Arthurian Legend

Arthurian Legend
Story
Adaptation Information
Featured episode(s):	"Lady of the Lake" "Lost Girl" Out of the Past "The Dark Swan" "The Price" "Siege Perilous" "The Broken Kingdom "Dreamcatcher" "Nimue" "Birth"
Relevant Pages

The Arthurian Legend is a legend featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It possibly originated in Wales or in the parts of northern Britain inhabited by Brythonic-speaking Celts. It consist of a series of stories and medieval romances treated by various medieval writers, and popularized by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his work Historia regum Britanniae (1135–38).

Traditional Plot

Arthur was the first born son of King Uther Pendragon and heir to the throne. However these were very troubled times and Merlin, a wise magician, advised that the baby Arthur should be raised in a secret place and that none should know his true identity. Arthur was raised by his foster father Sir Ector and his son Kay.

As Merlin feared, when King Uther died there was great conflict over who should be the next king. Merlin used his magic to set a sword in a stone. Written on the sword, in letters of gold, were these words: "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is the rightwise born king of all England." A tournament occurred where Kay was old enough to take part in with Sir Ector and Arthur accompanying him to it. Of course all the contenders for the throne took their turn at trying to draw the sword, but none could succeed. Arthur, quite by chance, withdrew the sword for another to use in a tournament. Following this, he became King.

He gathered Knights around him which included Sir Agravain, Sir Bagdemagus, Sir Bedivere, Sir Bors, Sir Breunor, Sir Calogrenant, Sir Caradoc, Sir Dagonet, Sir Dinadan, Sir Ector, Sir Elyan the White, Sir Erec, Sir Gaheris, Sir Galahad, Sir Gareth, Sir Geraint, Sir Griflet, Sir Hector de Maris, Sir Hoel, Sir Kay, Sir Lamorak, Sir Lancelot, Sir Leodegrance, Sir Lionel, Sir Lucan, Sir Maleagant, Sir Marhaus, Sir Palamedes, Sir Pelleas, Sir Pellinore, Sir Percival, Sir Safir, Sir Sagramore, Sir Segwarides, Sir Tor, Sir Uriens, Sir Ywain, and Sir Ywain the Bastard. With the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur fought back against the Saxons who, since the Romans left Britain, were slowly but surely taking the country over. After many great battles and a huge victory at Mount Badon the Saxons' advance was halted.

Arthur's base was at a place called Camelot. Here, he built a strong castle. His knights met at a Round Table. They carried out acts of chivalry such as rescuing damsels in distress and fought against strange beasts. They also searched for a lost treasure which they believed would cure all ills - this was the 'Quest for the Holy Grail'.

Under the guidance of Merlin, Arthur had obtained a magical sword from the Lady of the Lake. This sword was called 'Excalibur" and with this weapon he vanquished many foes.

Queen Guinevere, Arthur's beautiful wife brought romance to the story while his equally beautiful half-sister Morgan le Fay added a dark side.

Unfortunately, as peace settled over the country, things turned sour within the court of Camelot and civil war broke out. In the Battle at Camlann, both Arthur and Mordred (Arthur's traitorous nephew and the son of the sorceress Morgan le Fay) were mortally wounded. As he was dying, King Arthur told Sir Bedivere to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. Arthur's body was then set upon a boat and floated down river to the isle of Avalon. Here, his wounds were treated by three mysterious maidens. His body was never found and many say that he rests under a hill with all his knights ready to ride forth and save the country again.

Show Adaptation

• The knights of the round table have the power to conduct marriage ceremonies. As such, even in cases of a "fallen" knight like the show's adaption of Lancelot, he still can perform a marriage ceremony.
• The Siren is loosely based on the Lady of the Lake. She lures in men while in the form of a woman and drowns them in Lake Nostos. The Siren was later killed by Prince Charming.
  • Contrary to the legend, Nimue and the Lady of the Lake are not the same person.
• Merlin is the Sorcerer from The Sorcerer's Apprentice story. He also created the sword Excalibur and placed it in a stone, waiting for the kingdom's true ruler to pull the sword out.
• Once Arthur withdrew Excalibur from the stone, the tip was missing. The tip is the Dark One Dagger.
• The Siege Perilous at the Round Table belongs to the knight with the purest heart. It was Lancelot's seat before his banishment, then it became David's seat.
• Vortigan is based on Vortigern, a 5th-century warlord in Britain, who ultimately became incorporated into the Arthurian Legend. According to the legend, Vortigern attempted to build a tower which would not stand. He was advised to sprinkle the site with the blood of a child with no father. This child was Merlin. The boy saved himself by revealing the true cause of the tower's collapse: Two dragons fighting beneath the foundation. On Once Upon a Time, Vortigan is a villain who ransacks towns and burns them to the ground. He is killed by Merlin's lover, Nimue, who then becomes the first Dark One. Nimue then puts on Vortigan's mask, and later wears it when she transforms Merlin into a tree.
• "Lady of the Lake", "Siege Perilous" and "Nimue" are all named after elements from the legend.

Characters Featured

Original Character	Adapted as	First Featured in
Giflet	Grif	"Siege Perilous"
King Arthur	King Arthur	"The Dark Swan"
Knights of the Round Table	Knights of the Round Table	"Lady of the Lake"
Lady of the Lake	Siren	"What Happened to Frederick" (allusion)
	Lady of the Lake	"Lady of the Lake" (mentioned)
Lancelot	Lancelot	"Lady of the Lake"
Merlin	The Sorcerer / Merlin	"The Dark Swan"
Nimue	Nimue	"Dreamcatcher"
Queen Guinevere	Guinevere	"The Price"
Sir Kay	Sir Kay	"The Dark Swan"
Sir Mordred	Mordred	"Tales From The Underworld"
Sir Percival	Percival	"The Dark Swan"
Vortigern	Vortigan	"Nimue"

Items Featured

Original Item	Adapted as	First Featured in
Excalibur	A sword in the Dark Castle	"Skin Deep" (allusion)
	Fake Excalibur	"Lost Girl"
	Excalibur	"The Dark Swan"
Holy Grail	Chalice in the Dark Castle	"Skin Deep" (allusion]
	Holy Grail	"Nimue"
	Dark grail	"Only You"
The Round Table	Round Table	"The Price"
The stone	Fake stone	"Lost Girl"
	Excalibur stone	"The Dark Swan"
Siege Perilous	Siege Perilous	"Siege Perilous"

Locations Featured

Original Location	Adapted as	First Featured in
Avalon	Avalon (mentioned)	"The Broken Kingdom"
Brocéliande	Brocéliande	"Siege Perilous"
Caledonian Forest	Caledonian Forest	"Birth"
Camelot	Camelot	Out of the Past
Carmarthen	Carmarthen (mentioned)	"The Broken Kingdom"
The lake	Lake Nostos (allusion)	"What Happened to Frederick"

References

Stories

A – M The Adventures of Pinocchio | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Aesop's Fables | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Arthurian legend | "Beauty and the Beast" | Beowulf | The BFG | Carrie | Celtic mythology | "Cinderella" | A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | The Count of Monte Cristo | The Curse of Capistrano | Don Quixote | The Emerald City of Oz | Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus | "The Frog Prince" | Germanic mythology | "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" | Greek mythology | "Hansel and Gretel" | The Hundred and One Dalmatians | "Jack and the Beanstalk" | "Jack and Jill" | "Jack the Giant Killer" | "Little Bo Peep" | "Jack Sprat" | La Cenerentola | "The Little Mermaid" | "Little Red Riding Hood" | The Lord of the Rings | The Marvelous Land of Oz | Mary Reilly | Moby-Dick | Mulan | The Mysterious Island N – Z Nursery rhymes | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | One Thousand and One Nights | The Patchwork Girl of Oz | Peter and the Wolf | Peter and Wendy | "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" | "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" | Polynesian mythology | Pride and Prejudice | The Prince and the Pauper | "Rapunzel" | "Rip Van Winkle" | Robin Hood | Roman mythology | "Rumpelstiltskin" | The Scarlet Letter | Slavic mythology | "Sleeping Beauty" | "The Snow Queen" | "Snow White" | "Snow-White and Rose-Red" | "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" | Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | Swan Lake | "Three Billy Goats Gruff" | The Three Musketeers | The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark | Treasure Island | Through the Looking-Glass | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | "The Ugly Duckling" | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz