Giles Kristian, acclaimed bestselling author of Lancelot, tells us about the timeless appeal of King Arthur’s legend and the thinking behind his Arthurian trilogy. As foretold, Arthur will come again – with the third book in the series, Arthur, published on 6 June.
The legend of Arthur has been told in countless ways over centuries, from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain (c1138), to Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles, from the 1963 movie The Sword in the Stone, John Boorman’s 1981 fantasy film Excalibur, and Guy Ritchie’s 2017 movie King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. And one can’t not mention Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
As a novelist looking for a hook upon which (or whom) to hang a tale, the idea of a story about Lancelot seemed a golden one, particularly since throughout all the adaptations of the myth, we’ve seen little of Arthur’s greatest knight and closest friend, the man whose tragic love affair with Arthur’s wife Guinevere presaged the downfall of a kingdom. We’ve all heard of Lancelot, and of that most celebrated love-triangle in European literature, but many of us don’t know much more than that.
And so, I set about reimagining of one of the great figures of British myth and legend. After Lancelot came Camelot, a novel about Lancelot’s son, Galahad, and about Iselle, the wild, Saxon-killing daughter I gave Arthur.
And these books were very much reimaginings. After all, what would be the point in recycling an existing version of the Arthurian myth? Indeed, the fascinating thing about the stories of Arthur created between the sixth century and today is the sheer variation in the characters, places, themes, objects and events.
Take Gawain, one of Arthur’s most famous knights. Early French romance considered him the epitome of the chivalrous warrior. But in the Vulgate and post-Vulgate cycles Gawain is a thug who murders other knights during the Grail quest.
And then there’s Morgan le Fay (Morgana in Lancelot and Arthur), who is so very inconsistent throughout the Arthurian saga. In some versions she’s evil, in others compassionate. In some, beautiful, in others ugly. Sometimes a real woman, other times an enchantress.
For me, the fun is in the creative process. In the traditional tales, Galahad embodies purity and virtue. He is a sinless virgin. Having replaced Perceval as the Grail hero, Galahad was raised in a nunnery and preordained to attain the Grail.
Hard to make that work, I thought, in my sub-Roman Britain that had, since the story told in Lancelot, become a brutish hellhole of anarchy, slaughter, filth and darkness, where famine and pestilence rule and the uneasy truce between the Saxons and the Britons is breaking.
Sticking a pure-hearted golden boy into that mess seemed incongruous to me, even cruel. Moreover, protagonists in drama require motivation. Where’s the conflict, where’s the challenge, if you’re a pre-selected winner? Where’s the suspense?
I’ve had fun subverting aspects of the legend, giving subtle nods to characters and episodes in the age-old stories with my own versions and conceivable explanations.
In Camelot, my ‘Green Knight’ is a warrior with copper-stained skin. In Lancelot, my ‘Round Table’ is the stump of a once huge oak tree, around which Arthur and his trusted warriors gather to talk of war. My ‘Lady of the Lake’ is a Pictish priestess who symbolically submerges Excalibur in the water (or underworld) before drawing it out again.
At the heart of the Arthurian legend is of course the figure of King Arthur himself, a legendary monarch said to have ruled Britain in the early Middle Ages. While the historical existence of Arthur remains a subject of debate, his mythic stature as a noble king, wise leader, and valiant warrior has made him an iconic figure in literature. Arthur, then, had to be the final book in my Arthurian Tales.
Traditionally, Arthur is never seen again following his mortal wounds received at the hands of his own son, Mordred, at the Battle of Camlan. However, it was too exciting for me to imagine that he did not die of his wounds, nor was he healed in Avalon, there to remain until his death from old age.
The question I wanted to pose is, what if Arthur had lived? What kind of man would he have become? And, more importantly, could he be tempted back to the world, to wield Excalibur one final time?
I enjoyed having rumours (spread by Merlin, of course) of Arthur’s existence circulating around Britain. This was my way of playing with the enduring part of the legend which says that in our darkest time, when we need him most, shall Arthur come again.
And so this book is, to the best of my knowledge, treading new ground. It has been thrilling for me, taking up threads of the well-known stories and weaving them into something new.
I pass the grail to the next author willing to drink from it. They will undoubtedly reimagine the rich and fascinating world of Arthur in their own way. Which is, of course, just as it should be.
Arthur by Giles Kristian is published on 6 June, 2024.
Giles is the author of the Raven trilogy, the Rise of Sigurd novels, two books set during the English Civil Wars (The Bleeding Land and Brothers’ Fury) and the contemporary thriller Where Blood Runs Cold. He throws axes for fun.
You may enjoy reading Historia’s interview with Giles Kristian.
If you’re interested in Arthur, have a look at these features:
Who was King Arthur? And did he exist? by Fil Reid
History, historicity, historiography and Arthurian legend by Nicola Griffith
For a look at the times just before Arthur’s era, see How Roman was Roman Britain? by Jacquie Rogers
In The 5th century: the fall of Rome, the birth of legends, Tim Hodkinson writes about the European perspective
For the view from the Saxon side, there’s Adding the ‘little’ bits to enrich a story of Saxon historical fiction by MJ Porter
A life of war in Anglo-Saxon Britain by Edoardo Albert
In Search of Mercia by Annie Whitehead
Images:
- King Arthur and his knights see a vision of the Holy Grail, from Lancelot-Graal: Lancelot en prose, Perlesvaus, Queste del Saint-Graal et Mort le roi Artu by the Maître des cleres femmes, c1405–7: Bibliothèque Nationale de France digital library (public domain)
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight from the Gawain Manuscript: British Library MS Cotton Nero Ax, facsimile published by The Cotton Nero AX Project (public domain)
- Sir Galahad is introduced to King Arthur’s knights, gathered at the Round Table, from La Quête du Saint Graal et la Mort d’Arthus, attrib Gautier Map, 14th century: Bibliothèque Nationale de France digital library (public domain)
- King Arthur passing by Stella Langdale from Stories of King Arthur and His Knights by U Waldo Cutler: Project Gutenberg edition (public domain)
