Did anyone see the Making of Arthur programme on BBC? I gave up with it. I can't stand the Medieval version of
Arthur. The cuckolded King; goody-two-shoes Lancelot, who turns out to be disloyal, a traitor and an adulterer?
I never have seen Arthur as a Norman-based "knight in armour". (I do wonder if my dislike of these stories is anything to do with my not very impressed opinion of the Normans?)
I "awoke" to Arthur when reading Mary Stewart's Merlin books. She had an author's note that place Arthur firmly in the post-Roman/pre Saxon era. I did some research - was hooked. YES this was MY Arthur! Which is why I set my Pendragon's Banner Trilogy firmly in the 450-500 bracket. No Norman influence in my story, just the earlier Welsh legends which portray Arthur in a very different light to the Norman version.
I know the Knights of the Round Table are only stories, but I can't relate to them. (and before you all slam me for being a biased old crab - I'm not keen on several things - not keen on Dickens, nor the Ali Baba et al 1001 Nights. (Or is that 1001 knights? :-)
To me Arthur is a Romano British warlord. Was. Is. Always will be.
How do you see him?
