the number one witch of all time.

Morgana was the daughter of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall and Lady Igraine. Uther Pendragon attacked Gorlois because he wouldn’t submit to Uther’s goal of gaining kingship of a reunited England. As battle loomed, Merlin caused a great fog to form between the armies and then used sorcery to disguise Uther’s face to look like Gorlois’, so Uther could sleep with Igraine. In return for the favor, Merlin got the child conceived during that liaison.

If Uther would have waited he would have gotten Igraine anyway, as Gorlois was slain in the battle, thus giving Uther the role of first unified King of England. He married Igraine, and sent Morgana to a convent. It is said that Morgana received her early witchcraft training at that convent. When Arthur was born to Uther and Igraine, Merlin came and forced Uther to live up to the agreement and give him the child, which he reluctantly did.

With the help of Merlin the Magician, Wizard, Druid, Prophet, madman, what have you, Arthur Pendragon grew up, pulled the mythical sword from the stone and inherited his rightful throne as King of England, after Uther, the father he never knew, was killed. King Arthur then became one with the land, gathered widely celebrated knights and went on a quest for the holy grail.

Everything was good until Arthur's evil half-sister, Morgana Le Fay returned to the scene, and decided to finally act upon her livelong jealousy of Arthur, by tricking him into sleeping with her at a pagan fertitlity ritual, a tryst which begets him a son who will eventually be the death of him. (note: many Arthur stories, especially older ones, cite Morgause as Mordred’s mother.)

The only person standing in Morgana’s way now is Merlin. How does Morganna do him in? She does what any beautiful royal lady and aspiring witch would do. She shows interest in his sorcery and persuades him to tutor her in the dark arts of Druidry. She then seduces the great wizard and eventually discovers his weakness. Morgana uses her newfound power to freeze Merlin and all his magickal knowledge and power in ice for all eternity and takes her role as the most powerful druid in England.

How important is Morganna? She has been the subject of countless novels by numerous authors, plays, movies, songs, comics and even a heavy metal band. Check them out: http://morganalefay.com.

Morgana has set the standard for witches for thousands of years. Her name Morgana comes from a derivative of the Welsh words for water sprite and Celtic for war goddess. The word ‘le fee’ means fairy. These spirits are as ancient as written history, if not older, and are still spoken to this day.

Perhaps more importantly, Morgana was and is a role model for women as a very dominant character. She was involved in the highest levels of English royal circles and political scene and she used her position along with cunning, intuition, and witchcraft talents to double-cross her enemies and influenced Anglo-Saxon history in the process.

Think about this: If the Arthurian legends are real, and there is no evidence I’ve seen that they aren’t, then we have a spectral war going on between Morgana and Merlin that set the stage for the end of open paganism in Anglo-Saxon Europe and helped usher in the age of Christianity. That is some huge influence right there.

Imagine how differently things could be right now. Mordred came so close to defeating his father in the battle of Camlann when he near fatally stabbed Arthur but was simultaneously killed by his father. If Morgana’s plan would’ve worked, Christianity might not have had such an easy path through Europe with Mordred ruling England.

So what happened to Morgana? After Mordred was killed and Arthur near-fatally wounded, the story goes that Morgana took Arthur by boat to the enchanted island of Avalon, where Morgana was high priestess of a society of female sorceresses. Neither was ever seen again and the island of Avalon drifted beyond the invisible veil that separates this world from the spiritual world.

Even after her dreams of uniting England as a pagan society were ended with her son’s death, the love and sympathy for her brother stayed true, as she nursed him back to health in her mystical paradise so he could return again someday as Once and Future King. And I guess that makes the answer to the question of whether she was evil or not, simply a matter of perspective.

Click To Purchase Paul DeThroe's Dark Fiction @ Amazon