The VoxPopcast
e174. The Arthurian Roundtable Roundtable
We live in an era of constant reboots and updates to well known IP franchises. People (including us) like to complain about it, but honestly, well known franchises do very well at the box office… otherwise people wouldn’t keep doing it. But of all the superheroes, transformers, terminators and star wars that keep coming back there are some classics that put them to shame. Stories about King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable have been told, retold, revisited, revamped and rebooted for centuries in every medium from movies to comics to novels to epic poetry to word of mouth. Arguably, they are some of our most enduring stories. In fact, The Green Knight, a film directed by David Lowery starring Dev Patel premiered just over a week ago and as the most recent popular incarnation of Arthurian myth. The “original” version, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, came out somewhere around 1375 CE. six centuries later, it’s one of the top films at the box office. Kind of puts the eighty years we’ve been telling Superman stories to shame.
On this week’s episode, Hannah, Wayne and Mav are joined by medievalist Jeff Stoyanoff for an Arthurian Roundtable Roundtable. We talk about Arthurian legend, its enduring legacy and the many many versions that have appeared over the years.
Citations and Links:
* This episode’s Call for Comments* The British Library’s original manuscript of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight* “The Green Knight’s Ending, Explained” by Joanna Robinson* “The Defence of Guinevere” by William Morris * The Once and Future King by T.H. White* Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Mallory* The Gawain Poet: Complete Works translated by Marie Borroff* Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices edited by Swapna Krishna* Once and Future by Kieron Gillen* Bedivere: The King’s Right Hand by Wayne Wise* King of Summer by Wayne Wise
* Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme* Follow Hannah on Twitter: @hannahleerogers* Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick* Follow Wayne on Instagram: @tetroc2017* Follow Mav’s Personal Blog: