King Arthur's The Once And Future King

The Once and Future King King Arthur of the Arthurian legends is one of the most unique characters in the history of literature. Since he has been depicted by a variety of writers, there is more than a single description of his personality. The Arthur we know is actually a conglomerate of many different interpretations of one character. For this reason, his character and very person haven 't been too consistent through the legends. The earliest Arthurian Legends which are also some of the earliest medieval works, describe King Arthur as the traditional Anglo-Saxon war hero; but as the time goes by, and the medieval people start to admire different things, he evolves into a different kind of hero, a chivalric one. Thus, over time, the image
Even though this intruder has disturbed his celebratory feast, he does not lose his temper, instead he follows the first rule of chivalry – hospitality. As we see in this text, the other knights, who sat “stone still” and “chary of answer”, do nothing to welcome the new-comer amongst their midst; nevertheless, Arthur does his duty and warmly invites the Green Knight to his court (line 21, line 20). In this way we see how King Arthur has unmatched manners in the court of Camelot- this is the most distinguished factor about him in this story, as the main focus of this legend is on Sir Gawain and his quest. Thus, we can say that King Arthur 's one and only role in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is to set a standard for his knights in social behavior, to remind them of the rules of Camelot. These lines demonstrate Arthur 's gallant manner, they also show that Knights of the Round Table have a high place in their minds for him. While they dreaded even speaking to the alarming stranger, their revered King Arthur, who is described as one who “had no fear”, welcomed him graciously (line 29). Thus, King Arthur is greatly admired by his Knights because they still thought of him as the fearless king of old and also because of his valiant and courtly behavior. This fact greatly impacts most stories of this time because Arthur has a great influence over the Knights of Camelot and most of these stories follow their bold and daring quests. Even if the king, in these legends, seems removed from the thick of the plot line, his presence is still felt from afar, as a social force – for it has already been established that the Knights admired and imitated his social manner and his lordly ways. This remote influence, too, can be observed in the story of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight where King Arthur is neither the the protagonist of the story nor the source of all action, but is the highest