Table Of Contentspine 25mm A
4 Sep 09
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Arthurian Studies 74 h The
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It is the tragic end to Arthur’s kingdom which gives the legend of Arthur its great A Arthurian
lingering resonance and power. The essays in this volume explore the presentation
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of death and dying in Arthurian literature and film from England and North
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America from the middle ages to the present day. h Way of Death
u
Karen Cherewatuk Dying in Uncle Arthur’s Arms and at His Hands
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Julie Nelson Couch Death as ‘Neglect of Duty’ in Howard Pyle’s The Story of
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the Grail and the Passing of Arthur a THE ENGLISH TRADITION
Thomas Howard Crofts Death in the Margins: Dying and Scribal Performance in n
the Winchester Manuscript
w
Siân Echard ‘But here Geoffrey falls silent’: Death, Arthur, and the
Historia regum Britannie
a
Kevin J. Harty Roll the Final Credits: Some Notes on Cinematic y
Depictions of the Death of Arthur
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Edward Donald Kennedy Mordred’s Sons
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James Noble Woman as Agent of Death in Tennyson’s Idylls of the King
D
Samantha J. Rayner Death and the ‘grimly voice’ in David Jones’s In
Parenthesis e
Lisa Robeson Malory and the Death of Kings: The Politics of Regicide a
at Salisbury Plain t
h
Cory James Rushton ‘Layde to the Colde Erthe’: Death, Arthur’s Knights,
and Narrative Closure
Janina P. Traxler Arthurian Exits: Alone, Together, or None of the Above
Michael W. Twomey ‘Hadet with an aluisch mon’ and ‘britned to noght’: Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight, Death, and the Devil
&C
K. S. Whetter Love and Death in Arthurian Romance WH
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Michael Wenthe The Legible Corpses of Le Morte Darthur HR
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TLW
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Cover: ‘How Mordred was slain by Arthur and how by him Arthur was hurt to the EaT
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death’, by Arthur Rackham, from The Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of e (eK
the Round Table, abridged by Alfred W. Pollard, 1917 (Mary Evans Picture Library/ dy
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Arthur Rackham).
an imprint of KAren CherewAtuK
BOYDELL & BREWER Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge IP12 3DF (GB) and YORK & K.S. whetter (editors)
668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY14620-2731 (US) MEDIEVAL
www.boydell.co.uk / www.boydellandbrewer.com PRESS
ARTHURIAN STUDIES LXXIV
THE ARTHURIAN WAY OF DEATH:
THE ENGLISH TRADITION
It is arguably the tragic end to Arthur’s kingdom that gives the Arthurian
myth its exceptional resonance and power. The fact that Arthur may or
may not die during this tragedy is equally compelling The essays in this
volume explore the presentation of death and dying in Arthurian litera-
ture and film produced in England and America from the Middle Ages
to the modern day. Authors, texts and topics covered include Geoffrey
of Monmouth, the chronicle tradition, and the alliterative Morte Arthure;
Gawain and the Green Knight, Ywain and Gawain, the stanzaic Morte
Arthur, and Malory’s Morte Darthur; Tennyson’s Idylls, Pyle’s retelling
of the myth for American children, David Jones, T. H. White, Donald
Barthelme, Rosalind Miles and Parke Godwin. Featured films include
Knight Rider, Excalibur, First Knight, and King Arthur.
ARTHURIAN STUDIES
ISSN 0261–9814
General Editor: Norris J. Lacy
Previously published volumes in the series
are listed at the back of this book
David Jones’s frontispiece to In Parenthesis (1937). By permission of
Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum of Wales and Mr A. J. Hyne.
THE ARTHURIAN WAY OF DEATH:
THE ENGLISH TRADITION
Edited by
Karen Cherewatuk and K. S. Whetter
D. S. BREWER
© Contributors 2009
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
First published 2009
D. S. Brewer, Cambridge
ISBN 978 1 84384 208 8
D. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mount Hope Ave, Rochester, NY 14604, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of
URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
Printed in Great Britain by
CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne
Contents
Illustrations and Tables ix
List of Contributors xi
Introduction 1
K. S. WheTTer and Karen ChereWaTuK
Part I: The early Tradition in england
1 ‘But here Geoffrey falls silent’: death, arthur, and the Historia regum 17
Britannie
SIân eChard
2 Mordred’s Sons 33
edWard donaLd Kennedy
3 dying in uncle arthur’s arms and at his hands 50
Karen ChereWaTuK
Part II: Middle english romance and Malory
4 ‘hadet with an aluisch mon’ and ‘britned to noȝt’: Sir Gawain and 73
the Green Knight, death, and the devil
MIChaeL W. TWoMey
5 Love and death in arthurian romance 94
K. S. WheTTer
6 death in the Margins: dying and Scribal Performance in the 115
Winchester Manuscript
ThoMaS h. CrofTS
7 The Legible Corpses of Le Morte Darthur 124
MIChaeL WenThe
8 Malory and the death of Kings: The Politics of regicide at Salisbury 136
Plain
LISa roBeSon
9 ‘Layde to the Colde erthe’: death, arthur’s Knights, and narrative 151
Closure
Cory JaMeS ruShTon
Part III: Medieval Influence and Modern Arthuriana
10 Arthurian Exits: Alone, Together, or None of the Above 169
JANINA P. TRAXLER
11 Woman as Agent of Death in Tennyson’s Idylls of the King 193
JAMES NOBLE
12 Death as ‘Neglect of Duty’ in Howard Pyle’s The Story of the Grail and 206
the Passing of Arthur
JULIE NELSON COUCH
13 Death and the ‘grimly voice’ in David Jones’s In Parenthesis 226
SAMANTHA RAYNER
14 Roll the Final Credits: Some Notes on Cinematic Depictions of 241
the Death of Arthur
KEVIN J. HARTY
Index 249
