What Ho Wee Readers, and let us all welcome the second to the last post in this blog series. Remember if you want to see the very last knight of the Arthurian round table of Media – remember to sign up to the Wee Mailing List before the 31st of May.
Quest for Camelot
Thinking honestly this was really my true introduction to the idea of King Arthur. Because it was the first film I ever saw in the cinema, or at least according to my parents. However, staring as it does a young farm girl, a blind hermit, and a two headed dragon as they try to recover a stolen Excalibur from the clutches of a deranged Gary Oldman – it’s not your traditional King Arthur story. Still I’d recommend it if for nothing else but for the sheer joy of seeing a two headed fire breather argue themselves into stagnation.
If you’ve enjoyed the sixth installment of “The Seven Knights of Arthurian Media” why not follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook, Goodreads and Kofi. And sign up to the Wee Mailing List to find out what the Seventh Knight of Arthurian Media is. Until next time Wee Reader, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
Let,s pull those swords out of those stones for the fifth knight of Arthurian Media
Sword in the Stone (Disney)
What I love about his film, although it’s quite a famous piece of Arthurian Media is it actually has very little do with a lot of the extra stuff we consider important in the great king’s mythology. There are no knights of the round table, no Lancelot, no Morgan Le Fey and her shenanigans. There is a Sword in the Stone, but despite it being the title of the film it really doesn’t play a part in the majority of the plot – which is primary focused on Merlin changing the young Arthur into various different animals to teach him lessons.
Which I think just goes to show that sometimes to have a good Arthurian story all you need is just…Arthur himself.
If you’ve enjoyed the fifth installment of “The Seven Knights of Arthurian Media” why not follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook, Goodreads and Kofi. And sign up to the Wee Mailing List to find out what the Seventh Knight of Arthurian Media is. Until next time Wee Reader, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
What Ho Wee Readers, let’s raise our goblets and welcome our fourth knight to the round table.
King Arthur (2004)
Hey do you love the fantastical world of King Arthur and his knights of the round table? Well what if that was a lie, and the truth was both much more boring, and much more depressing. What if Arthur wasn’t a king at all but a Roman General, and his faithful knights were basically indentured against their will to serve him? And as for Merlin…okay he’s still pretty cool, but I think my point still stands. You wouldn’t think this was anything you’d pay good money to watch but to the film’s credit it still manages to produce a fun and entertaining story, with a cast filled with faces you might find ever so slightly familiar.
I would recommend it if nothing else than for the fun of seeing Hannibal, Uncle Owen, and Mister Fantastic as knights of the round table.
If you’ve enjoyed the fourth instalment of “The Seven Knights of Arthurian Media” why not follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook, Goodreads and Kofi. And sign up to the Wee Mailing List to find out what the Seventh Knight of Arthurian Media is. Until next time Wee Reader, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
Well, here we are again and onto our Third Knight of our Media round table.
Merlin (Sam Neil miniseries)
I will admit, even to my my mind this a bit of a weird choice. It’s not that it’s overtly bad per say, in every aspect at least. It has an incredible cast – counting such greats as Martin Short and James Earl Jones, not even to mention Sam Neil as Merlin amongst its players. But I will admit I watched this as a very small child and it did stay with me – which was why I was so excited to include it on this list – but a lot of it hasn’t really aged that well.
The CGI is terrible, there’s a small speckling of blink and you’ll miss it racism at the beginning, Martin Short’s character’s romance with Morgan LeFay is made kind of icky by the fact that he’s an immortal gnome who first met her when she was a child. Honestly, that they could have easily fixed that by just not having them first meet when she’s a child, seriously it adds nothing to the story. And while this may seem a bit of a lesser crime next to everything else I’ve complained about, but Merlin is kind of a dick whose hard to root for.
So, you might be asking yourself – if this thing was so terrible, and she hated it so much, why has she included it in this blog series at all? I didn’t hate it, Martin Short is always funny and I do admire that it took chances. That it dared to mess around with the source material, that it dared to make Merlin a bit of a dick – while still keeping him competent. It’s part of why I wanted to do this list, to highlight works of Arthurian lore that are different, or maybe not as well know or thought of as some of the more classic examples. I may have not kept true to this idea for the entire list, but for this entry at least, this was my thought process.
If you’ve enjoyed the third installment of “The Seven Knights of Arthurian Media” why not follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook, Goodreads and Kofi. And sign up to the Wee Mailing List to find out what the Seventh Knight of Arthurian Media is. Until next time Wee Reader, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
Let’s pull our swords out of our stones, for the second knight or rather knights (since I couldn’t really make a choice on this one) of this round table of ours….
Shrek the Third
Perhaps this might seem a strange thing to include on a list such of this, especially considering some of the contenders that just didn’t make it onto the list at all.
