The Fall of King Arthur: Why Le Morte Darthur Still Enchants Us | Lecture 4

Why must Excalibur be returned? What kind of story is Le Morte D'arthur ... romance, epic, elegy, or proto-novel? And what does it mean that England’s greatest king fades into legend, not history?

In this lecture, we consider the climactic end of the Arthurian world in Book XXI of Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D'arthur. We enter a forest-green labyrinth of dreams, death, and destiny in which knights receive visions from the dead and swords vanish beneath the surface of haunted lakes. Along the way, we trace the origins of Arthurian legend from Welsh heroic poetry to French romance, examine the structure of enterlacement, and consider Malory’s poetic style in light of the War of the Roses.

Whether you’re a lover of medieval literature, Arthurian myth, or simply curious about the power of old stories, this is a book worth getting lost in.

🗡️ Topics Covered:
– The death of Arthur and the fall of Camelot
– The genre of medieval romance and chivalric adventure
– The epic, the proto-novel, and the poetics of enchantment
– Origins of Arthurian legend in Welsh, French, and Latin traditions
– Middle English style and the vernacular revolution
– The Excalibur episode and the mystery of Arthur’s fate
– Malory’s political context during the Wars of the Roses
#medieval #kingarthur #malory