Le Morte d’Arthur and Excalibur Movie
Sir Thomas Malory the author of le Morte d Arthur tells a story of king by the name Arthur. Factors that led to his rise and his fall. Two movies, that of le Morte d Arthur and the Excalibur are been produced. There exist major differences and similarities in the two movies. Morte d’Arthur is a movie that is involving stories which are on various magical encounters and quests which are aimed and centered to the rise and fall of Arthur the king.
Currently, most stories have risen from the ages of King Arthur to the present world. This is well shown in the below comparison of the Le Mort Darthur movie and the movie Excalibur. In common the opening titles, shows clearly the setting of the story movies to be in the Dark ages, period where the knights did not exist. The differences in the two movies are clearly shown in the following comparison of the movie Excalibur and the Le Mort Darthur.
The main difference between the two movies that is clearly evident is that of the sword. This sword (Excalibur) is a symbol for great and high status of honor and glory that a knight could have hoped for. It also stands for divine fate. The origin of this sword is in two stories, the first one is that where Arthur pulls it from a stone and the other one is that where Arthur is given the Excalibur by the lake lady. In le mort Darthur two swords are available while in Excalibur only one sword is used.
The father to Arthur, gets this sword by the name Excalibur from the wizard Merlin. This sword proves his stand as the king of England and at his death he buries the powerful sword into a stone. It is expected that the man who gets the sword out of the stone will have to inherit the kingdom after him. In mort Darthur the first sword that is used do break. Just like the mort Darthur movie, also in Excalibur movie the sword also breaks. Arthur receives his first sword in Le mort Darthur from a lady in the lake.
This is in reference to the le mort Darthur. But it is in contrast with the Excalibur movie where the lady from the lake fixes or puts the Excalibur. By the use of the sword Arthur’s father is able to drive the Excalibur into the stone while in Le mort Darthur the sword that is in the stone is not the Excalibur and Arthur’s father does not touch the sword however. In conclusion to this difference, the Excalibur begins and ends with the sword which is the heart of England. (Hodges 2009).
Another major difference is also present in the son to Arthur, Mordred and his father. In le mort Darthur, Mordred’s father is much willing and promising to give his son Arthur a land. This should take place after his death where his son Arthur should inherit his land. However, this is much different in the Excalibur movie where Arthur selfishly decides not to give any of his lands to his son Mordred and this becomes the source of misunderstanding that is seen between Arthur and his son Mordred.
A comparison in both the movie is that of Arthur and his son being in a Fight. However, in Excalibur, only one battles happen where Arthur attacks his son Mordred. Two battles do take place in Le Mort Darthur where one just broke out as an accident. In the two fights death is taking place at a high rate however the form of death is quite different. For instance, in Excalibur, Mordred is seen to run with a normal spear towards his father Arthur. Moreover, in return to this, Arthur hits his son Mordred with the powerful Excalibur thus killing him. (Davidson (2007)
Finally, another different is in the people surrounding the king. That is the knights. In Le Mort Darthur Arthur’s the knights were much different from the knights seen in the Excalibur in how they appeared, there body, dressing mode and how they fought. In Excalibur, there is only one of the knight who survives a battle and returns to back to his king Arthur. However, in Le Mort Darthur, two knights return to Arthur after surviving a battle against Arthur enemies.
While about to die, Arthur orders two of his man to throw the sword into the river. However, the man responsible for this is different from one movie to another. For instance, in the Le Mort Darthur this is accomplished by Sir Benevire whereas in the Excalibur movie Sir Percival throws the sword to the river.
A difference is in the court of King Arthur. In the tales of Le Mort Darthur movie Arthur proves to be a provident king. This is shown in how her well treats his people. Additionally, he his rewarded with honest and trustworthy from his people. However, in Excalibur movie, despite king Arthur being good he is in war with some of his people. (De Weaver 2002)
In conclusion, there are many similarities which persist throughout the two movies. That is the Excalibur movie and le mort Darthur. However, generally the major different in the two movies happen to be that of the conflict which is seen between Mordred and his father Arthur. Another difference that is clear is that of the sword and the knights who surrounded King Arthur. In the Excalibur movie, the Excalibur which happens to be the most important symbol is introduced.
The Excalibur appears through the film till the end. Uther is first given the sword and thus he becomes the first king. However, he starts war against the Duke of Cornwall because he is in much desire to sleep with Igraine, Cornwall’s wife and on winning he sleeps with her getting a baby boy. Therefore, Sir Thomas brings the tale of King Arthur from France to the current world Britain. Therefore, the two movies are completely opposite but have their base on the same literature. (Harty 1999)
Works Cited
Davidson, Roberta. “The” Reel” Arthur: Politics and Truth Claims in” Camelot, Excalibur, and King Arthur”.” arthuriana (2007): 62-84.
De Weever, Jacqueline. “Morgan and the Problem of Incest.” Cinema Arthuriana: Twenty Essays (2002): 54-63.
Grindley, Carl James. “The Hagiography of Steel: The Hero’s Weapon and Its Place in Pop Culture.” The Medieval Hero on Screen: Representations from Beowulf to Buffy (2004): 151-66.
Harty, Kevin J. “Lights! Camelot! Action!—King Arthur on Film.” King Arthur on Film: New Essays on Arthurian Cinema (1999): 22-3.
Hodges, Kenneth. “Wounded Masculinity: Injury and Gender in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur.” Studies in Philology 106.1 (2009): 14-31.
Hodges, Kenneth. Forging chivalric Communities in Malory’s Le Morte Darthur. Springer, 2005
Lacy, Norris J., et al. The New Arthurian Encyclopedia: New Edition. Routledge, 2013.
Thompson, Raymond H. “The Winter King: A Novel of Arthur, and: Enemy of God: A Novel of Arthur, and: Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur by Bernard Cornwell (review).” Arthuriana 9.1 (1999): 162-165.
