Something I only just realized about the Arthur Saga-

[mary_j_59]

This is passed on from eleanor X, who had posted the video to her own livejournal. It really is a terrific song; I can't get it out of my head, and the lyrics (in spite of a couple of infelicitous words like "puppetile" - why not "puppet-like" or simply "puppet's"?) are pretty astonishing. If you watch this, consider the relationship described between Morgana and young Mordred, and then go here:
http://sigune.livejournal.com/93168.html#cutid1

Follow the links for "the Darkest Hour" and read the whole thing - and you will see, quite clearly, what I only just realized. The Arthur legend is, at heart, a revenge tragedy about a seriously disordered family. And young Mordred - if you read him as the instrument of his mother's revenge; there are other ways of reading him - is actually not so much a villain, as the last victim of this family. Why didn't I see this before?

Anyway, the song and the comic are both terrific, and I look forward to reactions to them both. ) BTw, the little fellow who plays Mordred is much, much closer to my idea of young Harry than Dan Radcliffe. For one thing, he is slender and actually has greenish eyes.

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Comments

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

About the show, I must confess that I can't say, never having seen it! I have a friend who's crazy about it, but she seems to be into it for the Merlin/Arthur ship (in case you couldn't guess, Merlin is the thin dark teen and Arthur the husky blond who is talking to young Mordred at the end). So it obviously doesn't take Arthurian canon very seriously.

As to the song, I actually bought this one on iTunes. ) The singer is called Heather Dale, and she seems to have written a lot about the Arthurian characters.

The revenge motif, tragic though it is, does make sense of characters in the saga who would otherwise be blanks. Speaking of which - making sense, that is - I do highly recommend Elizabeth Wein's Winter Prince to you as well. IF you can find it, that is! It's astonishing to me that it's out of print; it is intense, intelligent, morally and emotionally coherent (though disturbing) and very well written.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm going to try and get my hands on a copy :).

Wah! That song is catchy indeed!