The story of King Arthur and his noble
knights of the round table painted my childhood with colorful
memories. Arthurian legend has
found legions of admirers around the world. The story of King Arthur will always
occupy a special place in my heart.
If you have heard of King Arthur, then I suspect you may be asking the same question as I do: Was Arthur a real person?
Historians have never been able to
confirm the historicity of Arthur. However, some evidence do exist
that may suggest Arthur was a 5th century British warlord
who fought against the invading Saxons. For examples, Gildas wrote in
De Excido et Conquestu Britanniae, that in the 5th
century, an atypical fashion suddenly emerged in Britain where many
men were named “Arthur”; Gildas' record suggests these men were perhaps
named after a powerful, famous person. Yet, it wasn't until the 8th
century when the famous historian Nennius first mentioned Arthur.
Surprisingly, Nennius never called Arthur a king. Instead, Nennius
referred to Arthur as “Dux Bellorum”, which means “the Leader
of Battles”. Some believes Nennius' chronicle drew on ancient
folklore from Welsh traditions. This also means Nennius' account,
while thought-provoking, is not a definitive proof for the
historicity of Arthur. In the 14th century, the story of
Arthur flourished in the French court, and poets, as well as
Christian monks, imbued the story of Arthur with spiritual meanings
(such as the Holy grail). The Christian interpretation of Arthurian
legend became the story of King Arthur as we know today.
I guess the bottom line is, at the end
of the day we may never know the true history of Arthur.
Nevertheless, I think Arthurian legend is one of those stories where
its meaning and symbolism has become far more important than cold
hard facts. However, if, as now commonly believed, that Arthur was a
5th century British warlord, then it does mean the real
story of Arthur would have been very different to our modern
conception. To begin with, the real Arthur and his warriors wouldn't
have been knights in shining, medieval plate armors. Instead, Arthur
and his warriors would have equipped themselves with Romano-British
armors and wielding spears.
Furthermore, if Arthur was a warlord
who lived in the Dark Ages, this means he was living in a turbulent
time. A time when Britain was divided by infighting, while
simultaneously facing the external threat of Saxon invasions. It
would have also been a time when the new religion of Christianity
clashed against the old pagan tradition of druidism in Britain. It
would have been a grim, but fascinating era. The kind of era that
often gave birth to history's greatest heroes.
Inspired by this historical background,
the British novelist, Bernard Cornwell, created a trilogy of
critically acclaimed historical fiction novels, The Warlord
Chronicles. This trilogy opened, stunningly, with a first book
titled: The Winter King.
Synopsis:
On a frosty winter day, Queen Igraine,
the wife of King Brochvael, visited brother Derfel in a monastery.
Brother Derfel was once a pagan warrior who fought for Arthur, but
later converted to Christianity and now living a simple life of a
monk in his old age. The young queen begged Derfel to tell her the
true story of Arthur.
The queen's pleading roused in Derfel
the buried memories of his lord Arthur; the King that Never Was, the
Enemy of God, and the best man he ever knew. Derfel remembered how he
wept for Arthur, and he recounted the tale of Arthur for the young
queen; this is how it began.
It began with a birth.
Once upon a time in a land called
Britain, Queen Norwenna gave birth to a babe. The babe was the
grandson of Uther Pendragon, the High King of Britain. The babe was
born with a crippled foot and they named him Mordred. Uther was an
old man, cunning but prejudiced against his bastard son Arthur.
Uther knew his days on earth were
numbered, and he feared for Mordred because he was yet to come to
age. So Uther held a council and chose 3 protectors to guard Mordred
until he could reach maturity and rule as the High King.
A twist of fate forced Uther to appoint
reluctantly, Arthur, as one of the protectors for Modred. Uther
passed away shortly after the council's conclusion. The old king left
behind a legacy that drew enemies as fresh meat attracting vultures from
the sky. Very soon, Britain descended into chaos and infighting. But
one warrior dreamed of peace, he dreamed of a Britain united against
the invading Saxons. This warrior was Arthur, and his struggle to
unite Britain was a tale of fire and blood...
My thoughts on this book:
Where do I begin? How do I begin to
review, one of my favorite books of all time? Ok, let me start my
review this way:
Goodreads has my eternal gratitude
because it introduced The Warlord Chronicles to me. This
trilogy opens with The Winter King. This book has everything
that I could ever ask for in a novel; strong characterizations, a gripping
plot, a historical background based on extensive research, political
intrigues, religious conflicts, heart-pounding battle scenes, and wonderfully written prose.
