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Example research essay topic: Arthurian Legend Supernatural Powers - 2,620 words

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The tales of the Arthurian legend are some of the most popular from medieval times, and the reason for this is primarily due to their fabulous nature. In them are the exploits of heroes and the machinations of villains, the workings of sorcerers and the existence of magical objects. They embody the noble themes of chivalry and sacrifice, as well as those of revenge and evil. Action, violence, and sex are all included, and as shall be seen, there are many religious connotations as well. There are probably few people who are not familiar with the Quest for the Holy Grail, even if it is from exposure to the movie by Monty Python. The tales as most people know them, however, are the end result of centuries of change, both by the wandering minstrels and the serious authors of the medieval period.

There exist numerous versions of each tale, and these versions are often contradictory. Roger Sherman Loomis was a noted medieval scholar, and a large part of the body of his work is an attempt to trace these tales to their origin. In going back to the roots of these tales, it is possible to see how and where variations took place. In Arthurian research, there are two main schools of thought.

The first asserts that these tales have as their basis actual figures who lived in the towns and castles described in the tales and took part in the actions described, though obviously with some embellishment. The second school posits that these tales represent the evolution of even more ancient legends, the towns and castles (which are often factual) being inserted into the tales to lend them credibility. Loomis is a member of the latter. This historiography examines several of the works of Roger Sherman Loomis, which span the years from 1926 to 1964. In doing so, the nature of the origination of these tales will become evident, at least according to Loomis. First, however, some biographical information is in order.

It may strike the reader as odd to learn that Loomis was Japanese, until it is known that he was born in Japan to missionary parents, Henry and Jane (Greene) Loomis, thus ascribing to him Japanese citizenship. He first attended Hotchkiss School and from there went on to Williams College, where he received a BA in 1909. He received his MA from Harvard in 1910. He then went to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar where he received a B Litt. in 1913.

He first married Gertrude Schoerpperle on August 27, 1919. His second marriage was to Laura Hibbard, an English professor at Wellesley College, on June 6, 1925 until her death in 1960. His third marriage was to Dorothy Bethurum. His first position was as instructor at the University of Illinois, Urbana from 1913 - 18.

From there he went to Columbia University where he became a member of the English faculty from 1919 - 58, and professor emeritus from 1958 - 66. He was also Eastman Professor at Oxford from 1955 - 56. During World War I, he was the editor of the Army publication Attenshun 21. He was a member of numerous scholarly societies including the International Arthurian Society, of which he was president from 1948 - 63. He belonged to the Modern Language Association, the Medieval Academy of America, where he was a fellow and also the second vice-president from 1961 - 64, the Modern Humanities Research Association, and the American Humanist Association. Loomis was also the recipient of a variety of awards and honors.

As mentioned, he was a Rhodes Scholar at the New College at Oxford. He was awarded the Haskins Medal of Medieval Academy in 1951 for Arthurian Tradition and Chretien de Troyes. In addition, he received a D. Litt. from the University of Wales in 1952, from Columbia University in 1957, and from Williams College in 1957. Finally, he received a Do.

hon. causa. From the University of Rennes in 1952. Loomis, who died on 12 October 1966, is recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Loomis has written a sizable volume of work, but the three that are the subject of this paper are Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance, 1926, Wales and the Arthurian Legend, 1956, and The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol, 1963. These three volumes alone represent a great deal of research, and as such, this paper will focus on the less obscure tales included in these works.

Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance is one of Loomis' earliest works, and it is obvious at this point that his opinions on the subject are not fully formed, as he asks the reader to make logical leaps that are not readily apparent, a fact that he addresses in later works. As such, the book is difficult to read. Loomis also assumes the reader has an intimate knowledge of the legends he examines, which is not out of place, but the footnotes do not serve to clarify lack of knowledge, further exacerbating the problem. The subject matter is nonetheless very interesting.

