Brian Herrmann
11-14-00

The 20^th century was no stranger to Arthurian history and Arthurian themes. Many authors, both well known and obscure, made use of the Arthurian tradition. Some authors used Arthurian history and legend to write historical fiction or non-fiction, while others used motifs that appear within the legend. Film was another successful medium through which the Arthurian tradition was displayed.

Legend-Based Works and Historical Works

One of the first authors to employ the Arthurian tradition in the 20^th century was Edward Arlington Robinson. Though better known for other work, Robinson wrote three poems, "Merlin", "Lancelot", and "Tristram", devoted to the Arthurian legend. Robinson wrote these in a narrative style, using blank verse, and they all strictly adhere to Malory's Morte D'Arthur. In these poems, Robinson uses the Pre-Raphaelite idea of verse style, but fails in his attempt to extend Tennyson's Idylls of the King, which was a daunting task because the Idylls are considered by many to be the end-all be-all of Arthurian poetry (Goodman 91-2).

Another author to use Arthurian legend and history in his work was John Masefield, who wrote more Malory-based poems and prose among other things. While these works are important, Masefield's best work came in the form of children's books. In The Midnight Folk (1927) and The Box of Delights (1935), Masefield used Arthurian lore and characters to create unmatched juvenile fiction (Goodman 94). Sadly, critics and students largely ignore these works simply because they are children's books, even though they are arguably Masefield's best work. Incidentally, T. H. White, for his novel The Sword In the Stone, used Masefield's two children's books as primary sources.

T. H. White wrote the best-known Arthurian work of the 20^th century, The Once and Future King, which is comprised of five volumes based on Malory, Tennyson, and Masefield. The first volume, The Sword in the Stone, tells of a young Arthur with Merlin as his teacher. White incorporates fables into this book with Arthur's interaction with animals (Goodman 99). The second volume, The Witch in the Wood, was very personal to White and is semi-autobiographical because the character Morgause portrays White's own mother (Goodman 100). The Ill-Made Knight is the third volume in which Lancelot is the hero, but with a small twist: he is ugly. He is the hero because he is ugly and because he feels himself to be inferior because of his ugliness (Goodman 100). This volume also tells of Lancelot's affair with Guinevere (www2.netdoor.com/~moulder. thwhite.html). In the fourth volume, entitled The Candle in the Wind, White depicts the Arthur/Mordred showdown as it is at the end of the Morte. This volume was intended to be the original ending of the series, and was originally a play (Goodman 100). An interesting thing that White did with the end was to incorporate Malory as a character, "Tom of Warwick", whom Arthur charged with the task of retelling of the Arthurian story to posterity (Goodman 100). White's fifth and final volume, The Book of Merlyn, was published posthumously. Its most appealing aspects are that it allows the reader to revisit White's characters, and it gives a new version of Malory's conclusion (Goodman 100). The most important contribution of White's The Once and Future King is that it changed people's view of the Arthurian world and made it more accessible to a large audience. White did not dull down Malory's account of Arthurian history, rather he simplified it so that more people could read the legend and the work of the man he considered to be "the greatest writer in English after Shakespeare" (Goodman 99).

The "Oxford Inklings" were a small literary circle comprised of Charles Williams, J. R. R. Tolkein, and C. S. Lewis. All three of these authors shared an interest in Arthurian myth, medieval literature and theology, themes that pervade their work (Goodman 96). Williams was the most important of the three, but he is also the least well known. He uses Malory's account of Arthurian history and "reworks traditional legends and figures into a complex personal mythology and theology" (Goodman 96). Williams's work is "intellectually exclusive", employing strong Christian themes, and using the grail quest to represent the alienation of the world from God (Goodman 94-5). In his work, Williams does not rely on characterization, which distances the reader, but aids in the presentation of his topics (Goodman 96). William's work stands in strong juxtaposition to White's work. While Williams was exclusive, White was accessible. Where Williams was satisfied with a small readership, White wanted to reach as many people as possible. Tolkein was more of a medieval scholar than an Arthurian writer, though he does use Arthurian motifs in The Hobbitt and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Goodman 98). Tolkein also superbly translated the Arthurian poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". Lewis wrote a trilogy of Arthurian novels, but is better known for other work.

