"Someone had Vomited Over the Round Table": The Shift from Malory and Bakhtin's Grotesque Realism in Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Chronicles

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“Someone had Vomited Over the Round

Table”: The Shift from Malory and

Bakhtin’s Grotesque Realism in Bernard

Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles

Master Thesis

Literary Studies: Literature and Culture (English)

University of Amsterdam

Samantha Warnaar

Student number: 10211810

Supervisor: Dr. R.D. Eaton

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Acknowledgement on Plagiarism

I hereby acknowledge to have read and understood the UvA guidelines on plagiarism, and I confirm that this thesis is my own work. I have also acknowledged all references and quotations from both primary and secondary sources.

Samantha Warnaar June 30, 2016

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Abstract

In comparison to the traditional Arthurian Romances that are influenced by Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur, Bernard Cornwell paints a completely different world in his grittier and historically-based The Warlord Chronicles. Though it is tempting to disregard these two Arthurian texts as representing completely different worlds, Cornwell establishes connections with Malory that allow him to engage with familiar elements of the Arthurian Romances and subvert expectations, while simultaneously illustrating that these elements hold a universality even in contemporary Arthurian texts.

The primary manner in which Cornwell deviates from the Arthurian Romances is through employing physicality: he utilizes elements from Mikhail Bakhtin’s framework of grotesque realism. By degrading the trilogy’s characters to the physical realm, Cornwell undermines the idealization prevalent in the Romances. However, Bakhtin’s framework does not comfortably apply to The Warlord Chronicles. While Bakhtin analyzes grotesque realism and degradation to subvert class dichotomy and ceremonial practices through laughter, Cornwell employs these elements in a different context. In The Warlord Chronicles, grotesque realism does not occur in a class dichotomy and is rarely utilized for laughter.

Cornwell portrays a physicality that is a necessary part of the lives of the characters in his trilogy – including their ceremonial practices. This different utilization of grotesque realism illustrates a shift in the perception of medieval society: though nonexistent in medieval Romances, physicality has changed from an element of subversion and laughter to being normalized as a part of life and the ceremony in contemporary Arthurian fiction.

The sole exception to this shift is Arthur himself. Cornwell’s Arthur is subject to the

same flaws and idealism as his medieval counterpart. Though he displays a physicality, he holds an elevated and therefore idealized position compared to his grittier and more physical environment.

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Introduction

The popularity of Arthurian fiction is evident through the constant visitations of the legend even in contemporary society. All of these re-engagements subscribe to certain expectations and traditions that define a work as Arthurian. Larrington states that all Arthurian texts participate in an Arthurian universe, arguing that “[a]lthough the characters have distinctive roles in the plot of any one tale, their actions and fates are, to some extent, constrained by tradition” (3). Nastali confirms this constraint in Arthurian fiction; a reader has “certain expectations” involving Arthurian works, which means there is “...the obligation to adhere to

traditional themes, relationships among central characters, incidents, even the use of motifs and symbols”. As an example she names the Grail Quest and the love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, all of which “had their origins in the romance literature of the Middle Ages” (7). Despite the many visitations of Arthurian fiction, there are recurring

elements that define a work as Arthurian.

However, in contemporary Arthurian fiction, a more historical approach to the traditional themes of the medieval Arthurian Romances seems to emerge, which portrays the medieval period differently than the Romances. As Raymond Thompson states: “Historical novels endeavor to recreate the spirit of the age of Arthur through attention to authentic detail. Setting is carefully constructed, based upon the latest knowledge of the period....” (Qtd. in

Snyder 115). Snyder writes that this historical turn emphasizes “...representations of life in the Briton age” (Snyder 119). This historical representation is in stark contrast with the universe

in the Arthurian Romances, offering a completely different world that indicates a shift in how medieval society is perceived.

The more historically-based world requires a reworking of traditional Arthurian elements. “Traditional Arthurian themes, the Grail quest, the Round Table, even the Tristan and Iseult affair are recast here in Dark Age trappings” (Nastali 18). This means that, even

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6 though the traditional Arthurian elements are represented in these contemporary novels, they are often reworked in different ways, bringing new elements to the table as well as “...variations on traditional themes and characters, new interpretations of old incidents, and

even radical revisionism” (Nastali 20). Zambreno argues that the ambiguity and variations in the Arthurian Romances allow for such reinterpretations (124). After all, even in the medieval Romances there are a remarkable amount of differences among the texts. Though there is an obligation to include elements of the Arthurian tradition in contemporary Arthurian fiction, at the same time, the nature of the medieval romances allows room for re-engagement with its traditions.

Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles

In Le Morte D’Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory narrates the adventures of knights and their meetings with hermits, clergymen, or noble ladies. The text focuses on the higher classes and exemplifies certain expectations in regards to Arthurian fiction, defined by Nastali as follows: Until the middle of this century, much of the historical fiction dealing with King Arthur was inspired by the romanticized Middle Ages portrayed in Malory and was set in the familiar world of questing knights, damsels on white palfreys, chivalric codes, tournaments, and so forth (5).

This romanticized version of the middle ages is informed by a concern with knights and their quests and tournaments. This tradition, of which Malory is the most influential, inspired many Arthurian works up to the middle of the 20th century, which also portrayed this chivalric world of knights.

Bernard Cornwell, on the other hand, paints a grittier version of medieval society through a more historical approach to Arthuriana and medieval society. According to Sanz

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7 Mingo, Corwell portrays a Britain defined by religious and political tensions, which are based on assumptions of how the political and religious climate must have been like:

Britain was torn apart by religion in the fifth and sixth centuries. [...] [S]ome of these religious differences in the Celtic kingdoms caused, in turn, political and social problems which eventually led to their fragmentation and the ultimate Saxon success. [...] Cornwell reflects in his characters the quarrels and strife common at that time due to religious differences (“Dark Ages...”, 21).

The historically-based tensions between the different religions are reflected in the trilogy’s characters, which indicates that The Warlord Chronicles portrays a world that is different from the Romances. Nastali confirms this: “Cornwell [...] attempt[s] to evoke a sense of sub-Roman Britain that is less idealized, more culturally diverse in both the native populations and invading peoples, and more intense in conflicting traditions” (18). By including post-Roman

elements and cultural diversity, Cornwell attempts to portray a non-romanticized image of life in the middle ages that is completely different from Malory’s text. However, Cornwell

engages with Malory through establishing parallels and twisting them in interesting ways. This way, Cornwell displays a different perception of medieval society.

