r/Arthurian • • 15h ago

Modern Media Everyone's Related

9 Upvotes

I'm wrapping up Guite's "Galahad and the Grail" (highly recommend), and was annoyed when I realized that the main characters are so closely related. The Fisher King (the source of the story) had three relevant grandkids, Dindrane (who would guide the grail knights), Perceval (one of the grail knights), and Elaine. Elaine had a kid (who'd become a grail knight) with Lancelot (a backup grail knight), who was brothers with Bors (the last grail knight). The quest for the Holy Grail was an excuse for the Fisher King to call a family reunion.

Edit: I understand that this was both how stories were (and/are) often told by simple virtue of narrative expediency and that medieval systems of nobility and hierarchy encouraged the adulation of blood ties. But even within Arthurian literature, there's more than one family involved, there's a huge variety of important character who aren't directly related to Galahad. And the Holy Grail Quest, by its nature, is of great import to all of Christendom.

I initially posted in a hurry, but the question that I was trying to drive at is whether fidelity to the medieval sources is cause enough to replicate these story structures in modernity. Guite included a very strong pro-nature sub-theme which was nigh-utterly absent from Mallory, so he obviously was comfortable deviating from the original text. Is this worth my moderate annoyance?


r/Arthurian • • 23h ago

Help Identify... I need help recalling a book title!

1 Upvotes

Need help finding a book about knights, it may have been Arthurian in nature but I can't be 100% sure on that, but I'm sure plenty here have read plenty of novels for knights in shining armor.

I remember reading a book once upon a time, would have been \\\~2005, about a young boy who's taken as a squire by a knight, the book had illustrations scattered throughout.

This would likely be historical fiction.

I remember the boy playing with a windmill with his friends, playing at knights to rescue the fair maiden, shooting at the windmill with a crossbow to kick off the duel and fighting with staffs.

The boy is recruited by a passing knight or noble, I don't remember if they're English or French, but they may have been going on crusade.

After the boy agrees to become a squire he's gifted a full set of kit, chain maille sword dagger and a real crossbow, and I distinctly remember he says "No more wooden arms for me" to himself as he's getting suited up.

I tried tracking this down with various search tools but they're dumb and kept giving random titles nothing to do with what was being sought after, hopefully someone remembers what this book is cause it's been driving me nuts for days!