King Arthur stands as the ideal – albeit flawed and tragic - of kingly virtues from a past golden age. This essentially British story is drawn from history and folklore, moulded by successive retellings by writers such as Thomas Malory and T.H. White, and adapted into multiple forms, because the stories and ideas are so compelling. How can a person be the ideal king, or the ideal knight? What are the obstacles to virtue? There have been other legendary kings, but these are not connected to a common root story but by a common human desire, a dream of Camelot.
- Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table (Signet Classics: 2001), ISBN: 9780451528162
- Legends of King Arthur: Idylls of the King (Chartwell Books: 2009), ISBN: 9780785825036
- The Once and Future King (Voyager: 1996), ISBN: 9780006483014
- Evolution of the text: The Mabinogion; Nennius History of Britain; Geoffrey of Monmouth History of the Kings of Britain; Chrétien of Troyes; Thomas Malory Le Morte d’Arthur; Alfred, Lord Tennyson Idylls of the King; T. H. White The Once and Future King
- Stories, characters, relationships
- Adaptations of the story and other works about legendary kings
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Outline the historical origins of King Arthur and the folklore of the ideal king.
- Describe the plots and major characters of the stories.
