Stories from Le Morte DArthur and the Mabinogion | Page 4

the name quite accurate.
[Footnote 1: Meaning the apprentices of the bards.]

And now it is time to say something about the stories themselves. The
Arthur of history was engaged in a life-long struggle with an enemy
that threatened to rob his people of home, of country, and of freedom;
in the stories, the king and his knights, like Richard Coeur-de-Lion,
sought adventure for adventure's sake, or, as in the case of Sir Peredur,
took fantastic vows for the love of a lady. The Knights of the Round
Table are sheathed from head to foot in plate armour, although the real
Arthur's warriors probably had only shirts of mail and shields with
which to ward off the blows of the enemy. They live in moated castles
instead of in halls of wood, and they are more often engaged in
tournaments than in struggles with the heathen. In fact, those who
wrote the stories represented their heroes as living such lives as they
themselves led. Just in the same way, Dutch painters used to represent
the shepherds in the Bible story as Dutch peasants; just so David
Garrick, the great actor of the eighteenth century, used to act the part of
a Roman in his own full-bottomed wig and wide-skirted coat.
It must not be forgotten that, in those far-away days when there were
few who could even read or write, there was little that, in their
ignorance, people were not prepared to believe. Stories of marvels and
magic that would deceive no one now, were then eagerly accepted as
truth. Those were the days when philosophers expected to discover the
Elixir of Life; when doctors consulted the stars in treating their patients;
when a noble of the royal blood, such as Humphrey, Duke of
Gloucester, could fall into disgrace because his wife was accused of
trying to compass the king's death by melting a wax image of him
before a slow fire.
Of all the stories, perhaps the most mystical is that of the Quest of the
Holy Grail, and it has features peculiar to itself. Nuns take the place of
fair ladies; there are hermitages instead of castles; and the knights
themselves, if they do not die, become monks or hermits. The reason
for this change in scene and character is, that this is a romance in which
the Church was trying to teach men, by means of a tale such as they
loved, the lesson of devotion and purity of heart.
The story sprang from certain legends which had grown up about the
name of Joseph of Arimathea. It was related that, when our Lord was
crucified, Joseph caught in a dish, or vessel, the blood which flowed
from His wounded side. In later years, the pious Jew left his home and,

taking with him the precious vessel, sailed away on unknown seas until
he came to the land of Britain. In that country he landed, and at
Glastonbury he built himself a hermitage, where he treasured the sacred
dish which came to be known as the Saint Grail. After Joseph's death,
the world grew more wicked, and so the Holy Grail disappeared from
the sight of sinful men, although, from time to time, the vision of it was
granted, as in the story, to the pure in heart.
In later days, legend said that where Joseph's hermitage had stood,
there grew up the famous monastery of Glastonbury, and it came to
have a special importance of its own in the Arthurian romance. In the
reign of Henry II., by the king's orders, the monks of Glastonbury made
search for the grave of King Arthur, and, in due time, they announced
that they had found it, nine feet below the soil, the coffin covered with
a stone in which was inlaid a leaden cross bearing this inscription: "Hic
iacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurius in insula Avalonia." Some,
however, suggested that the monks, less honest than anxious to please
the masterful king, had first placed the stone in position and then found
it!
One more feature of the tales remains to be mentioned: their geography.
There is no atlas that will make it plain in all cases; and this is hardly
wonderful, for so little was known of this subject that, even in the reign
of Henry VIII., the learned Lord Berners was quite satisfied that his
hero should journey to Babylon by way of the Nile! Some of the places
mentioned in the stories are, of course, familiar, and others, less well
known, can, with a little care, be traced; but to identify all is not
possible. Caerleon, where King Arthur so often held his Court, still
bears the same name, though its glory has sorely shrank since the days
when it had a bishop of its own. Camelot, where