We Should Talk More About These Guys. These Are The Guys Who Serve As The Literary Agents Of The Arthurian

…as he should be.

I forgot the name of Maimonides-

So I searched up "Jewish philosopher with opinions" and he was the first result.

is this too niche

🧙, but also what's gringolet 👀

What's Merlin's deal, in your own words?

Merlin’s deal varies. He’s the result of mashing a few different characters into one, and he does a lot of dubious things in the texts which became most influential but does them on the side of the good guys so people want to like him and water him down into a less sinister figure. 

It’s the Historia Regum Britanniae which lays the groundwork for the character as we know him today. First a wunderkind, whose father is thought to have been an incubus, Merlin is nearly used as a human sacrifice as a child but talks his way out of it by explaining the real reason why King Vortigern’s tower keeps falling down. He’s later responsible for the construction of Stonehenge and for disguising Uther Pendragon as Gorlois so that Uther can sleep with Gorlois’ wife Igerna. She doesn’t know it’s Uther at the time, so Merlin is an accomplice to rape by deception. Later on, Merlin is the magical advisor to Uther’s son Arthur, and Arthur is considered a righteous king (even if he does some very dubious things from time to time). That puts Merlin on “the right side” most of the time going forward but also doesn’t make everything Merlin does morally justifiable. There are some texts where he’s downright antagonistic—the big example being Eachtra Mhelóra agus Orlando, where Arthur nearly has him burned at the stake for his crimes but Arthur’s daughter Melora says they should show him mercy—and some where he’s just very, very morally gray. There are exceptions. Myrddin Wyllt, the possibly-historical Welsh bard who appears in The Black Book of Carmarthen, is more sympathetic, almost Lancelotlike in personality: after inadvertently killing his own nephew in battle, he goes insane and wanders forlornly in the forest, talking to a piglet because his sister won’t forgive him. Then again, “didn’t want to kill a relative (but did anyway)” is a very low bar, and that’s not the Merlin iteration who’s in the public consciousness. 

The Merlin we see most in modern media is the archetypal wizard, the friendlier Gandalf figure who guides the righteous king, with his fouler deeds omitted or justified or glossed over, and that’s…fine. I guess. It takes away a lot of nuance, but if you want a wise, magical grandfather figure for your plucky young king, then Merlin is the closest option at hand and has a cultural resonance. I understand it, and I enjoy a good Merlin from time to time, but that’s not who he is, or at least not who he always is. I would appreciate more questionable Merlins—and they do exist. I would appreciate more meant-well-did-badly, non-Arthur-affiliated, bardic Myrddins, too. 

(P.S. At least in the BBoC translation I read, Myrddin himself says that he is “second only to Taliesin”. Mull on that a bit. Given Taliesin’s own questionable moments, I’m not sure whether it’s really a compliment or an insult).

What’s Gringolet?

Gringolet, my friend, is a horse. Not just any horse, however. Gringolet (also known as Ceincaled) is Gawain’s horse, and he is a force of nature, one of the Three Spirited Horses in the Triads. Gawain is a notorious horsegirl, so naturally he requires a horse as awesome and bloodthirsty as he is, and Gringolet is at least as well-regarded as his usual rider by members of the Arthuriana fandom (I’ve seen tier lists which ranked him higher than Gawain). In short, Gringolet is a phenomenon, and one I’m sure a Beri stan like yourself would appreciate, though I admit my enthusiasm for Gringolet is not as great as a lot of people’s because there are other awesome Arthurian horses (Guinevere’s gray palfrey who can go on water or land, Kay’s horse Gwineu Goddwf Hir, etc.) who remain overlooked while he hogs the limelight. That’s not Gringolet's fault, though. 

He also has his own Wikipedia page. Who among us can say that?

Thank you for the ask!

you seem like the right person to ask about jewish knights and judaism in general in arthurian legend

Hello! Apologies for how long it has taken me to respond to this! Throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period, there were a number of Arthurian texts written by and for Jewish people in Jewish languages. The one I specialize in is an Old Yiddish text called Vidvilt, which is part of the Fair Unknown tradition and based off an earlier German text called Wigalois. This text was super popular in the Yiddish-speaking world for about three centuries or so and was reworked and reprinted a number of times. I already discussed some of those adaptations a while ago in response to this ask.

