King Arthur According to Tennyson

Reviewed by Garrett Scharff, Oxford College of Emory University

In the Idylls of the King by Lord Alfred Tennyson, Tennyson elaborates on the mythical realm of King Arthur
originally created by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his book The Histories of the Kings of Britain. In this telling Lord
Alfred Tennyson builds a world around the somewhat spotty details that create more of a true history in Geoffrey.
Tennyson however, adds love, intrigue, and mystery into Idylls of the King in order to flesh out the Arthurian myth
and create a true master piece. Where the focus of Geoffrey is the generousness and military tactics of King Arthur
in his book the ideal nature of a king can be found in the epic love tales that occur in Tennyson’s book.

Idylls of the King picks up the King Arthur story after he has already had his coronation. The main conflict of this
telling of King Arthur is not his battle with the Saxons and instead revolves around the relationship between King
Arthur and Guinevere. Once again, the problem of an illegitimate birth plagues Arthur as other knights do not
recognize Arthur as the king because they do not believe that he is Uther Pendragon’s son. Leodogan, Guinevere’s
father, has a dream that confirms Arthur as the king and allows Guinevere to be married to him. As is the case with
many myths the answer is revealed in a dream. The dream denotes that the answer has come from above and in a
sense that God has given the answer. This kind of presentation of the answer can be found numerous times in the
Bible. Stories such as an angel coming to Mary and Joseph are reminiscent of the kind of dream that Leodogan had
and gives the dream a weight that could not be achieved without the connotation of the dream being given from the
Lord. The marriage of Guinevere and Arthur acts as a metaphor for the state of the kingdom. At the beginning of the
marriage the kingdom is at high point with the pagans having been driven out of the land and the kingdoms finally
united under one king. Yet as the relationship between Arthur and Guinevere becomes more strained and becomes
complicated the kingdom begins to falter and eventually falls apart as does the marriage. This is in contrast of most
of myths involving a king in which the land is connected to the king’s health. While the kingdom of Camelot does
eventually fall with the death of King Arthur the kingdom is already in disarray and dangerously close to collapse
before his death. The kingdom in disarray is directly correlated to Arthur and Guinevere’s love falling apart.

After finishing the wedding of King Arthur and now Queen Guinevere Tennyson moves on to tell the stories of
lesser knights in Arthur’s court. This is also a major difference in the telling of the Arthurian legend where
Tennyson further develops the myth by adding back stories to the knights of the round table. This sets the precedent
for later authors to add their own tales and depictions of King Arthur that are still present to this day. Tennyson
returns to the motif of love in the “Gareth and Lynett” and “Marriage of Geraint” section with two knights falling in
love. In the “Gareth and Lynett” section Gareth is able to seduce Lynett after he is given an important quest from
Arthur to go and rescue Lady Lyoners from a tower. This is a popular plot in myths that is used by Tennyson to add
adventure to the story that is continued in present day pop-culture in movies such as Shrek. Tennyson then moves on
to introduce another central theme of the book, honor, in a second love story of a different knight in Arthur’s round
table. The “Marriage of Geraint” idyll is centered around a knight Geraint who in order to win over the most
beautiful woman in a contest of jousting. The contest in order to win a wife is a medieval concept and in the
Arthurian world the art of jousting is the pinnacle of might and well as defending the woman’s honor. In the
Arthurian society a knight must be strong and powerful in battle and one that is not would be a disrespect to the
father of the woman. Honor is highly valued in Tennyson’s version of the King Arthur myth and is the backbone of
society.

The idyll of “Balin and Balin” describes the first time that Guinevere is unfaithful. Balin sees Guinevere and
Lancelot meet in the woods of King Pellam while attempting to find and kill a demon that lives in the woods. Balin
then leaves Camelot out of confusion over what he has just seen. Balin’s reaction to the encounter between
Guinevere and Lacelot connects to the theme of honor within the society. Balin cannot fathom that Guinevere would
be unfaithful and disrespect the honor of being married to the king as well as the fact that the Queen is supposed to
be a model for the other citizens that she rules over. In many ways the royal family is expected to be the role models
for the kingdom. They are intended to embody the ideals of the society, be the most beautiful, generous, and honest
members of the society. To see Guinevere act in way that is not according to the ideals of the round table was even
more shocking to Balin because of the ideal kingdom that Arthur had set up. With each knight being equal around
the table and honor being a form of currency that one can lose and gain. It was also shocking to see Lancelot go
behind the King’s back because he was the right-hand man to Arthur, the ideal knight. In addition, The brothers
Balin and Balan eventually kills eachother after Balin let out a scream in reference to the encounter of Lancelot and
Guinevere that he had seen. The scream causes Balan to think that Balin is the demon that he has been looking for
and the two fight causing the death of both. These are the first casualties of the love between Lancelot and
Guinevere which will eventually cause the downfall of Camelot as a whole.

