0:00:11 > 0:00:14Who's our greatest national hero?
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Churchill, perhaps?
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Admiral Nelson, maybe?
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Nobby Stiles, anyone?
0:00:23 > 0:00:29It's tricky, but my hero is someone of unrivalled legendary status.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS
0:00:37 > 0:00:41He drew his sword, Excalibur, from the stone.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46He assembled the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48She ever grows more beautiful.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54He was betrayed by his queen, Guinevere, and Lancelot.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57This was the knight who came so swift to my rescue.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03And it's said he will one day return in our hour of need.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07His name is King Arthur.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09Hail King Arthur, King of England!
0:01:14 > 0:01:17But where does this timeless legend come from?
0:01:18 > 0:01:21It's difficult to know,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24but I believe its origins lie here,
0:01:24 > 0:01:26at Hastings.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33When the Normans defeated King Harold here in 1066,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36it wasn't the end of the conquest, it was only the beginning.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40To exert control, they had to conquer not just the country,
0:01:40 > 0:01:41but the culture.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45And in doing so, they embraced the legend of King Arthur
0:01:45 > 0:01:48to such an extent that the Arthur that we think of today,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50that great icon of Britishness,
0:01:50 > 0:01:56is as much a Norman creation as he is our own.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04As a poet, I am not interested in whether Arthur existed or not.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07Instead, I want to trace the story
0:02:07 > 0:02:11through the literature and manuscripts of the medieval age.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16To show how the Norman invaders plundered him from the poems
0:02:16 > 0:02:21of Welsh bards, fixing him in their own image and language.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30How foppish French poets would recast him as cuckold and coward.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38And finally, how a new generation of English writers
0:02:38 > 0:02:42would reclaim him as our quintessential national hero.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Some men in England say that King Arthur is not dead,
0:03:11 > 0:03:16that he shall come again, he is the Once and Future King.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Those are the words of Thomas Malory,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23the greatest of all Arthurian writers.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26And he was right, too.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28About 10 years ago,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31King Arthur actually came to my home town in Yorkshire.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33One, two...one, two, three, four!
0:03:33 > 0:03:37# It's time to open curtain it's time to light the lights
0:03:37 > 0:03:41# It's time to know for certain it's the panto night tonight. #
0:03:41 > 0:03:44I was there, all-singing, all-dancing,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48the night Pureside Working Men's Club put on our annual panto.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57This surreal version of Arthur was dreamed up in the overactive mind
0:03:57 > 0:04:00of one Peter Armitage - my dad.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04The first voice that anyone heard was the voice of Merlin,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07who said, "Roll up, over here, over here.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10"Get the sword out of the stone and rule England."
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Have a go, you'd make a lovely king!
0:04:16 > 0:04:18CHEERING
0:04:20 > 0:04:23I've broken my nail!
0:04:26 > 0:04:29- There's some dresses there. - Yeah, look at them.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31- That were Guinevere's dress.- Yeah.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34There's a bit of quality there. Hey, look at these!
0:04:34 > 0:04:37It's got blood on it!
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Yeah, well, it will, you've got to have realism.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Look at that, man.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46A man's got a certain amount of pride
0:04:46 > 0:04:49when he writes his initials on his own sword.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51I remember being in one of the battles with one of these swords.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Ha! Hey, look here! What can't speak, can't lie. Have a look at that -
0:04:55 > 0:04:59SA, Simon Armitage, my sword.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03- It is, that's my writing. - It's you're writing, isn't it?
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Hey, reunited. I am the true Arthur.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Yeah.
0:05:08 > 0:05:09Fantastic.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12It's an Aladdin's Cave.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16- I'm reluctant to let that go now, I have to say.- Do you want it?
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- I think it's part of my inheritance. - Do you want it?- I do, yeah.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Speaking of inheritance, that might be it, pal!
0:05:22 > 0:05:25The way I'm spending all my holidays at the moment,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28- that might be what you're getting! - Are you ready?
0:05:28 > 0:05:32- Ready!- 1, 2, 3, pull!
0:05:34 > 0:05:39My dad's panto was an idiosyncratic take on the Arthur story.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49But every generation has seen Arthur in a different way.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54For the Victorians,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58he offered a nostalgia kick in an age of industrialisation.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02In the 20th century,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05he was popularised in children's literature.
0:06:08 > 0:06:09For archaeologists,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12evidence of Arthur can be the key to fame and fortune.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Maybe the bones of King Arthur's lie beneath this grass,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19maybe they don't.
0:06:19 > 0:06:20My Lord,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23let me go in search of the Grail.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29There have been countless screen adaptations.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33And who could forget Rick Wakeman's prog rock extravaganza -
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Arthur On...Ice.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41The one thing that unites them all
0:06:41 > 0:06:45is the image of Arthur as our great national hero.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49But it's only when I started translating medieval poetry
0:06:49 > 0:06:53that I realised that our Arthur is a Norman.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Imagine you're William the Conqueror.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15You were victorious at the Battle of Hastings, and now you're marching
0:07:15 > 0:07:20to Wales to subdue the people and to see what else you can filch.
