The Legend of
KingArthur                                Syllabus

English 348U - 01
Spring 2000
Dr. Rosalind B. Reilly

January 13
Introduction to the course: Welcome to Camelot!

January 20 – Arthur’s Origins

• Malory’s: Le Morte d'Arthur:

pp. 9-27 (Book I, Chapters 1-10) - Arthur's birth; the sword in the stone
pp. 45-59 (Book I, Chapters 19-27) - Birth of Mordred; Excalibur
pp. 92-99 (Book III, Chapters 1-5) - Marriage to Guenever
pp. 115-116, last paragraph of chapter Book III, Chapter 15 - Code of chivalry
John Steinbeck’s The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights--handout. Merlin & Nimue; Morgan's treachery (This excerpt from Steinbeck's redaction of Le Morte follows Book IV, Chapters 1-16, pp. 117-141, fairly closely. If you would prefer to read it straight from Malory, you may.)

• Entries on "Excalibur" (p. 100) & "Round Table" (p. 218) in Illustrated Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legend

Movie excerpt: John Boorman's Excalibur

January 27 -- The Fall of Camelot

• Malory’s: Le Morte d'Arthur:

pp. 188-207 (Book XI, Chapters 1-10) - Launcelot & Elaine of Corbin
pp. 215-230 (Book XII, Chapters 1-10) - Launcelot & Elaine of Corbin, continued
pp. 238-251 (Book XIII, Chapters 1-8) - Galahad's knighting; beginning of grail quest
pp. 373-532 (Books XVIII - XXI; you may skip chapters 21-24 of Book XVIII)

• Entries on "Lancelot" (p. 152), "Elaine" (p. 94), & "Mordred" (pp184-185) in Illustrated Encyclopedia

February 3 – T. H. White and hollywood

• Quiz on Malory
• Chretien de Troyes’ "Knight of the Cart"--on handout.

Movie excerpts: Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot.

February 10 – Victorian Camelot

• Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, "The Coming of Arthur," "Lancelot and Elaine"
• Tennyson's "The Lady of Shallot" (on handout)
• "Elaine" by Edna St. Vincent Millay—handout.

Victorian paintings/photographs (Bring Illustrated Encyclopedia).

February 17 – The Holy Grail

• Tennyson’s Idylls: "The Holy Grail," "Guinevere," and "The Passing of Arthur"
• Johnson's He.
• Entries on "Avalon" (p. 51), "Grail" (pp. 118-119), "Galahad" (p. 106), and

"Round Table" (p. 218) in Illustrated Encyclopedia

February 24 – – The Historical arthur

• Quiz on Tennyson, Chretien, Camelot
• Geoffrey Ashe’s The Discovery of King Arthur, Ch. 1 (pp. 3-18)--handout.
• Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain--handout.
• Optional: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends, pp. 9-27 (Good historical overview of the evolution of the legend, if you are interested in reading more)

March 2 – Artos: Bear of Britain

• Rosemary Sutcliff’s Sword at Sunset: Chapters 1-9 (pp. 1-116).
• Entries on "Arthur" (pp. 40-41--keep going if you like), "Britain" (p. 63), and "Morgan le Fay" (pp. 186-187) in Illustrated Encyclopedia

March 16 –Guenhumara

• Sutcliff’s Sword at Sunset: Chapters 10-17 (pp. 117-238).

Entry on "Guinevere" (pp. 126-127) in Illustrated Encyclopedia

March 23 – The King’s Sacrifice

• Sutcliff’s Sword at Sunset: Chapters 18-27 (pp. 239-369).

April 1 - Betrayal of the King

• Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset: Chapters 28-end (pp. 370-498).
• Quiz on Sword at Sunset, Arthur's historical context, and Geoffrey of Monmouth

April 6 - Merlin

• Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave, pp. xv-117.

April 13 - Ambrosius

• The Crystal Cave, pp. 121-368.
• Entries on "Ambrosius Aurelius" (p. 35), "Dinas Emrys" (p. 87), & "Vortigern" (p. 243) in Illustrated Encyclopedia

April 20 - The Babe of Tintagel

• The Crystal Cave, pp. 369-507.
• Entries on "Stonehenge" (p. 225) and "Tintagel" (p. 229) in Illustrated Encyclopedia

April 27 - Farewells

• Quiz on final novel
• Thomas Berger’s Arthur Rex, Ch. 1 (pp. 1-15)--handout.

Last things

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