One major difference between the two works is the extent of physicality they portray. Cornwell’s portrayed physicality not only deals with injury and death as a means to acquire

renown, but also displays bodily functions such as eating, urinating, vomiting, and sweating. Mikhail Bakhtin defines the concept of grotesque realism, which involves the lowering of the abstract to the physical realm through degradation and utilizing the lower stratum, usually to subvert the official ceremonial qualities of the higher classes. Due to the kind of physicality present in Cornwell’s text, Bakhtin’s framework becomes an interesting tool for analysis.

However, Bakhtin argues that degradation invokes the notion of laughter, which is for the most part not a connection present in Cornwell’s text. Moreover, The Warlord Chronicles is

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8 not concerned with any class distinctions, featuring characters that are of nobility and common soldiers. In other words, Cornwell establishes both a link and a differentiation with Bakhtin’s concept of grotesque realism; though degradation through physicality can certainly be applied to Cornwell’s text, it is utilized in a different context.

Cornwell does not only engage with Malory through the establishment of relationships and differences; there is also both an overlap and a divergence with Bakhtin’s framework on grotesque realism and degradation. These differences and overlaps between the three texts represent a shift in value systems – through its analysis on physicality, Bakhtin provides a bridge between the two Arthurian texts. After all, Le Morte D’Arthur was written in the 15th century, while Bakhtin’s Rabelais and his World was published in 1965 and analyzes late

medieval and Renaissance society. Cornwell’s trilogy, on the other hand, has been published between 1995 and 1997. The shift in perception of physicality between the texts illuminates a significant change in the portrayal of characters and the perception of medieval society. Through exposing the connections and differences of Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles in comparison to both Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of

grotesque realism, this thesis will illuminate the shift in the perception of medieval society, and by extension, Arthuriana.

The first chapter of this thesis will illuminate the connections between Cornwell’s trilogy and Malory’s work. Through establishing these connections, Cornwell is able to

engage with Arthurian traditions, signifying that issues prevalent in Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur are still relevant to contemporary Arthurian literature. The second chapter of this thesis will firstly explore Cornwell’s overlap with Bakhtin’s theory on grotesque realism, but

also illuminate their differences in regards to the perception of medieval society. Secondly, this chapter will utilize aspects of Bakhtin’s theory to analyze the differences between

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9 Cornwell undermines the idealized Arthurian Romances. The final chapter will apply the connections and differences between Cornwell’s trilogy and the works of Malory and Bakhtin

to female characters, which will offer a gendered perspective on physicality. In this manner, this thesis will illuminate how Cornwell applies and deviates from elements of both Malory and Bakhtin’s grotesque realism, indicating a shift in the perception of medieval society and, by extension, Arthuriana.

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Chapter 1:

Connections Between Cornwell and Malory

This chapter will argue that, despite their different retellings of Arthuriana, Cornwell is able to engage with Malory’s text through establishing connections. Moreover, this common

ground signifies that issues of the medieval Romances are still relevant to contemporary Arthurian retellings. Though the worlds portrayed in Le Morte D’Arthur and The Warlord Chronicles are wildly different, Cornwell still engages with expectations of Arthuriana through drawing connections. It is, after all, tempting to disregard Cornwell’s trilogy as something different and incomparable, yet this chapter will illustrate that The Warlord Chronicles is Arthurian in more than just including a few characters, which allows Cornwell to engage and undermine the Romances. The first section of this chapter will examine the treatment of physicality in relation to renown in both texts. The second section will examine the value systems present in both texts and determine how they are problematized. Finally, through utilizing Coetzee’s notion of the ethical impulse, the third section will illuminate the

passion and impulsiveness of characters that, in both texts, lead to disastrous consequences.

Physicality and Renown in Le Morte D’Arthur

A physicality present in both Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles and Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur is the risk of injury and death to which the characters subject themselves. In both texts, the descriptions of the injuries are quite bloody and graphic. Nonetheless, in both cases risking the physical body is necessary to gain renown, which makes physicality a vital element to their value systems.

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11 The crucial aspect of knighthood in Le Morte D’Arthur is chivalry. This is the basic value system that all knights are to adhere to. Keen describes chivalry as “a way of life” that has three basic elements: “the military, the noble, and the religious” (Qtd. in Lupack 85).

Lupack continues to illuminate the chivalric code by describing The Book of the Ordre of Chyvalry published by William Caxton: “...it is the duty of the knight to defend the Church and to support his lord and his land. In order to do this, the knight needs physical skills, which are to be maintained by jousting, participating in tournaments, and hunting” (85). Through this physical element, the body plays a crucial role in the maintenance of chivalry. Knights risk their body to attain renown through tournaments and jousting. The physical element to knighthood becomes especially apparent in battle; in Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur, the fights are bloody. For instance, in Book X Lancelot and Tristram unknowingly fight one another: “...and either wounded other wonderly sore, that the blood ran out upon the grass” (II, 10) and “...of their harness they had hewn off many pieces” (11). In another fight, Tristram injures his

opponent so badly that “the blood brast out at the ventails of his helm, and so he lay still, likely to be dead” (II, 123). During his battle against Sir Mador in Book XVIII, Lancelot

becomes so injured in his thigh “...that the blood ran out fiercely” (II, 385). In the same book, Lancelot fights anonymously in a tournament and suffers an injury in his side that leaves in a spear head (II, 394). The description in which Lavaine removes the spear head is physical and bloody, and it becomes obvious that Lancelot is in great pain:

...and forthwithal Sir Lavaine drew the truncheon out of his side, and gave great shriek and a marvellous grisly groan, and the blood brast out nigh a pint at once, that at the last he sank down upon his buttocks, and so swooned pale and deadly (II, 396).

These examples indicate that battles between knights in Le Morte D’Arthur are physical in nature.

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12 This kind of physicality is necessary for the acquisition of renown. As becomes evident at the conclusion of the tournament, Lancelot’s risking of his body leads to acquiring renown when the group he has been fighting for approaches him and says: “Fair knight, God thee bless, for much have ye done this day for us, therefore we pray you that ye come with us that ye may receive the honour and the prize as you worshipfully deserved it” (396). Through

his actions, Lancelot has acquired honour and a prize. Interestingly, Lancelot’s injuries force him to decline his prize, yet he has still acquired his honour – though disguised, Arthur still recognized him (394). Risking the body to acquire renown is not exclusive to Lancelot. In Book X, Sir Galahaut organizes a tournament in Sourlouse lasting eight days. This tournament not only draws the knights of Guinevere’s1 court, but those of many other places as well (II, 85-86). On the fourth day, Sir Lamorak “...stood among thirty knights; and well was him that might reach him a buffet, and ever he smote again mightily” (88). Lamorak fights well in this tournament which leads to renown: “...all the heralds gave Sir Lamorak the prize” (II, 88). However, the only manner in which Lamorak was able to acquire renown was

through risking his body in a tournament. The injuries are not only evidence of the risks to which knights expose their body during tournaments and quests to attain renown, but these bloody descriptions underline a physicality that is essential to the knight’s existence.

