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

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Hee! Any idea where the song comes from? It's amazingly appropriate and kind of fascinating.

Is the show any good? All I can tell from the video is that it has a beautiful Morgana and a cute little Mordred :). Do they make Mordred Arthur's child? If so, how do they explain the relationship between Arthur and Morgana (I assume there is no Morgause)?

The revenge tragedy - that depends on the angle you take, I think. In most (especially older) versions of the story, it is not said that Ygraine is unhappy about the things Uther does. She mourns her husband, but she is not shown as resenting Uther. (Of course there is not exactly a lot of characterisation, which I personally interpret as an invitation to do as I please with the material ;-).)

To me, the revenge tragedy certainly makes sense, also because it offers a motivation to some characters that would otherwise be - well, motivationless. Morgana is probably the best example. She is said to hate Guinevere and/or to hate Arthur and, by extension, (most of) his knights, but the old texts are usually pretty vague about the why of it all. I think it's mostly modern authors who bring in the idea that she (and/or Morgause) takes revenge for her mother (and, in T. H. White, for the Gaels) and hates Arthur purely because he is Uther's son.

Errr... I seem to have sort of lost my point along the way, but I guess what I was trying to say is that I'm not sure to what extent the revenge motif was present before Malory came along. In any case, I'm rather partial to it myself ;-).

Thanks very much for reccing my story! I'm really very glad you are enjoying it :D.

[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!