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Do recall the context… The Arthurian legends are not a story with sole authorship, like the Lord of the Rings. These are stories twisted and told by many differ

Do recall the context… The Arthurian legends are not a story with sole authorship, like the Lord of the Rings. These are stories twisted and told by many different people. Perhaps the modern analogy is Spider-Man. Within Marvel there are many different varieties, and then you add on the fan driven content… For those deeply interested in different takes on Arthur, Steinbeck [0] took a stab at it too. This sent me down a long Arthurian rabbit hole. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Acts_of_King_Arthur_and_His_Noble_Knights https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Acts_of_King_Arthur_and_...

thaumasiotes 5y ago
Some modern fan-driven content: https://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/ https://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/
samizdis 5y ago
Good grief. I had no idea that Steinbeck had written an Arthurian tale - and based on Malory, to boot. I am so looking forward to reading that. Thanks for the information.
- sparky_z 5y ago
  Just wait until you find out about his werewolf murder mystery :) https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001309335/a-young-john-steinbecks-unpublished-werewolf-novel-isnt-going-to-print https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001309335/a-young-john-stein...
  - handrous 5y ago
    Or his WWII propaganda novel featuring not-Nazi occupied not-Norway, and resistance fighters trying to commit sabotage against the occupying force. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Down https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Down
    - samizdis 5y ago
      Many thanks for that - I've just snagged a copy. So much for my (arrogant) belief that I had a full picture of Steinbeck.
      - handrous 5y ago
        It kinda doesn't feel like a Steinbeck book, really, but it's not a bad read, for what it is. (someone DV'd my original post, at some point, and I'm not sure if this is why [maybe it was for some other reason entirely] but I intended my use of the term "propaganda" in a descriptive, neutral sense—that's what it is, and what it was intended to be)
  - samizdis 5y ago
    This is really messing with my head now. We read Steinbeck at school - in the UK - and were in awe at the gravitas, use of English, literary genius. This is like finding out that Thomas Hardy also wrote manga, or something. I would so love to get my hands on Murder at Full Moon. I've just searched out some news stories about this and, apparently, Steinbeck destroyed some manuscripts he'd written under the Peter Pym pseudonym, but not this one; apparently he had also tried to get it published. Arrrgh! I so hope that this sees the light of day at some point - or, er, the light of the Moon.
- neaden 5y ago
  It really is very good, but unfortunately unfinished and was unpublished in his lifetime.
- heurisko 5y ago
  Before abandoning it for Paradise Lost, John Milton was also going to theme his epic poem on Arthurian legend.
  - rsj_hn 5y ago
    I'd love to read a murder mystery by Milton
- PeterCorless 5y ago
  Steinbeck's Arthurian tales was spurred on by his childhood in Salinas, California. As a child, he used to play as a knight and he made his little sister play his squire. He dedicated the book to her. I am generally favorable to a lot of what Steinbeck did with his treatment, other than "vamping up" Morgan le Fey, which seemed a bit too dime store novel of a characterization to me. Otherwise he does a great job getting into the psychology of the knight characters. The published version also includes a great number of his letters on his process, showing how Steinbeck himself was on a sort of spiritual grail quest in trying to get to an authentic version of the telling. If you are into the Arthurian literature as it jumped from the medieval to the modern, this is a great book to add to your collection. Last note: be forwarned that Steinbeck never really finished his book. He spent years doing the research, but never really wrapped the stories with a bow. Just appreciate the tales he does tell, and how he tells them. You already know how the story ends.
brightball 5y ago
I wonder if that’s why it’s so difficult to look up specific stories. I vividly recall reading one in my childhood about a KotRT who sought out to challenge another who was supposed to be unbeatable during daylight, but insisted on waiting to challenge him at his best rather than his weakest. Always thought it was a great honor story and I can’t for the life of me find it.
- silicon2401 5y ago
  I would suggest asking on reddit if you can't find it here. I've actually managed to find some things that I had been seeking for over a decade through places like reddit.
  - dspillett 5y ago
    https://scifi.stackexchange.com/ https://scifi.stackexchange.com/ might also be a good place to ask, story identification threads are common and often answered quickly if sufficient detail is given (or the asker is lucky).
- naufragios 5y ago
  IIRC Gawain is the knight who is strongest at noon.
  - brightball 5y ago
    The details I remember, the one he wanted to challenge was the Red Knight (I think) and the other detail of the story that I remember was whoever was going to challenge him initially didn't have any armor and kept collecting pieces from other knights that he defeated along the way. I think it might have been Gawain now that you mention it. Pretty sure it started with a G so I kept thinking Gallahad. EDIT: Found it! Sir Gareth! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth#Le_Morte_d'Arthur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth#Le_Morte_d'Arthur
- groby_b 5y ago
  I think that's probably based on the story line about Lancelot wounding Gawain with Balin's sword. Somewhere in Morte d'Arthur, but I don't recall the "wait to be at his best" part. It sounds like a Hollywood addition to the story, so maybe a movie?
bee_rider 5y ago
They also mention Marvel comics in the article. Although, it seems a bit less concrete than that. These stories were written over the course of hundreds of years, and were often not really collaborating at all, right? Like, Lancelot's characterization can diverge pretty significantly depending on whether the author is English or French, haha...
- jfengel 5y ago
  Correct. Marvel has somebody in charge. A more apt parallel is fanfic... except that there isn't any "canon". It's all fanon. In the Arthurian fanfic verse, a few authors get famous enough that they form a kind of accepted canon. You're likely to read Malory in school, because the faculty likes the Malory version. Try telling your teacher that you disagree with their headcanon.
  - fragmede 5y ago
    If you think there's trouble to be had when telling your professor that you disagree about what's canon for a mythos from 1000 years ago, you should not engage with believers on what's canon vs not about a story about a Jewish carpenter from, oh, about 2021 years ago. Definitely do NOT question if that story has somebody in charge.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