0:07:22 > 0:07:28But in this part of the country, the natives just won't lie down.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42This area around here, along the English-Welsh border,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46it seems very serene and pleasant and quiet this morning,
0:07:46 > 0:07:51but it would've been a scene of great conflict and skirmishes.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55And castles like this remind us how the Normans
0:07:55 > 0:08:00not only wanted to fortify their interests and subdue the people,
0:08:00 > 0:08:05but almost stands as a metaphor for how they wanted to impose themselves
0:08:05 > 0:08:07on the cultural landscape.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18The Norman conquest would be a total conquest of land,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21of people, of culture.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26And to achieve that, they needed someone to rewrite history.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36You're a Norman cleric with literary ambitions.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41You live and work here.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43These days, the place is empty.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51There's only Hazel, who works in the office weekdays, nine until noon.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00But in 1135, Monmouth Priory was a thriving monastery,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04and home to the writer Geoffrey of Monmouth.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09Geoffrey was determined to write a new Norman version of history
0:09:09 > 0:09:12to please his superiors.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17In doing so, he would kick-start the Arthurian legend we know today.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22You get the impression of Geoffrey as a young and ambitious man.
0:09:22 > 0:09:28He was a cleric, he was a scholar with an eye for the main chance,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31maybe noticing a gap in the market
0:09:31 > 0:09:35and contemplating writing a bestseller.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41"Oftentimes, in turning over
0:09:41 > 0:09:43"in mine own mind the many themes
0:09:43 > 0:09:46"that might be subject matter of a book,
0:09:46 > 0:09:50"my thoughts would fall upon the plan of writing a history
0:09:50 > 0:09:53"of the kings of Britain."
0:09:55 > 0:09:58That's Geoffrey himself in his preface
0:09:58 > 0:10:00to what would become his famous work.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04It gives us a little insight into the man himself,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08sitting down with the intention of writing
0:10:08 > 0:10:13a lucid, sober, clear-minded history of these islands.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19At the heart of his history would be the reign of King Arthur.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24But Geoffrey's Arthur would prove a very different character
0:10:24 > 0:10:28from the Arthur celebrated by the local Welsh bards.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42This Arthur was a mythological Welsh chieftain
0:10:42 > 0:10:46whose spirit inhabited the landscape.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51SPOKEN IN WELSH
0:10:57 > 0:11:00He was a shadowy character,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03his mere name a symbol of hope and unity in uncertain times.
0:11:17 > 0:11:23And in the taverns of the Welsh hills, his story is still told.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Arthur, from very early times,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47his name was always sung like a bell
0:11:47 > 0:11:51down through the centuries in Welsh poetry as a
0:11:51 > 0:11:55wonderful example of what all chieftains or leaders
0:11:55 > 0:11:58or patrons should be.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02Do you think it would have been politically convenient
0:12:02 > 0:12:05- for the Normans to appropriate Arthur?- I do.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07The Normans, being a very canny people,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10they knew how to use history and legend,
0:12:10 > 0:12:14and if they could appropriate the story of King Arthur
0:12:14 > 0:12:18they could also become the proprietors
0:12:18 > 0:12:21of all that Arthur belonged to.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24So by possessing one of their heroes,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27they become possessors of the hearts and minds of the people as well?
0:12:27 > 0:12:29I think so, yeah.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32But we know
0:12:32 > 0:12:35that he is one of us.
0:12:35 > 0:12:36Am I one of us?
0:12:36 > 0:12:39- You can be, if you like.- Thank you.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49In writing his history, Geoffrey of Monmouth stole the figure of Arthur
0:12:49 > 0:12:51from the Welsh bards,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55and began moulding him into a Norman character.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10He forged an ancestral link
0:13:10 > 0:13:14between Arthur and the new Norman ruling elite.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22He hammered out Arthur's rough edges, creating a polished
0:13:22 > 0:13:24and refined, magisterial king.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33He even drew comparisons between Arthur
0:13:33 > 0:13:35and William the Conqueror himself.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42Geoffrey had crafted the first clear image of King Arthur,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49and that image was of a Norman conqueror.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05'Arthur did set upon his head the helm of gold.'
0:14:05 > 0:14:10'Girt was he also with Excalibur,'
0:14:10 > 0:14:15'best of swords, that was forged within the Isle of Avalon.'
0:14:17 > 0:14:23And Arthur's tool of conquest was the sword Excalibur.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28At his Wiltshire forge,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Hector spends his days contemplating the power of the sword.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38All hand-forged swords have character, and then
0:14:38 > 0:14:42if they're used by the right person and they're successful, this is where
0:14:42 > 0:14:45your myths and legends start.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47The swords in Arthurian literature
0:14:47 > 0:14:52often seem to be imbued with magical properties as well.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55I'm just wondering, when you're making these, do you feel as if
0:14:55 > 0:15:02you're working in an ancient craft on sort of almost sacred objects?
0:15:02 > 0:15:04That is my pleasure in making them.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08There is a magical quality about it, I don't care what anyone says.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12It's that earth, fire, water and air that you're using,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16all those elements, and they're all going into that blade.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20What about in the 12th century, when Geoffrey of Monmouth was writing?
0:15:20 > 0:15:24Is this the kind of thing that he would have had in mind?
0:15:24 > 0:15:27The sword that we've been working on today
0:15:27 > 0:15:30is the sword that he would be familiar with.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34It was still very much a slashing weapon, and if you were on horseback
0:15:34 > 0:15:39then you needed a long blade, and a reasonable amount of weight
0:15:39 > 0:15:43in that sword, so that it would function when you used it.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47- It does feel very usable, you know, very balanced.- Oh they are, yes.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50They should float in your hand so that you can use them.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52It does, it really does.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55No, that could be very handy in Huddersfield on a Friday night.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56Oh, definitely!