He begins by addressing the medieval romance, which originated in Europe sometime in the twelfth century. Through traveling storytellers they became known in Spain, Sicily, Iceland, and Jerusalem, to name just a few regions. It is important to note that these storytellers were building on much earlier legends as they developed the stories, perhaps even unconsciously. Loomis criticizes the medieval scholar Sir John Rhys for encouraging scholars to abandon attempts to trace the British tales back to earlier legends, instead emphasizing them as the product of French authors in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Loomis believed that the figures of Arthurian legend are reincarnations of earlier figures that were gods in previous legends. For example, he states that Gawain represents the common ancient notion of the solar hero whose strength depended on the sun, that the legend of the Grail is based on the ritual of initiation into a fertility cult, and that Man represented Apollo Mapenos, who was worshipped in Gaul.

He offers a possibility for the origin of the tale in which Guinevere is abducted and then rescued by Gawain. There is an Irish legend that relates the kidnapping of Blathnat by Curoi and her rescue Cuchulinn known as the "Tragic Death of Curoi mac Daire" from the tenth century. In this legend, Blathine (Blathnat) is captured by Curoi. From him she learns the secret that he can only be killed by destroying his external soul with his own sword.

What is meant by external soul is that his soul resides in an external object rather than within him. Blathnat alerts Cuchulinn to this fact and he carries out the deed and rescues her. There are two themes here that have their source in pre-Christian Irish legends: that of the existence of an external soul, and that of a wife (Blathnat) betraying her husband (Curoi), which Loomis refers to as the Samson and Delilah pattern. Loomis sees pre-Christian Ireland as the source of most of these themes. There lies the chief fountainhead of all these streams. There, of course, is the source of the modern Irish and Gaelic folktales, which until the present century were related by professional shanachie's and the peasantry themselves.

In ancient Irish tradition, too, is the source of the mythical tales which combined with the Romano-British tradition in Wales, Cornwall, and Devon to form the Arthurian legends. These legends passed from the Welsh and Domnonian bards to the Breton centers, who could easily understand Welsh and at the same time speak French. Thus perfectly equipped to become intermediaries between the Celtic-speaking and the French-speaking worlds, the Bretons adapted their stories to contemporary courtly taste, and soon won a public both in France and England. The abduction of Blathnat comes from a body of Irish legends that predate the fifth century.

From this time also, the Irish shared with the Welsh many deities such as "Govan non and Goibniu, Don and Dana, Manawyddan and Manannan. " The bards that recounted these legends were acting in the traditions of the Druidic schools, which were pagan. Once Christianity had begun to flourish, they were pressed to infuse them with Christian themes. However, pagan and Christian themes did not mix well. The veneer of Christianity on the tales was thin, and the bards were able to continue to transmit the underlying pagan mythologies. After all, the bards and the public did not want to give up their ancient traditions. "One should not forget that such stories as the abduction of Guinevere go back to stories learned and recited in the schools of the druids. " Hundreds of years ago, the processes of nature and the elements were not understood in any scientific sense, and these forces thus became the basis for gods in mythologies around the world. The existence of a sun-god was one of the most prevalent beliefs worldwide.

Even after the advent of Christianity, laws had to be passed that prohibited worship of the sun and other natural phenomena. This was especially true in Ireland. Due to the influx of Christianity, it became necessary for the centers to disguise the mythological aspects of the ancient tales. Many peoples at this time had the conception that the sun-god was directly related to the god of lightning and thunder. Loomis offers evidence that Cuchulinn was the representation of a sun / thunder -god. "On the Cattle-Raid of Cualagne the intense heat generated by his body melted the snow round him for thirty feet. " At one point in a tale, he undergoes a convulsive transformation in which he becomes a being that can hurl thunderbolts. While many have interpreted this as possible epileptic convulsions suffered by the hero, Loomis feels that this is evidence of his god-like nature. "Is it not far more plausible to see in the transformation of the sun-god into the fire-shooting thunder cloud?" Loomis also finds evidence for the solar nature of Curoi mac Daire (Curoi) in the ancient Irish tale of Bricrui's Feast.

