Editing King Arthur (section)

=== Romance traditions ===
The Welsh prose tale ''[[Culhwch and Olwen]]'' (latter half of the 12th century<ref>Rodway, Simon, “The date and authorship of Culhwch ac Olwen: a reassessment”, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 49 (Summer, 2005), pp. 21–44</ref>), included in the modern ''[[Mabinogion]]'' collection, has a much longer list of more than 200 of Arthur's men, though Cei and Bedwyr again take a central place. The story as a whole tells of Arthur helping his kinsman [[Culhwch]] win the hand of [[Olwen]], daughter of [[Ysbaddaden]] Chief-Giant, by completing a series of apparently impossible tasks, including the hunt for the great semi-divine boar [[Twrch Trwyth]]. The 9th-century ''Historia Brittonum'' also refers to this tale, with the boar there named Troy(n)t.<ref>For a discussion of the tale, see {{Harvnb|Bromwich|Evans|1992}}; see also {{Harvnb|Padel|1994|pp =2–4}}; {{Harvnb|Roberts|1991a}}; and {{Harvnb|Green|2007b|pp= 67–72}} and chapter three.</ref> Finally, Arthur is mentioned numerous times in the [[Welsh Triads]], a collection of short summaries of Welsh tradition and legend which are classified into groups of three linked characters or episodes to assist recall. The later manuscripts of the Triads are partly derivative from Geoffrey of Monmouth and later continental traditions, but the earliest ones show no such influence and are usually agreed to refer to pre-existing Welsh traditions. Even in these, however, Arthur's court has started to embody legendary Britain as a whole, with "Arthur's Court" sometimes substituted for "The Island of Britain" in the formula "Three XXX of the Island of Britain".<ref>{{Harvnb|Barber|1986|pp=17–18, 49}}; {{Harvnb|Bromwich|1978}}</ref> While it is not clear from the ''Historia Brittonum'' and the ''Annales Cambriae'' that Arthur was even considered a king, by the time ''Culhwch and Olwen'' and the Triads were written he had become ''Penteyrnedd yr Ynys hon'', "Chief of the Lords of this Island", the overlord of Wales, Cornwall and the North.<ref>{{Harvnb|Roberts|1991a|pp= 78, 81}}</ref>

[[File:John william waterhouse tristan and isolde with the potion.jpg|thumb|upright|During the 12th century, Arthur's character began to be marginalised by the accretion of "Arthurian" side-stories such as that of [[Tristan and Iseult]], here pictured in a painting by [[John William Waterhouse]] (1916)|alt=|left]]

During the ongoing conquest of Wales by [[Edward I of England]], he attempted to make King Arthur a fundamentally English character and hero.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Schama |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Schama |title=A History of Britain 1: 3000 BC-AD 1603 At the Edge of the World? |title-link=A History of Britain (TV series)#DVDs and books |publisher=[[BBC Worldwide]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-563-48714-2 |edition=Paperback 2003 |location=London |pages=168}}</ref> The completion of the conquest was one of the factors that shifted storytellers away from the Welsh roots of the original tales.<ref name=":12" />

The popularity of Geoffrey's ''Historia'' and its other derivative works (such as [[Wace]]'s ''[[Roman de Brut]]'') gave rise to a significant numbers of new Arthurian works in continental Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries, particularly in France.<ref>For example, {{Harvnb|Thorpe|1966|p= 29}}</ref> It was not, however, the only Arthurian influence on the developing "[[Matter of Britain]]". There is clear evidence that Arthur and Arthurian tales were familiar on the Continent before Geoffrey's work became widely known (see for example, the [[Modena Archivolt]]),<ref>{{Harvnb |Stokstad|1996}}</ref> and "Celtic" names and stories not found in Geoffrey's ''Historia'' appear in the Arthurian [[Romance (heroic literature)|romances]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Loomis|1956}}; {{Harvnb|Bromwich|1983}}; {{Harvnb|Bromwich|1991}}.</ref> From the perspective of Arthur, perhaps the most significant effect of this great outpouring of new Arthurian story was on the role of the king himself: much of this 12th-century and later Arthurian literature centres less on Arthur himself than on characters such as [[Lancelot]] and [[Guinevere]], [[Percival]], [[Galahad]], [[Gawain]], [[Ywain]], and [[Tristan]] and [[Iseult]]. Whereas Arthur is very much at the centre of the pre-Galfridian material and Geoffrey's ''Historia'' itself, in the romances he is rapidly sidelined.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lacy|1996a|p= 16}}; {{Harvnb|Morris|1982|p= 2}}.</ref> His character also alters significantly. In both the earliest materials and Geoffrey he is a great and ferocious warrior, who laughs as he personally slaughters witches and giants and takes a leading role in all military campaigns,<ref>For example, Geoffrey of Monmouth, ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' [[s:History of the Kings of Britain/Book 10#3|Book 10.3]].</ref> whereas in the continental romances he becomes the ''roi fainéant'', the "do-nothing king", whose "inactivity and acquiescence constituted a central flaw in his otherwise ideal society".<ref>{{Harvnb|Padel|2000|p= 81}}</ref> Arthur's role in these works is frequently that of a wise, dignified, even-tempered, somewhat bland, and occasionally feeble monarch. So, he simply turns pale and silent when he learns of Lancelot's affair with Guinevere in the ''Mort Artu'', whilst in ''[[Yvain, the Knight of the Lion]]'', he is unable to stay awake after a feast and has to retire for a nap.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morris|1982|pp= 99–102}}; {{Harvnb|Lacy|1996a|p= 17}}.</ref> Nonetheless, as [[Norris J. Lacy]] has observed, whatever his faults and frailties may be in these Arthurian romances, "his prestige is never—or almost never—compromised by his personal weaknesses&nbsp;... his authority and glory remain intact."<ref>{{Harvnb|Lacy|1996a|p= 17}}</ref>

[[File:Arthur-Pyle How Arthur drew forth ye sword.JPG|thumb|upright|The story of Arthur drawing the [[Excalibur#The Sword in the Stone and the Sword in the Lake|sword from a stone]] appeared in [[Robert de Boron]]'s 13th-century ''[[Merlin (Robert de Boron poem)|Merlin]]''. By [[Howard Pyle]] (1903)<ref>{{Harvnb|Pyle|1903}}</ref>|alt=]]

Arthur and his retinue appear in some of the ''[[Lais of Marie de France|Lais]]'' of [[Marie de France]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Burgess|Busby|1999}}</ref> but it was the work of another French poet, [[Chrétien de Troyes]], that had the greatest influence with regard to the development of Arthur's character and legend.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lacy|1996b}}</ref> Chrétien wrote five Arthurian romances between {{c.|lk=no|1170}} and 1190. ''[[Erec and Enide]]'' and ''[[Cligès]]'' are tales of courtly love with Arthur's court as their backdrop, demonstrating the shift away from the heroic world of the Welsh and Galfridian Arthur, while ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'', features [[Ywain|Yvain]] and Gawain in a supernatural adventure, with Arthur very much on the sidelines and weakened. However, the most significant for the development of the Arthurian legend are ''[[Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart]]'', which introduces Lancelot and his adulterous relationship with Arthur's queen [[Guinevere]], extending and popularising the recurring theme of Arthur as a [[cuckold]], and ''[[Perceval, the Story of the Grail]]'', which introduces the [[Holy Grail]] and the [[Fisher King]] and which again sees Arthur having a much reduced role.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kibler|Carroll|1991|p= 1}}</ref> Chrétien was thus "instrumental both in the elaboration of the Arthurian legend and in the establishment of the ideal form for the diffusion of that legend",<ref>{{Harvnb|Lacy|1996b|p= 88}}</ref> and much of what came after him in terms of the portrayal of Arthur and his world built upon the foundations he had laid. ''Perceval'', although unfinished, was particularly popular: four separate continuations of the poem appeared over the next half century, with the notion of the Grail and its quest being developed by other writers such as [[Robert de Boron]], a fact that helped accelerate the decline of Arthur in continental romance.<ref>{{Harvnb|Roach|1949–1983}}</ref> Similarly, Lancelot and his cuckolding of Arthur with Guinevere became one of the classic motifs of the Arthurian legend, although the Lancelot of the prose ''Lancelot'' ({{c.|lk=no|1225}}) and later texts was a combination of Chrétien's character and that of [[Ulrich von Zatzikhoven]]'s ''[[Lanzelet]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ulrich von Zatzikhoven|2005}}</ref> Chrétien's work even appears to feed back into Welsh Arthurian literature, with the result that the romance Arthur began to replace the heroic, active Arthur in Welsh literary tradition.<ref>{{Harvnb|Padel|2000|pp =77–82}}</ref> Particularly significant in this development were the three Welsh Arthurian romances, which are closely similar to those of Chrétien, albeit with some significant differences: ''[[Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain]]'' is related to Chrétien's ''Yvain''; ''[[Geraint and Enid]]'', to ''Erec and Enide''; and ''[[Peredur son of Efrawg]]'', to ''Perceval''.<ref>See {{Harvnb|Jones|Jones|1949}} for accurate translations of all three texts. It is not entirely certain what, exactly, the relationship is between these Welsh romances and Chrétien's works, however: see {{Harvnb|Koch|1996|pp= 280–288}} for a survey of opinions</ref>

