Knight Notes: The Wizard, Chapters 7, 9, 11, 13

These alternating chapters cover Able’s stand in the mountain passes while Beel’s embassy is at Utgard. They conclude with Idnn arriving from Utgard seeking Able’s help.

Chapters 7, 9, 11, and 13: Hela and Heimir, The First Knight, The Second Knight, The Third Knight

Chapter Summaries

In Chapter 7, Able travels south with Gylf, Cloud, Uns, Berthold and Gerda to take his stand in the passes, as he had promised Duke Marder. Able contemplates various mysteries.  Hela and Heimir introduce themselves over dinner. Uri makes an appearance, and Able sends her to Utgard. In Chapter 9, Able meets Sir Leort, and defeats him. Sir Woddet returns in Chapter 11, and Able defeats him as well.  Woddet is seriously wounded, and prayers and sacrifice are offered to save his life. Duke Marder pretends to be the Black Knight to test Able in Chapter 13.  Lady Idnn arrives at the end of Chapter 13, after a long ride from Utgard to fetch Able.

Hela

Hela has multiple counterparts in mythology and history. She is an allusion to Thecla of the New Testament Apocrypha, and Dame Ragnelle/the Loathly Lady from the stories of Sir Gawain. Hela recounts fighting off an attempted rapist, and there is a similar experience in Thecla’s story.  She is also based on some giants of Norse legend who married human heroes.

Heimir

Heimir is loosely based on Sir Sagramor.  Sagramor was from Hungary in one story, and noted for his fierceness and fighting ability. Heimir is from beyond the borders of Celidon, and prone to anger, and a strong fighter.  GW provides a clue/pun/joke to this source by having Able comment about Hemir’s hunger (he is so thin that Able can see his ribs). So Sagramor is from “Hungary”/hungry.

Sir Leort

In the earlier post on WK characters and Arthurian sources, I have linked Leort to Sir Palamedes and Sir Feirefiz.  Both were Saracen knights who joined the Round Table. GW alludes to these origins by having Leort hail from the southern  Celidon, with his manor named Sand Hill.  I think Leort is also an allusion to Sir Kenneth the Leopard Knight of The Talisman.  Able’s fight with Leort seems similar to Feirefiz’s fight with Percival.

I think the capture of Leort the Leopard Knight is also an allusion to some of the stories of Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford. Robin captures the Bishop and forces him to provide food for his men. Able similarly “captures” the noble Leort and makes him provide food for the party.

The Fight with Woddet

Woddet plays the role of Sir Gawain in the WK, as Able is the Lancelot character. In many versions of the Arthurian legend, as in the WK, Lancelot and Gawain have at least one fight. This is usually tied to Lancelot’s affair with Queen Guinevere.  Lancelot always wins these if I recall correctly, and sometimes Gawain is wounded or dies. Gawain dies while besieging Lancelot’s castle in The Once and Future King.

The fight may also be the WK’s version of Little John and Robin Hood’s duel with quarterstaves at the river bridge. Instead of wooden staves, they fight with wooden lances initially.

Woddet and Hela

Woddet/Gawain begins his courtship of Hela, a Dame Ragnelle figure, after he recovers.  Woddet took part in the sack of Khazneh, and has been affected by the experience of combat.

Hela cares for him after both his defeat by Able, and his later wounding by Prince Smiler. Hela “bore him away” after Smiler wounded him.  GW describes Woddet lying in the arms of the much larger Hela at camp one evening. Hela also cries for Woddet while they pray for his recovery.

This particular pairing may be a reference to Michelangelo’s Pieta. In this famous sculpture, the Virgin Mary is holding the dead body of Jesus. What is interesting about this sculpture is that the Virgin Mary’s body is larger than that of Jesus.  The physically larger Hela may be intended to symbolize the maternal love of God for the suffering of Jesus and humanity.

The Round Table

The more popular Arthurian legends feature a Round Table in Camelot. King Arthur and his knights can sit together at the table and discuss matters.  I have been looking for the table in the WK, but I only have a one candidate.  After his recovery, Woddet tells Able about how Duke Marder and his knights responded to Arnthor’s summons to war against Osterland.

Marder’s knights are called one by one into a special room in Sheerwall called the Sun Room. There is a hanging of the sun on the wall. Marder interviews the knights, and asks who they would want to accompany them to Osterland. This involves placing a grain on an image of each knight’s device on a parchment. The knights who got the most grains would go to Osterland. Woddet doesn’t come out and say it, but I think he and the Duke put two grains down for Able.

I think this scene in the Sun Room, and the Sun hanging (with a sun being “round”) is an allusion to the Round Table.

Christian Allegory: Able’s Temptation, Three Days and Nights, and the Defeat of Death

Able throws his fight with Sir Leort because he is so eager to find Disiri. He admits later that it was a “coward’s path”, and takes his next two jousts seriously.  This could be a reference to Jesus asking that the cup pass from him during the night in the garden.

Able sleeps for three days after healing Woddet. The three jousts are the three “knights.” So the stand in the pass may be a reference to Jesus’s three days and nights in the tomb.

