Major Themes of Arthurian Legend

Introduction

Arthurian legend is a collection of texts written in the Middle Ages around the King Arthur, his entourage and the quest for the Grail, which is a strong theme of the area of Britain. There is no Arthurian legend, but the Arthurian legends. This is due to many authors who have assembled these traditions over the centuries since the first monks to the collectors who have enriched writers like Chretien de Troyes, more recently, Xavier de Langlais. The names of characters and circumstances of life (youth, deeds, death) vary from one period to another, from one country to another. However, there is a unity of place: the mythical kingdom of Britain, which covers the, territories of central, south and west of Britain today and part of the undefined mainland Britain, and a unit of time.

The end of the fifth century and early sixth century when the Romans come to leave the Island of Britain, the period of the invasions that preceded and followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It is therefore, not the cause of medieval characters, although their popularity in France was brought by writers of the Middle Ages.

Discussion

The literary cycle of Arthurian legend is the most famous graduate of the Matter of Britain. It owes its success to its status as a double story, approached by many authors since the twelfth century. On the one hand, Camelot, utopia chivalry, defeated by the conflict between Arthur, Lancelot and Mordred, among others. On the other quest, for the fabled Holy Grail, undertaken by many knights, in which many fail (as Lancelot) and chosen few succeed (his son Galahad, particularly helped Perceval). The Arthurian cycle is, for several centuries, focusing on topics Christians, such as sin, illustrated by the actions of heroes in turn virtuous or evil, or the quest of the absolute, symbolized by the supreme relic, the Holy Grail. Relationships, such as that of Lancelot and Guinevere, or Tristan and Isolde are the beginnings of the courtly love (Anderson, 67). More recently, the tendency is to relate these legends with Celtic mythology, particularly since the beginning of the twentieth century.

The Arthurian Legend deals with a lot of different themes as per the perspective of the writer. However, the following are some of the major themes of all of the Arthurian Legend:

Round Table

The round table was the celebrated table used by the King ...