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Established a Kingdom in England |
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King of Britain. Older Brother of Uther |
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Married to Igraine and Father of Arthur |
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Married to Uther, bears Arthur and Morgause |
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Married to Guinevere, and father of Mordred (by Morgause). He was orphaned when he was a baby and raised by Merlin and Sir Ector. He did not know of his royal heritageand when he was a boy, he happened apon a sword stuck in a stone. He pulled it out and identified himself as the rightful King of England. He established the Knights of the Round Table to fight for all that is good and proper. |
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Arthur's foster father who trained him in war. |
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Knight of the Round table and son of Ector. |
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Wife of Arthur and lover of Lancelot |
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A magician and prophet who helped raise Arthur and is one of his advisors. |
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Arthur's half sister and mother of Mordred by him. She was also mother of Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and Gareth by her husband, King Lot. She wanted to be Queen of the Britains and was supposedly a sorceress. |
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A Knight of the Round Table who killed Arthur. He was also Arthur's son. |
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A Knight of the Round Table, he was one of Arthur's two favorite knights. He was regenceful and would travel to the ends of the earth to right a supposedwrong done to him or his family. |
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A Knight of the Round Table, Gawain's Brother |
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A Knight of the Round Table, Gawain's Brother |
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A Knight of the Round Table, Gawain's Brother |
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He was the grestest Knight of the Round Table and the other favorite of King Arthur until he was tricked ont o loving Elaine who gave him a son, Sir Galahad. HE then went on the quest for the Holy Grail. |
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The Bastard son of Lancelot and Knight of the Round Table who found the Holy Grail. |
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A Knight of the Round Table |
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A Knight of the Round Table |
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A Knight of the Round Table |
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A Knight of the Round Table who was the last person to see King Arthur alive. |
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His wife was the only lady in the Queen's train to have a good, honest Marriage, he was also a Knight of the Round Table. |
King Arthur was born in Tintagel, which was in Cornwall to King Uther Pendragon and the Duke of Tintagel's wife Igraine. Merlin arranged the affair, asking only that any children (Arthur) from it be given to him to bring up and teach. They comp;ied and Merlin and Sir Ector raised Arthur who had no idea of his Royal Heritage. When Arthur was 15, Uther died and was buried in Stonehenge leaving no one to succeed his throne. Many great Barons struggled for the throne until Merlin insisted that they all try to remove a great sword which was stuck into a large stone. Inscribed around the sword was "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of alll England." Nobody was able to remove the stone until Arthur came along and removed it. He was crowned King of Britain and defeated all his enemies. With the help of Merlin, he held court at Camelot and lead and organized the Knights of the Round Table.
Although Arthur realized that his wife Guinevere and his knight Lancelot are in love, he refused to admit it to anyone because of his affection towards Lancelot. Nevertheless, Mordred and Agravaine insist of accusing Lancelot to the king's face because the hated Lancelot. Therefore, Arthur gives leave to Mordred to seize Lancelot, because the accused treason and adultery has been made public. Lancelot, however escapes, and some of the knight follow him, while others remain loyal to the King. When Arthur takes his army to France to fight Lancelot, many good knights are killed on both sides. While Arthur is away, Mordred seizes the crown and tries to take Guinevere, but she resists. Upset by all this, Arthur returns to England and in a great battle, kills Mordred with a spear thrust. The dying Mordred however delivers a fatal blow to Arthur. Sir Bedivere helped Arthur to the side of the lake, and on his instructions, throws Arthur's sword into it. An arm appears out of the water, takes the sword, and then disappears. Then Arthur is taken away on a fairy barge to Avalon, the land of immortal heroes.
One day, a green giant rode into King Arthur's dining hall and challenged anyone there to chop off his head with a great battle axe, and then one year from today, meet him at the Green Chapel where he will cut offthe head of whoever accepts. The only one brave enough to accept, was Sir Gawain. The giant gave him the axe and Gawain cut off the giant's head. The giant proceeded to pick up his head and his sword and leave telling the shocked Gawain that he'll see him in a year. Everyone was very nice Gawain that year and he left to find the chapel 2 weeks before he was supposed to arrive. Three days before his date, he came upon a hunter's cabin where he asked where the was chapel was. The hunter invited him to stay with him for the three days since the chapel was right down the road. Gawian and he make a deal the the Hunter will give Gawian everything he wins hunting and Gawain will give him whatever comes to him during the day. They agree and go to bed. Soon after the hunter leaves, his beautiful wife wakes Gawain and passionately invited him to a morning of love. Since he is of King Arthur's Court and coulnd never stoop so low as to betray his host, he refuses. She persists and he finally agrees to one kiss. When the hunter returns that evening, he gives Gawain all kings of small game and Gawain gives him a kiss. They laugh and go to bed. The next morning the wife is even more beautiful and Gawain agrees to two kisses. That night the hunter brings home half as much game and he recieves two kisses. They laugh and go to bed. The last morning the wife comes in and Gawian, being a young man about to meet his death, accepts three kisses and her garter as a token of her love. When the hunter returns with only a smelly fox, Gawain gives him three kisses, but no garter. As Gawain approaches the Green Chapel, he can hear the Green Knight wetting his Great Axe. When he arrives the Knight tells him to streach out his neck on the stone. He does and the Knight lifts the mighty axe and brings it down only scratching Gawain's neck. Then the Green Knight, who turns out to be the hunter transformed says, "That's for the garter. "
Prowess: For seeking excellence in all endevors and seeking strength to be used for justice.