Duke Marder is disguised as the Black Knight, and wears a skull on his crest. Able wins, and skull is broken. Perhaps symbolizing Christ’s defeat of death.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

As Michael Andre-Driussi noted in The Wizard Knight Companion, Able tells Leort the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  Able claims to have played the role of the Green Knight. It appears the Valfather may have sent Able on missions to other worlds during his stay in Skai.  GW will revisit that story in another novel, which I plan to  review after the WK.

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Knight Notes: The Wizard vs The Knight

Before I get into The Wizard, I did want to offer some comparison of the two books.  GW has  stated that the WK was a novel that Tor split into two books for purposes of publication.

A few observations:

First, consider the organization of the two books.  The Knight had 69 chapters. The Wizard only 40.  But each book had roughly the same number of pages.  So, the chapters in The Wizard are longer. I do think the WK was “split” at the right spot. Able acquiring Eterne, slaying Grengarm, and ascending to Skai seems the best place for a division.

The first time I read The Wizard, I was mildly disappointed. It seemed that the embassy to and departure from Utgard took too long.  Able doesn’t deliver his message to Arnthor until Chapter 33, or three quarters of the way through The Wizard.  Arnthor is barely in the book.  He speaks at the banquet where Able meets him, again when Able is released from the dungeons, and they converse a few time during the war with Osterland. After the buildup about Disiri’s message, it seemed kind of a let down to me.  Able failed to change Arnthor. The War with Osterland was rushed. Much of the action happens off stage, and its covered in six chapters. Many of the characters that had so many lines in The Knight and the overlapping Utgard segment largely disappear (Mani, Beel, Svon, etc.).

After more readings, I have modified my view. First, I learned that the WK was really intended to be a single book.   The Utgard embassy is the central adventure in the story, apart from Able’s personal quest for Disiri.  Its also combination of the quest for the Holy Grail, the quest for the Golden Fleece, the Tale of Culhwch and Olwen, and maybe even a bit of the Trojan War thrown in. There are many allusions to events from Greek mythology and Arthurian tales in this segment.  I now understand why it took up so large a chunk of The Wizard. 

Second, I learned that the WK is a Christian allegory. Able’s failure with Arnthor mirrors Christ’s failure with the people of his time.  Christ was rejected and executed, and most people failed to listen to his “message” at the time. So its appropriate that Able also fails and is imprisoned.

And finally, the WK is really a Lancelot book, not a King Arthur book. Able is more a version of Lancelot than he is Arthur (despite his real name being Arthur Ormsby).  After Setr’s death, The Wizard parallels the main end points of the Arthurian legend and and the story of Lancelot.  Able/Lancelot arrives in Kingsdoom/Camelot. Able/Lancelot impresses everyone with his skill in the tournaments. Able/Lancelot meets Gaynor/Guinvere, and is then imprisoned due to Arthur/Arnthor’s jealousy.  The War with the Osterlings is Arthur’s war against Mordred/The Black Caan. The River Battle is Camlann, where Arnthor/Arthur dies.

I appreciate The Wizard more now than I did the first couple of times I read it.

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Knight Notes: The Knight, Chapter One

And so we begin. There is a lot of important symbolism and allusions in Chapter 1, so it gets its own, very long post. As I said earlier, there are spoilers in every post. A lot will be given away here. I would recommend reading the WK first before you go any further.

Chapter One: Dear Ben

Chapter Summary

Able/Art Ormsby is writing letters to his brother Ben explaining what happened to him all those years ago. Art is an American teenager living somewhere in the contemporary USA (I think Minnesota, which I will explain in a later post). We know this as he later references having a Macintosh computer, and being from America.

He lives with his older brother Ben. We later learn that his father is dead, and that he owned a hardware store. Art never directly says what happened to his and Ben’s mother, only that she “went away”, and Michael says his mother never knew him.  It appears she is deceased as well, perhaps dying shortly after Art was born, or at the time of birth.

We know from a later comment their grandmother was involved in raising them.  We also later learn from Art/Able that his grandparents were farmers. His father may be named Ben too, since his brother Ben’s twin in Celidon is Berthold, and his father was a Berthold too.

It is fall, and the leaves are changing.  Ben and Art have driven out to their cabin on a weekend. Ben drives back to see his girlfriend Geri after she calls him. Perhaps he was deliberately ditching his brother to hang out with his girlfriend. Art goes for a hike in the woods, and gets lost.

During his hike he crosses over into Mythgarthr, though its never expressly stated when this happens. He cuts a walking stick from an unusual tree with white bark and shiny leaves. This is Spiny Orange. He then sees cloud shapes that look like a castle, the Valfather, a unicorn, a black dragon, and a beautiful lady (probably the Valfather’s daughter, The Lady). He chases after the cloud castle. It gets dark, and he talks about walking down a slope “without a bottom.” He has entered Aelfrice without realizing it, and is then seized by the Mossmen.

He awakens in a sea cave. Parka of Kleos is there. She names him “Able of the High Heart.”  He disputes this, and she sort of curses him, saying “The lower your lady the higher your love.”  She then says “You will sink before you rise, and rise before you sink.” Art, now Able, begins to experience his first memories from the original Able. Parka then says “Each time you gain your heart’s desire, your heart shall reach for something higher.”  Parka gives him a bowstring from the thread she is spinning for the Spiny Orange branch that will become his bow.

