Le Morte D' Arthur

Le Morte d'Arthur starts out by telling the legend of King Arthur. It describes the history and the different tales of King Arthur. At the beginning of the story, Uther Pendragon has a son. His son, Arthur is sent with Merlyn to go live with a foster father. Sir Ector his foster father raises him until the time comes for him to receive heir to the throne. Kay his foster brother asks Arthur to retrieve his sword. When Arthur can't find Sir Kay's sword he pulls the sword Excalibur out of the stone, not knowing what he had done brings it back to Kay. When everyone realizes what Arthur has done they kneel before him. Some support Arthur and others don't believe he is the heir out of pure jealousy. He then has to battle and prove he is the rightful owner of the sword and the true heir to the throne. He fights battles as king, and many people follow under him. He creates the round table, that holds a group of knights not one more important than the other. Sir Lancelot a knight of the round table goes on a journey and gets himself captured. He fights and wins many challenges and does good deeds. When he returns to Camelot King Arthur and his relationship is ruined with the rivalry of Queen Guenevere. Sir Lancelot then leaves and Arthur's is left without his once favorite knight. He goes into battle with Modred, because Modred planned to take over the castle in Arthur's absence from Britain. This leads to the death of thousands of knights and soldiers, and the death of Arthur.

I enjoyed Le Morte d'Arthur. It was short and gave me an understanding of what I was going to read in the Once and Future King. Some of the characters in this I did not like, Sir Lancelot seemed rather pompous at times finding himself invincible, but at others seemed generous and brave. I was disappointed at the end when Arthur died. I expected more of a heroic death. He was warned not to go into battle but still did. Even though his intentions were otherwise it still lead to his death. I think Lancelot was more of a hero in this story than Arthur. He had more hero characteristics, he was pompous at times but also very generous and courageous. He was brave and liked to fight to save people. I found One thing that surprised me in this is when Sir Lancelot saved the woman from being molested. This story took place a very long time ago, and people still molest people today. Some of the ways things are done, good and bad haven't changed much.

Vocabulary:

Matins, copse, shrewd, trousseau and suzerainty.
Fickle was also in there, and that is my favorite word.