Transcript The Legend of King Arthur

The Legend of
King Arthur
Challenge I
Challenge I
Objective: Identify characters and
background information pertaining to the
Legend of King Arthur
Directions: Your job is to "think" about the
questions and complete the worksheet: Skim
and scan to find your answers.
Who? (3 facts)
King Arthur: The Once and Future King
Legendary King of Britain from around 400 AD to 600 AD,
Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon and Igraine, whose
actual name might have been its Latin version, Arturus.
This king is mentioned briefly in the Easter Annals, or the
Annals of Wales, describing battles of the sixth century,
and later by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the
Kings of Britain (ca 1136). According to legend, Arthur's
conception takes place when Uther seduces Igraine. Uther
was made, by Merlin's sorcery, to resemble Igraine's
husband, Gorlois. After Arthur was born, he was given to
Ector to be raised in secret. Uther died in battle shortly
after Arthur's birth. However, before Uther died, he planted
Excalibur in a stone where it remained for many years.
Merlin said that whoever withdrew the sword from the
stone would be the future king of Britain. Though many
tried to remove the sword, Arthur alone succeeded.
However, this young King stirred controversy among other
knights who had been competing for king. Arthur, under
the guidance of Merlin, stopped the rebellion against him
and married Guinevere. After this Arthur established the
Knights of the Round Table at the castle of Camelot.
Who? (3 facts)
Guinevere
Arthur's queen, reputedly the most beautiful
woman in Britain, and the lover of Lancelot,
Arthur's best knight. She is occasionally a
political pawn in the hands of Mordred, other
knights, even Arthur himself, and with the
help of Lancelot, she escapes a number of
predicaments, including kidnapping by Sir
Meliagaunt, burning at the stake, and later,
marriage with her step-son. In Malory, she
flees after Arthur's death to Amesbury, where
she becomes a nun, as well as "abbess and
ruler, as reason would." After the last battle
in which Arthur and many others are killed,
Lancelot comes to find her there, and when
Guinevere sees him as she walks with the
sisters in the cloister, she swoons three times
so "that all ladies and gentlewomen had work
enough to hold the queen from the earth."
What was the importance of
the round table? (3 facts)
Accounts differ about the origin of the Round Table, at which Arthur's
knights met to tell of their deeds and from which they invariably set forth in
search of further adventures. The Norman chronicler Wace was the first to
mention it, in his Roman de Brut of 1155. There, he simply says that Arthur
devised the idea of a round table to prevent quarrels between his barons
over the question of precedence. Another writer, Layamon, adapted Wace's
account and added to it, describing a quarrel between Arthur's lords which
was settled by a Cornish carpenter who, on hearing of the problem, created
a portable table which could seat 1600 men. Both Wace and Layamon refer
to Breton story-tellers as their source for this and there is little reason to
doubt them. This being the case, the origins of the table may well date
back to Celtic times, and even be traceable to the age of Arthur himself. In
the later medieval stories, however, it is Merlin who is responsible for the
creation of the table. Malory, taking up the theme and developing it, made
it the centre-piece of his epic re-telling.
Where and When did
Arthur live?
King Arthur: The Once and Future King
Legendary King of Britain from around 400 AD to 600 AD, Arthur was the son of
Uther Pendragon and Igraine, whose actual name might have been its Latin
version, Arturus. This king is mentioned briefly in the Easter Annals, or the Annals
of Wales, describing battles of the sixth century, and later by Geoffrey of
Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain (ca 1136). According to legend,
Arthur's conception takes place when Uther seduces Igraine. Uther was made, by
Merlin's sorcery, to resemble Igraine's husband, Gorlois. After Arthur was born, he
was given to Ector to be raised in secret. Uther died in battle shortly after Arthur's
birth. However, before Uther died, he planted Excalibur in a stone where it
remained for many years. Merlin said that whoever withdrew the sword from the
stone would be the future king of Britain. Though many tried to remove the sword,
Arthur alone succeeded. However, this young King stirred controversy among other
knights who had been competing for king. Arthur, under the guidance of Merlin,
stopped the rebellion against him and married Guinevere. After this Arthur
established the Knights of the Round Table at the castle of Camelot.
How and why did Arthur
do what he did to become
king?
The Sword in the Stone, sometimes a sword in an
anvil, is drawn by Arthur as proof of his birthright
and of his nobility. It is both a test and a
miraculous sign of his royalty. The sword drawn
from the stone is different from the one given to
Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. The latter is
always referred to as Excalibur; the former is
called by that name only once, when Arthur draws
the sword at a crucial moment in the first battle
to test his sovereignty.
Why do you think the
concept of the round table
and equality might have
been so important to King
Arthur?