Some modern fan-driven content: https://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/ https://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/

samizdis 5y ago

Good grief. I had no idea that Steinbeck had written an Arthurian tale - and based on Malory, to boot. I am so looking forward to reading that. Thanks for the information.

sparky_z 5y ago
Just wait until you find out about his werewolf murder mystery :) https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001309335/a-young-john-steinbecks-unpublished-werewolf-novel-isnt-going-to-print https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001309335/a-young-john-stein...
- handrous 5y ago
  Or his WWII propaganda novel featuring not-Nazi occupied not-Norway, and resistance fighters trying to commit sabotage against the occupying force. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Down https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Down
  - samizdis 5y ago
    Many thanks for that - I've just snagged a copy. So much for my (arrogant) belief that I had a full picture of Steinbeck.
    - handrous 5y ago
      It kinda doesn't feel like a Steinbeck book, really, but it's not a bad read, for what it is. (someone DV'd my original post, at some point, and I'm not sure if this is why [maybe it was for some other reason entirely] but I intended my use of the term "propaganda" in a descriptive, neutral sense—that's what it is, and what it was intended to be)
- samizdis 5y ago
  This is really messing with my head now. We read Steinbeck at school - in the UK - and were in awe at the gravitas, use of English, literary genius. This is like finding out that Thomas Hardy also wrote manga, or something. I would so love to get my hands on Murder at Full Moon. I've just searched out some news stories about this and, apparently, Steinbeck destroyed some manuscripts he'd written under the Peter Pym pseudonym, but not this one; apparently he had also tried to get it published. Arrrgh! I so hope that this sees the light of day at some point - or, er, the light of the Moon.
neaden 5y ago
It really is very good, but unfortunately unfinished and was unpublished in his lifetime.
heurisko 5y ago
Before abandoning it for Paradise Lost, John Milton was also going to theme his epic poem on Arthurian legend.
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  I'd love to read a murder mystery by Milton
PeterCorless 5y ago
Steinbeck's Arthurian tales was spurred on by his childhood in Salinas, California. As a child, he used to play as a knight and he made his little sister play his squire. He dedicated the book to her. I am generally favorable to a lot of what Steinbeck did with his treatment, other than "vamping up" Morgan le Fey, which seemed a bit too dime store novel of a characterization to me. Otherwise he does a great job getting into the psychology of the knight characters. The published version also includes a great number of his letters on his process, showing how Steinbeck himself was on a sort of spiritual grail quest in trying to get to an authentic version of the telling. If you are into the Arthurian literature as it jumped from the medieval to the modern, this is a great book to add to your collection. Last note: be forwarned that Steinbeck never really finished his book. He spent years doing the research, but never really wrapped the stories with a bow. Just appreciate the tales he does tell, and how he tells them. You already know how the story ends.

brightball 5y ago

I wonder if that’s why it’s so difficult to look up specific stories. I vividly recall reading one in my childhood about a KotRT who sought out to challenge another who was supposed to be unbeatable during daylight, but insisted on waiting to challenge him at his best rather than his weakest. Always thought it was a great honor story and I can’t for the life of me find it.

silicon2401 5y ago
I would suggest asking on reddit if you can't find it here. I've actually managed to find some things that I had been seeking for over a decade through places like reddit.
- dspillett 5y ago
  https://scifi.stackexchange.com/ https://scifi.stackexchange.com/ might also be a good place to ask, story identification threads are common and often answered quickly if sufficient detail is given (or the asker is lucky).
naufragios 5y ago
IIRC Gawain is the knight who is strongest at noon.
- brightball 5y ago
  The details I remember, the one he wanted to challenge was the Red Knight (I think) and the other detail of the story that I remember was whoever was going to challenge him initially didn't have any armor and kept collecting pieces from other knights that he defeated along the way. I think it might have been Gawain now that you mention it. Pretty sure it started with a G so I kept thinking Gallahad. EDIT: Found it! Sir Gareth! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth#Le_Morte_d'Arthur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth#Le_Morte_d'Arthur
groby_b 5y ago
I think that's probably based on the story line about Lancelot wounding Gawain with Balin's sword. Somewhere in Morte d'Arthur, but I don't recall the "wait to be at his best" part. It sounds like a Hollywood addition to the story, so maybe a movie?

bee_rider 5y ago

They also mention Marvel comics in the article. Although, it seems a bit less concrete than that. These stories were written over the course of hundreds of years, and were often not really collaborating at all, right? Like, Lancelot's characterization can diverge pretty significantly depending on whether the author is English or French, haha...

jfengel 5y ago
Correct. Marvel has somebody in charge. A more apt parallel is fanfic... except that there isn't any "canon". It's all fanon. In the Arthurian fanfic verse, a few authors get famous enough that they form a kind of accepted canon. You're likely to read Malory in school, because the faculty likes the Malory version. Try telling your teacher that you disagree with their headcanon.
- fragmede 5y ago
  If you think there's trouble to be had when telling your professor that you disagree about what's canon for a mythos from 1000 years ago, you should not engage with believers on what's canon vs not about a story about a Jewish carpenter from, oh, about 2021 years ago. Definitely do NOT question if that story has somebody in charge.