Arthuriana -- all things King Arthur ! discussion
Arthurian Themes/Characters
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Character "Family Tree"
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Monika
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Nov 12, 2016 09:43AM
Does anyone have a good image or website that depicts how each of the "character's" in most of Arthurian lit is related to one another? Each book I read I get more and more lost and have to go back and think about it.
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Try this:http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthuria...
It will give a vague idea based on the some of the old tales.
But I think the problem is that most flavours of the tales have a few core bits the same (genealogically speaking) and then play around with other folks' relationship to each other for reasons of narrative.
Some tales even mix characters together to create hybrids...or pass traits/events/stories from one to another.
Not much help I know...
Hope you're enjoying following the questing beast into the forest...
I use The Arthurian Encyclopedia by Norris J. Lacy. May be more detailed than you want. But it covers each character, what their multiple traditions are when there are more than one, etc. Alternately, I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have (can get you contact info if you want a resource outside of this forum).
It may not be possible to define these relationships in any one way because the stories go so far back, and the legends have been written and rewritten. Are Gareth, Agravain, Gaheris and Gawain brothers? Is Arthur their uncle? Well, yes, in some stories, but not in others. There are some consistencies, like Arthur and Morgan being sister and brother. But even that isn't the case in every story.
I encountered the same confusion while researching my book. The relationships in "The Mabinogian," for example, aren't the same as those in "Le Morte d'Arthur" or "The Once and Future King." Each author has molded the stories to make his or her own point. I finally had to simply choose one set of relationships and go with it! But that's art.
Oh geez, now that I read this over I don't think I've helped at all.
You've probably seen the Wikipedia list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
Petrea wrote: "Oh geez, now that I read this over I don't think I've helped at all...":)
You were more articulate than me anyway.
;)
You all are fabulous. Thank you so much. I value each of your insights as I still consider myself an Arthur-newbie.
I'm new to this group, too, Monika. There are some amazingly knowledgeable people here. It's a good place to ask questions.