Physicality and Renown in The Warlord Chronicles

In The Warlord Chronicles, most of the battles are fought through shield-walls. Cornwell portrays these struggles as intense; the clashing of shields during the battle in Lugg Vale is described as a “clash of thunder exploding in the valley’s mouth” (The Winter King, 458). The

struggle involves a significant amount of pushing and grinding of shields with both allies and enemies in close proximity (458), “crammed so close to the enemy line that I could smell the

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Malory and Cornwell use different spellings for this character’s name (Guenever and Guinevere respectively). With the exception of quotations, this thesis will use Guinevere as the default spelling.

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13 mead on their breath” (460). Despite the difficulty in performing battle in these circumstances, injuries and even death occur: “...the worst injuries are caused by men thrusting blades beneath the shields”. Not only is partaking in a shield-wall a physical act that

requires pushing, it also involves risking the body by placing it in close proximity to other bodies. This is also evident in Derfel’s narration during the battle of Camlann in Excalibur:

Battle is a matter of inches, not miles. The inches that separate a man from his enemy. You smell the mead on their breath, hear the breath in their throats, hear their grunts, feel them shift their weight, feel their spittle on your eyes, and you look for danger, look back into the eyes of the next man you must kill [...] you work and push and stab to make an opening in their shield wall, and then you grunt and lunge and slash to widen the gap (467).

This passage emphasizes the close proximity of bodies and the intensity of partaking in a shield-wall, which is further underlined by being able to smell an enemy’s breath. The risk of subjecting the body to death becomes evident when a shield-wall finally breaks. As Derfel describes when his side breaks the shield-wall of his opponent in the battle of Lugg Vale: “The vale had not seen much death that day, but now it saw outright massacre for nothing

makes for easy killing like a broken shield-wall. Arthur tried to stop the slaughter, but nothing could have checked the pent-up release of savagery...” (The Winter King, 478). Through this close proximity of bodies, as well as the risk to injury and death, Cornwell emphasizes the physicality of battle. Though physicality is far more emphasized in The Warlord Chronicles, when it comes to battle and injury there is little difference between Malory and Cornwell.

Honour and renown can be acquired through battle in The Warlord Chronicles. This is evident through Derfel’s nickname ‘Cadarn’, meaning ‘the mighty’ (22), which he has

acquired through his accomplishments in battle. It is also through his accomplishments that Derfel not only acquires Arthur’s friendship, but receives a lordship and becomes the king’s

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14 champion. In the case of Arthur himself, his victory in Lugg Vale at the end of The Winter King solidifies peace in Britain for many years; the victory gave him his reputation which, in turn, kept the peace. Furthermore, it is through renown acquired in battle that a warrior can be initiated in the mystery cult of Mithras – the soldier’s god – which is only possible through recommendation by an already initiated warrior (23). Finally, the men who joined Derfel on Cornwell’s equivalent of the Grail Quest, the Quest of the Cauldron, in Enemy of God are

allowed to paint a five-pointed star on their shields. By contrast, the elderly knight Cavan, who did not partake in this quest, was not allowed to do so because Derfel believed his men deserved the additional recognition (Enemy of God, 150-151). This recognition is important when Cavan is fatally injured and expresses his regret of not joining Derfel on his quest before he dies (191, 202). Despite the lack of knights in The Warlord Chronicles, warriors still acquire renown through battle. However, they must still risk their bodies in order to gain this renown, which places these soldiers on the same position as Malory’s knights who risk their bodies in jousts and quests.

However, The Warlord Chronicles includes an exception to the idea of gaining renown through battle. In the trilogy, Lancelot subverts the idea through gaining renown by not partaking in battles: he bribes the bards and poets to paint him in a positive light (The Winter King, 261). During the continuous harassment by the Franks on Ynys Trebes, Lancelot lingers behind during battle and is the first to bring news of ‘his’ victory back to the city, which creates a distorted version of the truth. Moreover, during the fall of Ynys Trebes he is the first to flee with his family (277-278).After Derfel and his men reach Dumnonia they hear an inaccurate version that attempts to shift the blame of the city’s fall to Derfel and his men (295-298). Despite the failure of Lancelot’s betrayal in Enemy of God, Lancelot’s fabrications of his own heroism still live on:

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15 And thus Lancelot died, though the songs he had paid for lived on, and to this day he is celebrated as a hero equal to Arthur. Arthur is remembered as a ruler, but Lancelot is called the warrior. In truth he was the King without land, a coward, and the greatest traitor of Britain... (304).

Lancelot is successful in gaining renown, which not only defies expectations of what the character is usually like, but, more importantly, it deconstructs the notion that it can only be acquired through battle. However, Lancelot is the sole character to whom this deconstruction applies. There are more than enough examples of physicality in battle as a means to gain renown and nobility in Cornwell to fashion common ground between him and Malory.

Idealism and Oaths

In The Warlord Chronicles, Arthur represents a strong ideal of what a warrior should be, which fashions a connection with the chivalry represented in Malory’s text. In The Winter King, Arthur asks Derfel what he believes a soldier’s job entails, to which Derfel responds that it is to “fight battles” (165). Arthur’s corrects him; his statement is rather close to that of

the chivalrous ideal of showing mercy and defending the weak:

‘To fight battles, Derfel, [...] on behalf of people who can’t fight for themselves [...]

This miserable world is full of weak people, powerless people, hungry people, sad people, sick people, poor people, and it’s the easiest thing in the world to despise the weak, especially if you’re a soldier. [...] But the truth is, Derfel, [...] that we are only

soldiers because that weak man makes us soldiers. He grows the grain that feeds us, he tans the leather that protects us and he polls the ash trees that make our spear-shafts. We owe him our service (165).

Arthur expects the men in his service to uphold a value system, which underlines the notion that being a soldier does not solely revolve around physical prowess and battle but celebrates

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16 protection of the weak. Moreover, it presents the ‘weak’ as essential to a soldier and thus, does not elevate the soldier in comparison to the farmer. Interestingly, kings are not exempt from Arthur’s idealism, stating that: “I learned that a king is only as good as the poorest man under his rule” (370). Though Arthur is no king, he fashions himself as the temporary ruler of

Britain until Mordred comes of age. His rule is defined by maintaining justice even to the poor. This is especially evident in Arthur’s ideals and his conception of what a soldier is supposed to represent. Moreover, he wishes to unite Britain and enforce a system of justice. This is, for example, prevalent in his challenge to Owain, who is responsible for the slaughter of helpless miners (The Winter King, 168). Though Owain’s demise would also be convenient in his plan to unite Britain, Arthur is primarily concerned with offering Tristan justice (170). Arthur upholds a value system not only to himself, but also to those who serve him.