0:16:00 > 0:16:04With Excalibur in his hand, Geoffrey's Arthur defeats the
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Anglo-Saxons and conquers vast swathes of the Continent -
0:16:09 > 0:16:11just as the Normans had done.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17They say the pen is mightier than the sword,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21but you feel pretty mighty with a sword in your hand, as well.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24And Arthur is certainly mighty when Geoffrey of Monmouth
0:16:24 > 0:16:28writes about him going into battle. And this is the sign of his power.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31He says that Arthur
0:16:31 > 0:16:36goes swishing into the thickest part of the battle, crying out,
0:16:36 > 0:16:41"Holy Mary", and kills 470 of the enemy just by touching them.
0:16:41 > 0:16:48It's as if Excalibur is the embodiment of Arthur himself.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58London, 1150,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00and Geoffrey's King Arthur is all the rage.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06If you're a poet looking to make a quick bob,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10you can do much worse than pick up Geoffrey's history
0:17:10 > 0:17:14and make it your own, cutting here, and adding there.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21It was the Norman poet, Robert Wace, who first translated
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Geoffrey's prose history into poetry.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27He wrote in old French and called it the Roman de Brut,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29the Romance of the Britons.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36One of the few remaining copies rests here
0:17:36 > 0:17:39at the Royal College of Arms.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45This is the nerve centre from which all of Britain's
0:17:45 > 0:17:47heraldry is administered.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Step inside and it's like a medieval world that time forgot.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Even today, members of the College of Arms have a heraldic title.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06This is Bluemantle Pursuivant,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10also known as Peter.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19He's the keeper of Robert Wace's precious manuscript.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35SPOKEN IN FRENCH
0:18:57 > 0:18:59It is always exciting to see an original,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03and exciting for me because this is a poem, you can see it's a poem
0:19:03 > 0:19:05from the way it's laid out.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07I can't really read it,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09my old French is not too hot,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13in fact some people say that my English isn't great either,
0:19:13 > 0:19:15but I can make out references in the poem.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20I can see Arthur's name popping up here,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22and mention of the Round Table.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26In fact the first ever reference to the Round Table
0:19:26 > 0:19:28in Arthurian literature.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32The rhyming couplets are pretty clear.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Arthur da-de-da-de-da......
0:19:34 > 0:19:38..table...da-de-da-de-da-de-da...
0:19:38 > 0:19:40..fable.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44It just makes me think of the stamina needed for a task like this,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46some huge work in rhyming couplets
0:19:46 > 0:19:48and suddenly you're confronted with
0:19:48 > 0:19:50finding a rhyme for "Round Table" once again
0:19:50 > 0:19:55and you've used fable already, and where do you go from there?
0:19:55 > 0:19:59I'd be trying to get the Tower of Babel in there, I think.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01Or Auntie Mabel.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Robert Wace's mention of the Round Table was inspired.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10These two words were to change the course
0:20:10 > 0:20:12of the Arthurian legend forever.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20Poets and writers from across Europe saw the opportunity to create
0:20:20 > 0:20:23wonderful tales that focused not on Arthur,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27but on the quests of the knights who sat at the Round Table.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37I'm heading back to Wales,
0:20:37 > 0:20:43hot on the tracks of the most famous and daring of all Arthurian quests.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53It's a quest taken up by the Welsh knight Percival,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56who leaves the court of King Arthur
0:20:56 > 0:21:00and sets out in search of the Holy Grail -
0:21:00 > 0:21:03the humble cup that Christ drank from at the Last Supper.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09The tale captivated medieval readers across Christendom.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16Presumably these knights of the road are unaware that
0:21:16 > 0:21:21Al & Glo's Diner on the A40 sits on a sacred route of pilgrimage,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25to what is believed to be the true Holy Grail.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Many people think the Holy Grail still exists.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39The story is this -
0:21:39 > 0:21:42after the death and resurrection of Jesus,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Joseph of Arimathea came to Britain and brought the Holy Grail with him.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49He left at Glastonbury when he died.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52It stayed there until 1539,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55when Henry VIII's men came to sack that Abbey,
0:21:55 > 0:21:57and then the abbot ordered the monks
0:21:57 > 0:22:00to flee with the precious cup into Wales.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02And here the cup stayed.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07The cup fell into the hands of the Powell family,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10who kept it at their home, Nanteos Mansion,
0:22:10 > 0:22:15for 400 years until the estate was broken up in the 1950s.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19Mrs Bliss, you live here now, but when you were a child
0:22:19 > 0:22:21- you know this house as a visitor. - Yes.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25- Did you ever see the cup itself? - Yes, I did.
0:22:25 > 0:22:26Do people still come to see it?
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Oh yes, they do.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32But unfortunately, we have to send them away because
0:22:32 > 0:22:34we no longer have the cup at Nanteos.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36Do people come from a long way away to see it?
