spine 25mm A 4 Sep 09 t Arthurian Studies 74 h The e 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 r of death and dying in Arthurian literature and film from England and North t 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 r Julie Nelson Couch Death as ‘Neglect of Duty’ in Howard Pyle’s The Story of i 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 o Edward Donald Kennedy Mordred’s Sons f 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 E Michael Wenthe The Legible Corpses of Le Morte Darthur HR EE TLW TA Cover: ‘How Mordred was slain by Arthur and how by him Arthur was hurt to the EaT RcU 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 s ) 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