An Epistolary Novel

Like many of GW’s books, the WK is an epistolary novel. Art/Able is writing a series of letters to his brother Ben after the events of the WK, from somewhere in Aelfrice. He says that Michael will get the letters to Ben. I did wonder how Art was able to remember the details of the story with such specificity. He never complains about his memory on any point. His perfect memory may be a residual benefit of his transformation into an Overcyn. He says in The Wizard that others described events to him that he was not personally present for.

GW does take reader skepticism seriously, and usually tries to give a plausible explanation for the detail of these epistolary works. At the end of The Book of the Long Sun, he lets Horn and Nettle admit that they have had to recreate conversations, take certain liberties, etc., in writing the Book of Silk. Severian is gifted with an eidetic memory in order to explain the detail in The Book of The New Sun, and The Urth of the New Sun.

If you are wondering whether Able was a runaway who just made it all up (a pure invention theory was proposed in discussions re The Sorcerer’s House), I considered and rejected that. If you wanted to write a letter to your long lost brother, it would be much easier to write something shorter and simpler. Art never really complains about his brother or life in America anyway.

The Faerie Gate is Down

The fairy world of Aelfrice is below Mythgarthr, and entered by a downward direction, here Art walking down a slope “without a bottom.”

A Tale of Lancelot

You can read the WK as GW’s version of Lancelot’s story.  Lancelot was the son of King Ban (here Ben) of Benoic  in the most popular Lancelot story.  His father is defeated and killed, and Lancelot is taken at a young age to live with the Lady of the Lake (here Queen Disiri) in her magical world.  The Lady of the Lake was a fairy like creature associated with the Arthurian legend.

Depending on the story, she gave Arthur Excalibur, was the ruler of Avalon, and had a relationship with Merlin. She was sometimes given the name Vivian, Nimue or Elaine.  The Real Able and Art/Able going to Aelfrice at a young age matches Lancelot being taken away by the Lady of the Lake. In some tales Lancelot even dies, and has to be brought back to life by the Lady. GW alludes to the legend in having Art Ormsby replace the original Able, who is dead by this point.

There is an echo here of Tennyson’s poem The Lady of Shalott. In that poem, a lady sits in a tower on an island while weaving, like Parka weaving on Bluestone Island. When Lancelot comes by, the Lady leaves her island.

Parka and The Beginning of the Christian Allegory

Michael Andre-Driussi identifies her in his WKC as one of the Roman goddesses of fate, the Parcae (Parca singular).  Able is an unreliable narrator, in that his letters are written by an American teenager based on things he is hearing from others. So the spelling is going to be off.  Celidon is a British/Norse fusion, so we need to consider the legends of northwest Europe when reviewing the names.

Parka is, in part, GW’s version of the goddess Perchta.  She was a Germanic goddess who oversaw spinning and weaving. Able described her as having a mouth full of teeth, and this is consistent with some of the scary images at the linked Wikipedia entry. If you scroll to the bottom of the Wikipedia entry, you will see that Perchta was associated in Italy with La Befana. Hey, isn’t that that GW short story you wrote about earlier?  The one he wrote way back in 1973. Yes.

Parka also seems to be a version of the Volva of Norse mythology.

But Parka is not just Perchta. Like most names in the WK, GW is alluding to multiple figures from mythology, literature, or the Bible. Parka is also the WK’s version of the Paraclete.  This is a Greek word, and it can mean “helper.” Parka is a helper to Able. In Christianity, the Paraclete is a representation of the Holy Spirit. When Able looks back one last time, Parka looks like a group of fluttering “white birds.” White doves are the most common artistic representation of the Holy Spirit, as shown at the Wikipedia entry.

This is the Feast of the Epiphany for the WK. Able comes into this world through a cave, not unlike Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. In some historic analysis, the stable of Christ’s birth was actually a cave. La Befana is associated with the Feast of the Epiphany. In GW’s short story La Befana, she makes an appearance on another planet as Christ is born into that alien world. Able is thus a Christ like figure being born into Mythgarthr. He is not the Christ, but an agent sent to a broken and endangered world by The Most High God.

Oh, remember that Able’s real name is Arthur Ormsby? His initials are A and O, or the Alpha and the Omega.

If you missed all this symbolism don’t feel bad, I had eight years of parochial schooling and it went right over my head on the first reading.

Parka’s statement about “the lower his lady the higher is love” is a reference to Disiri. She lives on a lower plane (Aelfrice). His love for her is stronger than that for any human woman, or woman of Skai (like Alvit the Valkyrie). The reference to rising and sinking/sinking rising is a reference to his travels between Aelfrice and Mythgarthr and Skai. He goes to Aelfrice before he can rise to the castle in Skai. He sinks back down to Aelfrice at the end of the WK.

What is the “High Heart”?

This stumped me for a long time. In one way, it may just mean Able’s high mindedness.  But I think this is another GW trick, or an example of an unreliable narrator.  Able heard “Heart” but his name is really “Able of the High Hart.” A Hart is an archaic word for a stag (male deer), and was usually used in the medieval period to describe a red deer stag. So its a good fit for the world of Celidon, which has a Scottish/Norse culture and atmosphere. According to the Wikipedia entry on Red Deer, Red Deer are depicted on Pictish stones from early Medieval Scotland.  The Red Hart is also apparently a common English pub name.

