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-mahalo
where else do random people post/share random videos for random people?
For full-length version of this and access to the >150tb archive from which this was pulled.. feel free to contact me directly.
-*_*We appreciate your donations to our Server Fund*_*-
Venmo: https://venmo.com/shareyourworld
Paypal: https://paypal.me/allcreatures313
Buy me a Coffee(or Beer!): https://buymeacoffee.com/reidsquard
Cashapp: $allcreatures313
We also accept Amazon and other gift codes
If you are interested in a Jellyfin subscription, keys to unlock direct downloads from open directories or other options outside of soulseek please send email to woollarding@gmail.com
-mahalo
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00I
00:32This is a book about power, about love, about betrayal.
00:39This is a political story about a hero who saved the world and lost it.
00:50It was a time when the world was mean and raw.
00:54Britain, about 450 A.D., when human history was being reshaped by forces as elemental as nature itself.
01:10This was the entrance to the Dark Ages.
01:14Out of that darkness walked a group of extraordinary men.
01:19Maybe fantasies.
01:21Maybe not.
01:23A king and his followers who emerged to rally the British, hold off a barbarian invasion and tame anarchy.
01:31For a while, they would push back the darkness and begin what legend calls a Golden Age.
01:47King Arthur.
01:50The hero king who gathered the best fighters he could find and waged war to restore civilization.
01:56The warrior king who hacked order out of chaos with sword and mace and battleaxe.
02:03Who righted old wrongs and reigned in justice and peace.
02:07For a brief, shining moment.
02:11That story spread all over Europe.
02:14It was written down by hand and lovingly illustrated in early French romances.
02:20It was fully compiled for the first time in the 12th century by a Welsh cleric named Geoffrey of Monmouth.
02:26It was recreated in the 15th century, partially from the French, by Sir Thomas Mallory.
02:34And his masterpiece would shape the legend as we know it.
02:39A story to be copied, spoofed, pilfered and echoed from that day to death.
03:02The thing I find fascinating about mythology is that it's psychological archaeology.
03:08It's a way of looking back in history at the way men think.
03:13Part of Star Wars was an experiment with taking some of these ideas and saying,
03:17if I put this into a modern context, will these psychological drives still function?
03:22And they do.
03:23I mean, I really attribute most of the success of the film based on the fact that
03:27a lot of the themes and psychological motifs that are in it
03:32have been around for three or four thousand years.
03:46Here, on the coast of Cornwall, some two thousand years ago,
03:51civilization came to Britain with the Romans.
03:55The Romans found a tribal people, fierce and warlike,
03:59who passed their beliefs and history on by word of mouth,
04:02and practiced a primitive religion that included human sacrifice.
04:09These were the Celts, the original British,
04:12and barbarians compared to the legions of Rome.
04:18The Romans first came to Britain for its tin.
04:21They returned as conquerors,
04:23bringing with them highly developed artistic and engineering skills.
04:27They built luxurious public baths and other systems the Celts could not have dreamed of.
04:33They built cities where London and Winchester rise today.
04:37But more important than streets and plumbing,
04:41the Romans brought literacy, learning, law, and a new religion,
04:47the fundamentals of Western civilization.
04:51They stayed nearly four hundred years.
04:56And then they were gone.
05:01In their wake was a legend born that would shine down the corridor of centuries.
05:09A great stone, four square, like unto a marble stone,
05:13and in the midst thereof was like an anvil of steel, a foot on high,
05:18and therein stuck a fair sword naked by the point.
05:21And the letters there were written in gold about the sword that said in thus,
05:26Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil
05:30is rightwise king born of all England.
05:33Today they still tell the story of the callow boy who became the most powerful man in the world.
05:41And Merlin, the sorcerer who guided him to greatness.
05:46Of the round table knights, the best in the world.
05:50And the best of these, Sir Lancelot Dulac.
05:53Of Guinevere, Arthur's queen.
05:57And Tristan, and Galahad, and the others.
06:01Audiences still are captivated by the legend of this king.
06:07It was then that Merlin arranged a miracle
06:10as Arthur the youth pulled the enchanted sword
06:15from where it was embedded in the stone.
06:19And its very authority made him king.
06:23This is 1993
06:24at the annual Renaissance Pleasure Festival near San Bernardino, California.
06:30Each spring they recreate the 16th and 17th centuries here.
06:33However, they also look to a mythic time
06:36when history and legend are thoroughly woven together.
06:39The sword of power.
06:41For a time Arthur ruled
06:43from the splendor of a hilltop city called Camelot.
06:47For a brief and shining moment
06:49it was a golden age.
06:53There never really was a golden age, of course.
06:55But there may well have been a fragment of history
06:58which inspired this tale.