Arthur’s expectations are reminiscent of the chivalric ideal in Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur. In Malory’s text, chivalry and knighthood do not solely revolve around physical prowess; chivalrous ideals are equally important to knighthood: “A knight must also have a range of virtues; and his ‘inner courage’ is as important as his physical prowess” (Lupack 85).

Cohen describes the difficulty of defining chivalry in concrete terms due to its plurality, but he writes that: “[t]he code of values it embodied represented ‘abstract universal ideals such as generosity, justice and courage’” (315). These virtues are vague and abstract, but they are underlined by a knight’s duties: “defend the women and the weak [...], show mercy and pity, [and] punish the wicked” (Lupack 85). Showing mercy as well as being loyal, courteous, and

courageous are examples of virtues that a knight must possess in order to maintain their chivalric code.

In Malory, Arthur establishes the chivalric ideal after the three quests that appeared during Arthur’s wedding with Guinevere. These quests are undertaken by Gawain, Tor, and

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17 Pellinore; the problems they encounter during these quests lie at the basis of the chivalric code (Bedwell 5-6). Arthur’s chivalric ideal is explained in the following passage:

...then the king stablished all his knights, and gave them that were of lands not rich, he gave them lands, and charged them never to do outrageousity nor murder, and always to flee of treason; also, by no mean to be cruel, but to give mercy unto him that asketh mercy, upon pain of forfeiture of their worship and lordship of King Arthur for ever more; and always to do ladies, damosels, and gentlewomen succour, upon pain of death. Also, that no man take no battles in a wrongful quarrel for no law, ne for no world’s goods. Unto this were all the knights sworn of the Table Round, both old and

young. And every year were they sworn at the high feast of pentecost (I, 115-116). However, Bedwell points out that the lack of hierarchy established in these guidelines makes the oaths flawed, as it is difficult to see which part of the oath takes precedence in case of conflict (7). This leads to the feasibility of the ideal being problematized further on in the story. Bedwell suggests that this is the reason behind the inability of knights to keep their oath, which has a negative effect on Arthur’s justice (7-8). The feasibility of the oath, and by extension the chivalrous ideal, is already problematized at its establishment, which foreshadows its failure.

The concern with idealism and what exactly defines a chivalrous knight is further exemplified by the Grail Quest. Despite Lancelot being described as the best knight, Galahad, Percival, and Bors are the ones who complete the Grail Quest. When explaining Gawain’s dream involving the bulls and the meadow, a hermit defines how a knight should act:

...and by the meadow ought to be understand humility and patience, those be the things be always green and quick; for men may no time overcome humility and patience, therefore was the Round Table founden; and the chivalry hath been at all times to by the fraternity which was there that she might not be overcomen (II, 306).

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18 The man defines the purpose of the Round Table to be promoting chivalry. He continues to liken the bulls in Gawain’s dream to the knights of the Table; all the bulls are described as black for they are “wicked”, with the exception of the two bulls with a white coat, and the one

white bull with a black spot. The two white ones signify Percival and Galahad “for they be maidens clean and without spot;”. The third represents Bors “the third that had a spot

signifieth Sir Bors de Ganis, which trespassed but once in his virginity, but sithen he kept himself so well in chastity that all is forgiven him and his misdeeds” (306). The spot represents his trespassing, but his chastity afterwards is represented by the white coat. The purity of these knights lies in their virginity, or in Bors’s case, his abstinence from sexual

intercourse.

In addition to the virtue of virginity symbolized by the bulls, the hermit cites humility and patience as the primary virtues that are vital for completing the Grail Quest. These virtues set Galahad, Percival, and Bors apart from other knights who are unable to complete the Quest. As pointed out by Lupack, this is further underlined by the fact that these three knights are the only ones able to complete any quests, while the other knights of the Round Table return unsuccessful from their attempts to gain renown for the duration of the Holy Grail Quest (141). Moreover, Galahad proves to be more chivalrous than Lancelot, elevating him even above the best knight of the world. Due to his purity, Galahad is able to accomplish what his father cannot:

Because he is single-focused, Galahad is successful where Lancelot is not. Galahad is concerned only with the spiritual and does not have the conflicting demands of the codes of chivalry and love to distract him. He has not been diverted from his quest by earthly pleasures or the demands of becoming part of a society (Lupack 141).

Because of their virtues, Galahad, Percival, and Bors are elevated above the other knights of the Round Table, including even Lancelot, who are too concerned with the physical pleasures.

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19 This signifies that, even in Malory’s text, the feasibility of the chivalric ideal is already

questioned when most knights are unable to attain it.

In The Warlord Chronicles, Cornwell likewise illustrates a tension between idealism and its feasibility. This is accomplished through Arthur’s belief in the inherent good of people that is repeatedly proven wrong as he is betrayed by those he trusts. This is especially evident in Arthur’s habit of granting mercy to his enemies, as will be discussed later in this section.

Moreover, Cornwell problematizes idealism through portraying the conflicts between different oaths. Through these examples, The Warlord Chronicles reveals that adhering to idealism does not always lead to good results.

Arthur’s idealism is problematized through his consistent habit of granting mercy to

his enemies. Characters to whom Arthur has granted mercy, such as Grundleus, backstab Arthur once the opportunity arises. Ailleann, Arthur’s former lover, even defines Arthur’s

mercy as a problem. She states that Arthur is driven by both his ambition and his conscience: “he’ll win, but then the horse of conscience will tug at its reins and Arthur will make the usual mistake of forgiving his enemies” (The Winter King, 385). According to Ailleann, not

granting mercy is not “a question of bad or good, but of practicality” (385). Arthur’s habit is further questioned by Merlin, who comments that, if you wish to live, it would be best to become Arthur’s enemy (Excalibur, 7). Through his comment, Merlin explicitly critiques

Arthur for his mercifulness. These critiques suggests that, if Arthur had not been so merciful, he would be more successful in realizing his ambitions and maintaining peace in Britain. In Cornwell, mercifulness is defined as a problem through its negative consequences.

Cornwell further problematizes idealism through portraying the conflict between different oaths. Throughout the course of The Warlord Chronicles, Arthur finds his oaths to be in conflict with one another. “All these oaths that bind us! I am oath-bound to Uther to put his grandson on the throne, oath-bound to Leodegan to retake Henis Wyren” (Enemy of God,

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20 380-381). He was also oath-bound to help Ban in time of need, an oath that was in conflict with his oath to Uther to protect Mordred’s claim to kingship. This conflict between different oaths is underlined by Arthur who is forced to break one to keep another: “‘Yet of all men,’ Arthur said miserably, ‘I break oaths so easily. I broke the oath to Ban and I broke my oath to Ceinwyn’”. This conflict between oaths, which resulted in breaking one oath to keep another, agonizes Arthur: “The agony of remorse was biting at him and he was seeking a way out of that tangle of conscience and duty” (381). The conflict of oaths indicates an impossibility to

his moral code and value system, which is emphasized when Arthur puts his agony aside for practical reasons: in order to accomplish his dream of uniting Britain, some oaths need to be broken.