However I like to think that showing up as a bunch of high school students in a animated comedy focusing on the weird and bizarre adventures of an ogre doing a very poor impression of a Scottish accents – speaks to the true malubility of Arthurian lore. They are no longer stuck in the grand adventures, and high fantasy tales that the creator of Lancelot tried to force them into.
And now for the next “second” knight of the media round table…
Spamalot
And speaking of unconventional adaptations of Arthurian lore. Based simultaneously off the film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and heavily parodying the musical Camelot, Monty Python’s Spamalot is weird. Not bad weird, very, very good weird – but weird none the less. Featuring the King himself (played by Tim Curry on the original cast recording), a gay Lancelot , Sir Robin the not quite as Brave as Lancelot, and who can forget the ever loveable Sir Not Appearing in this play. This musical is a fun, satirical look at figures that sometimes can take themselves a little too seriously, which only serves to make it all the funnier.
If you’ve enjoyed the second installment of “The Seven Knights of Arthurian Media” why not follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook, Goodreads and Kofi. And sign up to the Wee Mailing List to find out what the Seventh Knight of Arthurian Media is. Until next time Wee Reader, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
What Ho Wee Readers and welcome to my third consecutive blog series. As previously revealed in my newsletter this new blog series will feature words based in the world, and featuring the main players of Arthurian lore.
But enough of lengthy introductions and the like, you all know how this goes now – so just sit back, grab your holy grails, and let’s begin with the first knight in our Arthurian media round table.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
I did not enjoy this book, in fact I hated it so much I didn’t even finish it – but why hear me beat that horse dead why not have a glance down at a review I posted on my GoodReads page.
“I was first introduced to the myth of King Arthur by Mary Stewart’s Merlin Series – check it out, it’s fantastic – thus Merlin is a character that’s fairly close to my heart. In fact, he’s my favorite Arthurian character, second only to Mordred and Morgouse. And this is not the book for fans of Merlin; full disclosure, I couldn’t even finish it. In fact, by the time “Hank” blows up Merlin’s tower I was so angry by the treatment of my magical favorite that I was kind of glad I was listening to an audiobook instead of a hard copy, so I wouldn’t be tempted to throw it in the fire. However, if you don’t mind seeing Merlin turned into a butt monkey and the rest of the court made to look like idiots, you will find a well written book, with at least a mildly interesting plot. I hated it, but I will freely admit that I am a very biased party.”
You might think it rather strange of me to choose a piece of Arthurian literature that I couldn’t even finish to start off my little list here, but to that I say that to truly appreciate the highs that this legend can achieve we must first first delve into its depths. Truthfully it’s not a bad book by any accounts, I admit in my review that I’m a very bias party in regards to its quality. If you can get past the blatant Merlin bashing, then you should find a very well written book, with a unique premise. However I admit I would shudder at the idea of this particular book being anyone’s introduction to the Arthurian Mythos.
If you’ve enjoyed the first installment of “The Seven Knights of Arthurian Media” why not follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook, Goodreads and Kofi. And sign up to the Wee Mailing List to find out what the Seventh Knight of Arthurian Media is. Until next time Wee Reader, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
What Ho, Wee Readers and welcome to the Eighth glory of the Nine Glories of the Rings of Power. Remember to sign up to the Wee Mailing List before the 27th of February, to discover the Ninth Glory of the Rings of Power.
Galadriel and Sauron: BFF
Spoilers ahead…
This was the buddy /secret enemy/ Dark Lord of the world road trip that I never realised I’d been craving all this time.
There’s been some criticism of TRoP’s depiction of Galadriel, namely that she’s not very likeable – which is absolutely true, she’s not likeable at all. She’s cruel, she’s bitter, she’s self righteous, and worst of all she’s also kind of racist. Not in the real world kind of way we discussed in my first post, but closer to a fantasy kind of racism. Namely, to the Galadriel at the beginning of the series, if you’re not an elf you’re pretty much nothing to her.
Heck she only really starts being polite to the man who saved her from the ocean – when she learns he might be the long-lost king of the Southlands and therefore useful to her crusade.
All this sounds like a complaint, but it’s not really. Because all this unpleasantness, all this snobbery, cruelty, and self-absorption just makes it all the sweeter when it finally dawns on her who that “lost” king of men really is.
It was so glorious, I giggled. It’s a good twist, regardless – and really the only way we’d get a closer look at Sauron as a character rather than just an ominous threat – but that look on Galadriel’s face, made it really funny as well.
If you’ve enjoyed this little gem from a Tolkien obsessed fan girl, and would like to see the rest of them why not follow the Wee blog if you haven’t already. And check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Mastodon, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook and Kofi. And don’t forget to sign up to the Wee Mailing List to get the final post of this blog series on February 27th. Until next time Wee Readers, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
What Ho, Wee Readers and welcome to the Seventh glory of the Nine Glories of the Rings of Power. Remember to sign up to the Wee Mailing List before the 27th of February, to discover the Ninth Glory of the Rings of Power.