So what does this mean? Red Deer were hunted by nobles. However a Hart isn’t always red. The White Hart or Stag, a rare albino or mythological version, was the badge of King Richard II and other nobles. A White Stag appears at the end of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The children’s pursuit of it takes them back to Earth from Narnia. Some C.S. Lewis scholars believe the White Stag was Aslan (Christ) in disguise.

Its not clear if Able’s symbol is a Red or White Hart.   In Celtic tradition, a white stag was a messenger from the  “otherworld.”  A white stag briefly appears in The Knight in Chapter 13. Able refrains from shooting it, and Old Toug calls it a “cloud buck” (Able later names his unicorn Cloud). In the Arthurian tradition, pursuit of the White Stag was apparently symbolic of man’s spiritual quest. Able does undergo a process of theosis, or divinization, during the story of the WK.  Given the color symbolism I’ve discussed earlier, I think the Hart was likely white, and may be a reference to the Holy Trinity. There is some confirmation of this when he fights Sir Loth, which I will explain in a future post.

Finally, I note that in Norse mythology the stag Eikpyrnir stands atop Valhalla, and is the source of various rivers of Norse legend.  And the Bible sometimes refers to Jesus/God as the source of “living waters.” John 7:38.  The High Hart?

What is Spiny Orange?

Able’s bow and lance are made from Spiny Orange. This significantly empowers these weapons.  They are seemingly unbreakable, though the lance is later destroyed.  This is where the Kabbalah comes into play. For the longest time I thought that orange was the color of the bark or the leaves. I wasn’t reading closely enough.  The bark is described as white in Chapter One, and the leaves are described as green later in The Knight. Orange is not a color that anyone perceives when they look at a Spiny Orange tree.

In the earlier post on color symbolism, I included the colors associated with the Kabbalah’s Sephirot.  GW used Kabbalah symbolism/imagery in The Urth of the New Sun. He does it again in the WK. Kabbalah, according to Wikipedia, is an esoteric method or discipline originating in Judaism. It is the most esoteric way of studying the Torah, after direct interpretation, allegory, and imagination. In the Kabbalah is the concept of the Sephirot, which are ten emanations God uses to sustain the universe. The Sephirot is depicted in the form of a tree of ten parts, or Tree of Life. Apparently each part may be associated with a color.  Yesod’s color appears to be orange (see Table 17-6 at the linked document) in the traditional Jewish representations that I’ve read. Yesod is the power of connection, or that which translates spirituality into actions that unite one with God.

Does Yesod sound familiar? Its the name of the parallel universe/dimension Severian visited in The Urth of the New Sun.

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Knight Notes: So What’s It All About?

In previous posts I’ve identified influences in the WK and some of the themes GW explores.  But what’s the overall purpose?  The WK can be read in various ways, and in varying depths:

• Its a boy meets girl, boy loses girls, boy gets girl back narrative. Able’s pursuit of Disiri is the central thread of the story.
• Its Joseph Campbell “hero’s journey.” Able is a representation of the “Hero with a Thousand Faces“, and this is GW’s version of the mono myth.
• Its GW’s tribute/acknowledgement/homage to some of his and our culture’s prominent literary and cultural influences: Lord Dunsany, Sir Walter Scott, George MacDonald, T.H. White, Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Tennyson, Edmund Spenser, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant comic strip, movies about King Arthur, etc.
• Not only is it his version of the monomyth, but GW also weaves into the WK the actual stories of famous heroes, including Lancelot, Heracles, Odysseus, Theseus, Beowulf, Perseus, Bellerophon, Cadmus, Oedipus, Orpheus, Jack the Giant Killer, Robin Hood, and maybe others.  The name of the world Able visits, Mythgarthr, could arguably be translated as “Myth World”, or a land inhabited by living myths.
• At a deeper level, the WK is a Christian allegory, somewhat like Pilgrim’s Progress, the Divine Comedy or C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Able is a distant echo of Christ who undergoes a process of theosis and serves as an agent of a higher power to set right a broken world. GW uses Greek, Norse and other mythologies, and Arthurian legends, to code the elements of the allegory into his tale.  The events Able experiences and people he meets match up with the events and people from the story of Jesus in the Gospels and other books the New Testament. Please note that the allusions to events in the New Testament in the WK don’t happen in the same chronological order that they do in the Gospel stories.
• At its most mystic level, the WK is a parable of Men and Women, our mutual estrangement, and the hope of reconciliation.  GW alludes to and uses the Divine Comedy, Greek mythology, the Kabbalah, and color symbolism in communicating this theme.
• Finally, there are faint traces of GW’s biography in the WK.  The War with Osterland is partly based on the Korean War, similar to what he did with The Book of the New Sun.

All of the above are true, but the story can be enjoyed by a reader who only perceives the first few levels. Its the “rereading with pleasure” that allowed me to discover the remaining themes.