However, this practicality raises the problem of defining which oath takes precedence over another. Moreover, it questions the necessity of oaths if they are broken anyway. Arthur’s reasoning on the restrictions of oaths and the necessity of living by them becomes

evident in the following discussion between him and Derfel:

‘I have lived my life, Derfel [...] according to oaths. I know no other way. I resent

oaths, and so should all men, for oaths bind us, they hobble our freedom, and who among us doesn’t want to be free? But if we abandon oaths, we abandon guidance. We fall into chaos. We just fall. We become no better than beasts.’

‘Suppose, [...] that the oath is a mistake?’

‘Sometimes, an oath cannot be kept. [...] If an oath is a mistake you are still obligated

because you are sworn to it (Enemy of God, 297-298).

They continue to question the clashing of oaths, and, if that happens, which oath would take precedence. The conclusion is that “...your oath to the King [...] is above all other oaths, and your duty is to him” (298). Arthur insists that the King is the “keeper of our oaths. Without a King, there is nothing but a tangle of conflicting oaths” (298) which leads to chaos. In other

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21 words, not only are oaths necessary to maintain order, but the oaths to kings take precedence over other oaths to maintain this order, despite its consequences.

The oath is further problematized in Arthur’s promise to place Mordred on the throne. Mordred is described as an unpleasant person: he rapes peasant women and indulges in cruelty; even as a child, he attempted to harm Ceinwyn and Derfel’s daughter(Enemy of God, 244). Mordred’s unsuitability is further confirmed through his failure to maintain peace in Britain when Lancelot attempts to usurp the throne, a failure that Derfel harshly reminds him of by striking him across the face with a belt: “...and this’ – I struck him again, much harder – ‘...is for your failure to keep your oath to guard your kingdom” (412), a notion Arthur

enforces by stripping Mordred of his political power. Finally, in Excalibur Mordred finally betrays Arthur through slaughtering Derfel’s men and attempting to eliminate Arthur and his allies, leading to the battle of Camlann (364, 386, 426). Arthur’s adherence to his value system allows an unsuitable and cruel king to rule over Dumnonia, and undoes all that Arthur has achieved.

Cornwell further explores the negative consequences that stem from oaths by involving the killing of innocents through the adherence to these ideals. The first example occurs in The Winter King, when Derfel is a soldier under Owain’s command. Due to his oath, Derfel is forced to slaughter a village of innocents: “I dreaded my turn, but knew it would come and knew, too, that I dared not disobey the command. I was oath-bound to this bloody work and to refuse it would have been my death warrant” (140). Derfel’s predicament not

only indicates that an oath takes precedence over one’s conscience, but that he must slaughter innocents to keep his oath.

Another example of the obligations stemming from oaths even when they result in morally condemnable actions occurs in Enemy of God. Arthur’s ally Tristan has eloped with Iseult from King Mark, Iseult’s husband and Tristan’s father. Arthur reluctantly dooms

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22 Tristan to fight against Mark’s champion, a battle that he cannot win and which results in his death. Moreover, he returns Iseult to Mark, knowing that she will be executed, to offer him justice; both Tristan and Iseult had broken an oath to their king. “I must support kings, for without them there would be chaos and so I have told Tristan and Iseult that they must stand trial [...] They are accused of [...] theft. They are accused of breaking oaths. They are accused of fornication” (299-300). However, Derfel describes Iseult as a child due to her young age

and delicate built, and argues against the execution of a young girl for breaking one oath for the sake of love. Unfortunately, it is an argument that Derfel loses, underlining that the oath takes precedence over everything else.

Both examples are indications of an oath leading to the unnecessary killing of innocents. The connection is emphasized when the killing of Iseult forces Derfel to face his actions under Owain’s command in the first book: “...and that was when I confessed to

Ceinwyn about the old massacre on the moor when I had killed the innocent to keep an oath. I told her about Iseult burning. Burning and screaming while her husband watched [...] a child killed for a King, by law, in Camelot” (306-307). These examples indicate that oaths do not

always have noble consequences in the world that Cornwell portrays.

Moreover, these examples illustrate that keeping oaths requires ruthlessness; even if its obligations are unpleasant, the oath must still be kept. When Derfel confesses his own sin and the execution of Tristan and Iseult to Ceinwyn, she remarks that: “Did you not know that hardness in Arthur? [...] He is all that stands between us and horror [...] how could he be anything but hard?” (306-307). Not only do oaths require practicality, but also ruthlessness in

order to be kept. This is contrary to Malory’s virtues of mercy, which illustrates the new light that Cornwell sheds upon the notion of oaths.

The Warlord Chronicles portrays a tension between practicality and idealism; due to Arthur’s idealism, he is portrayed as the best choice to lead Britain. After all, other characters

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23 such as Grundleus, Sansum, Lancelot, Meurig, and Mordred attempt to acquire power for themselves while Arthur maintains his oath. It is through Arthur’s concern with justice and his prowess as a warlord that Britain knows periods of peace. Though Cornwell questions Arthur’s rigid adherence to oaths and justice, he also portrays Arthur as capable of ruling

Britain, which facilitates a contradiction between the values The Warlord Chronicles presents.

Though Cornwell questions the feasibility of oaths and Arthur’s idealism, Arthur is a

necessary element of stability and justice for the kingdom; a contradiction that represents a tension. This concern with idealism and oaths fashions a connection between Malory’s portrayal of chivalrous ideals – after all, the feasibility of the chivalrous ideal is questionable, but the ideal is nonetheless celebrated as a goal to which all knights should strife. Despite undermining the chivalrous ideal, The Warlord Chronicles still portrays an ideal to strife after.

Impulse and Passion

Another connection between the two texts is established in the impulsiveness and passion of the characters, as well as their attempts to justify their actions. On the topic of impulses, J.M. Coetzee writes that “...it is worth saying that our ethical impulses are prerational, [...] and that all that a rational ethics can achieve is to articulate and give form to ethical impulses” (121).

In other words, according to Coetzee, the impulse occurs before any rationalization can be applied. Coetzee uses this in the context of ethical actions, but as Derek Attridge discussed in a lecture, these actions do not necessarily have to be ethical. Attridge cites the example of Kant, which involves Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his own son to God. This represents the fact that, according to Kant, it can be dangerous to apply ethics without applying reason. In other words, the impulse can have negative consequences, which makes its ethics questionable despite any reasoning applied to it. However, even reason cannot prevent

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24 negative actions as a result from the impulse, as it can be used to justify less desirable actions after they have occurred.