The Music
Do I really have to say anything here, I know you’ve already clicked on the videos above. You heard the awesomeness that is that music.
It’s self apparent. So let’s just give a hand for Bear McCreary, who joins Howard Shore in the illustrious halls of people who kicked ass making the music of our Middle-Earth experience come to life.
If you’ve enjoyed this little gem from a Tolkien obsessed fan girl, and would like to see the rest of them why not follow the Wee blog if you haven’t already. And check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Mastodon, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook and Kofi. And don’t forget to sign up to the Wee Mailing List to get the final post of this blog series on February 27th. Until next time Wee Readers, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
What Ho, Wee Readers and welcome to the Sixth glory of the Nine Glories of the Rings of Power. Remember to sign up to the Wee Mailing List before the 27th of February, to discover the Ninth Glory of the Rings of Power.
Númenor
Many times the name of Númenor has been spoken in reference within the works and the adaptions of the great professor’s work. In the third age, the men of Númenor were held up as the pinnacle of what men could be.
Then the Silmarillion happened and we all find out that while that might have been true enough to begin with, boy did they do a face plant at the end. Like the men of Atlantis, who they are very clearly based on, their greatness was their undoing. For it made them over proud, and they sought to challenge the Valar, so that they might break the curse of men and live forever.
As the Silmarillion was for the literature of Tolkien, so the Rings of Power is for the on-screen adaptions. While the greatness of Númenor blood was never as prolific on screen as it was on the page, it’s also notable that they often avoided the subtler criticism of it, that Tolkien added through his appendices.
Not so anymore. While Númenor has not quite yet reached challenge the gods stupidity, it’s clear they’re on their way there. They’re small, petty, and have an over inflated sense of their own importance to the world. And yet there is nobility there, something of the great people they used to be. It’s nuanced, it’s layered, it’s a heck of a lot of fun.
This is going to sound terrible even in context, but I can’t wait to see them get themselves sunk.
If you’ve enjoyed this little gem from a Tolkien obsessed fan girl, and would like to see the rest of them why not follow the Wee blog if you haven’t already. And check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Mastodon, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook and Kofi. And don’t forget to sign up to the Wee Mailing List to get the final post of this blog series on February 27th. Until next time Wee Readers, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
What Ho, Wee Readers and welcome to the fifth glory of the Nine Glories of the Rings of Power. Remember to sign up to the Wee Mailing List before the 27th of February, to discover the Ninth Glory of the Rings of Power.
Harfoots
Hobbits, undoubtedly my favourite part of any Tolkien based project, are a peculiar race as fantasy races go. Unlike Elves or Dwarves, they are not particularly fantastical at all. This is by design of course, as being the viewpoint characters for the two most well-known works in Tolkien’s legidome – they needed to be more recognisable (culturally speaking) to the original intended audience.
Which was, probably, late 20th century middle-class English people.
Which, very clearly, are the people that Bilbo and Frodo Baggins most resemble, both in speech and manarisims.
And yet…even from the first, there had always been hints that the history of the hobbit people, was very different from the sheltered, middle-class English veneer we get in the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.
We hear talk of the different tribes, Fallowhide, Stoor and…Harfoot. We even hear talk of their wandering days before the Shire. But because Tolkien’s got a ring quest to start, the narrative can’t spend too long delving into this rich backstory.
Surely the only way we could properly explore this fascinating part of hobbit history, is with an entirely new tale.
Enter The Rings of Power…
Like their descendants the Harfoots love laughter, family, good cheer, and food, lots and lots of food. But they live in a very different world – unlike Bilbo, they don’t really have a land they can venture away from. All they have is the path – the set route through the lands they travel through – and those that wander away from the path, get left behind.
It’s a much harder, more brutal life. And what I find particularly fascinating about it, is how we can see the foundation for many of the foibles of the Third Age hobbits begin here. They are untrusting of outsiders because in their past, a stranger – particularly a tall stranger – might mean death. And they don’t want their children going on mad adventures, because in the past that would absolutely mean you never saw them again.
There are some that complain that the Harfoots are a bit too mean, in comparison with their later cousins (they do have a tendency to abandon those that don’t follow the rules) – but to that I’d like to argue, what hobbits have you been reading about? Because the hobbits I grew up with, would declare someone dead just so they can sell off his stuff.
If you’ve enjoyed this little gem from a Tolkien obsessed fan girl, and would like to see the rest of them why not follow the Wee blog if you haven’t already. And check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Mastodon, Tumblr, TikTok, Facebook and Kofi. And don’t forget to sign up to the Wee Mailing List to get the final post of this blog series on February 27th. Until next time Wee Readers, keep safe and have a very bonny day.
The Wee Writing Lassie 