0:22:36 > 0:22:40Yes, they do. A lot of people from abroad - America, Italy -
0:22:40 > 0:22:44they have heard of the Nanteos Cup.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48I haven't been allowed to see, leave alone film, the Grail,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51or the Cup, as it is, in its present resting place.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56But there are many, many stories of miraculous cures brought about
0:22:56 > 0:23:00by drinking from the Nanteos Cup.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03When the Powells left Nanteos
0:23:03 > 0:23:07the whereabouts of the Grail became a mystery.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11But I've tracked down one of the last descendants
0:23:11 > 0:23:14of the once-great Powell dynasty.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17She lives alone at a secret address,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21with only her Pekingese dogs for company.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26It's she who must shoulder the burden of guarding the Holy Grail.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28KNOCKING
0:23:33 > 0:23:35- Oh, welcome.- Hello.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37Welcome to the home of the Grail, pleased to meet you.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Hiya, nice to meet you. I've got your little pressie,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42I got you some Welsh daffodils.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44Thank you very much. Thank you.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46- It's a pleasure. May I come in?- Yes.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Thank you very much.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Fiona, I'm on the trail of the Holy Grail.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Oh, right, you've come a long way.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Percival had to go through huge trials and tribulations
0:23:59 > 0:24:02- to eventually see the Grail.- Yes.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06Should that be the way it is now, should people have to overcome
0:24:06 > 0:24:09the same obstacles to be able to achieve the Grail?
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Yes, you have to go through certain challenges
0:24:13 > 0:24:17to see the Grail, the real Grail.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Quite a challenge for me, finding your house,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22I don't know whether that's the equivalent.
0:24:22 > 0:24:23Yes, I'm sure it was, yes.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27And I see the road was dug up today as well,
0:24:27 > 0:24:31that was like Percival's challenge.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35I think it said, "Road closed", yeah.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37And would you let anybody see the Grail?
0:24:37 > 0:24:38No, certainly not.
0:24:38 > 0:24:44Nowadays the world is quite a wicked and evil place.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49Only the pure in heart find the Holy Grail.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Is that right? How do you think I'm fixed on that front?
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Yes, I think you look like someone who is pure in heart,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59and you like poetry,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02which I like, and literature.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Well, I'm taking my heart in my mouth now,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07but I'm going to ask you, Fiona.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09Can I see the Grail?
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Um... I feel you are a person who should see the Grail,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17you've got the right spirit and the right faith.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21So I'll get it out and show it you now.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30Right, we usually keep it in here for safety.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35Before you show me this, Fiona, if what you're saying is true,
0:25:35 > 0:25:40what I'm going to look at now is the actual vessel
0:25:40 > 0:25:42from which Christ drank at the Last Supper.
0:25:42 > 0:25:48It is the Holy Grail that Jesus drank out of at the Last Supper, yes.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51So we preserve it very carefully.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54- It has always been in this box.- Yeah.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59That is the glass bowl.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01It has seen better days.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Yes, there is not much left now.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08I mean, forgive me for pointing out the obvious,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10but has somebody had a bite out of this?
0:26:10 > 0:26:11Yes.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Yes, I think people did bite bits off it, yes.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18What, thinking it would be good luck to swallow a bit?
0:26:18 > 0:26:23Yes, but now we don't let anyone even see or touch it.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27- No. I'm not going to bite it, don't worry.- I'll just turn it over.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29OK.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Oh, yes. There's the base.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38And is it OK for me to pick that up?
0:26:38 > 0:26:42If you don't want me to, I won't. It's fine.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47If you just touch it with your hand, Simon, just say a prayer.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52I want to thank you for showing me that,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55- because I know it means a great deal to you.- Yes, it does.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57I guard it with my life, yes.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13Well, I didn't hear a host of golden angels
0:27:13 > 0:27:15when I touched the Nanteos Cup,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19and I don't think I feel any more enlightened.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22But it was quite humbling that Fiona would share with me
0:27:22 > 0:27:25something which was clearly so important to her,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29and it does remind me that if you are prepared to let them be,
0:27:29 > 0:27:35these ancient stories can be very powerful, and very persuasive.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38And it is quite fantastic, really,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43that signs and symbols of these myths that started in the Dark Ages
0:27:43 > 0:27:46and were written down almost 1,000 years ago
0:27:46 > 0:27:51should still be existing today in our contemporary, new-fangled world.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01You may have noticed something in this story.
0:28:01 > 0:28:02Arthur has all but disappeared,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05eclipsed by his more courageous knights.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11But for the king, things were about to get much worse.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36The Arthurian tales were the literary sensation
0:28:36 > 0:28:37of the Middle Ages,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40and they became a common language among all people of Europe.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51As the stories seeped deeper into the culture of medieval France,
0:28:51 > 0:28:53King Arthur would fall victim
0:28:53 > 0:28:56to the whims and fancy of French writers.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06We might think of France as a foreign country,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08the old enemy, even.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11But during the 12th century, parts of Britain and parts of France
0:29:11 > 0:29:15were the same kingdom, with shared monarchs and a shared culture.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20So there were no border controls as far as literature was concerned,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23and no immigration checks for its characters.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28The hand of the French writers was reaching out towards our Arthur,
0:29:28 > 0:29:30and he was about to go all ooh-la-la.
0:29:39 > 0:29:44It was here, around Provins, 60 or so miles south-east of Paris,
0:29:44 > 0:29:48that the Arthurian tale was about to take this new turn.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56The French writers decided to spice up the legend
0:29:56 > 0:29:58with the soupcon of sex.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05And the sauciest of them all was a wandering minstrel
0:30:05 > 0:30:06named Chretien de Troyes.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12SPOKEN IN FRENCH
0:30:33 > 0:30:37We tend to think of authors these days as people who write whatever
0:30:37 > 0:30:41they want whenever they want, and long may it be so.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43But back in Chretien's time,
0:30:43 > 0:30:47though often little more than jobbing tradespeople,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50people who would kneel at the feet of their patrons
0:30:50 > 0:30:56and produce work according to the needs and desires of the day.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Sometimes for the Royal Family.
0:30:58 > 0:30:59Imagine that.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Chretien was writing at the service of his great patron,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12the Countess Marie de Champagne.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19At her court, Marie demanded refined manners
0:31:19 > 0:31:21and utter devotion from her male subjects.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29This kind of behaviour became known as courtly love.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37At the medieval Rose Garden in Provins, the ideals of courtly love
0:31:37 > 0:31:38are alive in Claudine Glot.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44If I wanted to practise courtly love,
0:31:44 > 0:31:47what kind of things would I need to learn?
0:31:47 > 0:31:49You must be proud,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54generous, full of charity.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56You must have a great valour in yourself,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58and you must do wonderful things.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01You have to be elegant, clever, well-clothed.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03You have to have excellent manners.
0:32:03 > 0:32:09And you have to accept to do everything your lady asks you to do.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11- Quite a challenge.- A big challenge.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13A full-life challenge.
0:32:13 > 0:32:20So in that world, in the world of Arthur and the Round Table,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24courtly love would be the most noble moral code, would it?
0:32:24 > 0:32:32It is. It is a big fight in this Arthurian books and texts,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35because we still have the old chivalrous codes
0:32:35 > 0:32:38and we have this new story, with this new way of life.
0:32:38 > 0:32:45And Chretien le Troyes put courtly love and courtesy
0:32:45 > 0:32:48at such a high level.
0:32:48 > 0:32:54In 2010, if I started practising courtly love, do you think that
0:32:54 > 0:32:56that would be appreciated by women,
0:32:56 > 0:32:59or do you think they would just think I was insane?
0:32:59 > 0:33:03No, I think it would be appreciated, because we're at that moment where
0:33:03 > 0:33:08all books and magazines are full of sex, and maybe it is too much.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10We are not only sex machines, you know.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18It was Chretien who brought the idea of courtly love
0:33:18 > 0:33:20into the legend of King Arthur.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25But in his hands, Arthur is barely recognisable.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46Chretien opens his story at the Court of Camelot, perhaps inspired
0:33:46 > 0:33:50by this building, the Tour Cesar, which Chretien would have known well
0:33:50 > 0:33:52as he began to write.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58We first find King Arthur
0:33:58 > 0:34:00luxuriating with his queen, Guinevere.
0:34:00 > 0:34:05But this Arthur is not the courageous hero you might expect.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17One day, a stranger arrives at court,
0:34:17 > 0:34:21taunting Arthur about his lack of power and wealth,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24and claiming to be holding some of Arthur's people.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28So, as part of a medieval hostage exchange programme,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Arthur rather meekly allow Guinevere
0:34:31 > 0:34:34to be taken off into the forest.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37And it will need someone more manly and handsome than Arthur
0:34:37 > 0:34:39to rescue Guinevere.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41Enter Lancelot.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51Lancelot is perhaps Chretien's greatest invention.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55He outshines all the other nights, even Arthur himself.
0:35:00 > 0:35:05Needless to say, he is a Frenchman, oozing Gallic charm.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08And when he falls for Queen Guinevere,
0:35:08 > 0:35:11he can't help but fear the worst.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16It is the sight of a golden strand of hair caught in a comb
0:35:16 > 0:35:19that first sets Lancelot's heart racing.
0:35:19 > 0:35:24And there's swooning and fainting and heartbreak and histrionics.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28All this, and the couple have barely spoken, let alone kissed.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40Lancelot fights to reach the imprisoned Queen Guinevere.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47And in Chretien's story of courtly love, there can only be one ending.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56Love must have its way.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59And one night, Lancelot steals through an orchard
0:35:59 > 0:36:02towards where Guinevere is sleeping.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06He bends back the bars at the window with his bare hands,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09and he lays with Guinevere until dawn.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16TRANSLATION:
0:36:44 > 0:36:47It is quite shocking to read that adultery scene.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50It is quite a racy passage in the book. And I suppose
0:36:50 > 0:36:53in modern terms, you could say that Chretien takes it all the way.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58It leaves Arthur cuckolded and emasculated.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01It is as if Lancelot hasn't just stolen his wife,
0:37:01 > 0:37:03he has stolen the story.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12It would be 200 years before a poem restored Arthur's reputation.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15A poem written much closer to home.
0:37:21 > 0:37:22Come on, Albion!
0:37:29 > 0:37:31Go on, boys!
0:37:33 > 0:37:34Come on, lads!
0:37:36 > 0:37:38It is now the 14th century.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40England is at war with France.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47England is a new sovereign nation, fighting for her independence.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55Out of this atmosphere came a new patriotic spirit,
0:37:55 > 0:38:00a spirit reflected in the emergence of the English language.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02- Oi! Get in your- BLEEP- half!