Justice: Always seek the path of "right." Do not let this path be tainted by bias or personal interest. Understand that justice can be a terrible thing that must be handled carefully. If the path of right is handled correctly, you will be rewarded.
Loyalty: Have an unavering commitment to people and never compromise your loyalty towards them.
Defense: Always protect your lord as well as others who depend apou you. Always defend your nation, family, and those you think are worthy of your loyalty.
Courage: Be prepared to make personal sacrifices where they may aid those who you value. Be prepared to have to take the more difficult path. Take the side of truth in all matters. Seek the truth, but remember to mix justice with mercy because the whole truth can sometimes be painful.
Faith: You must have faith in your beliefs because it will give you hope.
Humility: Do not boast. Let others do that for you. Tell of other's accpomlishments before your own.
Largesse: Be as generous as you can, as to counter gluttony.
Nobility: Follow all the virtues and qualities of a knight.
Franchise: Follow these rules not for personal gain, but because it is right. Try to make every quality of your life influenced by these qualities.
Some knights went alone, others together, but all the knights that went went because they were directed by God. They searched everywhere, many died and others returned to Camelot saying the quest was not for them. Sir Galahad went alone, confident that along the way, a shield would be provided for him. As he was riding throught the woods, he heard a cry of distress. When he looked all he say was a shepard with his flock of sheep. When he heard the cry for the second time, he saw that a wolf had entered the flock of sheep. He took his horse down the steep path and shot the wolf with a spear. The old shepard thanked him and told him he had something which would aid him in his his quest. He showed Galahad a white shield with a cross on it. The shepard said that it was left with him and no man can lift it except the one it belongs to. He told Galahad that if it was his then it would aid him on his quest which would end on a certain boat at sea. But if the shield was not his and he tried to pick it up, great harm would come to him. Sir Galahad lifted it and went on with his mission.
Sir Lancelot left Camelot hoping to go with Galahad, but Galahad was soon too far ahead. Lancelot found himself alone in the forest with no place to go for the night. He had a vision of two maidens bearing the Grail on a tray. He followed them into a castle where they took the Grail into a room. They told Lancelot that he would not get the grail because all of his good deeds were not done for the sake of doing good, but to impress Queen Guinevere. Lancelot left for home, knowing that that was true. On his way he met Sir Bors who told him that the Quest for the Grail was over. He had seen Sir Galahad and Sir Percival on a boat with the Grail. A pale mist had come over that Grail and it carried the Grail and the soul of Galahad to heaven. Percival had choosen to become a monk for the glory of God.
A beautiful 15 year old damsel led Sir Tor south to her uncle, Earl Fergus's lands. Here the people were bothered by a giant called Taulard who was destroying the land and stealing food. Sir Tor inquired where this giant lived and was taked there. He saw the giant laying under a holly tree. He was quite a fearsome site; he was as tall as two men with arms as thick as the iron clubs he was surrounded by. His head was covered with thick tangled hair which made him look like a beast. For a moment Sir Tor wanted to run away, but he quickly hit the giant's feet with his sword. The giant jumped and started swinging at him with his clubs. The first blow shattered Tor's sword. Then, moving quickly Tor dodged the clubs until he was able to cut off the Giant's right arm. It ran into the woods and Tor jumped on his horse and followed until the Giant went into an river up to his neck where Tor could not go. So thinking quickly, he picked up a large rock and threw it with perfect aim at the Giant's head. Taulard dissapeared into the river and was never seen again. The land was safe, and the Earl was grateful, but his beautiful neice did not go back to Camelot with Tor because they were too young to spent their days resting together.
All knights were expected to follow the basic ideals placed upon them. They were asked to do what was right at all times, even when it ment hurting themselves. They were very unselfish people who always put the needs of others above their own needs. They protected the people and needed to be strong and brave to do this. These ideals are demonsted and explained in the myhts on this page.
The events of what happened to Arthur when he died and went to Avalon are embellished and added to in writings as time passes. In the oldest chronicles by Geoffrey of Monmouth, after the battle between Mordred and King Arthur, Arthur was wounded and taken to the Island of Avalon to be healed. In a later vwriting by the same person, he adds that the boat was steered by an Irish monk. Also added was that Morgan la Fee and her sisters. Next, the Norman poet Wace writes that in Arthur is in Avalon and the Britons wait for him to be brought back to life and be King again. In the last writing by the English priest Layamon the Irish monk is changed to two beautiful women, and Arthur himself asks Constantine to govern his kingdom until he retums. In Tennyson's "Passing of Arthur" three dark queens took Arthur to be King among the dead. Avalon is represented as a "Celtic Land below the Wavest and this motif is "opposed in every measure to the judgements of this day world of ours, of the Sons of Light. -Joseph Campbell
Hi, my name is Rosalie. I'm a Freshman at West Essex. I made this page as part of English project about mythology. I hope that if you are using the information here for a project that it helps you because I know that when I was researching for it finding information was a pain in the butt. I play soccer and lacrosse, and I am the treasurer of my Freshman class. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at Rosie7239@aol.com.