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Final Exam

The final exam is due on Thursday, 12/13 by noon. There will be a box outside my office door if I am not here. I will have the secretaries place the box in my office at noon, so any papers turned in after that time will be officially late. There is no penalty for turning in the paper early and if you have any questions, please contact me by email or here on the blog.

You must answer both questions. No late exams will be accepted. Exams should be typed (single-spaced is fine) and the answer length should take into account that this is a take home exam. Please read each question carefully before you answer. You may use your notes and the assigned readings (which you should consult to flesh out any weak answers) to assist you with preparing for your own answers, but do not copy or plagiarize any material. If you do so, it will result in the automatic failure of the test. Good Luck!

1) Chivalry, Knightly Tradition and Christianity
Using the mythological tales of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, provide examples of heroes in these tales that fit into the medieval Judeo-Christian ideals of knightly behavior. What are the duties and ideals of good Christian knights; i.e. define chivalry? Do the heroes of these tales good role models of these Christian knights? Why or why not? What pagan elements are still left in these tales, if any? Explain and support your answer with examples from the various Arthurian myths.

2) A Strangely Norse Conundrum
In the Norse myths, there is a difficult and often tenuous connection between giants and the Norse gods. Though largely portrayed as an antagonistic relationship, especially with the final battle at Ragnarok, there are several examples within the myths that seem to counter the general belief that the gods and giants hate each other. Using the mythological tales from the readings as well as those explored in class, explain more fully the complex relationship between the gods and giants. Why is there such a conflict in the first place? Explain and support your answer with several examples from the Norse myths.

The End of Isolde

After Arthur? Well I've been dead quite awhile before all this Arthur buisness I tell you. But my end....well I don't like to talk much about it. It's a bit weepy, but I guess I could tell you. I got news one day that my beloved Tristan had befallen ill. I set off to find him as fast as the ships could carry me, I ran up the stars but to only finding his body cooling in death. I just...I know there are more fish in the sea but he was my Tristan, my love and I couldn't live without him. I died of my grief, finally allowed to, in death, be with the man I've always wanted to be with.

Death of Mordred

Alas, I perished at the battle of Camlann, by the coward Arthur's wretched sword. But! not without my own coup die i perish. I did not die wont to see the Villain take his final breath.

The Final Assignment

On Wednesday, in class, we will have the last part of the assignment. I will have the shields back in the classroom and they will be part of the final assignment for the semester. Grades will be included on the shields, and I will have final blog grades as well.

The assignment?

Guinevere and Lancelot will be going on trial for their lives, charged with treason, adultery and the death of Arthur's dream. Everyone will be asked to speak of what they knew about Guinevere and Lancelot's affair (make sure you know what your knight or lady knew of the affair), what they think of the affair, and what they think the punishment should be, if any. Even if your character is dead before Camlann, it doesn't matter. Merlin and Morgan le Fay have worked to bring your spirit back...

So be prepared for to answer those questions. Carry your shield proudly...

Any questions, post them here as comments to this post...

The end of Sir Percival

I was lucky enough to be one of the three knights to embark on the quest for the Holy Grail, along with Sir Galahad and Sir Bors. I never did achieve my ultimate goal of attaining the grail, however i was able to behold its wonders when we finally found it. After witnessing the miracles of the grail i decided to live out the rest of my life as a monk, with Sir Bors living a secular lifestyle with me. I wound up dying 14 months after my good friend Sir Galahad, who happened to be the king of the castle i live at in Sarras.

The Heartbreak of Sir Tristan

When my beloved Uncle King Mark discovered my affair with his wife the heavenly Iseult, we fled to the forest. When Mark found us we managed to escape his wrath by denying the affair, and he was merciful to us. I was exiled from the country and followed my feet to Ireland. There I met Iseult of Brittany and made her my wife. I could not get over my love for Iseult and my wife suffered the consequences. During one of my adventures I became mortally wounded and only the magical healing powers of Iseult of Cornwall could save me. She would fly white sails to alert me she was coming. Unfortunately (for me) the sails my wife saw were black and I was so overwhelmed with grief that I just gave up… on life.

The demise of Sir Gawain

Yes, it is true... I am dead!!! Yeah, so... My death occured in battle as I fought for my uncle. My death was the result of a previous wound from a battle between Lancelot and myself... but I have forgiven him of this, and blame only myself. My uncle, he found me on a ship, nearly dead, after battle with Sir Mordred. I asked my uncle for the means to write a benevolent letter to Lancelot, and I asked for him to send for him, and to cherish him as a great knight. At noon, my death greatly affected my uncle, and I was brought to a tomb, my tomb, within Dover castle, and my skull was laid bare for all to see, and to see the wound that Lancelot had given me.

Lady of the Lake - after the death of Arthur

As my life is a mystery during Arthur's reign, so is my life after his death. In fact, one of my many incarnations was killed by Sir Balin during Arthur's reign, yet I transported Arthur to Avalon to heal and await return to his kingdom. I then fade into the mist, as I always do; I am a goddess, not alive as a human would be but instead a spirit. Some believe I still reside in lakes in Britain - perhaps I do. Perhaps I am still in Avalon, awaiting Arthur's return with him. Although some may believe I am dead, I will live forever in spirit.

Lady Lyonesse and Lady Lynette's Death

After my sister's husband, Sir Gareth, was killed by Sir Lancelot, Lady Lyonesse laid in bed for days weeping and later died of a broken heart I continued to play with spelling hoping to bring them both back like the knight a had created to attack Sir Gareth before their marriage, but I adding too much of the wrong thing and then BOOM I'm dead.

Sir Kay's End

Unfortunately, I did not live long enough to help Arthur is his final battle at Camlan. There are many mysteries and accounts of my death. Some say that I died at a ripe age in a battle against the romans, some say I took my own life at the request of Galahad. My story is not quite so adventurous however. It was Gwyddawg, the servant of my great foster brother Arthur, to be the last story of my life. Why he did took my life is not clear. He my have been jealous of my relationship with Arthur or angry at my treatment of new knights. Though I am not certain why it was he took my life, I am certain that his triumph was short lived. My death was quickly avenged by Arthur.

Death of Sir Gareth

I would have stood next to my Lord during his final battle, if I wasn't dead already. Gaheris and I were guarding Guenever when that stupid boy Lancelot, whom I held close , came and rescued her. Killing both me and my brother in order to save a woman. He will regret it until the day he dies.

The Fate of Elaine

I, Elaine, by God's mercy did not have to experience the Battle of Camlann. My premature death I see as a blessing. The hunger, pain, and desperation I felt as my fragile female body withled and my spirit gave up do not compare with the horrible hell I would have felt if I would have been witness to mySir Lancelot's death. And I know hell, that is where I have lived ever sinceI killed one of God's children; myself. But still to this very day I can saythat I would much rather live in this place for eternity than in the same world as Sir Lancelot, so close to him, but unable to make him mine.

The Reign of Sir Constantine

As the sun was setting, the battle came to a close. Victory appeared to be ours, but at what cost. I could not see King Arthur or any of the knights that had accompanied him. Of the score of knights that rode into battle with us, few appeared to have survived and all were wounded in some matter. As for myself, I am not grievously wounded although my armor is dented, shield cleaved in two, and sword long missing. I do not know if the kingdom will be able to recover from this slaughter at Camlann. For know though, I am going off in search of my king and fellow Knights of the Round Table.

I have just returned from Arthur's deathbed and am now the rightful king. My liege gave me the crown and asked me to restore the kingdom and maintain the Order of the Round Table. I do not believe anyone has told him the table has cracked, but nonetheless, I will attempt to reassemble his knights and continue on. Furthermore, he has implored me to restore the Archbishop of Canterbury to his rightful place.

Mordred and his treacherous deeds destroyed the magnificent kingdom of King Arthur and the Order of the Round Table. Arthur's knights have abandoned me and left the kingdom or begun living solitary lives. Tonight, I am going to take my final revenge on Mordred. His sons have taken refuge in the church, and I will confront them there disguised as the Bishop. It is not the way of a former Knight of the Round Table, but I shall murder them both before the high altar. May God take mercy on me and strike me down for the wrongdoings I am about to commit.

The death of Sir Ector

If you all common mortals have not realized it yet, there was a reason why Merlin put Arthur in my care. There are thousands of knights in Europe. Why did Merlin choose me then to father the greatest of all Kings? Here is the answer:

The truth is that I am not a human. Not many have heard of me since my beloved foster son pulled that sword out of the rock. This is because that was my duty in this world. It was to foster who was to become a God among mortals like my beloved son Heracles. The truth is that I am an incarnation of Zeus himself. Like i gave birth to my beloved son Heracles who was born human but eventually became a God of the Greeks, my duty in this world was to foster a son who will eventually become a legend himself. And this is what Arthur has become. The battle of Camlann marked the death of a hero, and the birth of a legend whom many will worship in ages to come, will read stories about him in their mythology classes and make movies about him, in essence, deifying him.

While I have fathered a modern legend, a mortal who became God, I have had to sacrifice my own status in this universe. I, the great Zeus, was born in the 500s as Sir Ector to foster King Arthur. But as the Christians invaded all of Europe and England, they destroyed every mortal's faith in the Pantheon and in every god other than theirs. I have lost my position in heaven because of this as no one worships me as God. As I had left mount olympus and assumed the role of a mortal christian, my fellow olympians overthrew me. My wife Athena has become a prostitute, and rats scurry over my throne. I have lost my place among mortals as everyone forgot Sir Ector after his duty of fostering Arthur was done. Who am I now? Zeus? Sir Ector?

I had no place in any world. Not the mortal worlds, not the heavens. Due to this, I went crazy and developed a split personality disorder. After moonrise I became Zeus and I started flying in the air, setting fire to forests. After moonset I became Sir Ector again and i started feeding of the flesh of wolves. The great Merlin took pity on me and brought me back to sanity using his magic. I lived with him and his beautiful concubine in a large castle on a mythical island. However, on a lusty night I made passionate love to his beautiful concubine. Merlin walked in on us while we were making love and he killed me with an ice axe.

That is my death story. I have always been a mystery in Arthurian tales and will always be.

Alright later Sir Pelleas..... It was good while it lasted!!

After the Death of Lady Ettare I felt a little remorse but after finding another mistress with the beautiful Lady of the Lake i would soon forget who she was and live my life on with her; Gives the phrase a meaning that nice guys dont finish last (muuuhahahahahah). I would go on to achieve the Sangreal and become one of only 4 knights to do that. I came to be haunted later by the ghost of Lady Ettare, and, not being able to get rid of her, found it one day beneath a tree. I promised myself that i would not sleep during the hauntings but they only took place by night. I grew ambivalent toward the hauntings, and eventually fell in love with her again. At this time, the ghost disappeared. I would defend King Arthur in the Battle of Camlann and die happily ever after smoking my shisha.

The Glory of Sir Galahad

I, Sir Galahad, purest of knights gave myself to God after he granted me the vision of the Holy Grail. I devoted my life to serving God and I saw to devote my soul to him. I succeeded in my one true quest, to find the Grail. There I knelt in prayer awaiting the vision of the Holy Vessel and when it was granted unto me, I was given the greatest ending of any knight before or after me. This happened many years before the Battle of Camlann and the death of our noble King Arthur. They were left to rejoice in the glory of the Holy Grail, taken to the Court. And of its fame it shall be written for all time to endure.

Rest at Last

When Mordred faked Arthur's death, and proposed marriage to me, I knew that no good would come of it. So I fled.
I locked myself in the Tower of London and nothing that Mordred could do would persuade me to come out. Those subjects loyal to me provided sustenance and helped to thwart Mordred's attacks.
I wish I could say that it was my undying beauty that made Mordred come after me with such zeal, but we all know that by then my days of youth were waning. No, it was not for fair Guinevere that Mordred lusted, but for Arthur's Queen. To him I was nothing more than another symbol of power. He had a crown, though false, and he had a scepter and a sword, though not Excalibur... to make up for the false crown and inferior blade he needed a powerful wife. Why not go for the most powerful?

I hid from him until Arthur returned, and even then I stayed in the Tower. Dover was miles away on the coast, and on quiet days, I would imagine hearing the clash of swords and cries of battle. In my sleep, I would dream of war and of death. Some of my ladies thought I was going mad. A few peasants came fleeing into London to avoid being recruited or killed by either army. It seems that both Arthur and Mordred had had to roam far and wide to keep their ranks at a suitable number. It was not a good time. Not for me, or for England.

The night before I received news of Arthur's death, I'd had an unsettling dream and to this day I could not tell you what it was, for I do not remember. All I can recall is waking in a cold sweat and feeling as though some part of me had died. One of my ladies in waiting broke the news to me, and I wept harder than I can remember. Few of your modern stories mention that, that I wept for the passing of a great king, a great man, and my husband. Whatever you may think of me, know that I truly wept for the death of Arthur, and for the land of anarchy our kingdom had become.

It took me a few days to pull myself together. I was hearing voices in the wind and seeing people in the shadows. I thought that I was going mad. I could not stop thinking of all the sin in my life, of all the wrong I had done, and of all the ways that the war, Arthur's death, and the fall of the kingdom was my fault. No one else's but mine. So I decided that the only way to fix things was to spend the rest of my life repenting.

I went to Amesbury, and the abbey there. I became the abbess, eventually, and to be honest the rest of my life was nothing that you would want to hear about. I spent my days communing with God, and praying for Arthur and the others who had died, and for myself. And Lancelot.

I had no idea what had become of Lancelot, but I found out not too long after Arthur's death. He had heard of where I was. He came to visit me, and I think he had hoped to persuade me back to side. I read your modern tales and they all talk about how I feinted three times when I saw him. I may have been getting on in my years, but I certainly did not feint three times! I am not so faint of heart! But, when I saw him, I stumbled. Twice. And then, yes, I feinted.

After that, we spoke for a time... I wished that he had taken a young wife, and gone off to have more children and live a full and productive life... but he was always such a fool for love... or so he claimed. He told me he'd take up the life of a monk. A simple "if you could do it, I could do it" and "if you suffer, I too will suffer" argument. Stupid git! I both loved him and hated him for it. He tried to kiss me before he left and oh! I was tempted. To feel his sweet lips was something I had not done in a long, long time... but I had come to the abbey to forsake my sinful ways and had already said goodbye to my life with Lancelot. A reminder such as that would have been too painful a thing. So he left, and I wished with all my might that I would never have to see his face again while I live, because I simply could not bear it. I didn't, and I lived out my days in peace. Years later, on my death bed, I requested that I be laid to rest with Arthur where, as his Queen, I belonged. It seems that it was so, and by Lancelot's doing, if your texts and the peace of my soul are any indication.

Dagonet's death

After the battle and King Arthur's death, I was not so cheerful. I grew old and saw the pain that comes with love and war. Without my King and my friend I had only one last great adventure. The one we all must take, but I did not go alone. I am very proud to have gone with Merlin at my side. I was old and ready to leave this world of war and see my king again.

Morgan Le Fay's Final Chapter

I was the one who took Arthur to Avalon. I said I could heal Arthur if he stayed with me for a long time. I kept Arthur in his paradise for a long time. It was good to be back at my home of the "Island of Apples." I always thought I feared Arthur, but I think I did not know my what I truly felt for Arthur. Not until we reached Avalon did I understand how I felt. I knew by tricking him and telling him that it would take years to heal his wounds would keep him here with me in this paradise. I spend most of my days with Arthur waiting for his time to return.