0:38:04 > 0:38:08Poems and songs were written down in English for the first time,
0:38:08 > 0:38:12and for me, one of the best is an anonymous epic poem
0:38:12 > 0:38:18known by its unsexy academic title as The Alliterative Morte Arthure.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22French and Latin were the established
0:38:22 > 0:38:25literary languages of the day,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27and nearly all Arthurian literature was presented
0:38:27 > 0:38:29in those languages.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33But this was a poem written in the emerging English language.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37I suppose back in Paris it was a little bit minor-league,
0:38:37 > 0:38:43something a little bit subversive about it as well, and Northern.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45In fact, some people go as far as to say
0:38:45 > 0:38:48that the poem was probably written by somebody from West Yorkshire,
0:38:48 > 0:38:51with a West Yorkshire dialect.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58Go on!
0:38:58 > 0:39:00Handball!
0:39:00 > 0:39:03Sir Arthur's army set eyes on the enemy,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06shoved for'ard their shields
0:39:06 > 0:39:08and shunned further delay.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13Shunting forward at the foe withfierce shouts,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17and battering through the bright bucklers at the wurriers.
0:39:23 > 0:39:29This is a very different Arthur emerging through the English poems.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33In the French literature, he was a marginalised character, really,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36a gentleman concerned with etiquette
0:39:36 > 0:39:39and courtly love, but pushed slightly to one side.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43Here, he is at the very centre of everything that is going on.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48He is a national hero, a ruler at home, and he is a conqueror abroad.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51He is going to make the whole world bow to his whim.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59Arthur had come home.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06But it would take a true masterpiece of English literature
0:40:06 > 0:40:11to establish him as the great national hero we know today.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25You're well-bred and refined, you did your stint in the army
0:40:25 > 0:40:29and inherited the family estate.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32It's true, you've had a privileged life,
0:40:32 > 0:40:36but at heart you're an unsavoury character.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40Only you know why you did it.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Robbery, rape
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and murder.
0:40:46 > 0:40:52It was around 1450 while awaiting trial for his heinous misdeeds
0:40:52 > 0:40:56that Sir Thomas Malory was locked up in the Tower of London.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03To say that Malory
0:41:03 > 0:41:06had led a colourful life is a bit of an understatement.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10He'd enjoyed power, rank and privilege on the one hand.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13On the other hand, he'd been a notorious criminal,
0:41:13 > 0:41:15living the life of a fugitive.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20But all that would come to an abrupt halt with his incarceration here.
0:41:20 > 0:41:26From now on, Malory's days would be spent in enforced contemplation.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32It was during his years of imprisonment
0:41:32 > 0:41:35that Sir Thomas Malory first started to write.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46Malory wasn't a writer at all until his imprisonment here,
0:41:46 > 0:41:48but with books at his disposal,
0:41:48 > 0:41:50with stories in his memories
0:41:50 > 0:41:53and with, frankly, lots of time on his hands,
0:41:53 > 0:41:56he threw himself into this hugely ambitious project.
0:41:56 > 0:42:01He set about writing a coherent and compelling version
0:42:01 > 0:42:05of the Arthur story, and he couldn't have foreseen it,
0:42:05 > 0:42:09but it would become one of the great masterpieces
0:42:09 > 0:42:12of English literature and would fix King Arthur
0:42:12 > 0:42:16in the imagination of the British people for centuries to come.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24There are very few people in the world who can truly
0:42:24 > 0:42:26appreciate Malory's achievement.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30But the author Erwin James,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33who also began his writing career in prison, is one of them.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41I was living on the fringes of society, smashing windows,
0:42:41 > 0:42:45getting drunk, getting into fights, total directionless behaviour.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47I just became worse. I met this chap.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50We were living in a squat, basically.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53We'd go out together committing grubby crimes like
0:42:53 > 0:42:56breaking into cars, doing pathetic things, really.
0:42:56 > 0:43:01And ultimately, we ended up being involved in two murders.
0:43:01 > 0:43:07Two ordinary people lost their lives because of me and my co-accused.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11I was locked up in Wandsworth, my first year just locked up in a cell
0:43:11 > 0:43:1323 hours a day.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Six books a week from the prison library,
0:43:16 > 0:43:19bucket in the corner from my toilet
0:43:19 > 0:43:22and lots of time to think, you know.
0:43:22 > 0:43:27And at what stage, then, did writing become important to you,
0:43:27 > 0:43:29or even reading before that?
0:43:29 > 0:43:30Well, reading... I was literate.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35In many ways, I had the edge on a lot of my fellow prisoners
0:43:35 > 0:43:38because I was literate. I was barely literate.
0:43:38 > 0:43:39I wasn't educated.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42But I could read and I could write a bit.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44I could write a letter.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47But they weren't particular strengths.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49Did you read Malory in prison and do you remember
0:43:49 > 0:43:52what you thought of it at the time?
0:43:52 > 0:43:55Initially when I read it, I couldn't imagine that this person
0:43:55 > 0:43:59who'd written this classic thing that everybody knows about,
0:43:59 > 0:44:01the story of Arthur and all these legends,
0:44:01 > 0:44:04was sort of conjured up and made palatable
0:44:04 > 0:44:05by this person in a prison cell,
0:44:05 > 0:44:12who also had the opprobrium of his community.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15It took me a while to really accept that this was somebody
0:44:15 > 0:44:17that was in prison that did this.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19But once he started, he could probably see
0:44:19 > 0:44:22this great tapestry stretching out before him.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25When you're locked up and you're isolated,
0:44:25 > 0:44:27your imagination is unbelievable.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30Cos in prison you spend most of your time in your head.