Knights struggle with their impulses and the consequences that stem from their actions. Though they are concerned with their moral code due to the importance of chivalry, even the best knights in Le Morte D’Arthur are passionate and subject to their emotions. One example is Arthur himself, who – when the affair between Lancelot and Guinevere has been made public – is described to burn his wife “in his heat” (Malory, II, 466), which illustrates that Arthur’s response is devoid of reason and is instead an emotional response. Finally, despite having been warned against it, Arthur attacks a weakened Mordred at the battle of Camlann, which leads to his demise (II, 511). Gawain is also a knight subject to his emotions. On his first quest, he attempts to slay a knight for the death of his hound, yet slays a lady when she jumps in to protect her lover (I, 101-102). When Gareth is accidently killed by Lancelot, Gawain encourages the war against Lancelot for the sake of revenge. On his death bed, Gawain finally rationalizes and begs Lancelot to help Arthur (II, 508-509). Though knights are obligated to their moral code, their impulses do not always lead to positive consequences. Rather than ethics and the chivalrous ideals of mercy and courteousness, these impulses are driven by emotion and passion.

As Robeson argues, these impulses have public consequences. “The emotion of the broken private relationship infuses the disintegration of the public government” (16). Arthur’s

pursuit of Lancelot who has taken Guinevere and Gawain’s encouragement of war for the perceived wrongs to his family are examples of situations where their impulses lead to war and the fall of the Round Table. Robeson states that, through these examples, Malory places the blame of the demise of chivalry on the actions of individuals (23). It might be argued that Arthur and Gawain are negative examples of knights, yet Lancelot is not exempt from impulsive actions. Though he is defined as the best knight of the world, his actions are

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25 motivated by his love for Guinevere. When reprimanded for unknowingly sleeping with Elaine by Guinevere, he runs off in madness (II, 202). Moreover, his impulse to sleep with Guinevere during their stay at Meliagaunt’s castle results in Meliagaunt accusing the queen of adultery, which overshadows his own kidnapping of her (II, 438-438). All of this nearly leads to Guinevere’s death. Even though Malory frequently describes him as the best knight of the

world, Lancelot is still subject to his impulses. Considering the knights engage in impulses that have undesirable results, these impulses are non-ethical and contrary to chivalry. After all, chivalry dictates courteousness and mercifulness (Malory, I, 104). These three knights, even including Lancelot, are unable to uphold their value system despite taking on adventures to acquire renown. Instead, their impulses have public consequences that lead to the fall of the Round Table.

The only knights exempt from these impulses are the three knights of the Grail Quest. For example, when Bors attempts to save his brother Lionel, he meets a lady about to be raped by another knight. Though his impulse is to continue saving Lionel, “[f]or if I let my brother be in adventure he must be slain, and that would I not for all the Earth”, he reluctantly chooses to save the lady to prevent her from “being shamed for ever, and also she shall lose her virginity the which she shall never get again” (Malory, II, 315). Bors’s decision is

portrayed as the better one, as the lady was not yet sinful unlike Lionel (II, 322). Moreover, Bors rationalizes his decision before taking action, which illustrates that, through using reason, he came to the right decision. However, the three knights of the Grail Quest differ from their fellow knights in their purity and virtue; the majority of the knights – even Lancelot and Arthur – are unable to keep control of their impulses. Though this suggests that, in Le Morte D’Arthur, impulses are unethical, the majority of the knights are unable to restrain themselves and instead allow their emotions to run free.

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26 A similar example of impulsiveness leading to negative public consequences occurs in The Warlord Chronicles. Reminiscent of Le Morte D’Arthur, Arthur is described as an impulsive man, especially concerning Guinevere; his actions forego logic or rationalization. In The Winter King, Arthur’s goal is to unite Britain against the threat of the Saxons through establishing peace between the warring nations. Arranging a truce with the Gorfyddyd, the main instigator of the wars dividing Britain, by promising to marry his daughter Ceinwyn would realize Arthur’s goals of peace. Unfortunately, immediately after his betrothal Arthur

falls in love with Guinevere and, to the astonishment of his men, he escapes Powys and marries her. Arthur breaks the oath and offends Gorfyddyd, so his impulsive actions ruin his plans for peace.

The love Arthur experiences for Guinevere is defined by passion and impulse, lacking the application of reason. Derfel describes Arthur’s love as madness: “It was a madness that love” (The Winter King, 200). Furthermore, Derfel characterizes Arthur as a passionate and

impulsive man:

There was nothing we could have done to stop this consummation of our Lord’s

madness, but the haste of it seemed as indecent as it was deceitful. Arthur, we knew, was a man of impulse and enthusiasm, but he had taken our breath away by the speed of his decision (207).

Even though Derfel is unable to prevent Arthur’s actions, he defines it as “madness”, which illustrates that Arthur not only acts contrary to his goal, but that his actions are beyond rationalization and therefore stem from impulse and passion.

Arthur attempts to rationalize his decision to marry Guinevere. Though the haste of his marriage to Guinevere suggests that Arthur himself is somewhat aware of the potential negative outcome of his actions, he firmly insists that his decision will not have any far-reaching consequences for Britain:

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27 But Arthur believed the time of his happiness had come. There would be no war, he insisted, for Gorfyddyd had already lost one arm and would not risk the other. Cuneglas’s good sense, Arthur claimed, would ensure peace. For a time, he said, there

would be grudges and mistrust, but it would all pass. He thought his happiness must embrace the world (209).

Arthur justifies his marriage to Guinevere and his offense to Gorfyddyd through denying the threat of war, disregarding the political tensions between Dumnonia and Powys. Despite Arthur’s attempt at rationalization, however, mere pages later it becomes evident that “Britain was at war” (213). Not only does Arthur’s attempt to rationalize his decision fail, but his

impulsive actions results in war. This is not only contrary to his goals, but has severe consequences for Britain as it cannot face the Saxons while internally divided.

Moreover, Arthur is capable of killing on impulse. When he discovers Guinevere’s betrayal when barging into one of his wife’s rituals of Isis, he kills the cult’s defenceless priestesses in rage (Enemy of God, 449). Afterwards, he admits that he should not have killed them, but he argues that his actions are justified due to the “dead having witnessed his wife’s shame” (449). However, his wife’s shame proves to be wildly known despite the slaughter of

the priestesses, as even the Saxon king Aelle comments on Guinevere’s adultery with Lancelot (Excalibur, 58). Arthur’s justification for his abominable actions stemming from rage fails. Furthermore, though Arthur attempts to justify his actions, the fact remains that he has killed out of impulse.

In both texts, the portrayal of Arthur as a man of impulse and passion facilitates a connection between Malory and Cornwell’s works. In both examples, Arthur’s impulsiveness

leads to severe consequences for not only his personal situation, but also to war in Britain. Similar to Malory, the personal impulse has severe public consequences that lead to the fall of the Round Table.

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Conclusion

The worlds portrayed by Malory and Cornwell are informed by different values. Where Malory’s Arthurian world is romanticized, Cornwell’s is gritty. However, despite their differences, Cornwell frequently engages with the Romantic tradition through establishing parallels with common Arthurian tropes that can be located in Malory’s work.

The first parallel is the role of the body in the acquisition of renown. The knights in Malory’s world are occupied with jousting and adventures, thereby risking injury and death to

acquire renown. This means that a knight’s physicality is a significant part of their value system. Cornwell, by contrast, employs the use of soldiers who fight through shield-walls. Though Cornwell emphasizes close physical proximity in tandem with injury, the link between risking the body and acquiring renown is evident through the accomplishments of Arthur and Derfel. Moreover, someone can be initiated into the Cult of Mithras only through accomplishments in battle. In both texts, the characters risk their bodies to injury and death to acquire renown, which illustrates the crucial role of their physicality in maintaining the chivalrous ideal.

The second parallel lies in how both texts portray their respective value systems of ideals and oaths. In Le Morte D’Arthur, chivalry consists of virtues that are nearly unattainable by the majority of the knights. This is partly because of the potential of conflict due to the lack of clarity in determining which oath would take precedence over the other in case of a clash. In Cornwell’s text, Arthur’s value system is established in his ideal of soldiers and kings, along with his adherence to oaths. However, this value system is problematized through questioning the nature of oaths. Through the course of the trilogy, Arthur must break oaths to keep other oaths, and the rigid adherence to his oath of keeping Mordred on the throne has severe negative consequences for Britain. Finally, in the cases of Arthur and Derfel, their oaths lead to morally condemnable actions involving the slaughter of innocents.

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29 Simultaneously, Cornwell argues that, without oaths, there would be chaos. Arthur is portrayed as the best candidate for ruling Britain due to his concern with keeping justice. Both texts convey a concern with oaths, but in both cases it is nearly impossible to adhere to one oath without breaking another. In the case of Cornwell, however, there is an explicit tension between the adherence to oaths and the necessity of their existence.

Finally, Cornwell established a connection with Malory through the impulsive and passionate actions of his characters, most notably in Arthur. In The Warlord Chronicles, Arthur indulges in a number of impulsive actions that have disastrous consequences for Britain, all of which he attempts but fails to justify. Impulsive actions that have negative consequences is also a recurring issue in Malory’s text: the actions of Arthur, Gawain, and Lancelot lead to war and the fall of the Round Table. In both texts, impulsive and passionate behaviour leads to negative consequences for not only those involved, but also the public.

Despite the differences between the worlds portrayed in Malory and Cornwell’s texts,

Cornwell engages with Malory through establishing connections. Through these connections, Cornwell conveys the notion that the gritty soldiers in his contemporary work struggle with the same issues as their Romantic counterparts, suggesting that there is a universal element to the Arthurian Romances that is still relevant to contemporary texts.

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Chapter 2:

Physicality and Grotesque Realism in The

Warlord Chronicles

Despite the common ground between Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Bernard Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles, the latter offers a portrayal of medieval society that is completely different from the world portrayed in Malory’s text. This difference primarily lies in Cornwell’s emphasis of the physicality of the characters, which brings them to the physical

level and undermines their traditional romanticized portrayal. The manner in which Cornwell portrays this physicality has significant overlaps with Bakhtin’s theory on grotesque realism and degradation, therefore, the first section of this chapter will explain this theoretical framework. The succeeding sections will apply Bakhtin’s framework to Cornwell’s trilogy and compare it to recurring elements in Malory: the feast, the portrayals of characters and nobility, and the portrayal of Arthur himself. The last section will look at the ceremonial aspect of physicality present in the trilogy. Moreover, these sections will illustrate how Cornwell’s application of physicality deviates from Bakhtin’s theory by applying it outside

the context of class and laughter. This difference illustrates that the contemporary perception of physicality in medieval society has shifted in meaning: it is a normalized part of life.

Grotesque Realism and Degradation

A significant aspect in Cornwell’s portrayal of medieval society is the focus on the physical.

As has become evident in the previous chapter, both works illustrate the physicality of battle as a means to gain renown. However, unlike Malory’s portrayal of medieval society,

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31 physicality in Cornwell’s text extends beyond battle: he portrays the characters as explicitly possessing the bodily functions of eating, sweating, and urinating no matter their social class – facets of physicality that do not exist in Le Morte D’Arthur.

In analyzing the nature of physicality in Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles, the

Bakhtinian framework of physicality and degradation is useful. In Rabelais and His World, Bakhtin illuminates the dominant presence of laughter and the topsy-turvy notion of carnival in the novels by François Rabelais by investigating popular humour and folk culture in both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. For his analysis, Bakhtin utilizes the concept of grotesque realism, which is closely related to the material body:

The essential principle of grotesque realism is degradation, that is, the lowering of all that is high, spiritual, ideal, abstract; it is a transfer to the material level, to the sphere of earth and body in their indissoluble unity (19-20).

Bakhtin continues to define the material body as a principle ascribing to “...images of the human body with its food, drink, defecation, and sexual life” (18). Moreover, grotesque

realism also includes “....the lower stratum of the body, the life of the belly and the reproductive organs” (21). Grotesque realism is defined by degradation, which constitutes the

subversion of the ceremonial, the official, and the abstract by bringing it from the spiritual realm towards the physical level. This physicality involves the lower stratum of the body: the digestive system and the genitals.

Humour and folk culture of the lower classes is informed by the physicality and degradation inherent in grotesque realism, which subverts the official and ceremonial practices of the higher classes. As Elliot writes: “[t]he grotesque expresses a pointed reversal of moral and logical expectations” (130), an instance of ‘topsy-turvy’ which is inherent in

carnival. Consequently, according to Bakhtin, the reversal of expectations through grotesque realism is accomplished through laughter: “‘Official’ authority is subverted most of all by

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32 laughter” (Elliott 130). Moreover, Bakhtin’s notion of the carnivalesque is informed by the erasure of boundaries (Pal 71), which reinforces the grotesque realism utilized in folk humour. Degradation employs not only the physicality associated by grotesque realism to invoke laughter, but undermines the ceremonial, the spiritual, and the official.