Thomas Berger's novel Arthur Rex is important because of its significant differences from the traditional Arthurian story. Berger uses Camelot as the setting and uses Malory as a primary source not only for the "wealth of source material but also a clear and certain moral focus" (Lupak & Lupak 250). The main theme of this work is that good can lead to evil, and Berger uses the Arthur/Lancelot relationship to exemplify this. The other significant difference of Arthur Rex is Berger's use of characters. He changes characters' contexts, recasts them, embellishes roles of smaller characters, changes character relationships, and creates a narrator, which has an authorial voice (Berger's voice) and persona (Lupak & Lupak 255).

More recent Arthurian literature, though, centers on fantasy rather more than anything else. Mary Stewart modeled her writing after Tolkein and White in her original interpretation of the legend (Doherty 8). Her Merlin trilogy, set in 6^th century Britain, portray Guinevere as sympathetic, and other female characters as strong-willed (Doherty 8). Stewart deals with themes of destiny and fate, and uses historical fact in conjunction with her fantasy. That is, she grounds her work in traditional Arthurian legend, but departs from them in her original fantasies (Doherty 8). Parke Godwin, who wrote in the same vein as Stewart, wrote a trilogy of historically based fantasies based around the "tragedy and triumph" of Arthur, with the king as narrator (Doherty 11). The major differences between Godwin and other Arthurian novelists are that he portrays Arthur as a dreamer and that Arthur and Merlin are one, with Merlin appearing to Arthur only in Arthur's dreams (Doherty 11). Another novelist who bases her work in Arthurian legend, but departs from it in original fantasy is Marion Zimmer Bradley. Her principle work, The Mists of Avalon, shows the Arthurian world from the perspective of a woman, Morgaine. Bradley concentrates on the actions of women, challenges patrilineal descent, and depicts the ideological clash between Christian and Pagan ideologies.

Other notable authors to deal with Arthurian history are John Steinbeck who wrote Acts of King Arthur (an unfinished rewrite of the Morte), Thomas Hardy who wrote the one act play "The Famous Tragedy of Isolde, Queen of Cornwall at Tintagel in Lyonesse", and John Cowper Powys who was one of the first 20^th century Arthurian historical novelists.

T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" is a modern interpretation of the grail quest story, with its major symbol being the wasteland. The wasteland "symbolizes the condition of both a single individual and of the civilization in which he lives" (Foster 115). The Fisher King occupies this desolate, barren, infertile place, and is the keeper of the grail, and who has also "been rendered impotent by maiming or sickness" (Brooks 87). The Fisher King's impotence is reflected in the wasteland itself, and is used to symbolize the "sterility of modern existence" (Goodman 93). The only person who can restore the wasteland is the grail knight, who will come along and ask the right questions about the grail. Malory used Galahad, Percival, and Lancelot for this purpose, but the only one to succeed was Galahad. Eliot uses much of the same imagery in "The Waste Land".

The most common motif used in 20^th century Arthurian literature is the grail quest. Bernard Malamud's novel The Natural is the story of Roy Hobbs, a baseball player whose one dream is to "be the best there ever was". The grail, for Hobbs, is the superstardom he so richly desires. Malamud also incorporates elements of the wasteland and the fisher king, and turns Hobbs into a modern-day Percival. Hobbs had a chance to be great as young ballplayer, but greed and lust land him in the hospital and out of the game for 15 years. Upon his return, Hobbs plays for the lowly New York Knights, whose manager, Pop Fisher wants to win the pennant before he retires. It appears as though Hobbs will be able to grant Pop his wish, but fails again through his own greed, becoming like Malory's Percival. Both Hobbs and Percival had a chance to restore the wasteland, but both selfishly failed. Altogether, The Natural is the "tale of a contemporary knight errant whose greed and selfish ambition prevent him from redeeming . . . and restoring the wasteland" (Lupak & Lupak 221).

