TOAFK: Arthurian References in Other Books

[terpkristin]

I knew that Arthurian legend was fairly prominent in most mondern fantasy (and to some extent, fiction in general), but while reading TOaFK, I've also been listening to the Wheel of Time books as I fall asleep, so I've noticed a TON of parallels.

Might be minor spoilery if you haven't read the WoT books...
Morgaine = Morrraine?
Lan = Lancelot?
Morgause = Morgase (Elayne's mom)
Elayne = Elayne?
Igraine (Arthur's mom) = Tigrane (Rand's mother)
The sword in the stone = Callandor (the sword in the heart of Tear)

I just started reading the 3rd book in TOaFK (The Ill-Made Knight), so I've hit upon the part where Arthur procreates with someone he shouldn't have; luckily I don't think that exactly will happen in WoT. ;)

Where else are there references? I know I've read many more.

[Scruffypoet]

Amyrlin = Merlin
Egwene al'Vere = Guinevere
Tar Valon = Avalon

[Brent]

Don't forget Artur Paendrag Tanreall = ...hang on, it's coming to me...

[terpkristin]

What about other books, other than the WoT books? I know I've read others with some fairly heavy-handed Arthurian influences, though at the moment, I'm drawing a blank....

[[deleted user]]

The Fionavar Tapestry by GG Kay.

[Erin]

I was reading the new shiny WoT FAQ the day this thread started and I noticed this very shiny list of Arthurian references in WoT and now that I have been re-interneted (it was a gross 5 days) I thought I should share. My favorite are Galad (Galahad) and Gawyn (Gawain) as those are some of my favorite characters in both sets of stories, but I'm not sure how much the one has influenced the other.

I could go on and on about this topic, I wrote an entire papers on the use of Arthuriana in X-Men and Fables (I should throw those on my blog someday) but now it's NaNoWriMo and I must go write.

[Skip]

The WOT books are written to intentionally reference the myths of our world, the conceit being that they are our myths and their myths are our reality. Rand is also directly linked to the Fisher King, who plays a role in many Arthurian legends.

I find it funny that Thom Merrilin is the obvious physical reference for Merlin (and the also name), and is one of the few main characters that doesn't use "magic".

The Dresden Files has a Merlin, and references the Merlin from Arthur's time as well.