Alliterative Morte Arthure
Encyclopedia
The Alliterative Morte Arthure is a 4346-line Middle English
alliterative poem
, retelling the latter part of the legend of King Arthur
. It is preserved in a single copy, in the early fifteenth-century Lincoln Thornton Manuscript
.
, Andrew of Wyntoun
mentions a poet called Huchoun
("little Hugh"), who he says made a "gret Gest of Arthure,/And þe Awntyr of Gawane,/ Þe Pistil als of Suet Susane" [great history of Arthur,/And the Adventure of Gawain,/The Epistle also of Sweet Susan]. This "Gest of Arthure" has been claimed to be a reference to what is now known as the Alliterative Morte Arthure; but the fact that the Morte Arthure seems to have been written in an East Midlands dialect, the fact that Huchoun may have been Scottish, and the dialect of the extant Epistle of Sweet Susan, which appears to be that of North Yorkshire, all argue against "Huchoun"'s authorship.
The only manuscript source for the Morte Arthure is the Lincoln Thornton Manuscript
written sometime in the mid 15th century by Robert Thornton
, who copied an older text, now lost, which presumably derived from south-west Lincolnshire
.
's History of the Kings of Britain. It contains numerous episodes which are not in Geoffrey's work such as the Round Table
and suggests either the poet using other works such as Wace
's Roman de Brut
or Layamon
's Brut
, the first texts to mention the Round Table. Some parts do not have a clear source and may have originated with the poet.
Compared to many of the other depictions of Arthur's story, the Alliterative Morte Arthure is a relatively realistic version of events. There are few of the fantastical elements which often surround the legend and the story focuses more on Arthur's skill as a warrior king. The stress placed on chivalric duty in the contemporary Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
is in the Morte Arthure of a more practical nature and has more to do with personal loyalty. Also the Morte Arthure is less clearly part of the romance
genre than Sir Gawain and other Arthurian poems and more like a chronicle of the times. It contains little of the magic and symbolism of these other works, with no mention of Merlin
, although it does use the literary device of the dream vision common in courtly romance and Chaucer
. Arthur is a more political and also flawed ruler, the story is not just based in a small realm but is always placed within a wider European situation and this Arthur is more clearly Christian
than other versions. Arthur also has two legendary swords, the first being Excalibur
, and the second one being Clarent
, a formal sword, stolen by the evil Mordred, with which Arthur receives his fatal blow.
An example of the differing style of the alliterative version of the story is the treatment of Mordred
. He is not simply the villain of the piece as he is in other poems but is a complex character with a varying personality. One mark of the prevalence of Christian morality in the poem is that even Mordred cries and seems to be repentant around line 3886.
Although the majority of Thomas Malory
's Le Morte d'Arthur
is closer to the style of Gawain and French versions of the legend, the second part of Malory's work, King Arthur's war against the Romans, is primarily a translation of the earlier alliterative work, although Malory alters the Alliterative Morte Arthure's tragic ending into a triumphant ending. Malory's contextualization of this tale early in his collection of Athurian tales seems to indicate Arthur's heroic potential which will deepen the irony of his eventual fall through his own pride, and the wrath and lust that are allowed to run rampant in his court.
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
alliterative poem
Alliterative verse
In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal structuring device to unify lines of poetry, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of alliterative verse are those found in the oldest literature of many Germanic...
, retelling the latter part of the legend of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
. It is preserved in a single copy, in the early fifteenth-century Lincoln Thornton Manuscript
Lincoln Thornton Manuscript
The Lincoln Thornton Manuscript is a medieval manuscript compiled and copied by the fifteenth-century English scribe and landowner Robert Thornton. The manuscript is notable for containing single versions of important poems such as the Alliterative Morte Arthure and Sir Perceval of Galles, and...
.
History
The author of the poem is unknown. In his history of ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Andrew of Wyntoun
Andrew of Wyntoun
Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and later, a canon of St...
mentions a poet called Huchoun
Huchoun
Huchoun or Huchown "of the Awle Ryale" is a poet conjectured to have been writing sometime in the 14th century. Some academics, following the Scottish antiquarian George Neilson , have identified him with a Scottish knight, Hugh of Eglington, and advanced his authorship of several significant...
("little Hugh"), who he says made a "gret Gest of Arthure,/And þe Awntyr of Gawane,/ Þe Pistil als of Suet Susane" [great history of Arthur,/And the Adventure of Gawain,/The Epistle also of Sweet Susan]. This "Gest of Arthure" has been claimed to be a reference to what is now known as the Alliterative Morte Arthure; but the fact that the Morte Arthure seems to have been written in an East Midlands dialect, the fact that Huchoun may have been Scottish, and the dialect of the extant Epistle of Sweet Susan, which appears to be that of North Yorkshire, all argue against "Huchoun"'s authorship.
