85 pages • 2 hours read
Roger Lancelyn GreenKing Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1953A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Trials of Temptation
A central plot motif is the repeated trials that test Arthur and his knights. Though the grand quests prove the men’s physical prowess, the adventures contain smaller tests they must overcome to prove the virtue of their inner character. The most common trial is the test of temptation. Mysterious figures offer the knights worldly pleasures—fine food, wine, riches, love—in an attempt to show the knights’ weaknesses. Such trials are often associated with dark magical places, such as the Disinherited Lady’s magic pavilion and the sorceress Allewes’s Chapel Perilous. To overcome these tests, the knights must trust that their virtuous character will lead them out of danger. In the previous examples, Percivale escapes the lady’s snare by remembering his loyalty to Blanchefleur, and Launcelot escapes Chapel Perilous by following his sworn duty to the wounded knight. In following the strict behavior of their oaths, the knights accomplish their quests and bring glory to Logres.
Trials are not always made by evildoers; sometimes, trials have the intent to demonstrate the great restraint of Arthur’s knights that makes them worthy of such fame. One of the central examples is Gawain’s temptations at Sir Bernlak’s castle. Bernlak and his lady set up the game of temptation with help from Lady Nimue as a way to “test the truth of the renown that is spread abroad concerning the valor of the Knights of the Round Table, and the worth of Logres” (116). Gawain’s staunch resistance to the lady’s advances and his honesty with Bernlak for the kisses he received prove that he is indeed one of the best knights of Arthur’s company.
If a knight fails the trial, he is swiftly judged for his wrongdoing. Sir Kay is a knight often in the wrong for his cruel words, but he receives immediate justice from his victims, who overthrow him in jousts. Sometimes the sin committed by giving into temptation is too great to be undone by a battle or moment of penance. Launcelot’s weakness in accepting the false Guinevere completely breaks his oath of loyalty to Arthur, even if it was only Elaine in disguise. No matter how many quests he accomplishes, Launcelot cannot make up for the mortal sin of giving in to an unholy love. Both the successes and the failures of the knights teach the reader to always be virtuous, as every action has consequences.
The Round Table
The Round Table symbolizes the core values of King Arthur’s reign and the oaths of good behavior his knights swear to. The Round Table sits at Camelot where Arthur holds his Pentecost feasts, and each year the knights renew the Order of Chivalry in its presence. If a knight dies, their seat can be replaced by another who proves to have the same outstanding valor. The table, being magical, inscribes each seat with the knight’s name. Many guests come to Camelot with quests, knowing they will find the best men among Arthur’s company, and “the bravest and noblest knights in the world came to his court […] to win a place at the Round Table” (93). Arthur spends the entirety of his reign trying to complete the circle of the Round Table, as it will only fill when Sir Galahad arrives as the symbol of perfect knighthood.
The Round Table also symbolizes Arthur’s dedication to equality. Regular long tables create hierarchies among the knights as it is “a greater honor to be near the head of the table than near the foot” (53). With a circular table, every man feels they have the same rank, as no one is at a higher or lower position of importance. One of Arthur’s first promises is to treat every person, “be he or she the greatest or the least of [his] subjects” (13), with courtesy and respect, so this table at his capitol acts as a visual representation of his oath.
The table does have a set of five seats that the most famous and worthiest knights sit at; these are the Siege Perilous and the two seats on either side of it. Siege Perilous belongs only to the knight who achieves true perfection—Sir Galahad—and anyone who tries to sit at it before reaching this goal will die instantly. Due to the excellence of this seat, the places directly next to it also reflect heightened levels of worthiness for only truly exceptional knights. The knights who occupy these four other seats—Percivale, Launcelot, Gawain, and Bors—stand out from the other knights of the Round Table for their heroism.
The Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is the goblet that Joseph of Arimathea collected Jesus’s blood in while Jesus was on the cross. In the text, the Holy Grail contains the restorative powers of God and represents the highest perfection of knighthood. Great deeds are not enough to obtain the Grail; a knight must be properly pious as well. The Grail appears thrice before the official Grail Quest begins—once for Percivale, once for Launcelot, and once for Bors—at the empty table of King Pelles. When the knights see the Grail Procession, they feel at peace, like they “had eaten and drunk of more than mortal food” (254). This feeling represents how devotion to God brings fulfillment and satiates the knights’ earthly desires. The knights feel compelled to drop to their knees and bow their heads in reverence to the Grail because of its direct connection to God, to whom they also bow. The only knights who don’t bow are Gawain and Galahad, as they are pious enough to withstand its holy light.