Bernard Cornwell is a skillful writer.
His writing brought the world of Arthur to life with much vividness. Every scenery in this book; from the lush forests, picturesque
villages and towns, to the muddy ground of the battlefield, I felt as
if I could smell, taste and feel the textures of the Dark Ages.
Bernard Cornwell described every scene in details yet his writing was
never over-burdened by too much details. The descriptions for every
scene and every character left deep impression on my mind. Bernard
Cornwell also excelled at writing the battle scenes. He captured, so
vividly, what it was like to be fighting in the shield walls. The
actions in this book are full of blood and thunder, yet it does not
revel in violence or using gore as entertainment. Instead, Cornwell's
writing instills, subtly, a feeling of melancholy in the readers' hearts, when
readers reflect on the tragedy of wars.
The Winter King used 1st
person narrative. Derfel narrated the story from his point of view.
Through Derfel's eyes, we bear witness to the life and dreams of
Arthur. In this book, Britain was a land of many conflicts. The
Romans just left Britain, leaving behind a power vacuum that caused
much infighting. Meanwhile, the Saxons threatened to invade Britain
and constantly assaulted the borders. Finally, the Romans brought and
left the new religion of Christianity in Britain, and it clashed
against the old tradition of druidism. This story has many themes,
one of them is the old religion versus the new. Where both religions
were intolerant of each others' existence. And Cornwell masterfully
weaved this religious conflict into politics, showing readers how
religion impacted political decisions, and in turn, affected the
lives of everyday people.
The Winter King stuns readers
with its marvelous characterizations. This novel features
a cast of familiar characters from the traditional Arthurian legend.
Characters such as Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere, Derfel, Lancelot,
Galahad, Nimue, Morgan, and Mordred. However, unlike the traditional
Arthurian legend where characters were perfectly good or utterly evil,
Cornwell's characters stood as a morally ambiguous bunch. In The
Winter King, Cornwell portrayed every character as flawed human
beings. They were like real people. None of them were perfect, most were fighting for what they believed was true. Yet, each character also had personal weaknesses and were deeply flawed.
In this book, Arthur was,
generally, a descent man who had a noble dream. Arthur didn't care
about religion. His dream was uniting Britain against the Saxons, and
build a kingdom where people could follow whatever religion they desire in peace. However, Arthur also had flaws and his shortcomings ultimately
threatened the very dream he bled for. In contrast to
Arthur, Merlin was a druid. His only cared about finding the 13
treasures of Britain and restoring the power of druidism. Merlin
didn't care much about Arthur or the people. To Merlin, Arthur was
his tool. Suffice to say, while Merlin's character was sometimes
funny and his knowledge was impressive, but he was also a cruel, cold
and hard to love character.
Under Cornwell's pen, Guinevere was
depicted as an ambitious but intelligent woman. However, she
exhibited a healthy dose of vanity so I didn't really like her. In
this book, Arthur fell madly in love with Guinevere, and his love
proved to be a very dangerous thing. The most despicable character in
this book, however, is Lancelot. He is a vain, arrogant coward who
hid behind the battle front yet bribed the bards to sing untruthful
songs about his bravery. I sense Lancelot still has a huge role to
play in the rest of the trilogy. Meanwhile, Nihume, instead of being
the Lady of the Lake, was depicted as a druid in this book. She was
one of Merlin's wards and Derfel's romantic interest. She possessed a
fierce passion to see Britain rid of Christian influences.
Derfel is the protagonist in the book.
I particularly enjoyed his story. Derfel was Arthur's right hand man,
but he converted to Christianity later. In his old age, Derfel
appeared as a frail man. I like the way Cornwell portrayed Derfel, it
was a portryal that gave off an ambiguous feeling that we can never
be sure if Derfel was only paying lip service to his new religion. On
the other hand, Galahad was probably most virtuous character in this
book. Galahad was a Christian and a noble warrior who joined Arthur's
fight to unite Britain. I like the character of Arthur and Derfel,
but I think Galahad is my favorite character in this book.
The Winter King opens The
Warlord Chronicles with a most spectacular tale. It promises even better books to come. I have read more than 100 books
in the past 18 months, and this book is probably my favorite book so
far. I loved every page of this book and there was never a dull
moment. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a
good book to read.