The only manuscript source for the Morte Arthure is the Lincoln Thornton Manuscript
Lincoln Thornton Manuscript
The Lincoln Thornton Manuscript is a medieval manuscript compiled and copied by the fifteenth-century English scribe and landowner Robert Thornton. The manuscript is notable for containing single versions of important poems such as the Alliterative Morte Arthure and Sir Perceval of Galles, and...
written sometime in the mid 15th century by Robert Thornton
Robert Thornton (scribe)
Robert Thornton was a Yorkshire landowner, a member of the landed gentry. His efforts as an amateur scribe and manuscript compiler resulted in the preservation of many valuable works of Middle English literature, and have given him an important place in its history.-Biography:Thornton's name is...
, who copied an older text, now lost, which presumably derived from south-west Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
.
Contents
The story is adapted from books IX and X of Geoffrey of MonmouthGeoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
's History of the Kings of Britain. It contains numerous episodes which are not in Geoffrey's work such as the Round Table
Round Table
The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of...
and suggests either the poet using other works such as Wace
Wace
Wace was a Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy , ending his career as Canon of Bayeux.-Life:...
's Roman de Brut
Roman de Brut
Roman de Brut or Brut is a verse literary history of Britain by the poet Wace. Written in the Norman language, it consists of 14,866 lines....
or Layamon
Layamon
Layamon or Laghamon (ˈlaɣamon; in American English often modernised as ; ), occasionally written Lawman, was a poet of the early 13th century and author of the Brut, a notable English poem of the 12th century that was the first English language work to discuss the legends of Arthur and the...
's Brut
Brut (Layamon)
Layamon's Brut , also known as The Chronicle of Britain, is a Middle English poem compiled and recast by the English priest Layamon. The Brut is 16,095 lines long and narrates the history of Britain: it is the first historiography written in English since the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle...
, the first texts to mention the Round Table. Some parts do not have a clear source and may have originated with the poet.
Compared to many of the other depictions of Arthur's story, the Alliterative Morte Arthure is a relatively realistic version of events. There are few of the fantastical elements which often surround the legend and the story focuses more on Arthur's skill as a warrior king. The stress placed on chivalric duty in the contemporary Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance outlining an adventure of Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. In the poem, Sir Gawain accepts a challenge from a mysterious warrior who is completely green, from his clothes and hair to his...
is in the Morte Arthure of a more practical nature and has more to do with personal loyalty. Also the Morte Arthure is less clearly part of the romance
Romance (genre)
As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
genre than Sir Gawain and other Arthurian poems and more like a chronicle of the times. It contains little of the magic and symbolism of these other works, with no mention of Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
, although it does use the literary device of the dream vision common in courtly romance and Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
. Arthur is a more political and also flawed ruler, the story is not just based in a small realm but is always placed within a wider European situation and this Arthur is more clearly Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
than other versions. Arthur also has two legendary swords, the first being Excalibur
Excalibur
Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was...
, and the second one being Clarent
Clarent
King Arthur's sword of peace, used mainly in knighting or coronation ceremonies rather than battles. It appears in the Alliterative Morte Arthure, where it is stolen by Mordred and used to deliver a fatal blow to Arthur. It was the sword pulled from the stone, whereas Excalibur was granted to...
, a formal sword, stolen by the evil Mordred, with which Arthur receives his fatal blow.
An example of the differing style of the alliterative version of the story is the treatment of Mordred
Mordred
Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
. He is not simply the villain of the piece as he is in other poems but is a complex character with a varying personality. One mark of the prevalence of Christian morality in the poem is that even Mordred cries and seems to be repentant around line 3886.
Although the majority of Thomas Malory
Thomas Malory
Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur. The antiquary John Leland as well as John Bale believed him to be Welsh, but most modern scholars, beginning with G. L...
's Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of Romance tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table...
is closer to the style of Gawain and French versions of the legend, the second part of Malory's work, King Arthur's war against the Romans, is primarily a translation of the earlier alliterative work, although Malory alters the Alliterative Morte Arthure's tragic ending into a triumphant ending. Malory's contextualization of this tale early in his collection of Athurian tales seems to indicate Arthur's heroic potential which will deepen the irony of his eventual fall through his own pride, and the wrath and lust that are allowed to run rampant in his court.
External links
- The Alliterative Morte Arthure from Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
- The Stanzaic Morte Arthur and Alliterative Morte Arthure from TEAMS Middle English Texts
- "Turn, traitor untrew
: Altering Arthur and Mordred in the Alliterative Morte Arthure", a discussion of the changes in character Arthur and Mordred go through