Although the theme of love is continued by Tennyson in the “Lancelot and Elaine” idyll in this instance the love is
unrequited. In this idyll Tennyson is able to weave in another of his great works the Lady of Shallot. The Lady of
Shallot is a woman who is locked in a castle and cannot leave, her only way to observe the outside world is to look
through a mirror at Camelot. Through this mirror she sees Lancelot and falls in love. She eventually leaves the castle
even though she knows she will be killed in order to find and pursue Lancelot. This is where the story in Idylls of
the King picks up as Elaine, who is the Lady of Shallot, falls in love with Lancelot at a tournament. Lancelot is
wounded at the tournament and Elaine nurses him back to health and falls in love with him. However, Lancelot does
not return this love because he is in love with Guinevere. Elaine then dies and is an example of another death that
has been caused by the affair between Lancelot and Guinevere.

After the sections filling out the Arthurian world Tennyson returns to the story of King Arthur and Guinevere.
Guinevere at this time is in a convent hiding away from the round table because she has been caught with Lancelot.
Arthur approaches her about the betrayal and eventually forgives her for her actions. Here the nobleness of King
Arthur that was first explored in Geoffrey’s tale of king Arthur is shown. Although Arthur has been devastated by
the affair he is still able to forgive Guinevere. In addition, this depiction of Arthur adds to the ideals that he
embodies which act as a model for the rest of society. It is during these passages that the weight of being king can be
seen. While the royal crown may look like a blessing to some it is shown in the Tennyson works that it comes with a
great burden. The burden to act morally and as an example at all times. Due to this weight it is expected of Arthur to
forgive Guinevere even though it would not be out of social norms and he would be within his rights to curse
Guinevere and have nothing to do with her after her actions. Yet the burden of the crown calls him to act differently
than he may have wanted to act in the moment. Arthur even explains that the actions of Guinevere have caused the
downfall of Camelot as a whole. That the utopia of moral and upstanding citizens has been corrupted all the way up
to the top of the kingdom. If the royal family is supposed to be the ideal for citizens to strive for then the royal
family acting in an immoral way is representative of the state that the kingdom is in. Once again, the connection
between Arthur’s marriage and the state of the kingdom is shown. As the marriage deteriorates so does Camelot,
with the final battle for King Arthur and the fall of Camelot looming closely in the distance. However, Guinevere
after hearing the forgiveness from Arthur dedicates the rest of her life to doing good deeds. This exemplifies the
power the King Arthur had. The kind of power to change a person’s life for the better with a spoken word. In the
Tennyson telling as well as the Geoffrey telling Arthur has curated such immense honor from the people that he
rules over that he is viewed as a sort of prophet and messiah. Where Arthur is no longer viewed as just a king but as
an idea. The idea of all that could be in the world, all of the good in the world manifested into one mortal soul.

The world that Arthur creates in both the Tennyson and Geoffrey versions is too good for the world and eventually
must fall. The world is a utopia that cannot last, throughout the stories the reader gets a sense that Arthur is too pure
for the Earth. In the same way the land is connected to the king so for a short time the land is too good for the Earth
and eventually gets over run. The Tennyson version of the Arthurian myth is an important milestone for the story of
King Arthur in that Tennyson expands upon the world and adds minute details to flesh out an entire world. This sets
the example for others to come along add their own stories and versions of the king Arthur myth, while also
inspiring writers of later generations such as Tolkien to create their own fantastical worlds. The Arthurian myth
according to Tennyson has a dualistic feel to the entire novel. The sense that a perfect human, Arthur, is in constant
struggle to hold an imperfect ever changing world around him together. The ideal that Arthur embodies, such as
honesty, honor, and courage are universal ideals that can connect to everyone at any time. The eternal nature of the
myth is part of the reason that the myth has lasted as long as it has. Providing a shining example of how not only to
be a great leader but also how to be a good person and live with integrity.