This is an incredibly dense book, with each character representing mulitple allusions to folklore, mythology and literature.  I don’t expect a reader to agree with everything I propose. But I would encourage a new or young reader of GW to hold the image of a layer cake in their mind when reading his books. There are usually multiple stories or narratives stacked on top of each other, like the different levels of a layer cake.  If you find yourself strongly disagreeing with another reader’s theory of a GW book, consider the possibility that you are both right.

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Knight Notes: Character names and Arthurian counterparts

Michael Andre-Driussi (MAD) provided an onomastic analysis of the names used in the WK in his The Wizard Knight Companion (WKC).  He does provide specific Arthurian counterparts for some, but not all, of the characters in the WK. Probably less than half. Many secondary characters are only provided an analysis of the German or Norse root of their given name in the WK.

My view is that GW is deliberately associating almost every figure from the Arthurian legend with a character in the WK. Sometimes its just a similarity in the name, but other times the association matches story elements from the WK to those of the Arthurian legends.   Many of these characters also have additional counterparts from mythology, folk tales, etc., but, I am saving that for other posts. Below are my proposed Arthurian connections.

Arnthor = Clearly based on King Arthur, and perhaps The Fisher King of legend.  Arnthor apparently has an unusual anatomy that has prevented the consummation of his marriage, calling to mind the Fisher King’s wound to his thighs. Celidon also becomes a near wasteland by the end of the WK, like the Fisher King’s realm.

Able/Arthur Ormsby = Able is sort of a fusion of Lancelot, Galahad, Jack the Giant Killer and King Arthur. In the more popular versions of the legend, Lancelot was the son of King Ban of Benoic.  Ban is slain, and Lancelot is taken to live in a fairy world by the Lady of the Lake.  Similarly, the Real Able’s father dies, and he, and Arthur Ormsby, are kept in Aelfrice at a young age for a time by Disiri. Another common point with Lancelot is Gaynor’s attraction to Able, and Arnthor’s suspicion of an affair.  Lancelot and Guinevere were notorious for their infidelity, which led to the downfall of Camelot.   Ulfa (who represents Elaine) also tries to seduce Able, like Elaine tries to seduce Lancelot in some stories.

Able is also like Wart (Arthur) of The Once and Future King in his apprenticeship to Berthold/Merlin in the early part of The Knight. He acquires Eterne, which is like Excalibur. Excalibur came from a lake, while Eterne was fished out of a deep well by Able. King Arthur goes off to Avalon at the legend’s end, while Able goes off to Aelfrice.

Able is also like Galahad, the “perfect knight.”  In legend, Galahad was able to draw Excalibur from the stone, and Able has Eterne. Able sits in the Siege Perilous (Caspar’s chair) like Galahad did. Able also achieves the the WK’s version of the Holy Grail.  He  is the only knight that enters Thiazi’s Room of Lost Loves, which is the WK’s version of the room the Grail is kept in.

Able is also one of the characters in the WK who acts out the stories of Jack the Giant Killer and Jack and the Beanstalk, English folk tales about a hero named Jack and various giants. The Jack the Giant Killer stories are a subset of the Arthurian legend.  Jack the Giant Killer becomes a Knight of the Round Table after his adventures.

Ben/Berthold =  Berthold is Merlin.  In particular, Berthold’s Merlin is an allusion to the the Merlin of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King.  Able finding Berthold’s hut in the woods is very similar to the scene of young Arthur (Wart) finding Merlin’s cottage in the woods in The Sword in the Stone.  The older, physically infirm Berthold is like the much older Merlin of that book.  Berthold is a font of information about the Seven Worlds, the Aelf, Celidon, and the natural world.  Merlin similarly instructed Wart about magic, animals, nature, etc. Berthold also becomes young again at the end of the WK, like the Merlin of White’s book was aging backward in time.

Gylf = Cavall, King Arthur’s favorite dog.

Gaynor = Guinevere.

Geri/Gerda = To the extent Berthold is an allusion to the Merlin of The Once and Future King, then Gerda is like Nimue, the woman Merlin was in love with. Berthold being blinded and imprisoned in Utgard is like Merlin being imprisoned in the dark of a cave due to his love for Nimue.

Svon =  Svon has one of the most complicated literary lineages in the WK. On the one hand, he is like Sir Tristan, trying to rescue his beloved Iseult (Idnn) from a marriage to King Mark (King Gilling of Utgard).  This is similar to the story of Culhwch wooing Olwen from the giant’s castle.

He is also the Sir Bors of the WK. Bors was one of the Grail knights, which is represented in the WK by Svon going to Utgard. (The trip to Utgard is the WK’s version of the Grail Quest).  Svon’s father is identified as “Obr”, which is almost an anagram for Bors. Sir Bors’s father was King Bors. Svon is almost an anagram for “Son”, so he is almost the Son of Bors. Bors was noted for acquiring a scar on his face, and Svon got a broken nose early in The Wizard.

He is also the WK’s Sir Kay.  Kay was one of Arthur’s earliest knights, and a foster brother to him in some stories. Svon is one of the first knights Able meets, when he meets him in the form of Squire Svon. Able and Svon squabble around Ravd’s campfire, like two brothers might.  According to Wikipedia, Kay was also known for his “acid tongue” and boorish behavior. This describes Svon’s conduct at times before he became a knight. Kay was also one of the knights in the Culhwch and Olwen tale, and Svon went to Utgard. I also agree with MAD’s connection to the legend of the Swan Knight.

