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2.1.3 Main Evaluate5
2.2 Merlin.6
2.3 Knights of the Round Table6
2.3.1 Sir Lancelot Du Lac.7
2.3.2 Sir Gawain8
2.3.3 Sir Galahad.8
2.4 Females in Legend.9
2.4.1 Guinevere10
2.4.2 Morgause.10
2.4.3 Morgan le Fay10
2.5 Mordred 11
3 Complicated Relationships between Politics and Emotion13
3.1 Disordered Love.13
3.2 Complicated Hatred14
3.3 Duel and Kill15
3.4 Battle and War.16
4 Reflections on Chivalry and Society19
4.1 The Knights Code of Chivalry19
4.2 Vows of Knighthood.20
4.3 Identical Responsibility21
4.4 Class Attitude22
4.5 Social Effect22
5 Different Appearance and Evaluation in different culture.24
5.1 Chivalry in Western Countries.24
5.2 Chivalry in Eastern Countries25
6 Reproduction and Adaptation in Nowadays.27
6.1 Literature27
6.2 Theatre29
6.3 Film.29
6.4 Comics and Anime.30
6.5 Games.31
7 Conclusion33
Bibliography34
1 Introduction
What is a legend? It could be an interpretation of the unknown mystery or deification of the great fame by those people, “history makers”, in ancient time. It also could be a clue of existed events or demonstration of cultural research by those people, “history explorers”, in modern times. Since the knight became a special class and a symbolic identity of the Middle Ages, or so called “the darkest ages” of the Western Europe, lots of chivalrous legends with their legendary heroes’ names have been inscribed in the spreading literatures and people’s minds.
From that age of treachery and darkness, one of the most famous names people know, a king of Britain knights brought peace and prosperity to his people and land, defended them from every danger, and expanded the force to an empire which could rival Rome itself. His way of justice and truth was taught by a wise wizard. His command of whole country guarded by a loyal band of gentle, fearless knights, who always protected the helpless, fought against evils and set feet on the challenging searching way of the holiest of relics. Though he would be betrayed by his best knight and his queen, defeated by his own son, saw his shining kingdom fall into decline for his own mistake, still he kept his faith and set the standard which many other leaders would judge for centuries.
His name is King Arthur, a man who came from legend, made legend and became legend.
Many of the writers and poets have injected their fresh imagination to Arthur’s legend during their times. Although the themes, events and characters of the Arthurian legend vary widely from text to text, and there is no one canonical version, Geoffrey's version of events often serve as the starting point for later stories. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Gaul. Many elements and incidents that are now an integral part of the Arthurian story appear in Geoffrey's historical documents, including Arthur's father Uther Pendragon, the wizard Merlin, Arthur's wife Guinevere, the sword Excalibur, Arthur's conception at Tintagel, his final battle against Mordred at Camlann and final rest in Avalon. The 12th-century French writer Chrétien de Troyes, who added Lancelot and the Holy Grail to the story, began the genre of Arthurian romance that became a significant strand of medieval literature. In these French stories, the narrative focus often shifts from King Arthur himself to other characters, such as various Knights of the Round Table. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed until it experienced a major resurgence in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the legend lives on, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics and other media.