Predating Vidvilt, there was a Hebrew Arthurian text written in the 13th century which is now commonly known as Melekh Artus. This was based on Old French sources and tells the story of Arthur's birth and Lancelot's affair with Guinevere before breaking off unfinished. The most common edition of the text used today is the one by Curt Leviant, though I just read a fascinating article in the latest issue of the Journal of the International Arthurian Society calling into question some of his transcription choices and the conclusions he draws in his analysis of the text.

I also recently read that a fragment of an Arthurian text in Judeo-Catalan was recently discovered, but I'm afraid I don't know much about it as yet other than that it's apparently a late medieval adaptation of Jaufre.

Chivalric romances of both Christian and Jewish origin were extremely popular among medieval and early modern Jews in general. There were a number of non-Arthurian knight stories that were very popular as well; for example, the most famous and influential work of early Yiddish literature was a chivalric epic called Bovo d'Antona, and a survey I read of the literature in Jewish households in early modern Italy shows that the most popular non-religious work among Jews at that time was Orlando Furioso.

It is worth noting that, even though some of these texts were written by and for Jews, that doesn't necessarily mean that the characters in them were Jewish. Jewish writers generally tended to modify their Christian source materials by gliding over or obscuring references to religion, rather than depicting Judaism directly (the reasons for this are complex and could constitute a whole paper, so I won't get into it here). That being said, medieval Jewish knights did exist in real life, too! There are a few medieval historians who do research into exactly when, where, and under what circumstances Jews were allowed to bear arms, but it definitely wasn't exclusively a literary thing.

Morvran Afagddu Appreciation Post

I am obsessed with Morvran Afagddu’s life story. With how he’s expected to amount to nothing to the point that his mother tries to make him talented with a potion and someone else gets it instead and he grows up to be a great bard anyway. With how no matter how great he is, what he says is doomed to be obscure forever. With how that’s contradicted by Uther Pendragon himself mentioning Afagddu while Uther is dying. With how that shatters all the timelines, since Morvran is a child at the start of Arthur’s reign and also survives Camlann. With how he survives Camlann because of his appearance, the reason why they thought he wouldn’t get anywhere in the first place. With the life he built and kept partly because of the things which people thought were wrong with him. With how he might not even be one person, might be two characters who blurred into one and in the process made a story which is one of Arthuriana’s most hopeful, a story formed from fragments and only existing on the boundaries of other people’s but existing nonetheless.

Morvran might be my favorite knight of the Round Table, and he’s not even technically a knight. A lot of Arthuriana is tragic, at least when you look at overarching narratives, and that pathos is extremely compelling, but it's also refreshing and joyful when a character can rise above it and endure against odds that seem impossible, and that's what Morvran's story is to me.

References: Ystoria Taliesin, "Angar Kyfundawt", "Marwnat Vthyr Pen", Culhwch ac Olwen, Marged Haycock's notes in Legendary Poems from the Book of Taliesin

Arthurian Mirror/Role Reversal AU, where Morgan is the Once and Future Queen, leader of the Dames of the Round Table, who search for the Holy Clau or Holy Rood.

Meanwhile Arthur becomes the Supernatural Raider/Wild Man called "Arthur la Guivre", who terrorizes Morgan's kingdom but ultimately rescues his sister after the final battle, bringing her over to his Otherworldly realm under a Mountain.

Sebile becomes the Sir Kay of this AU.

Does anyone know any songs which relate well to Gaheris? He is one of a few gaping holes on my Alarmingly Vast Arthurian Themesong List.

The difference between old Welsh literature and old Irish literature is very simple. In old Welsh literature, there are five page runs of names. In old Irish literature, there are five page runs of adjectives.

Morvran/Sanddef (Sanvran)

I am not only the only person who has tagged a work for Morvran/Sanddef (Arthurian). I’m the only person who has ever tagged for either of those characters on Ao3. They’re both minor knights who are known for surviving Camlann due to their appearances: Sanddef is so handsome that people mistake him for an angel and won’t fight him and Morvran is so hideous/odd-looking (covered in hair like a stag) that people mistake him for a demon and won’t fight him. (Morvran’s anppearance also plays a role in Taliesin’s origin story, inspiring Cerridwen’s actions, though Taliesin gets the awen instead of Morvran and Morvran then disappears from the narrative.) Admittedly, they’re rather obscure and the details about them are sparse, but I feel like they have potential, platonically or romantically. I’d like to think that they fight side by side at Camlann and have no idea why no one is fighting back.

Reblog and put your rare pair in the tags/comments! I want to see the depths people will go to create, for the most random two characters in the most obscure media.

arthurian characters tier list... I feel like I forgot someone

(tier list here)