06:59A 5th century military leader
07:02who rallied Romanized Britons
07:03to hold off, however briefly,
07:05invasions by continental barbarians,
07:08the Saxons and the Angles.
07:10Some believe
07:11this may have been the figure on whom Arthur was based.
07:14The search for him begins here
07:16at Glastonbury Abbey.
07:18Glastonbury is
07:19a very strange,
07:21very ancient place.
07:24It used to be almost an island
07:26and there were Celtic beliefs
07:29in an Isle of Avalon,
07:31the enchanted island of Apples,
07:34a place of fairy folk and immortality.
07:37Because of this belief
07:38that Glastonbury was sort of enchanted
07:40and strange and otherworldly,
07:43that it was also
07:44the first Christian site in Britain,
07:47it became very,
07:48you might say,
07:49spiritually charged.
07:51and its story
07:53became involved with Arthur.
07:58There was always a mystery
08:00about where Arthur was buried,
08:02if he was buried,
08:03but it's said
08:05that a Welsh bard
08:06finally gave away the secret
08:08to the English king,
08:09Henry II,
08:11that Arthur was buried
08:12in Glastonbury Abbey's graveyard.
08:14The abbot,
08:15a few years later,
08:16ordered an excavation.
08:18Then they went down
08:19quite a long way
08:20and they found
08:22a big stone slab
08:25with a lead cross underneath it
08:27with Arthur's name on it
08:28and they found
08:30a rather rough kind of coffin
08:33made out of a hollowed-out log
08:35with the bones of a tall man inside it
08:38and a woman's bones
08:39and they took it.
08:40This was Guinevere.
08:43And this is where,
08:44reputedly,
08:45the monks found Arthur's grave
08:47here on this spot
08:49where I'm standing now.
08:50Well,
08:51what are we to make
08:52of this story?
08:54About 30 years ago,
08:56Dr. Ranford,
08:58a very eminent archaeologist,
09:00excavated here.
09:01He found the story
09:02checks out
09:03as far as you can check it out.
09:05The monks had dug,
09:06there were traces
09:07of their excavation
09:08and deep down
09:09he did find
09:10the stone lining
09:12of a very ancient grave.
09:14They had certainly
09:15found somebody.
09:16The question,
09:17of course,
09:17is whether they had found Arthur.
09:19This depends on the cross
09:21with his name on it.
09:22That has disappeared.
09:24It's possible
09:25it might still be found.
09:27There are facsimiles of it.
09:29But, of course,
09:31it might be genuine,
09:32possibly,
09:33or they might have faked it
09:35to prove that the grave
09:37was Arthur's
09:38for the greater glory
09:39of Glastonbury Abbey.
09:40Who knows?
09:41It's a rather
09:42interesting mystery.
09:48On the map,
09:50this is Cadbury Hill.
09:52But the locals
09:53call it Camelot.
09:54Every king
09:55must have his castle.
09:56We do know
09:57that this was once
09:58a great king's lair.
10:00And this is where
10:01the search
10:01for the historical
10:02counterpart continued.
10:05There is quite
10:06a long-standing tradition
10:08about a place
10:09called Cadbury.
10:11This is an ancient
10:12hill fort
10:13dating from long
10:14before Arthur's time,
10:16even before the Romans,
10:17where people settled
10:19on top of a hill
10:20and fortified it
10:21with lines of
10:22earthwork fortifications
10:23and stockades
10:24and so forth.
10:25That tradition
10:26was investigated
10:28by archaeologists
10:29and they found,
10:31in fact,
10:32that the hill
10:32had been reoccupied
10:34and refortified
10:35on an enormous scale
10:37at about the right
10:38time for Arthur.
10:39Evidently,
10:40some man,
10:42some king
10:42with great resources
10:43of manpower
10:44really had lived
10:46on that hill
10:47at just about
10:47the right time.
10:49And perhaps
10:50what's more interesting
10:51is that many more
10:53of these hill forts
10:54have been excavated
10:55since,
10:56and nobody has found
10:57anything really like that
10:59anywhere else in Britain.
11:01In 1966,
11:03archaeologists began
11:04the excavation
11:05of South Cadbury Hill,
11:06assisted by a somewhat
11:08younger Jeffrey Ash.
11:09The dig lasted
11:10for five years
11:11and provided numerous
11:12artifacts
11:13that suggest
11:14a 5th century leader
11:15who might be linked
11:17to the King Arthur
11:17of legend.
11:20South Cadbury Hill
11:22has been privately owned
11:23for centuries.
11:24Its reigning monarch
11:26today
11:26is Mrs. Elizabeth Montgomery,
11:29amateur historian
11:30and archaeologist
11:31and professional
11:32dairy farmer.