0:44:30 > 0:44:34But of course for Malory, he created an amazing sort of
0:44:34 > 0:44:38environment populated with these great characters.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41One think that I think is the very winning in Malory is the way that he
0:44:41 > 0:44:44keeps addressing you, the reader.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46He's always telling you about his predicament,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49and he asks for deliverance.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54Do you think that the writing is a redemptive act in that sense?
0:44:54 > 0:44:58That's a really good point because I wonder if Malory did have some sense
0:44:58 > 0:45:01of remorse.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Remorse is a great driver.
0:45:08 > 0:45:13This was drawn by a knight prisoner, Sir Thomas Malory,
0:45:13 > 0:45:19and I pray you all that readeth this tale to pray for him
0:45:19 > 0:45:25that God send him good recovery soon and hastily.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29Amen.
0:45:30 > 0:45:35That's Malory speaking, wanting to make his peace with us.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42But his work has a wider resonance than his own redemption.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45He wrote during the War of the Roses,
0:45:45 > 0:45:48the civil war that had divided England.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50In the legend of King Arthur,
0:45:50 > 0:45:53he saw a parable for his own fractured times,
0:45:53 > 0:45:58and his book is dominated by the themes of loyalty and unity.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08It's called Le Morte d'Arthur.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15It tells the story of Arthur's death, and this is the landscape
0:46:15 > 0:46:17of the King's last stand.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23I can't imagine that these...
0:46:23 > 0:46:26landscapes have changed that much in several hundred years.
0:46:26 > 0:46:31Apart from the odd the odd B road, it's still largely
0:46:31 > 0:46:34empty, unoccupied,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38and I think to any writer, that offers a blank canvas.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45You can imagine Malory in his cell, in all that confinement
0:46:45 > 0:46:51and claustrophobia, thinking about this wide expanse and dreaming
0:46:51 > 0:46:56of filling it with a charging knight and storming soldiers.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04To journey through this landscape is to understand the meaning of
0:47:04 > 0:47:08Malory's masterpiece and to understand why Le Morte d'Arthur
0:47:08 > 0:47:11is the one of the jewels in the crown of English literature.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24The beginning of the end finds Arthur away
0:47:24 > 0:47:28fighting Lancelot to avenge him for sleeping with Guinevere.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35But news reaches him of trouble back home at Camelot.
0:47:38 > 0:47:44Arthur's son, Mordred, has betrayed his father and taken the throne.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48Denied vengeance against Lancelot, Arthur must instead
0:47:48 > 0:47:52begin the long march back to do battle with Mordred.
0:47:56 > 0:48:02I'm striding along a tank track on MoD land on Salisbury Plain,
0:48:02 > 0:48:06which is where Malory located the last great battle.
0:48:06 > 0:48:12It's still a place full of danger - one of those places on the map
0:48:12 > 0:48:16with nothing in it and "keep out" signs all around the edge.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19It's also one of those places where the noise of weaponry
0:48:19 > 0:48:20is never far away
0:48:20 > 0:48:25and where warfare is still being practised and perfected.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27So to my mind, it's the perfect place
0:48:27 > 0:48:30to be thinking about Arthur's last stand.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41The stage is set.
0:48:41 > 0:48:46But before giving battle, the army set up camp to rest for the night.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59This is Copehill Down,
0:48:59 > 0:49:04the artificial village where the British Army practise urban warfare.
0:49:08 > 0:49:14It's a lonely and haunting place, evoking the vision of desolation
0:49:14 > 0:49:18that King Arthur sees as he drifts off to sleep.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26Arthur dreams of fortune's wheel.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29It's a kind of metaphysical Ferris wheel.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32It Arthur the right up to the top and then tips him out of the seat
0:49:32 > 0:49:37into a pond full of serpents and worms. It's a prophecy of doom,
0:49:37 > 0:49:41and the significance is that Arthur has reached the very pinnacle
0:49:41 > 0:49:45of his powers and the only direction to go after that is down.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51It's a recurring scene in Arthurian literature, but Malory,
0:49:51 > 0:49:56the master craftsman, heightens it to its full dramatic effect.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59It gives us a foretaste of the complete dismantling
0:49:59 > 0:50:02of Arthur's kingdom and makes Arthur
0:50:02 > 0:50:06one of the great tragic figures of literature.
0:50:11 > 0:50:16At dawn, Arthur is resolved to avoid war at all costs,
0:50:16 > 0:50:18but he's powerless to prevent it.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25The decisive battle commences.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33And never since was there seen a more doleful battle
0:50:33 > 0:50:35in no Christian land;
0:50:35 > 0:50:40for there was but rushing and riding, foining and striking,
0:50:40 > 0:50:45and many a grim word was there spoken of either to other,
0:50:45 > 0:50:47and many a deadly stroke.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51And thus they fought all the long day, and never stinted
0:50:51 > 0:50:54till the noble knights were laid to the cold earth;
0:50:54 > 0:50:57and ever they fought still till it was near night,
0:50:57 > 0:51:03and by then there were a hundred thousand laid dead upon the earth.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06Aware that his narrative was reaching its climax,
0:51:06 > 0:51:11Malory cranks up the rhetoric and ratchets up the numbers.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14It's almost as if every conflict in British history
0:51:14 > 0:51:16had led to this point.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20What's at stake here is both the future of the King
0:51:20 > 0:51:23and the future of the kingdom.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27Hundreds of thousands of men are pitched against each other
0:51:27 > 0:51:29in bloody battle,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33but it would still come down to a fight between father and son.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42Mordred is killed, but Arthur is mortally wounded.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51His dying wish is for Sir Bedivere, his last surviving knight,
0:51:51 > 0:51:56to throw the sword Excalibur into the lake.
0:51:59 > 0:52:04Malory makes it a supreme test of loyalty.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07Sir Bedivere has been
0:52:07 > 0:52:11Arthur's most trusted and loyal knight,
0:52:11 > 0:52:13and I think for Bedivere this would have been like
0:52:13 > 0:52:17disposing of the King himself.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19He would be bringing an end
0:52:19 > 0:52:25to the round table and he would be bringing about the end of the life
0:52:25 > 0:52:27of his friend and his king.
0:52:32 > 0:52:37Then Sir Bedivere departed and went to the sword and lightly took it up
0:52:37 > 0:52:39and so he went unto the water's side
0:52:39 > 0:52:44and there he bound the girdle about the hilt and threw the sword
0:52:44 > 0:52:48as far into the water as he might, and there came an arm and a hand
0:52:48 > 0:52:53above the water and took it and clutched it and shook it thrice
0:52:53 > 0:52:57and brandished and then vanished with the sword into the water.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06It's now time for Arthur to depart from this world.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19Then Sir Bedivere took the King upon his back
0:53:19 > 0:53:23and so went with him to the water's side, and when they were there
0:53:23 > 0:53:29even fast by the bank hoved a little barge with many fair ladies in it.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32"Now put me into that barge," said the King.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36And anon they rowed from the land and Sir Bedivere beheld
0:53:36 > 0:53:39all those ladies go from him.
0:53:39 > 0:53:44"Comfort thyself," said the King, "For I will into the Vale of Avalon
0:53:44 > 0:53:46"to heal me of my grievous wound.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51"And if thou hear never more of me, pray for my soul."
0:53:56 > 0:54:00If I ever need reminding of the power of literature and myth,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03it's there in that passage.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06No matter how many times I read it, it never fails
0:54:06 > 0:54:08to move me and I don't really know why.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12Something to do with Bedivere carrying King Arthur on his back,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15the end of everything.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Arthur's kingdom finished, separated from his family,
0:54:18 > 0:54:23the round table smashed to pieces, and yet King Arthur accepts all this
0:54:23 > 0:54:26with great dignity and grace.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35I think he understands that his time has come.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41And then he's borne away on this funereal barge
0:54:41 > 0:54:44to the Isle of Avalon.
0:54:44 > 0:54:49I suppose back into the mists of time, out of which he first came.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07Of course there's still a little bit of unfinished business
0:55:07 > 0:55:11in the shape and form of our unfaithful lovers
0:55:11 > 0:55:14Guinevere and Lancelot.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18And Malory manages to tie up these loose ends
0:55:18 > 0:55:22in a very poignant coda at the end of the story.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29In repentance for her infidelity,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32Guinevere lives the rest of her life as a nun.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36It's only after her death
0:55:36 > 0:55:39that Lancelot, too, can be redeemed
0:55:39 > 0:55:42by bringing her body to Arthur's grave at Glastonbury Abbey,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45where the tomb is still marked today.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56Significantly and symbolically, these three characters are reunited
0:55:56 > 0:56:00for one final time.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04And with great ceremony and with great dignity,
0:56:04 > 0:56:10Lancelot lays her in the cold earth next to the body of her husband,
0:56:10 > 0:56:12King Arthur.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18It's a powerful final scene -
0:56:18 > 0:56:25Malory's heartfelt plea for unity in a country beset by civil war.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31It's quite difficult to know what to think and feel
0:56:31 > 0:56:34at the end of this journey, a journey of thousands of years
0:56:34 > 0:56:36and thousands of miles.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40You end up standing on some modern paving stones
0:56:40 > 0:56:43next to what is quite possibly
0:56:43 > 0:56:46a fictitious grave for two fictitious people.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51And yet the fact that there is a grave here in this very holy
0:56:51 > 0:56:57and historical site is a testament to the importance of Arthur
0:56:57 > 0:57:00in the imagination of the British people.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16It was Malory's Morte d'Arthur
0:57:16 > 0:57:19that became the definitive account of the story.
0:57:21 > 0:57:25It brought to a close the golden age of Arthurian literature
0:57:25 > 0:57:28which had begun with the Normans.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39It seems to me that the story of Arthur
0:57:39 > 0:57:41is the story of these islands.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45Look for King Arthur and what you find is a character who's been
0:57:45 > 0:57:50embraced and then adapted by waves of succeeding cultures,
0:57:50 > 0:57:56a man who's been remodelled and recast to fit the needs of the day,
0:57:56 > 0:58:00but somebody who still manages to offer us a shared sense
0:58:00 > 0:58:02of common history and common purpose.
0:58:02 > 0:58:08So, real or imaginary, in my view, that makes King Arthur
0:58:08 > 0:58:12our most enduring and appealing national hero.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:25 > 0:58:28E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk