oftheroundtable: Arthurian legend for all

My "Gawain Project" :-)

sigune — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:09:59 GMT

I hope it's okay to post this here... I thought that fans of Arthurian legend might like to know that I'm working on a (slightly megalomaniac) comics project about Sir Gawain :-). Sketched pages (not final ones - I'm working on those, but I'm painfully slow) are being posted on my LJ. Feel free to have a look :-). Since I'm essentially posting drafts, I'm always looking for constructive criticism.

And ther by ordenaunce of the quene ther was set a quest of ladyes on Syr Gauayn. And they iuged hym foreuer whyle he lyved to be with all ladyes, and to fyghte for her quarels, and that euer he shold be curteys, and neuer to refuse mercy to hym that asketh mercy.
- Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur (1485)

Part I: The Darkest Hour

Ygraine, Gorlois and Uther. This is where our story starts.

The Darkest Hour
The Darkest Hour 1-3, The Darkest Hour 4-6, The Darkest Hour 7-9, The Darkest Hour 10-12, The Darkest Hour 13-15, The Darkest Hour 16-18, The Darkest Hour 19-21, The Darkest Hour 22-24, The Darkest Hour 25-27, The Darkest Hour 28-31, The Darkest Hour 32-35, The Darkest Hour 36-40, The Darkest Hour 41-44, The Darkest Hour 45-47, The Darkest Hour 48-50, The Darkest Hour 51-53, The Darkest Hour 54-57, The Darkest Hour 58-60, The Darkest Hour 61-64, The Darkest Hour 65-66, The Darkest Hour 67-69, The Darkest Hour 70-73, The Darkest Hour 74-75, The Darkest Hour 76-81, The Darkest Hour 82-84, The Darkest Hour 85-87, The Darkest Hour 88-90, The Darkest Hour 91-92, The Darkest Hour 93-97, The Darkest Hour 98-101, The Darkest Hour 102-103, The Darkest Hour 104-108, The Darkest Hour 109-111, The Darkest Hour 112-114, The Darkest Hour 115-119

The Sword of Kings
The Sword of Kings 1-4, The Sword of Kings 5-11

Part II: Sunrise

Family history catches up with a little red-haired boy.

Brothers and Sisters
Brothers and Sisters 1-3, Brothers and Sisters 4-6, Brothers and Sisters 7-9, Brothers and Sisters 10-12, Brothers and Sisters 13-15, Brothers and Sisters 16-18, Brothers and Sisters 19-21, Brothers and Sisters 22-24, Brothers and Sisters 25-27

New pages from Saturday 2 April on my LJ :-).

loki_scribe — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:42:25 GMT

So, I started drawing again, and decided to play with the knights. Came up with a design for Gawaine I may actually be somewhat happy with, and thought I'd share/see what other people think.

Preview:

( Follow the fake cut the actual drawing. . . . )

Arthurian Ficlets: A Series of Snapshots

loki_scribe — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:57:38 GMT

*pokes community*

It does not appear to be dead yet.

Anyway, I've been fighting uphill against a serious writer's block, which means that I've been writing Arthurian vignettes again. In this case, I bring you a series of them exploring the relationship between Gawaine and Lancelot -- both the Champions, in some inevitable way rivals, but also usually portrayed as two of the only characters who don't really care which one of them would best the other in the field.

And no, I'm not above begging for concrit here.

(One in the rain, one in the river, one in the winter. One lost in the woods, one at the loss of a child, and one at the end.)

The Raven King

midenianscholar — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:47:42 GMT

I was doing research for an Arthurian Literature class, when I stumbled upon an old legend that I hadn't heard before. King Arthur is known as the once and future king, who mysteriously disappeared into Avalon but will be returning. But in this particular legend, he is not just chilling in Avalon, nor is he asleep in a cave - he's actually turned into a raven, and in that form is haunting the land.

This story started writing itself as soon as I read it.

Prologue - The Raven

And even the renowned king Arthur himself was mortally wounded.
-Geoffrey of Monmouth

He opened his eyes. Branches swirled above him, with the stars gleaming beyond. Each breath was difficult, and he could feel his lungs full of blood. Morgan had left him, though some of her maidens stood nearby. When he looked at them, they blurred and swayed. He tried to blink his eyes clear, but he could not focus on them. One lifted a hand and touched her mouth—in grief, he thought.

I am dying, he realized. I really am going to die.

He coughed, and his chest burst into fresh pain, and his mouth filled with blood. A woman came to help him, wiping the blood from his chin and whispering about rest.

Sleep. That is what he wanted. After the last several months, he had earned that. He had earned peace.

Will they get married, now that I am gone? he wondered, shutting his eyes. He expected to feel that grief again—that betrayal and anger, that gaping hole that had sunk into him ever since he had retrieved his wife.

"What were you thinking?" he asked her. His voice was forcibly calm, patient. At one time, his gentleness had warmed her heart. He remembered that time. But as she turned to the window, he felt afresh that her heart had never really been his. Over twenty years of marriage. No legitimate children to be heirs. A kingdom nearly torn in half when her affair was discovered.

She would not answer. He could see that in the set of her jaw. He wanted to yell—to accuse her of the deaths of the men, the deaths of his nephews. Everything in him wished to see her crushed, the way he had felt when they brought him the news that awful day.

But suddenly he knew he could not accuse her of anything. She could not defend herself against him. She would not talk back to a king. Perhaps she did not want to speak, did not want to own up to her mistakes, but she also knew that he could change his mind. He could burn her.

Somehow, her face—turned away from him, eyes staring out the window—reminded him of the day after their marriage. He had thought then that she was just homesick. Now he knew that she was resigned to her fate, neither hoping nor fearing. She had been resigned with him this whole time.

He had brought her into this. Perhaps if he had taken the time to secure her affections better, tried harder not to leave her so often for his duties—perhaps none of this would have happened. His friend had wooed her into adultery, but had he—her husband—ever tried to stop it from happening? He had been so blind to it, that it had taken two hateful knights to open his eyes. If he had been paying closer attention, perhaps he would have caught it, would have been able to resolve it quietly—without war and death and injury.

He had left her standing there, and never seen her since. He felt nothing now: no regret, no anger. It would be done with soon. Peace. I want peace.

"Brother," said a familiar voice. He opened his eyes, peering into Morgan's face. There was someone leaning over her shoulder—someone not quite old, but yet ancient—not quite young, but somehow boyish. His advisor. He tried to speak, but blood gurgled up his throat. Morgan wiped the blood from his chin. "You see how bad it is. I cannot heal him."

The man nodded. He knelt down, meeting the eyes of his king solemnly. "My friend," he said, "you cannot live as you are now. But I can give you another chance."

Another chance. The pain began then—in his chest and flowing like fire to his limbs. He looked up, and saw the man's fingers were gleaming with faint light. No, he thought. No more chances! I want to rest!

"You are the hope of your people," the advisor said. His hands had become white, and he was reaching towards the wounds. "Such a hope should not be squandered. You will be needed again."

No, no, no!

His hands came against the wounds. "You will not remember very much, I am afraid," the advisor continued. "But it will have to do."

Then everything began to change. The people over him grew larger—no, he was growing smaller. His chest stopped hurting. His arms felt heavy, but his legs were strangely light. He tried to turn onto his side, but his advisor—a giant now—picked him up.

"A raven," Morgan whispered beside him, awed.

"You will become yourself again when the time is right," Merlin said. He threw his hands into the air and let go. "Fly free, my king."

The raven disappeared into the mists of Avalon, and was not seen again for a very long time.

Read the whole story here.

Effect of Arthurian legend on sense of English/Welsh national identity?

isil_helyanwe — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:58:50 GMT

Hi, this is my first time posting in this comm, and I haven't been a member all that long, so if I'm breaking any rules, please tell me and I'll be glad to delete this. :)

I'm writing a 5000 word essay for school and I want to explore either:

a) the effect which Arthurian mythology had on the sense of national identity, both in the medieval era and beyond or

b) how Arthurian mythology affected concepts of kingship (perhaps mainly focusing on the period of the Wars of the Roses).

Of course, the first is a far broader topic, and by 'Arthurian mythology', I would really be cheifly focusing on Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur more than anything else.

This is kind of a large thing to ask, but I'm really stuck at where to begin, so I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of what I could research, where I could find good information or how to tackle this - frankly rather daunting - question. Or really anything that you think could help.

Thanks so much.

Two more drabbles and a research question

loki_scribe — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:33:31 GMT

And thus I continue my apparent quest to revive this community (question crossposted to king_of_camelot).

After I've finished my current monster-of-an-unrelated-novel-that-will-not-end, I've been looking forward to the next project, which I think will be a retelling of the Brunor le Noir/Knight of the Ill-Fitting Coat legend. Obviously my main source for it is Mallory, since the only version of the Prose Tristram I've been able to locate has been in midieval French, which I do not read. But I've been poking around the internet in search of other tidbits and versions, and apparently my Google-fu fails because ninety-percent of what I seem to be able to find is links to, references of, or outright plagerizing of the Wikipedia article. So if anyone has any good links, or even a modern retelling I could check out to see what's already been done with it, I'd appreciate it.

Also, because the drabbles went over relatively well a couple of days ago, here are two Mordred-centric ones I didn't post last time, since Mordred's kind of a love-him-or-hate-him character and I wasn't sure about the reception.

There wasn’t really anything to hit— just canvas and cushions, the comfort of Camelot distilled into an easily portable form— but nothing solid enough to take a beating. Rather than taking the tent down in frustration, I stalked back out and hit a tree until my knuckles bled with the abuse.

Kay found me there eventually. “Arthur.” He reached for my shoulder.

“Leave me be.”

“No. Mordred again?”

“Yes. He knows who I am, and I don’t understand his whys.”

“You never will. Come on.”

I cursed and hit the tree once more. “God damn it, Kay. God damn it.”

“Idiot,” she muttered, but quietly, so I could barely hear it.

“Am not,” I answered without thinking, squirming a little in her grip. It was stronger than it should have been—a slim girl no taller than I was. And I was short for twelve.

“Mordred. . . .” She shook her head and gently forced my arm back down. “If you keep shifting, it will only hurt more.”

I sighed, bit my lip, tried not to yelp when she dug the needle in. “Why can’t you magic it whole?”

She shook her head. “Because you’ll only do it again if it doesn’t hurt.”

Again, any feedback appreciated.
Cheers!

Six Drabbles

loki_scribe — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:29:31 GMT

I've been working on some Arthurian drabbles as a writing exercise, and since this community is not nearly active enough, I thought I'd share a few of them with you. They're mostly character studies, set in my own version of Camelot, and just a few of the ones I thought turned out the best. All are G/PG rated, and I'd love feedback of any kind. Enjoy.

(Neither Arthur nor Bedivere understand women.)

(Kay is challenged.)

(Dinadan is likewise challenged.)

(Lancelot regrets.)

(Tristram reflects.)

(Percival knows what he is.)

Cheers!

Tristran Icons

meadowlark_nous — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:35:17 GMT

Cross-posted many times. Hope I'm good to post here.

Please credit and comment if you decide to use any of the icons-- it'd be cool to know if anyone actually likes them.
ICONS from King Arthur: Tristran

Preview:

Arthurian Stories Online

markadderley — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:55:00 GMT

I wanted to let you all know that I've posted some pre-Arthurian stories to my website: www.markadderley.net/webisodes. They're backstory to my novel, "The Hawk and the Wolf," but they can be enjoyed independently.

Thanks!

Mark.

Hi . . . I come with icons

loki_scribe — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:23:03 GMT

I said something to the effect of making some sketched-character icons to say hello to this community on the last post, and here I am with 17 icons of the characters as I see them. I tried to grab the darkest color on their heraldry (with the obvious exception of Morgan--- does she even have consistent heraldry? I just think red suits her). Anyway, I'm kind of nervous--- and therefore rambling--- because this is the first time I've made icons and the first time I've posted any artwork of mine on a public forum. So feel free to critique me, just please be kind about it (also, if you think they're worth cross posting to arthurian_icons, please tell me, because I'm unlikely to have the guts to on my own).

Preview:

1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8.
9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16.
17.

Comments are love, and please credit if you use them (normally I wouldn't care all that much, but as this is my artwork as well as my icons, I might be a little miffed if you don't).

If you want one of them with different text on it (a different title, a different version of the 14 different ways of spelling some of their names), feel free to ask and I'll get it to you as soon as I can--- I can also change the color of the line work if you want me too; I did them entirely in photoshop elements so it won't be too difficult to re-tint).

Um . . . enjoy?
Cheers!

Holy Grail Found

thequest4truth — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:30:18 GMT

Hi, some members might be interested in a recent study which reveals the lost truth about the Holy Grail. For the FREE video and book and live presentation check out www.thequestfortruth.co.uk. In doing this I am helping to make the Grail available to all, just as legends foretold. Happy Questing...
Alex

New Arthurian Novel

markadderley — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:30:26 GMT

I thought you might be interested in a new Arthurian novel, "The Hawk and the Wolf." It's the story of Merlin and his quest for Excalibur, the sword of kings that has been lost. Britain now faces a new challenge, as a powerful enemy lurks over the sea, waiting for the moment to invade. Without Excalibur, Britain will be lost. Meet the familiar Arthurian character in a wholly new setting, rubbing shoulders with unexpected allies, enemies, and lovers. Author's website at www.markadderley.net, and blog at http://markadderley.livejournal.com/.