(1.3) “Galahad and the Grail” – The Chair and the Sword (this post is in process and incomplete at this time)
(1.3) “Galahad and the Grail” – The Chair and the Sword. (this post is in process and incomplete at this time)
Book One: ‘The Coming of Galahad’ (by “book” is meant a large section in this installment of Guite’s Arthuriad).
Stave Three: ‘The Siege and the Sword” (a “stave” is an old-fashioned term for the stanza of a poem, a verse in a song, or a chapter in a long story).
Why is Malcolm Guite retelling the King Arthur saga, no less in the form of English ballads? He has gone on record as saying… The KA mythical tales echo something real about sin, redemption, and the hope that was broken in us and in the world that can be made whole again… Every generation that asks good questions of King Arthur legends gets good answers… The modern world could use a resurrection of the ideal of chivalry and honor… Ancient myths and stories aren’t just relics of a pre-modern imagination, they are carriers of truth we’ve forgotten how to see with modern eyes… Legends like these don’t distract us from the real world, they reveal it… These stories restore the spiritual elements that have been shorn away, and they renew their deepest meaning. The English ballads were composed in a poetic form that were made to be sung or chanted out loud. They are rhythmic and musical, and one gets the sense that with ballads, “the poem on the page is lying asleep. And the job of the reader is to wake it up and breathe into its being by reciting it out loud, because that physicality of sound and breath and speech is what it’s made for… Above all, enjoy it. Poetry is meant to give pleasure.” It’s clear that composing this first installment of the King Arthur saga was a labor of love for Malcolm Guite, and that, as he put it, “This is the tale that makes my heart rejoice.”
Characters and Elements in this Chapter of Malcom Guite’s Retelling of the King Arthur Saga:
(1.) Whitsunday – This newest drama in Dr. Guite’s version of the Arthurian legend is in the context of the Feast of Pentecost. This celebration is historically considered one of the major feast days in the Christian church year, right up there with Easter and Christmas. Pentecost celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to Christ-followers after His Ascension into His heavenly realm. Whitsunday is simply another term for Pentecost and is an Old English term for “White Sunday.” Pentecost services in church were popular occasions to hold baptisms, and since those being baptized were traditionally dressed in white robes to represent purity, the term Whitsunday became used often enough as a parallel term for Pentecost.
(2.) A Feast for All – “And then they strode into the hall made ready for the feast, where Arthur was to welcome all, the greatest and the least.” King Arthur earnestly desired to celebrate this important feast day by reflecting what we see in Christ’s parable of the Great Feast in Luke 14:15-24… “Quick! Go out into the streets and alleys of the city; bring in the poor, the disfigured, the blind and the crippled! Then go out to the country roads and boundary walls, and insistently persuade people to come in, so that my house will be full!”