High School Arthur

I found it very interesting how this version of an Arthurian tale is unlike any other that we have read in the way that it is not directly retelling a story of King Arthur. Meg Cabot focuses on the future life of King Arthur through the demonstration of reincarnation. While we have learned about the possible beliefs of King Arthur coming back to life, it wasn’t presented through 21^st century high schoolers.

The rise of King Arthur is hard to believe it’s actually real, yet Cabot was able to make a unique connection of Arthurian tales to today’s world, addressing the reincarnation of Arthur and other characters. She even stretched some thoughts, such as how the Lady of the Lake was never said to have made an appearance like she did in this reading. In this reading, the Lady of the Lake became a strong and meaningful position that saved “the darkness” from taking over. “But there’s no getting around the fact that you are, indeed, the reincarnation of the Lady of the Lake. It was she who gave Arthur the weapon that he used to defend himself and the realm. And only she could have kept his friendship with Lancelot and Guinevere from splintering leaving him vulnerable to attack from his mortal enemy” (Cabot, 277).

Side note: this reading made me think of Percy Jackson and how there are so many people within a school with secrets filled with such power and importance.

Character Connections

Okay, so I thought this book was a fun read that took the characters of Arthurian legend out of their normal setting, but I thought that the different connections to the characters was somewhat interesting. Starting with the main man Will, it took a while until it was revealed that his first name was Arthur. I thought that this was a peculiar choice since we always see Lancelot's name being held from the audience, not Arthur's. Lance on the other hand was the easiest to identify. He was a character that did not really have the charismatic energy we are used to seeing Lancelot have. Lance was just a watered down Lancelot that was only present in helping Will on the football field and canoodling with Jennifer. Another character that stood out was Mr. Morton. By the end of the book the characters pieced together that "Morton and Merlin" were connected (287). I thought this comparison was kind of a stretch. Yes, Mr. Morton was in that position to help and guide Will, but that did not really occur until the end of the book. I thought that this was strange, considering how much of an impact Merlin had on Arthur's life. Overall, I think that these characters molded to the story quite nicely and made the reading enjoyable.

Deadly Teddy Bear

“That is enough,” he said. “It is good sport, but on such a day as this I would rather not kill anything needlessly, and there is one for my mother and two for the Merlin.” This part stuck out to me when reading because it really shows what Lancelot’s character is like. It shows that a very powerful knight can be so kind hearted to the birds and only want to kill what he absolutely needs. He doesn’t even catch one for himself he takes care of his mother and Merlin. In these stories they portray Merlin as a very powerful knight that loves to fight and prove his worth undercover. Therefore, seeing someone like Lancelot care for a bird speaks about who he really is. I think seeing the characters be portrayed in so many different ways through out the text helps you get a well-rounded perspective of who they really are outside of fighting. 

Simping in King Arthur

“Sir Gawain, while you stand on your two feet I will not gainsay you; but I will never strike a knight who has fallen. God defend me from such dishonor!” (494). I took this quote from a fight scene between Sir Gawain and Lancelot, and I thought about juxtaposing the two as the most respected knights of the round table. This is another situation where I said to myself “wow, how chivalrous of Lancelot! He is truly embodying what it means to be a knight… once again. He’s really making Sir Gawain look pretty shitty!” But I had to stop myself and think a bit. Sir Gawain, as we’ve seen in The Green Knight, represented undying loyalty and what it means to be humble. He also has been very adamant with his religious chastity, though there has been temptation. Lancelot, as we have seen time and time again, represents unfaltering chivalry and basically everything else. But, Lancelot’s love for Guinevere is not very knight-like. Both knights embody what it means to be a knight, but their ideas on courtly love seem very, very different. Lancelot is supposed to be the knight that embodies it all, and therefor he is the best. In these characters I think that we can definitely see the clash between knighthood and courtly love. 

I swear Master Oogway and Merlin are the same person...

There is a lot of philosophy in these sections of Once and Future King. This is really not surprising when you're dealing with a wizard who has the ability to see the past as well as the future, but one thing that struck me most is this idea of Destiny that Merlin introduces in Ch. 10. He tells this short story of a man who tries to escape Death, only to end up meeting him anyway. The man met Death in Damascus and then rode all the way to Aleppo to get away from him. He thought he cheated Death, only to find out that Death was expecting him in Aleppo was was surprised to see him in Damascus.  To this Merlin says: "There is a thing about Time and Space which the philosopher Einstein wi going to fine out. Some people call it Destiny." (p. 274) This is why Merlin isn't about to fight against falling for Nimue and being locked away for years and years. However, could it not be said that if the man stayed in Damascus that he would confused Death who would have gone to Aleppo? Death would have gone to Aleppo because that was what Fate set up. It is in trying to avoid destiny that you end up meeting it. This was even a lesson in the first Kung Fu Panda movie! But if fighting destiny is what it takes to meet it, what happens if you don't fight it? Does it not happen, or does it still happen but just in a different way than if you fought it? Will it even matter in the end? Really this piece opens even more questions about predestination and fate that aren't answered, but it is very interesting.

mirror mirror on the wall...

To me, the most interesting aspect of the poem The Lady of Shallot is the mirror itself, rather than the reflections the Lady saw in said mirror. After reading through the poem a couple times, I looked further into what types symbolism mirrors hold, and the general consensus is that mirrors represent awareness, truth, and wisdom. To me, in the context of this poem, this symbolism is extremely interesting. For the Lady's mirror to have shown her Lancelot is to make her aware of the apparent goings on of the world outside her little bubble, but there is no way for her to know the truth behind those events happening around her. So the mirror is showing her things that are certainly happening outside her reality, yet at the same time, the Lady is unable to verify if those things are actually true. And also, for the mirror to be the reason she made a decision that could be seen as "unwise" is ironic as well.

I don't know if this really makes much sense, but it doesn't make much sense to me either. I'm interested to see what others are thinking.

Gawain and Medieval Loki

In Gawain and the Green Knight, there are scenes that seem to run parallel to each other, but in different locations in the story.  These are the scenes where Bertilak is out hunting for animals, and Gawain is back at the castle, trying to remain loyal and not do anything foolish with Bertilak’s lady.  The events in these scenes run parallel in multiple ways that follow the plot and show very in-depth features.  Each animal that Bertilak hunts is representative to the way his lady attempts to seduce Gawain back at the castle.  The deer is rather easy to kill, representing the woman not trying too hard to win over Gawain.  The boar was more difficult and dangerous to kill, representing the woman’s straighter forward and brute force attempt at Gawain.  The fox is the most difficult animal to kill because of his smarts, representing the woman tricking Gawain by giving him her “magical” girdle that protects whomever is wearing it.

The author also uses great lengths of imagery when describing the hunting scenes.  An example of this is when he said, “Then they slit the slot and seized the gullet, scraping it with a sharp knife and tying it into a knot; then they hacked off the legs and stripped away the hide…”  Wilhelm goes into extremely graphic detail when describing the field dressing of the deer after the hunt was over.  The author also goes into great detail when describing the bedroom scenes between Gawain and Bertilak’s lady.  The imagery that he uses allows the reader to really connect and engage in the events of the story.