Another book that employs the motif of the grail quest is Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. R. P. McMurphy (the grail knight) comes to a psychiatry ward to escape prison time. When he arrives, he sees many emasculated, de-humanized men whom he tries to save by helping them to reclaim their manhood (Lupak & Lupak 223). McMurphy is an example. He is a sacrificial figure after his lobotomy because Chief Bromden and a few others free themselves from the ward. McMurphy can be equated with Lancelot who allowed Galahad, Percival, and Bors to see the grail while he was unable to see it. Kesey also uses wasteland and Fisher King imagery in this novel. The ward is the wasteland and Chief Bromden, the book's narrator, is the Fisher King, and McMurphy is the knight who saves him. At the end of the novel, Chief Bromden breaks out of the desolate ward so he can return to the fertile river valley where he once lived.

In 1965, Disney released "The Sword in the Stone", an animated version of T. H. White's novel by the same name. White's novel was also adapted into another film, "Camelot", in 1967 (Galyon 153). A very successful film called "Lancelot du Lac" was released in 1974, and was based on the Morte for its general plot structure. Another successful film was "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", released in 1975. It is a satire not only of medieval Europe and the Arthurian tradition, but also of people's perception of those things. Also, "earlier film treatments of the legend" are being "lampooned" with this film (Galyon 153). John Boorman's version of the Morte, "Camelot" was released in 1981. "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", the last of the "Indiana Jones" trilogy, was released in 1989. It depicts the archaeologist Jones's search for the holy grail (Galyon 155).

The Arthurian tradition was alive and well in the 20^th century. 20^th century writers not only used the history set forth by Malory, and Tennyson's variations, but they also came up with their own original variations of Arthurian themes and motifs. Arthruriana was not limited to print media, it pervaded film as well. Altogether, the Arthurian tradition in the 20^th century was just another step along Arthur's road, and another development in the ongoing Arthurian saga. I believe much of the appeal of the legend to modern authors is due to several things. Malory's work is wrought with scandal, lust, and debauchery, themes which are readily used by contemporary authors and filmmakers. Also, there is a good balance of history and legend that surrounds Arthur leaving room for authors and filmmakers to be original, creative, and innovative. Finally, there is a mix of favor and flaw among the characters. This mixture is good because the author can be subjective and make a traditionally unsympathetic character a sympathetic one, as illustrated by Mary Stewart and Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Works Cited

Brooks, Cleanth. "The Waste Land: Critique of the Myth" in Critical Essays on T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. Lois A. Cuddy & David H. Hirsch, eds. G. K. Hall & Co. Boston. 1991. 87-112.

Doherty, John J. "Arthurian Fantasy, 1980-1989: An Analytical and Bibliographical Survey". http://kulichki.rambler.ru/castle/artur/artfant.html.

Foster, Genevieve W. "The Archetypal Imagery of T. S. Eliot" in Critical Essays on T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. Lois A. Cuddy & David H. Hirsch, eds. G. K. Hall & Co. Boston. 1991. 113-20.

Galyon, Aubrey E. "Films" in The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. Norris J. Lacy et al., eds. Garland Publishing. New York. 1991. pp. 152-55.

Goodman, Jennifer R. "Arthurian Literature of the Twentieth Century". The Legend of Arthur in British and American Literature. Twayne Publishing. Boston. 1988. 90-115.

Lupak, Alan & Lupak, Barbara T. "Contemporary Novelists". King Arthur in America. D. S. Brewer. Cambridge. 1999. 210-75.

http://www2.netdoor.com/~moulder/thwhite.html