Tuesday 6 September 2016

Arthur In Anderson

(i) Gratillonius, the last King of Ys, corresponds with British military leaders immediately after the Roman withdrawal from Britain, thus probably the generation before Arthur.

(ii) Hanno the immortal converts to Christianity at the court of the post-Roman British warlord, Artorius.

(iii) King Arthur and his knights from Avalon emerge from Glastonbury Tor to fight for Charles I against Cromwell in the Shakespearean timeline.

(iv) Arthur's sister, Morgan le Fay, remains active in the Carolingian timeline.

Also from the Tor comes "'...the true Wild Hunter, Gwyn ap Nudd, leading the heathen dead from Annwn...'"
-Poul Anderson, A Midsummer Tempest (London, 1975), Chapter xxiv, p. 218.

The Wiki articles show connections between Arthur and both Gwyn and the Wild Hunt.

5 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Just a small correction in your point "(iii)": King Arthur and his knights emerged from Glastonbury Tor to fight for Charles the FIRST, not the II.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
Thanks. I took for granted that the execution was behind us and that Cromwell was Protector with Charles II returning from exile.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

But A MIDSUMMER TEMPEST is set in the period immediately after the Battle of Marston Moor when Charles I was still free and Oliver Cromwell still the servant of the rebel Parliament.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
Indeed. I needed to reread the whole book, not just the passage relating to Arthur.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

There are so many of Poul Anderson's works I want to reread! At least partly because of your notes and the comments of others. Such as THE KING OF YS, THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS, and now A MIDSUMMER TEMPEST.

Finally nearing the end of Stirling's AGAINST THE TIDE OF YEARS. Very much worth reading and rereading. I do have one quibble: I think he has Marian Alston implausibly winning too many battles. A defeat or two would be more likely in the REAL world. For example, the US General Grant nearly lost the Battle of Shiloh and did lose at Cold Harbor in our Civil War. But, he was not removed from commanding armies and Grant PERSEVERED, refusing to let setbacks stop him from his goal of helping to defeat the Confederacy.

Sean