Sir Lancelot carried off to heaven

It was when I arrived at Dover that I had heard the news of the kings death. For the rest of that day I knelt before the tomb and wept and in the morning I ordered a requiem. When the requiem was over I offered one hundred pounds for masses to be sung. After that I stayed three more days, and on the third day I called my followers and sent them home. I told them to wait eight days but I knew I wouldn’t return before that. Next I rode west, and eight days later I had reached Amesbury and saw the queen. She fainted three times!! We spoke of our love and realized that this was the end. I asked for a kiss but she denied it. I swore to her that I would join a monastery if I could be with her. My heart was hurting as I left, and I wondered through the forest for the next day and night. The next morning came and I was at a hermitage, "well that was easy,” I thought as I entered seeing the king’s tomb. Other knights recognized me and told me more about the king’s death. I wept and begged the Archbishop to allow me into his order. He allowed me in and I was relieved. I lived a hermit’s life for the next six years until one night when I had a vision of the queen dying. I had this vision three times and that was when I knew I had to go off to find her. The next morning I told the Archbishop and he told me to obey my vision. I left with some friends and two days later reached the queen only to find that she had died half an hour before I had arrived. I was heart broken and the next morning I gave the mass. We brought her to the kings tomb to be berried with the husband, and this is when I realized all that I have done wrong. I felt so deathly ill because of this. I felt this way for a number of days until one day; I knew my time was up and I asked the Archbishop give me my last rite. I fell asleep and the next thing I remember is angels carrying me through the gates of heaven. It was immaculate.

The End of Sir Maleagant

I am Sir Maleagant; I died long before the Battle of Camlann and the dealth of Arthur. Most of my storyline is about a kidnapping of Guinevere, I abduct Guinevere to my castle. It’s cause Lancelot and Gawain to come to rescue the queen; Lancelot kills me. Sir Maleagant only has a small part in the Arthur legend, but it is an important one. It is one of the very first parts when Sir Lancelot was appear in the Arthurian legend.

The end to Sir Lamorak

I have one final thing to inform everyone about before I leave this life onto the next one. I was unfortunate to not be there for my king in his time of need. I left the world before the final battle of Camlann. I left because of betrayal and treachery. I was getting together with Queen Morgause. Her sons felt that since my father had killed her husband I was undeserving of her. So as revenge the brothers beheaded her in front of me and left me to go back to my king with guilt. I went and fought in a tournament and then after I left the tournament I was ambushed. Sir Gawaine, Agravaine Gaheris and Sir Mordred surrounded me. I fought them off for as long as I could before Sir Mordred stabbed me in the back. I ended that day as I died. However now I end this day by moving on to the after life, however I could not leave this world till I let someone know of the tereachery that befell me at my death.

Agravaine's end

I did not live to see the Battle of Camlann nor the fall of my king.

I was killed by the man that I had sought to bring down while confronting him with his betrayal. I, Sir Mordred and twelve other knights waited until we knew that Lancelot would be in the queen’s chambers so that we would catch the lovers in the act, so to speak. It should have been an easy task to capture the man; he had only a sword and no armor; he was one and we were many. He bolted the door to protect himself and the queen, opening it for a brief moment to let one of our number in. Sir Collgrevaunce charged and was killed; Lancelot stripped him of his armor, opened the door and killed the rest of us, with the exception of Mordred. He managed to flee and battle his uncle at Camlann.

And thus ends my tale.

The Final Chapters of Sir Owain

After the death King Arthur at Camlann at the hands of Mordred I lived happily ever after with my wife until my death. I seen my fellow warrior slain and I decided that was it for me. I still had the fight in me but there was no real purpose for fighting. I had been on my journeys and I have rescued many. I realized that I was an "experienced" warrior and I had nothing else to prove. The best place for me to be was with my wife who had given me a second chance at happiness.