The Holy Grail’s appearance in Camelot when Galahad sits at Siege Perilous indicates Logres’s highest hour: I Round Table is complete, peace is spread across the realm, and the most perfect knight now sits at their table. When the knights all decide to seek the Grail, Arthur knows Logres’s downfall is imminent. With the Grail’s ascension to heaven, nothing else exists on earth to represent perfect knighthood, so none of the remaining knights can achieve similar honor. The realm quickly dissolves into chaos without the Grail as the knights begin to behave irrationally and uncontrollably.
Swords
Many important swords appear throughout the text to symbolize destiny and indicate a character’s chosen role. The first sword to appear is the sword in the anvil. The sword helps Arthur establish his reign as proof of his divine right to rule, as the trial wasn’t a test of strength but of destiny. When the sword breaks, Arthur receives a new weapon, Excalibur, from the magical Lady of the Lake. Merlin describes the sword that was made especially for Arthur’s reign:
It was made in Avalon by fairy craft, made for you alone until you must return it ere you journey to Avalon yourself. It is called Excalibur, and none may stand against its stroke: and with it you shall bring freedom and peace to Logres (20).
Excalibur represents Arthur’s appointed role to build the realm of Logres, the holiest and most peaceful reign in Britain’s mythological history. Its jeweled hilt and legendary status cause many characters to try to steal it for themselves—such as Morgana or Sir Bedivere—but the sword always returns to Arthur’s command and eventually returns to the Lake of Avalon as foretold.
Another important sword is the cursed sword Balyn pulls from the woman’s scabbard. By coveting the jeweled sword, Balyn secures his tragic fate of striking the Dolorous Stroke and killing his beloved brother Balan when otherwise he would have “been of the bravest and best of [Arthur’s] knights” (31). As long as Balyn keeps the sword, suffering comes to those around him, showing that despite any good deeds, he will always be cursed with a tragic destiny. Balyn breaks the sword in his fight with Balan, and Merlin places a new blade in the hilt. Sir Galahad pulls this new sword out of a stone to prove he is the chosen Grail Knight who will undo the curse upon King Pelles and Castle Carbonek. With the sword at his side, Galahad completes his destiny. Merlin prophesizes in Book 1 that Launcelot will also use the sword to slay the man he loves most, but the text doesn’t bring up this fact again. Launcelot does kill his best friend, Gawain, so the reader can infer he used the same cursed sword that only does good in the hands of a truly perfect knight.
Magic
What distinguishes Arthur’s reign as existing in a mythic period is the prevalence of magic. The text incorporates the magical motif into its world’s Christian culture by dividing magic along two lines: “good” magic (used by those who help build Logres) and “evil” magic (used by those who want to destroy Logres). As Logres is supposed to be God’s kingdom on earth, magic either works for or against God and symbolizes the character of the user.
The text associates good magic with healing and foreknowledge of God’s will. Several knights continue their quests only after a good sorceress heals them with enchantments, such as Isaud to Tristram or Linnet to Gareth. Merlin, Nimue, and Naciens—the main figures of good magic—all use their “holy arts” (11) to aid Arthur and his knights in bringing peace to Britain and in finding the Holy Grail. Magic can directly change a situation’s outcome, like when Merlin stops Pellinore from killing Arthur or when Nimue saves Arthur in his fight against Accolon by enchanting the healing scabbard to fall. Naciens’s magic particularly allows him to banish evil, as he does with Lionel’s vengeful possession. Objects can also be infused with magic, such as the protective lace that keeps Gawain from harm. Good magic thus symbolizes the accomplishment of destiny and miracles of compassion.
“Evil” magic is directly connected to the devil, his demons, and those who oppose Arthur. The users of “dark” magic are those easily tempted by sin who become obsessed with the need to destroy Logres for their own personal gains. Morgana and her followers claim to be possessed or entranced by devilish figures who compel them to use their magical knowledge for “devil’s work” (216). Dark magic appears as visual illusions that trap Arthur and his knights in dishonorable situations, like Enid’s use of magic to disguise herself as Guinevere and falsely marry Launcelot. The illusions can also be magical castles or buildings the knights seek out on their quests, where the sorceresses hope the men will die—such as the Chapel Perilous. The women who use dark magic are often portrayed as very beautiful, supposedly symbolizing how the devil hides behind a lovely exterior. In the text, magic is not inherently good or bad, but the person who wields the magic determines whether the mysterious powers will be used to help or hinder Arthur’s godly projects.
