The Legend of King Arthur

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The Legend of King Arthur
Challenge 1
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Challenge I

• Objective Identify characters and background
  information pertaining to the Legend of King
  ArthurDirections Your job is to "think" about
   the questions and complete the worksheet  Skim
  and scan to find your answers.

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Characters in the Arthurian Legends
Based on the short descriptions-Who do you think
may be the most important characters in the
Arthurian Legends? (choose 6)
_____King Arthur-King of Britain _____Merlin-the
King Arthurs Magician _____Morgan Le Fay-King
Arthurs sister _____Mordred-Morgan Le Fay and
King Arthurs son _____Elaine-Lance
lots Wife _____Gawain-nephew of Arthur _____Sir
Kay-in charge of Arthurs house _____Perceval-a
blessed fool _____Guinevere-King Arthurs wife
_____Lady of the Lake-gives Arthur
Excalibur _____Lancelot-knight of the round
table, lover of Guinevere
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Who? (3 facts)

• King Arthur The Once and Future
  KingLegendary King of Britain from around 400
  AD to 600 AD, Arthur was the son of Uther
  Pendragon and Igraine, whose actual name might
  have been its Latin version, Arturus. This king
  is mentioned briefly in the Easter Annals, or the
  Annals of Wales, describing battles of the sixth
  century, and later by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his
  History of the Kings of Britain (ca 1136).
  According to legend, Arthur's conception takes
  place when Uther seduces Igraine. Uther was made,
  by Merlin's sorcery, to resemble Igraine's
  husband, Gorlois. After Arthur was born, he was
  given to Ector to be raised in secret. Uther died
  in battle shortly after Arthur's birth. However,
  before Uther died, he planted Excalibur in a
  stone where it remained for many years. Merlin
  said that whoever withdrew the sword from the
  stone would be the future king of Britain. Though
  many tried to remove the sword, Arthur alone
  succeeded. However, this young King stirred
  controversy among other knights who had been
  competing for king. Arthur, under the guidance of
  Merlin, stopped the rebellion against him and
  married Guinevere. After this Arthur established
  the Knights of the Round Table at the castle of
  Camelot.

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Guinevere
Who? (3 facts)

• Arthur's queen, reputedly the most beautiful
  woman in Britain, and the lover of Lancelot,
  Arthur's best knight. She is occasionally a
  political pawn in the hands of Mordred, other
  knights, even Arthur himself, and with the help
  of Lancelot, she escapes a number of
  predicaments, including kidnapping by Sir
  Meliagaunt, burning at the stake, and later,
  marriage with her step-son. In Malory, she flees
  after Arthur's death to Amesbury, where she
  becomes a nun, as well as "abbess and ruler, as
  reason would." After the last battle in which
  Arthur and many others are killed, Lancelot comes
  to find her there, and when Guinevere sees him as
  she walks with the sisters in the cloister, she
  swoons three times so "that all ladies and
  gentlewomen had work enough to hold the queen
  from the earth."

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What was the importance of the round table? (3
facts)

• As its name suggests, it has no head, implying
  that everyone who sits there has equal status.
• The knights were usually of noble birth they
  were usually kings and princes, dukes, counts (or
  earls) and barons. They formed the backbone of
  the army, since they were the only one who could
  afford expensive armor and weapon, as well as the
  cost of training and maintaining the war-horse.
• When the knights attend a festival or council at
  the king's main hall, those who sat at the head
  of table, usually have precedence over others.
  These knights would feel envy or jealousy to
  those of higher ranking. Sometimes, the knights
  would cause a brawl, over who would take the seat
  at the head of table.
• To resolve these problems, Arthur resorted to
  having his table constructed in a rounded shape.
  The ingenuity of this design, make all the
  knights equal, regardless if he was a king or a
  minor baron. No one would have precedence over
  others.
• The knights in Arthur's company became known as
  the "Knights of the Round Table". These knights
  were heroes, renowned for their strength and
  courage, and for their skill in combat and
  warfare. They swore to protect the king and the
  kingdom.
• The symbolism of the Round Table developed over
  time by the close of the 12th century it had
  come to represent the chivalric order associated
  with Arthur's court, the Knights of the Round
  Table.
• So the Round Table actually began in a more basic
  tradition, that of political expenditure. There
  was no magical or mystical ingredient that would
  appeared later in this century or early next
  century.

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Where and When did Arthur live?

• King Arthur The Once and Future KingLegendary
  King of Britain from around 400 AD to 600 AD,
  Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon and
  Igraine, whose actual name might have been its
  Latin version, Arturus. This king is mentioned
  briefly in the Easter Annals, or the Annals of
  Wales, describing battles of the sixth century,
  and later by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History
  of the Kings of Britain (ca 1136). According to
  legend, Arthur's conception takes place when
  Uther seduces Igraine. Uther was made, by
  Merlin's sorcery, to resemble Igraine's husband,
  Gorlois. After Arthur was born, he was given to
  Ector to be raised in secret. Uther died in
  battle shortly after Arthur's birth. However,
  before Uther died, he planted Excalibur in a
  stone where it remained for many years. Merlin
  said that whoever withdrew the sword from the
  stone would be the future king of Britain. Though
  many tried to remove the sword, Arthur alone
  succeeded. However, this young King stirred
  controversy among other knights who had been
  competing for king. Arthur, under the guidance of
  Merlin, stopped the rebellion against him and
  married Guinevere. After this Arthur established
  the Knights of the Round Table at the castle of
  Camelot.

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How and why did Arthur become king?

• The Sword in the Stone, sometimes a sword in an
  anvil, is drawn by Arthur as proof of his
  birthright and of his nobility. It is both a test
  and a miraculous sign of his royalty. The sword
  drawn from the stone is different from the one
  given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. The
  latter is always referred to as Excalibur the
  former is called by that name only once, when
  Arthur draws the sword at a crucial moment in the
  first battle to test his sovereignty.

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• Why do you think equality might have been so
  important to King Arthur?