Sir Gawain & the Loathly Lady, by Selina Hastings

The cover reflects the high level of the
decorative elements.

I will try to copy in some of the illustrations from this gorgeous book because Selina Hastings' retelling of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady strikes first at the eyes with its lush drawings and its intricate designs. This 9" x 9" (small cake pan!)  24-page picture book is crammed with art--wall to wall. Each page has an intricate border of vines and crests. Each illustration (beautiful in itself) is bordered and framed. Small patches of each page are filled in with a patterned design like a fabric swatch of brocade, silk, or linen. The printer did not use gold ink, but the color scheme gives that effect--the feeling of old gold. In fact, I held the book up to the sunny window to make sure it didn't have gold ink, the feeling was that strong.

The Loathly Lady herself

The illustrations range from the ultra close-up of an old woman's hand to a beautiful distant landscape and tie directly to the action of the story. Each illustration contains patterns and fabrics and rich color. The art in Loathly Lady sets the mood of medievalism--a time of fabric and precious metals and gilt and gem. Everything is drawn and painted to the greater glory of God. The story is much older than medieval times, but it is told in that context.

Loathly Lady is a story of daring and disguise, love and loyalty. King Arthur is challenged to answer a difficult question or to lose his kingdom--What is it that women most desire? An ugly old lady gives him the answer, but in turn requires that Arthur find a husband among his men for her. Sir Gawain steps forward to do his duty by his lord. And, he holds true to his word and marries her. Everyone at court is filled with awe and pity for him. Well, of course, the woman turns out to be bewitched and Gawain breaks the spell through the answer to the question. He gives her what she and all women most desire--to have their own way.

Queen Ann from The Tudors--great costumes

There's a bit of tongue in cheek in this story, but no mockery. The ugly old woman is not mocked or scorned by Gawain. And giving women their own way is truly a sign of trust and love, not just a snarky statement about women being overly demanding.

BBCAmerica has been running a series called "The Tudors." It's a pot-boiler of court intrigue (and sex) set in the 1580s, of course. The costuming and hairdos and sets are sumptuous and exquisite, lavish in fabric and pattern. The series is like the imagery of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady come to life. Only in atmosphere do they vary. Loathly Lady is atmospheric and moody, dark and mysterious. "The Tudors" is glaring and concrete, exposing all to the camera (and at times, truly ALL). Neither work shows the yucky side of medieval times--the sewage running down the middle of the street, the bad skin from surviving smallpox, the lice and rats, the smell of body odor, and the sheer drudgery of the lives of most people. Both works are fantasy, whether dimly or brightly lit.

Loathly Lady is told consistent with the great Arthurian legends, such as "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "Morte d'Arthur." Hastings is true to the conventions of those stories and does not try to reinterpret or bring forth any kind of agenda. I admire that. In a sense, she deeply honors the story telling of the heroic genre. The story is light but it does not poke fun at anyone.

I don't see this book as being necessarily a children's book. The Arthur stories are multi-age and enduring for all of us. However, children would especially appreciate the dilemma of Gawain and Arthur being somewhat painted into a corner. Their honorable behavior makes the ending somehow more satisfying. And of course, there are weddings and journeys and horses and all that art. A treasure for us all.

Me and the Arthur Legend

My first falling in love with the Arthur legend came through Mary Stewart's wonderful book called The Crystal Cave (and its sequels). The Crystal Cave is Merlin's story and is just beautifully done. I still imagine myself sometimes in the cave itself with its glinting light and hard angles. I read this book in middle school and then several times thereafter.

After the imagery of Stewart, I had a hard time appreciating the play/movie "Camelot," another key retelling of the legend. It was just all wrong to me--people looked wrong and were so facile. But now I love it. I love the slyness of the wit and yet its sincere respect for the idea of a Camelot--a beautiful, glowing time of beauty and love and ideals that exists mostly as an inspiration of the imagination--my own imagination.

The Lady of Shalot as I imagined her in Idylls
of the King

Most modern intrepretations (including BBCAmerica's "Merlin") leave me cold. They are too self-centered or too agenda-based. The story fell from Mary Stewart like water in a stream. She just let it flow.

The other telling that figures greatly in my love of the Arthur legend is Tennyson's Idylls of the King, which I read and examined in college (thank you, Professor Susan Lorsch). I fit those stories in with the imagery I had developed from Crystal Cave. Idylls was wonderful and sad and salacious all at the same time--just as the legend should be.

