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

[anne-arthur.livejournal.com]

As I've said above, it's probably worth trying to start at the beginning, if you can find a DVD or something. And you've made me curious about Kaamelott - I'll have to try and see if I can get hold of it. And your Gawain comic looks great - I've loved him since we read 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' at school (and he doesn't feature in 'Merlin') so I will find time to read it all!

It usually annoys me too, when people take something and reinvent it like this - the new Star Trek film is a case in point! Here, 'Merlin' takes a little bit more than just the names, I think - and some of the elements of the traditional story, like Arthur's conception or Mordred's, would be quite hard to include in what is basically a children's show! But I've always thought of the Arthurian canon as a sort of medieval fandom, with different authors rewriting the story to suit themselves, or inventing new knights if they didn't like any of the existing ones - so I'm relatively relaxed about even quite a radical re-imagining - provided that it is done well, which I think this is.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

But I've always thought of the Arthurian canon as a sort of medieval fandom, with different authors rewriting the story to suit themselves, or inventing new knights if they didn't like any of the existing ones

Oh, absolutely! It's a fandom complete with Gary Stus! :D It's difficult to argue one way or another about things which you'd expect to be basics - like, say, Mordred's parentage. In Malory Arthur is his father and in Geoffrey of Monmouth it's King Lot... What is canon? The challenge is to create a story with an inner coherence; it's clear that you can't ever get it all 'correct', because no single source can lay claim to being the ultimate version. I guess lots of people stick with Malory because his Morte is pretty complete in its scope. Pity he's so tough on poor Gawain. (But, okay, that's my own preference speaking *g*...) In any case, the variety of versions forms a wonderful playground!

I couldn't contain my curiosity and have ordered the first season of Merlin on Amazon... As for Kaamelott, English subtitling may be a problem. Do you read French? I'm quite certain that seasons one to three have only French subtitles (alas!). Four has (sometimes wonky) English ones. Five - I can check for you.

As for Gawain, I've adored him for years now, but it's only at the end of last year that I got the feeling that I had my story together. I'm having great fun writing and drawing it. I hope you'll enjoy it!

[anne-arthur.livejournal.com]

Sorry to take so long to reply - things have suddenly become very busy here! Yes, I do read French, and should be able to manage a French film with French subtitles. I will certainly investigate.

I hope 'Merlin' doesn't disappoint. Since you wrote, Morgause has appeared - she is Morgana's half sister, but Morgana doesn't know about her, and she clearly has some grudge against Uther and interest in Arthur - I suspect that she may turn out to be Arthur's half sister as well, the daughter of his mother and Morgana's father. And I do think that this version, though 'uncanonical' does have inner coherence and might potentially be going somewhere interesting.

I'm afraid I haven't got round to Gawain yet, but I hope to be able to do so soon!