The Arthurian Way of Death: The English Tradition

Description

It is arguably the tragic end to Arthur's kingdom which gives the myth its exceptional resonance and power. The essays in this volume explore the presentation of death and dying in Arthurian literature and film produced in England and America from the middle ages to the modern day. Authors, texts and topics covered include Geoffrey of Monmouth, the chronicle tradition, and the alliterative 'Morte Arthure'; 'Gawain and the Green Knight', 'Ywain and Gawain', the stanzaic 'Morte Arthur', and Malory's 'Morte Darthur'; Tennyson's 'Idylls', Pyle's retelling of the myth for American children, David Jones, T. H. White, Donald Barthelme, Rosalind Miles and Parke Godwin. Featured films include 'Knight Rider', 'Excalibur', 'First Knight', and 'King Arthur'. Illustrations and Tables ix List of Contributors xi Introduction / K. S. Whetter and Karen Cherewatuk 1 Part I: The Early Tradition in England 1. 'But here Geoffrey falls silent': Death, Arthur, and the 'Historia regum Britannie' / Siân Echard 17 2. Mordred’s Sons / Edward Donald Kennedy 33 3. Dying in Uncle Arthur’s Arms and at His Hands / Karen Cherewatuk 50 Part II: Middle English Romance and Malory 4. 'Hadet with an aluisch mon' and 'britned to noȝt': 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight', Death, and the Devil / Michael W. Twomey 73 5. Love and Death in Arthurian Romance / K. S. Whetter 94 6. Death in the Margins: Dying and Scribal Performance in the Winchester Manuscript / Thomas H. Crofts 115 7. The Legible Corpses of 'Le Morte Darthur' / Michael Wenthe 124 8. Malory and the Death of Kings: The Politics of Regicide at Salisbury Plain / Lisa Robeson 136 9. 'Layde to the Colde Erthe': Death, Arthur’s Knights, and Narrative Closure / Cory James Rushton 151 10. Arthurian Exits: Alone, Together, or None of the Above / Janina P. Traxler 169 11. Woman as Agent of Death in Tennyson’s 'Idylls of the King' / James Noble 193 12. Death as 'Neglect of Duty' in Howard Pyle’s 'The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur' / Julie Nelson Couch 206 13. Death and the 'grimly voice' in David Jones’s 'In Parenthesis' / Samantha Rayner 226 14. Roll the Final Credits: Some Notes on Cinematic Depictions of the Death of Arthur / Kevin J. Harty 241 Index 249