I would say that Peter Jackson's Tokien movies give the best match for the imagery I see in my mind from Crystal Cave. Blend the poignancy of those films with the sensationalism of "The Tudors" and we might just have it--my personal vision of Arthur: Aragorn with better hygiene!

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the third book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the fourth of the books set in Middle Earth.

Once again, I was drawn into Middle Earth as if it were a real place, one that is now part of my personal and historical past. It is as compelling as Camelot or Shangri-la, and other "lost time" fantasies. And much more.

There is such a gritty reality to the Rings trilogy. Nothing is clean in this book--all are tainted by the bitter fumes of the dark lord. Light is fading in almost every regard: the sky is darkening; people move through foul caves and tunnels; people subsume their identities in disguises; in this book, all are moving toward the final war against the Eye. Frodo can no longer see the Shire, can no longer remember the taste of bread or the smell of new-mown grass in the fields.

The lost city of Shangri-la

Frodo and Sam face gruesome, soul-wrenching ordeals as they stagger toward Mordor bearing the weight of the ring--Shelob the spider, orcs, the creature Gollum, Nazgul, heat,  starvation, molten rock, and the utter hopelessness of their quest. Pippen waits with Gandalf at the doomed city of Gondor, watching insanity spread as the enemy gathers its forces. Merry rides with the Rohirrim, but disguised and in secret with Eowyn, riding toward war and certain doom. All of his friends are fighting. He must fight for them. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas take the pathways of the dead…Aragorn’s faith in himself is tested; he is royal or he is dead. And, if the dead do not follow him, the war against evil is lost.

The most moving part of the book, to me, comes after the battle of Peleanor, when it is clear that the titanic battle that was a grueling victory for the West was a mere skirmish for the Eye. His forces are vast and he will defeat the good, if battle is the method of attack. The forces gather in council. Should they strengthen defenses and die in a few months, or ride out to the attack now and die quickly, Aragorn asks. In this state of hopelessness, the council decides to have faith in Frodo and Sam. If men will be wiped out, they will be wiped out creating a distraction that takes the Eye away from Frodo and the ring, which are secretly in Sauron's very stronghold. Aragorn's men agree to sacrifice their own lives for the future of all. This is a decision of great beauty.

An image of Camelot

This book was full of fear and battle, wounding and battle. The way Tolkien sets up the victory at Pelannor and then snatches it away made the doom so much more real. I felt a glissando of sheer terror at that moment, horror and loss. And I felt all the more resolute when Aragorn led his army into action and into certain death. I was right with them.

Yes, the Rings books are more in the endless procession of guy-bonding books that so fill the fantasy and science fiction genre. In this book, Eowyn is the only woman who has any role whatsoever--but her character is fully developed--more so even than in the movie. She channels her heartbreak over Aragorn’s dismissal of her love into valor. And her role is essential to the victory—her killing of King Angmar of the Dark Riders is marvelous symbolism and drama. And then she gets a wonderful gentle romance with Faramir in the Houses of Healing. I loved that. She must come into her true power before love can enter her life.

Middle Earth

But the Halflings are the true heroes of the story. Their courage, loyalty, wit, and charm are terrific. They are more fully developed for me now that I have such a familiarity with both the movies and books. They show that danger, fear, hunger (and the unknown in general) only strengthen the pure in heart. In fact, that is the hero journey for most of the principal characters--good and bad. How will you respond when the rug is jerked out from under your life, when the feces hits the fan, when you are truly and utterly lost? What will guide you through the dark? What is your light of Elendial? The characters of these books will show you many different strategies for coping. And they demonstrate courage over and over.

I had to include at least one photo of Viggo Mortensen as
Aragorn, the returned king of the title.

I highly recommend Tolkien for junior high school age and up. They are truly beautiful and rich. However, not everyone can read fantasy, so you don't "have" to read them and you don't "have" to see the movies. But, please, at least once, give them a try.

As soon as I finished reading the Tolkien titles on my list, I started reading books by Mark Twain. Switching over to Tom Sawyer has given me mental whiplash. I switched from the sound of ancient sagas being told by candlelight to Twain’s tall-tale-teller voice. I can almost hear him chuckling at his own wry jokes. Still, Tom Sawyer is also a quest story, and holds up well in that genre in its own way. Frodo bearing the ring and Tom bearing the pansy…hmmm.


There's some weird stuff out there. For sermons and essays on LOTR, try:
www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-lord-of-the-rings-sermon-series...

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-fellowship-of-the-ring/study-guide/