When Curoi returns from a voyage, it is morning. Later, he takes his stand as the light-bearer of a house, saying that the whole household shall have light, yet it won't be burned. His main weapon is the ax, which represents thunder and lightning. In Arthurian legend, Gawain appears to have a solar nature as well. "Again and again in the romances it is said that his strength increases until noon and then decreases. " And in Christian de Troyes' Ivan it is explicitly said Gawain is the sun. Due to this fact, Loomis contends that Gawain is a reincarnation of Cuchulinn. 20 He admits that this evidence is not obvious, but he reassures the reader that if it were obvious, there would be no reason for investigation into the matter. "Accordingly, if the organic connection between Irish and Arthurian legend, which has been maintained by such admirable scholars as Kittredge, Nutt, Brown, Cross, and Miss Schoepperle, exists at all, we must be prepared to find the evidence often indirect and confused. " 21 The theme of battle between a father and a son who do not recognize each other is commonplace in Celtic legend, and in several legends, the combat ends when the combatants recognize each other for who they are. In the Arthurian legends, this occurs several times as well.

There is an encounter between Guglain and his father Gawain, as well as between Galaad and Lancelot (Galaad's father). "The names here are significant, for Guglain = Cuchulinn, Gawain = Curoi" 22 Loomis points out that old Irish literature is filled with stories in which the heroes face a test or series of tests in order to prove their "sovereignty, " which he states can be substituted with the term "god-head. " He then points out that this is a theme that is also true of the Arthurian legend. In fact, the legend of the Grail is another in which knights are put to the test. The fact that tests of one kind or another are of frequent occurrence both in human life and in tales of the folk does not compel us to believe that the ordeals and perils of Arthurian romance possess no meaning save such human meaning as appears on the surface. If we can identify the actors with gods, if we can discover that their acts have results that resemble the operations of Nature, then we can be sure that, no matter how clear the folklore patterns, they are but moulds for myths. 23 Here he asks the reader to find in the tales implications that are difficult to discern. While his reasoning makes sense, he does not make clear why it is necessary to do so when there are already obvious connotations.

This is a practice he uses quite often, often making the reader wonder why dual meanings should be sought. In Arthurian legend, there are several versions of a tale that has beheading as its subject. In it, Lancelot in his travels comes to a barren city where he meets a knight who insists that Lancelot cut off his head, with the promise that in a year, Lancelot will return to suffer the same fate. He returns a year later to the city to honor his vow, and finds there the brother of the knight he had slain. Lancelot positions himself, but the knight misses on the first strike. Before he can swing again, Guinevere appears and begs for his life.

Lancelot then learns that he is the only one of a succession of knights who has kept the oath. The city comes to life and there is much rejoicing. This echoes quite clearly the ancient myth in which "year after year a golden chapleted god is slain, and thereby his successor renews the fertility of the land and the welfare of the folk. " 24 In Irish legend, Curoi often had the ability to transform himself into other figures, such as a giant herdsman or a Man of the Wood. These are referred to as Curoi's arts. This is true also of a figure in Arthurian legend, the sorcerer Merlin. "the earliest accounts of Merlin show him in the same guises. " 25 In fact Merlin, as himself, appears in Welsh legend before Geoffrey of Monmouth's History, in which he is ascribed supernatural powers.

Merlin may have as his basis an actual person, a bard of the sixth century. Over time in the legends, he acquired the powers which he is said to have had. Loomis also contends that the opposite may be true. He may also have been a god whose powers were lessened over time, until he became a man with supernatural powers. 26 Regardless, Loomis concludes that Merlin's appearance as the giant herdsman and the Man of the Wood was not arbitrary on Geoffrey's part, but was a continuance of existing legend. "And accordingly it seems that when the legends of Curoi swept over Wales and certain story-tellers were passing them on as stories of Girl, Gwrnach, German, Game, and so forth, other-story tellers, recognizing the similarity of Curoi to their own Myrddin, attached some of these stories to him. " He likens this to the process in which the Romans took for themselves the Greek gods, in which Hera became Minerva, Hermes became Mercury, and so forth. 27 The legend of the Grail is the most famous of the Arthurian legends.

What the word "Grail" actually means has posed a mystery that has resulted in several interpretations, "though now the best scholarly judgment accepts the derivation from Latin canali...


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Research essay sample on Arthurian Legend Supernatural Powers

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