Svon is one of the characters who plays the Jack role.

Pouk = Sir Lucan, Arthur’s butler.

Morcaine = Morgan Le Fay. Also a version of Hellawes, a sorceress who had an unrequited love for Lancelot, like Morcaine’s desire for Able.  She also seems related to the “enchanted lady” who served Lucifer in the Jack the Giant Killer legend.

Toug = Sir Perceval.  Sir Perceval came from peasant origins in some stories, as does Toug.  He is a very young knight in the stories, like Toug. Perceval was one of the surviving Grail Quest knights. And Toug went to Utgard, which is the WK’s Grail Quest. Perceval survived Camlann (the River Battle) as did Toug. Toug also appears to be based on Sir Tor, who is identified as Elaine’s brother. Tor is a very young knight, almost a boy, like Toug.  He also has peasant origins.

Toug also is one of the characters in the WK who acts out scenes from the Jack legends.

Ulfa = Elaine of Astolat and Dindrane. Perceval/Tor and Elaine were brother and sister in some legends, and in the movie Knights of the Round Table. Lancelot sometimes has a romance with Elaine in the legends. Ulfa tries to seduce Able early in the WK. Ulfa also sewed a shirt for Able with a needle and thread, and Elaine inspired the Lady from the Lady of Shalott, who sat weaving on a loom. In some legends Percival rescues his sister Dindrane, who participates in the Grail Quest. Unlike these characters, Ulfa has a happy ending.

Ravd =  In addition to MAD’s Norse reference, Ravd is the Sir Ector of the WK. Ector was a foster father to Arthur, and his son was Sir Kay.  He was a minor lord with an estate in a forest.  Ravd is a father figure to Able for the brief time he knows him.  Ravd, Svon and Able’s brief time together is an allusion to the Ector, Kay and Arthur relationship in The Once and Future King. Able holding Sir Ravd’s sword Battlemaid is an allusion/foreshadowing of Arthur drawing the sword from the stone.

Garvaon =  Garvaon’s primary Arthurian source is Sir Agravaine.  Agravaine was a good knight in early Arthurian tales, though was portrayed as a villain in some more recent works, like The Once and Future King. However, I think Garvaon is also based on Culhwch, a Welsh hero of legend.  Garvaon loses his wife in childbirth, as does Culhwch’s father. Garvaon is in love with Idnn, like Culhwch being sent on a quest for Olwen, who is held prisoner by giants. Culhwch delivers the death blow to Ysbaddaden/Gilling, as does Garvaon in the WK.

Finally, Garvaon also draws on Sir Balin, in that he delivers the dolorous stroke to King Gilling/Pelles. Balin was the “knight of two swords”, and Garvaon fights with sword and dagger at one point in the trial by combat. Garvaon later fights and dies against his “twin”, Garsceg, in his role as Sir Balan.

Garsceg = One of his many roles in the WK is Sir Balan, the twin of Sir Balin. GW must really like this legend, as he used it in Castleview too, and one other book (can you guess?).

King Gilling= His name is similar to the giant king Galligantua of the Jack the Giant Killer tale. Another source is Ysbaddaden the Giant.  Ysbadden lived in a big castle with the fair Olwen (Idnn in the WK). He was killed by Culhwch (Garvaon). However, Gilling is also like King Mark of Cornwall of the Mark, Tristan and Iseault love triangle. Gilling is also based on King Pelles/The Fisher King of the Grail Legend.  Gilling is wounded by a dolorous stroke for his sin, like the Fisher King. The room that the Grail is kept in is in his castle, like the Grail of the WK is kept in Thiazi’s Room of Lost Loves.

(King) Schildstarr = King Claudas. He was an enemy of Arthur’s realm, and conquered some of his lands in certain stories. He also killed Lancelot’s father, King Ban. Schildstarr was active in northern Celidon, and apparently had a role in the destruction of Griffinsford. Berthold knew him by name, and he was probably responsible for Black Berthold’s death. Claudas was later defeated, like Schildstarr, and Arthur retook the lost lands.

Thiazi =  Thiazi was a  Norse giant of legend. He is also based on the Fisher King’s son, who is given the name Eliazer in some stories, and is the keeper of the Grail.  Thiazi’s Room of Lost Loves is where the WK’s Grail is kept.  Thiazi is also based on the Conjurer in the castle of the giant Galligantua from the Jack the Giant Killer legend.

Woddet =  His Arthurian counterpart is Sir Gawain. Gawain is often portrayed as one of Lancelot’s best friends among the knights of the Round Table, and Woddet is Able/Lancelot’s first friend among his fellow Knights. The clincher is his persona as the “Knight of the Sun” in The Wizard.  A legend about Gawain was that his strength waxed and waned with the sun.  Gawain and Lancelot also fought each other at least once in many of the stories, and Gawain would lose, as he did in The Wizard.

Woddet is also based on Orvar-Oddr, a Norse hero.  Oddr meets and marries a giantess (Hildagunnr) during his adventures, like Woddet.

Mani = Menw, a Menw was part of the Culwhch and Olwen tale, and was a shapeshifter who could do magic. Also may be a reference to Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s court jester and a practical joker.