Grotesque realism involves a class dichotomy which associates this physicality with the lower classes. This is, for example, illustrated in “The Miller’s Tale” in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, which deals with humour based on the kissing of Alison’s

bottom and Nicolas’s farting. Many of the pilgrims consider this subject matter indecent. The fabliaux are attributed to "churls" because of their somewhat indecent subject-matter. This is not a true social placing but a moral comment, part of that general movement in human society, or at least in European society, to impute vice to lower-classes and virtue to upper-lower-classes (Brewer 301).

According to Brewer, the subject matter of “The Miller’s Tale” is attributed to the lower

classes due its association with vice. By contrast, virtue is associated with the higher classes, which, in Chaucer’s text, can be found in “The Knight’s Tale” or “The Pardoner’s Tale”. The

Canterbury Tales represents both the lower and the higher classes of medieval society, linking the Bakhtinian associations to the class dichotomy in Chaucer’s text.

Cornwell uses elements of grotesque realism and applies them to Arthurian characters to undermine their romanticized counterparts. Through the process of degradation Cornwell subverts and deconstructs the romanticized world of Malory. However, in The Warlord Chronicles, this grotesque realism is not necessarily associated with the lower classes, but simultaneously applies to the nobility and even kings. Moreover, Cornwell differs from his portrayal of physicality in the sense that, in his trilogy, grotesque realism and degradation are not necessarily applied for the sake of humour. This difference in the meaning of grotesque realism represents a shift in perception: in Malory’s world, grotesque realism is nonexistent,

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33 because Bakhtin grotesque realism is intertwined with humour and class, yet in Cornwell it is normalized. Physicality is part of life as well as the ceremony, which indicates a shift in perception of how grotesque realism interrelates with medieval society.

Ceremonies and the Feast

Due to its preoccupation with chivalry and its ceremonial aspect, the feast is an important element of the Arthurian Romances. In Malory’s text, the feast occurs during both celebrative occasions such as the wedding between Arthur and Guinevere and during annual events such as Pentecost. Aisling Byrne draws attention to Arthur’s refusal to eat before hearing of an adventure, and the subsequent interruption from outside (63). This interruption signifies the beginning of a quest, as is for instance the case with Gareth’s first quest: Lynette appears

during a feast and requests the aid of a knight, which allows Gareth the opportunity to gain renown through embarking on a quest (Malory, I, 235). Another example occurs during the feast after King Arthur’s wedding to Guinevere: a white female hound, a white hart chased by

hounds, and a lady who is kidnapped by a knight enter the hall in quick succession, an event that Arthur commands his knights to investigate. This leaves an opportunity for knights to follow the code of chivalry and embark on an adventure. Gawain, Tor, and Pellinor are to complete these quests (Malory, I, 98), which they do with varying results. Moreover, as stated in the previous chapter, the adventures resulting from this disruption of the feast leads to the creation of the Round Table and its chivalric ideals. In both of these cases, the interrupted feast is an element which allows knights to embark on a journey to gain renown and retain their chivalric code.

In its ceremonial aspect, the feast represents control over the outside world and the earthly. Byrne argues that there is also a tension in what the feast represents. On the one hand, the feast is closely associated with religion, taking place after Mass and exemplifying order

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34 and control. This is underlined by Arthur’s refusal to eat before the appearance of a marvel. Byrne argues that Arthur’s refusal invites the appearance of an adventure, which on itself is

an element of exercising control over the chaos of the outside world (71). After all, if the feast would be interrupted without the prior invitation of adventure, Arthur’s control of his

kingdom – and his feast – would be undermined. However, by inviting an adventure, Arthur solidifies his control over the feast. Moreover, Arthur’s abstinence from food until the appearance of a marvel adds a ceremonial element to the feast. Byrne argues, however, that due to its presence of food, the feast represents a risk of excess which could potentially lead to sin and a loss of self-control (64). A feast involves an abundance of food, which presents the risk of overindulgence. However, the ceremonial element of the feast generates a control over what could otherwise lead to overindulgence. The chaos and the risk of excess is controlled through Arthur’s initial abstinence of food, allowing these elements to exist within certain

bounds.

By contrast, Cornwell utilizes the ceremonial feast as a means to undermine chivalry by degrading this abstract ideal to the physical realm, thereby foreshadowing its ineffectiveness. In Enemy of God, Arthur initiates a ceremony which requires every notable warrior to take an oath and become part of the Brotherhood of Britain, which is nicknamed the Round Table Oath. “[Arthur]’s notion was that we would all swear peace and friendship to one another, and thus heal our enmities and bind each other in oaths that would forbid any in the Brotherhood of Britain from ever raising a spear against another” (252). Derfel confesses

that the ceremony is embarrassing (252) and is even sceptical of its effectiveness (257), which is underlined by the begrudging embracing of several characters during the process of the ceremony – though Derfel admits that the oath was kept the first few years. The ceremony indicates a desire for control, which is reminiscent of Malory’s version of the feast as a means to exercise control.

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35 The ceremony takes a chaotic turn, however, when due to all the reconciliations that delay the feast, mead is served to the waiting but hungry warriors. Though it can be argued that this is similar to the insistence of the marvel occurring before the feast in Malory, in the end, the ceremony spins out of control. Many warriors become drunk, resulting in what was first a solemn ceremony growing into a “garden reeling with drunk men” who jokingly embrace one another, wrestle, and perform mock-battles with flowers (261-2). The ceremony meant to embody chivalry has not only spiralled out of control, but the abstract notion of oaths make place for wrestling and mock fights with flower stems (262). Through the escalation of chaos, the ceremonial aspect has been subverted by ridicule, rendering a comic aspect to the event that ascribes to Bakhtin’s notion of laughter through degradation.

The Round Table itself is degraded when it is covered in vomit, which further underlines the loss of control and ridicules the chivalric ideal it represents. Amidst the fighting men, Derfel describes that: “Someone else had vomited onto the round table” (262). This exposure to the contents of someone’s stomach connects with the Bakhtin’s notion of the body’s lower stratum. Normally associated with the lower classes, this degradation is

reminiscent of folk humour. According to Bakhtin, the lower classes used folk humour to subvert the official ceremonial practices of the higher classes (82). In Cornwell, however, the degradation underlines the loss of control during the ceremony, which illustrates a subversion that does not occur in the lower classes but rather among the visitors meant to take the oath: the higher classes. Considering the Table represents the oath, and the ones that are to take it vomit over the table, the situation represents the value – or rather, the lack thereof – these characters place on this oath.

The lack of seriousness attributed to the ceremony foreshadows the fact that the characters do not take their oath seriously. For example, the Round Table Oath is shown to be ineffective when Lancelot breaks the peace and attempts to usurp the throne from Arthur in

"Someone had Vomited Over the Round Table": The Shift from Malory and Bakhtin's Grotesque Realism in Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Chronicles