(no subject)

[skygiants]

A while back, avariel_wings mailed me a copy of Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy all the way from England (which is dedication) and after a shamefully long time I have finally gotten around to reading it!

I should be honest: I tried to read The Crystal Cave a few times a kid and I never could get through the beginning few chapters of Merlin-as-a-kid. Once I got to the parts about Ambrosius, though, the story really picked up for me, and I think the second half of The Crystal Cave and the Baby Arthur parts of The Hollow Hills have been my favorite parts of the series so far. (Kate also sent me The Wicked Day, which I think is the finale of the series, so I will be reading that at some point too.) I really like some of the ways that Mary Stewart pieces together the myths, and re-interprets them, and I like how she is careful to show how stories spread. All that is very cool! I like less the focus on Arthur in the last book to the exclusion of much of the other characters of the legend (I am sorry, I just could not love this Arthur as much as T.H. White's Arthur - he was formative for me!) and how unambiguously evil Morgause and to a certain extent Morgan are, because Ladies' Power Means Using Sexuality For Evil, Duh.

I am not quite sure how I feel about this Merlin; Merlin has never been the most interesting part of the story for me. Sometimes I think I quite like him, especially when he is young and kind of arrogant and being sarcastic and clever! Other times I am frustrated by him and how content he is to give up agency to Divine Power and how little he morally questions that. (Other times I just want him to stop going on about how pretty the hillside is because sometimes my attention span is short.)

Anyway, pretty much everyone knows the Arthur stories and everyone sees them in a different way, and I am very curious about everybody's favorite Arthurs. I asked this question before when I reread The Once and Future King, but it is different now because there are new people on my flist! Also, because it is in the form of a POLL, and that makes it officially shinier.

[Poll #1469901]

Comments

[jezrana.livejournal.com]

The first one was tough for me to answer because as a kid I imprinted really hard on Disney's Sword and the Stone, but then when I was 13 I imprinted even harder on Mists of Avalon. So I went with Disney because it's got about ten years on Avalon, but Avalon had a lot more impact on how I view Arthurian legend today.

[foreverdirt.livejournal.com]

This was pretty much word for word my decision-making process, too. :D

[skygiants]

I love Sword and the Stone so much! Which led me to The Once and Future King which I imprinted on at age 13 the same way you imprinted on Mists of Avalon I think, but it is easier for me because the one is based on the other so I can conveniently lump them together. :D

(I still blame Mists of Avalon for getting me irritable at vilifications of Morgan/a, though.)

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

BECCA WHY DO YOU USE RADIO BUTTONS INSTEAD OF BOXES? I CANNOT CHOOSE.

[skygiants]

TO MAKE LIFE HARDER FOR YOU. >:D

[sdelmonte]

Firelord by Parke Godwin beats them all. It's a reasonably down to earth, generally magic-free, and historically based retelling of the Arthur legend.

Of the things you list, I would take Tennyson.

[skygiants]

I remember hearing you and Batya rave about Firelord! It is on my list for next time I need a new Arthur kick. But I decided to cruelly exclude it because I have not read it.

(I also remember you telling me about the Excalibur 3000 comics, which I still want to hunt down SO BADLY.)

[jothra]

You forgot the Camelot musical! Also, you are very mean for choosing radio buttons. It's hard for me to pick between The Dark Is Rising, Disney, and Monty Python.

[skygiants]

I did not! It is up there. :O That is what I meant by Camelot followed by babble about music! SO THERE.

Also: MWAHA. *twirls moustache*

[agonistes]

I am so totally unsurprised that my answers mirror gramary1971's exactly. *cracking up*

[skygiants]

*cracks up also* THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE TOO.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

My justifications:

Python: The Pythons were and are very impressive historians; they have a fair amount of in-jokes to all of the others, and are one of the few sources to correctly show Lancelot as a raving homicidal lunatic.

Merlin: Well, for values of "star" equal to "narrator." Or perhaps "puppetmaster."

Robin: More likely to fight dirty.

[skygiants]

Very well-reasoned! I applaud your logic. (Also, I am glad to see poor Robin getting some love in this poll.)

[batyatoon]

More likely to fight dirty? Depends which Arthur.

[varadia]

I am kind of ridiculously fond of The Child Queen and The High Queen by Nancy McKenzie. I am fairly sure I have not yet plumbed the depths of the historical inaccuracy, and they are written in first person like a memoir from Guinevere, but FATE IS A BITCH and this story runs along with that like it's on fire. So.

Sadly Morgause and Morgan are fairly clearly Bad Guys (with awesome powers!), but Guinevere is very complicated and tomboyish. That part kind of makes me very happy.

[skygiants]

Oh man, I don't think I'd even heard of those, but that's awesome! I always like it when someone manages to pull off a complicated and likeable Guinevere.

[saphyria.livejournal.com]

All I really remember of The Crystal Cave is that Merlin's uncle Camlach had a bad temper, reddish hair, wore all black, rode a black horse, and tried to poison Merlin as a child.


:D

[skygiants]

. . . . hahahaha these are CERTAINLY TRUE FACTS. (With an evil apricot!)

[batyatoon]

My formative Arthur is Parke Godwin's Firelord. Blew Mists of Avalon out of the water.

[skygiants]

I remember you mentioning this! I also vaguely remember you saying it did good Orkney boys? Or perhaps this was just me making things up.

[dramaturgca.livejournal.com]

What about Pamela Service's Tomorrow's Magic and Winter of Magic's Return? I totally dig those.

You know where I stand in the world of Morgana et al...

[skygiants]

Dude, I would have put those up, but I didn't think anyone besides me had ever read them! :O WACKY POSTAPOCALYPTIC ARTHURIAN HIJINKS OF HILARITY.

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

Oh god I absolutely hated the Mists of Avalon. Haven't read any of the others, but I despised that book.

I wonder how many people who voted for Marian have seen Robin Hood BBC. :>

[skygiants]

I liked it when I was 11! But this was also the time period during which I devoured Piers Anthony and Anne McCaffrey, so . . . I cannot really vouch for my judgment at that age, is what I'm saying. (I think you'd really like the Elizabeth Wein books, though.)

Dude, if I was basing it off the BBC Robin Hood, it wouldn't even have been a question, DJAQ would have come and kicked EVERYONE'S ASS.

[schiarire.livejournal.com]

I was not that into Arthurism, but I did read Perceval for French class later and like it. Perhaps because there is a bald lady.

[skygiants]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that bald ladies improve everything!

Also, bitchy owls, which may be a large part of the reason I imprinted early on The Once and Future King.

[oneechan19.livejournal.com]

Disney or Monty Python? Monty Python or Disney? I CAN'T DECIDE. DARN YOU AND YOUR RADIO BUTTONS.

[skygiants]

I ENJOY MAKING MY FLIST SUFFER.

[avariel-wings.livejournal.com]

Becca, where is the mention of my beloved Ulfin? He's an important character and everything!

[skygiants]

I am sorry! I clearly failed to include the most important part of the legends. D: (I did spend a lot of time wanting to pat Ulfin on the head.)

[miseline.livejournal.com]

I didn't want to have to choose between Robin and Marion, but in the end I chose Robin. :) (My other persona is crazy about Robin of Sherwood.)

[skygiants]

I know! But sometimes, in life, we must make difficult choices. *very solemn*