Lord Beel = Based on King Hoel, who is also known as Sir Howel in other stories. Hoel was Arthur’s ally, and had a daughter named Iseault.

Idnn = In addition to the Norse legend of Idunn, there seems to be an overlap with Iseault and Olwen.  Olwen was a giant’s daughter wooed and rescued by Culhwch.  However, she is also like the young Iseault who was being taken to marry King Mark (here Gilling) by Sir Tristan/Svon. In particular, I would associate her with “Iseault of the White Hands”, who was the daughter of King Hoel.

Idnn is also based on the Duke’s daughter rescued by Jack the Giant Killer from the giant Galligantua.

Duke Indign = King Pellinore of Listenoise. In Le Morte D’Arthur, Pellinore is killed by the Orkney clan in revenge for the slaying of King Lot. Indign’s death by the Osterlings may be an allusion to this.  Listenoise also sounds a bit like “Bluestone”, Indign’s castle.

Duke Marder = I don’t have a good fit for him. My best guess is Cador, a Duke of Cornwall who was an ally to King Arthur. King Pellinore may be a possibility. He was an older man and a good fighter in some stories. But I’ve already assigned Pellinore to Duke Indign.

Wistan = It sounds like Sir Tristan, but nothing in Wistan’s story fits the Tristan legend.  Wistan appears to be Sir Bedivere. Bedivere was part of the Culhwch and Olwen tale, and survived the Battle of Camlann. Similarly, Wistan goes to Utgard (the WK’s Culhwch and Olwen quest), and survives the River Battle.  He also threatens to throw Sword Breaker in a well while in Utgard. This is like Bedivere returning Excalibur to the lake after Camlann. He also does a service to Able after the River Battle (putting his magic helmet on his head), like Bedivere returned Excalibur to the lake for Arthur.

Leort = Sir Palamedes the Saracen knight.  Leort is from the south. His estate Sandhill calls to mind the deserts of the Middle East.  Leort is frustrated because he can’t catch up with Lord Beel’s embassy in time to make it to Utgard. This may be a reference to Palamedes pursuit of the “Questing Beast” in The Once and Future King. Leort doesn’t make it in time for the “Quest” to Utgard. He is also a reference to another Saracen knight, Sir Feirefiz. Feirefiz has spotted skin due to his heritage, sort of like a leopard. Leort’s symbol is a leopard.

Marc = The WK says very little about him, except that he was one of Arnthor’s best knights. Lamorak is described as one of the better knights in the tales. Tenuous.

Lamwell = The WK identifies him as one of Arnthor’s braver knights, and as a small quick man.  I agree with MAD’s association with Lanvall.

Gerrune = The WK identifies him as a traveling knight and skilled warrior. Perhaps Geraint.

Oriel = Almost nothing is said about this knight. It sounds like Morien.

Kei = Sir Pelleas. Pelleas was known for winning tournaments and being a good jouster, like Kei.

Org = Sir Ironside, the Red Knight. He had the strength of seven men. He was also an opponent of Gareth, and Uns is the WK’s Sir Gareth. He is also an allusion to Sir Garlon of the Grail Quest tales. Garlon, like Org, could turn invisible and kill his foes.

Lord Escan = MAD identifies an Escan from a less prominent Arthurian tale. The name also seems based on Sir Galeschin.  But I think Escan’s best counterpart is King Urien. (See the next entry on Payne). Urien is an older, political figure and ally of Arthur, which fits Escan.

Payne = The bastard son of Lord Escan. There is a Ywain the Bastard in Arthurian legend. Ywain was the Bastard son of King Urien. Payne sounds like Ywain.

Vil = Sir Yvain the Lion Knight, who is a different character from Ywain the Bastard. He has an adventure involving a Lady Ludine and a Lunete.

Lynnet = Laudine of the Yvain story

Etela = Lunete, Laudine’s servant in the Yvain story.

Duns and Uns = Gaheris (Duns) and Gareth (Uns). Gaheris apparently had one arm that was longer than the other, and Org almost tore one of Duns’ arms off.  Gaheris is barely in the Arthurian stories, and Duns is barely in the WK. Gareth, in his most famous story, went to Camelot to serve as a kitchen boy. Uns is a servant for most of the WK. Gareth had a fairly prominent role in the Arthurian tales, and so does Uns in the WK.

Galene = Gareth (Uns) was featured in a story where he sought the love of a lady named Lynette. The names  sound somewhat alike.

The Old Caan – I agree with MAD’s comparison of the Osterlings to the Mongol Empire and the color associated hordes.  But GW may have an Arthurian association in mind too.  Perhaps King Lot of Orkney and Lothian. “Old” is almost an anagram of “Lot”, Lod = Lot.   King Lot was an enemy of Arthur in some stories. Lot had four sons by Queen Morgause, who is a sister of Morgan Le Fey.  Morgause had a fifth son, Mordred, by the Arthur of The Once and Future King.  The five sons of Morgause roughly corresponds to the Old Caan’s six sons.

The Black Caan = Following the prior entry, this seems to be a match for Mordred. Mordred and Arthur kill each other, like the Black Caan and Arnthor.

Prince Smiler = Could be a reference to Galehaut.  This knight, “Lord of the Distant Isles” was an opponent of Arthur, and invaded his kingdom. He conceded due to his respect for Lancelot.  Sounds like the Lothurlings, who invaded Celidon from across the sea, but surrendered out of respect for Able/Lancelot.

Hela = The Loathly Lady/Dame Ragnelle. Sir Gawain is featured in several stories where he has to woo or marry a physically repulsive woman, but who then becomes beautiful after Gawain acts honorably.   There are also giantesses with similar names in Norse legend who marry humans like Orvar-Oddr.

Heimir = Sir Sagramore. Sagramore was a fierce and strong fighter. He was an outsider too. Sagamore was from Hungary in one story, and GW makes a point of showing that Heimir was starving and you could see his ribs. Hungary = Hungry Heimir. One of a number of puns/jokes by GW in the WK.

Black Berthold = King Ban of Benoic. Lancelot’s father, slain by an enemy.

Mag = Elaine of Benoic.  Elaine sees her son Lancelot after he returns from fairyland, and then dies.  Mag sees the Real Able when he returns from Aelfrice shortly before she dies.

Loth = Accolon. Accolon, a lover of Morgan Le Fay, fought a duel to the death with Arthur, in which Arthur’s fake sword broke. Loth, servant of Morcaine, fought and was slain by Able in a duel, but did break his spiny orange lance.

Valt = Sir Aglovale.  Aglovale visited Saracen lands, and Valt is Sir Leort’s squire. I associate Leort with the Saracen knights of Arthurian legend.

Yond = Sir Elyan.

Erac = Sir Erec.

Baron Dandun = Sir Dinadan. Dinadan once wrote a “slanderous song” about a king. Maybe the Baron did something similar to get himself imprisoned.

Nytir = Possibly Sir Malegant. Malegant was one of the few villainous knights in the Arthurian legends.

Disiri = MAD identifies the Dis (plural disir), a female Norse supernatural entity associated with fate and fertility. The Lady of the Lake is a fit when looking for Disiri’s specific counterpart in Arthurian legend.  In one of Lancelot’s tales, he was carried off to be raised in her realm while a child after his father’s death, sort of like the real Able after his father dies. The Lady also had role in delivering Excalibur, as Disiri sent Able on his quest for Eterne. The Lady is sometimes given the name Vivian, Nimue, Nivian, etc. After Arthur’s death/severe wounding, he allegedly goes to Avalon. After the River Battle, the wounded Able goes to Aelfrice.  The Lady of the Lake was associated with Avalon.

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Knight Notes: Knights of the Round Table

When I began this review I had no expectation that I would be discussing movies.  However, after reading about a few movies I realized that GW is also paying tribute to/or acknowledging certain movies about knights. Perhaps they are ones he personally enjoyed.

Knights of the Round Table was released in 1953 by MGM and directed by Richard Thorpe (sound familiar?). Richard Thorpe also directed the 1952 MGM release Ivanhoe, which is based on the book of the same name. I think Master Thope of Sheerwall is a sneaky reference to Richard Thorpe. GW just dropped one letter. I can’t think of any other source, and MAD did not identify a source for Thope’s name in his WKC. Remember John Clute’s advice about GW: “not an inadvertent word.”

It starred Robert Taylor as Lancelot.  King Arthur, Merlin, Morgan Le Fey, Percival, Elaine, and Gawain are also major characters in the movie.

The main story follows an ongoing conflict between Arthur and Mordred, backed by Le Fey, over the right to rule England. Lancelot is Arthur’s ally, and at one point goes off to fight the Picts on the northern Scottish borders.

Percival and Elaine are brother and sister in this movie, and this is one factor that persuaded me that Toug and Ulfa are supposed to represent Percival and Elaine. Lancelot and Elaine marry in this movie, and many Arthurian legends involve Elaine and Lancelot in a romantic relationship. Remember that Ulfa put the moves on Able early in The Knight.

Ava Gardner plays Queen Guinevere, who is attracted to Lancelot. Lancelot never reciprocates, but their alleged affair brings civil war to Arthur’s realm. Is Queen Gaynor of the WK a reference to Ava Gardner? Gaynor is described as having a voice like a “dove”, and the name Ava is thought to be from the Latin “Avis”, meaning “bird.”

Able’s description and the cover images from the books reminds me a bit of Robert Taylor’s look in this movie and the posters (the facial hair).  I also note that GW includes the character “Rober of Greenglory” in the WK, identifying him as one of Arnthor’s best knights.  Rober or Robert is not a knight that is present in any of the Arthurian legends.  Nor can I link the name to the Bible or Greek/Norse mythology. I suspect that the Rober character is GW’s tribute to Robert Taylor.  Remember, Robert Taylor also played Ivanhoe in the movie of the same name, and GW did include elements of the novel Ivanhoe in the WK, as I explained in the post about Sir Walter Scott.

“Greenglory” could be a reference to Robert Taylor’s Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1300 Vine Street.  “Glory” is his Star, and “Green” could be referring to either “Hollywood”, a green leaved tree, or “Vine” street. Taylor also had a famous 100 acre ranch in Brentwood, Ca.

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