MR-Disc: TlB & Arthur

[edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com]

Poster: edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com

In _Tirant_lo_Blanc_, Tirant stays in Constantinople for
a while to help the Greek Emperor against the Saracens.
During a three-month truce, the Greeks hold an elaborate
tourney and feast.  When lunch was over, servants
came in to announce that a black ship without masts or
sails had docked.  The emperor leads the feasters to the
ship, where they meet Queen Morgan le Fay, King Arthur's
wise sister, who announces that she's looking for Arthur.
The emperor then reveals,

"[...] A mighty lord whose name I have been unable to learn
is in my power.  He possesses a wondrous sword called
Excalibur, which seems to have great powers, and he is
attended by an aged knight named Breunis Saunce Pite'"

Morgan asked to see this lord, and they all troupe back
to a silver cage in the palace, and it does indeed turn
out to be King Arthur, with his sword.  The feasters then
amuse themselves by asking Arthur about Nature's and Fortune's
Gifts, What a King Should Swear When He Is Crowned, The Origins
of Honor, and so on; he answers most wisely.  Then everybody
dances, then they lead the reunited legends back to Morgan's
ship, which is no longer draped in black. Then they have supper.

This episode raises several questions in my mind:

* The translator's footnote says of this episode, "It
is identified as a masque rather than a supernatural element
both by the fact that it begins as the meal ends and by the
words [...] 'They were dazzled by what they had seen, for
everything _seemed_ done by magic' [italics mine]" ['italics
mine' his].  Is the translator correct or was it really a
supernatural element to the book?

* Has King Arthur ever appeared at an SCA event, as part of
either a masque or a supernatural element?

* Did Morgana's role in the legend start out good and
gradually change to evil?

* Who is Breunis Saunce Pite'?

* Tirant lo Blanc is neither a tyrant nor blanc. Discuss.

-- Alfredo
 
Alfredo el Bufon
Elvegast, Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia
edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com
______________________________________
We do not see things as they are.  We see things as we are.
   -- The Talmud

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