[[File:Holy-grail-round-table-bnf-ms fr-116F-f610v-15th-detail.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Round Table]] experiences a vision of the [[Holy Grail]], an illumination by [[Évrard d'Espinques]] ({{c.|lk=no|1475}})<ref>{{Harvnb|BNF|c. 1475|loc=fol. 610v}}</ref>|alt=|left]]

Up to {{c.|lk=no|1210}}, continental Arthurian romance was expressed primarily through poetry; after this date the tales began to be told in prose. The most significant of these 13th-century prose romances was the [[Lancelot-Grail|Vulgate Cycle]] (also known as the Lancelot-Grail Cycle), a series of five Middle French prose works written in the first half of that century.<ref name="lacy-1992">{{Harvnb|Lacy|1992–1996}}</ref> These works were the ''Estoire del Saint Grail'', the ''Estoire de Merlin'', the ''Lancelot propre'' (or Prose ''Lancelot'', which made up half the entire Vulgate Cycle on its own), the ''Queste del Saint Graal'' and the ''Mort Artu'', which combine to form the first coherent version of the entire Arthurian legend. The cycle continued the trend towards reducing the role played by Arthur in his own legend, partly through the introduction of the character of Galahad and an expansion of the role of Merlin. It also made Mordred the result of an [[King Arthur's family|incestuous relationship]] between Arthur and his sister [[Morgause]], and established the role of [[Camelot]], first mentioned in passing in Chrétien's ''Lancelot'', as Arthur's primary court.<ref>For a study of this cycle, see {{Harvnb|Burns|1985}}.</ref> This series of texts was quickly followed by the [[Post-Vulgate Cycle]] ({{c.|lk=no|1230–40}}), of which the ''Suite du Merlin'' is a part, which greatly reduced the importance of Lancelot's affair with Guinevere but continued to sideline Arthur, and to focus more on the Grail quest.<ref name="lacy-1992" /> As such, Arthur became even more of a relatively minor character in these French prose romances; in the Vulgate itself he only figures significantly in the ''Estoire de Merlin'' and the ''Mort Artu''. During this period, Arthur was made one of the [[Nine Worthies]], a group of three pagan, three Jewish and three Christian exemplars of chivalry. The Worthies were first listed in [[Jacques de Longuyon]]'s ''[[Voeux du Paon]]'' in 1312, and subsequently became a common subject in literature and art.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lacy|1996c|p= 344}}</ref>

[[File:Boys King Arthur - N. C. Wyeth - p16.jpg|thumb|upright|Arthur receiving the later tradition's sword [[Excalibur]] in [[N. C. Wyeth]]'s illustration for ''The Boy's King Arthur'' (1922), a modern edition of [[Thomas Malory]]'s 1485 ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]''|alt=]]

The development of the medieval Arthurian cycle and the character of the "Arthur of romance" culminated in ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'', [[Thomas Malory]]'s retelling of the entire legend in a single work in English in the late 15th century. Malory based his book—originally titled ''The Whole Book of King Arthur and of His Noble Knights of the Round Table''—on the various previous romance versions, in particular the Vulgate Cycle, and appears to have aimed at creating a comprehensive and authoritative collection of Arthurian stories.<ref>On Malory and his work, see {{Harvnb|Field|1993}} and {{Harvnb|Field|1998}}.</ref> Perhaps as a result of this, and the fact that ''Le Morte D'Arthur'' was one of the earliest printed books in England, published by [[William Caxton]] in 1485, most later Arthurian works are derivative of Malory's.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vinaver|1990}}</ref>

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