11:33Her interest
11:34in the Arthur question
11:35understandably is high,
11:36and having granted
11:38permission for the dig,
11:39she managed to keep
11:40some of the find
11:41for her own collection.
11:43This big pot
11:44was about 3rd or 4th century BC
11:47and would have been
11:48a cooking pot
11:49that they would have
11:51used by
11:52having a hole
11:54in the ground
11:55in which they lit a fire,
11:57and when the fire
11:58died down,
11:59they put their pot
12:00complete with its stew
12:02to cook,
12:03and of course,
12:05one day,
12:05the pot broke,
12:07and the dinner
12:08must have been lost
12:09that day.
12:11I mean,
12:11I've always grown up
12:12that the hill
12:13was called
12:14South Cadbury Castle
12:16or Camelot.
12:18No one knew
12:19whether Arthur existed.
12:22No one still knows
12:23for certain.
12:26It's very doubtful
12:28whether we shall ever
12:29be quite sure of this,
12:30unless there is
12:31some sort of new discovery.
12:33We know things
12:34about Arthur's setting.
12:36It would be
12:37around the 5th century AD,
12:40something like that,
12:40but this great fortification
12:43with the gatehouse
12:44is unparalleled.
12:45Britain had been part
12:46of the great worldwide
12:47Roman civilization
12:49for a very long time.
12:51Now,
12:51it broke away politically
12:53around the year 410
12:54and passed into
12:56what seems to have been
12:57a time of trouble,
12:59but something
13:00of the Roman system
13:01of government
13:02probably survived.
13:04There was the church,
13:05there was the use of Latin
13:06by the educated classes
13:08and there would certainly
13:09have been people
13:10in Britain
13:11who felt they were still
13:12part of the great civilization
13:15and even that they were
13:16putting up a fight for it
13:17as the barbarians
13:19closed in.
13:20So,
13:20very possibly,
13:22the original Arthur
13:23was someone
13:24who to some extent
13:25restored civilizations,
13:27who fought back
13:28the barbarians,
13:29who brought back
13:30something of what
13:31seemed to have been lost
13:32in the breakaway
13:33from Rome.
13:34and this would have
13:36given him a very special
13:37kind of prestige
13:39in tradition
13:40and this may have had
13:41some considerable effect
13:42on his legend.
13:44The director of excavations,
13:46Professor Leslie Alcock,
13:48would never quite
13:49commit himself.
13:50He said,
13:51it was an Arthur-type figure.
13:53I think that's
13:54quite well put.
13:56A piece of steel
13:58heated and beaten
13:59into shape
13:59becomes a sword.
14:01That sometimes happens
14:02to legends, too.
14:04Under the right conditions,
14:06myth can produce
14:08historical fact.
14:09In the 9th century,
14:11Alfred the Great
14:12was an Arthur-type figure
14:13who saved England
14:14from the Danes
14:15and etched deeper
14:16the image of the hero king.
14:19In medieval times,
14:20the myth of King Arthur
14:21was taken as true
14:22by many people
14:23and as such,
14:25it made its mark
14:26on history.
14:27This story
14:28and its hero
14:29helped to shape
14:30a new national identity
14:31for Britons,
14:32Saxons, Angles,
14:33and Danes,
14:34for immigrants
14:35and invaders
14:36from all across Europe.
14:38The growth of this legend
14:39was part of the same process
14:41which raised
14:42the magnificent structures
14:43of church and state
14:44of the very formation
14:46of England.
14:48And it frequently was used
14:50to legitimize authority.
15:04Virtually every period
15:06has tried to claim Arthur
15:08or at least kinship
15:09to Arthur.
15:09The Plantagenets
15:10claimed at one point
15:12descent from Arthur.
15:13The Stuarts did.
15:14The Tudors did.
15:15There's been at least
15:16one effort
15:17to trace
15:18the present queen
15:19back to King Arthur.
15:21so whether or not
15:22he existed
15:23he seems to be
15:24everyone's ancestor
15:25simply to provide
15:27greater legitimacy
15:29to a long line
15:31of rulers
15:31at any point.
15:33Edward I
15:34probably had
15:35this round table replica
15:36built in the 13th century.
15:38In the 16th,
15:40Henry VIII
15:40had his picture
15:41painted on Arthur's
15:42place at the table.
15:44Both were efforts
15:45to strengthen
15:46the claim
15:46of legitimacy.
15:54legitimacy of course
15:55required control
15:56and control
15:58rested on the blade
15:59of a sword.
16:02King Arthur was
16:03first of all
16:04a warrior.
16:25then waxed the battle
16:28passing hard
16:29on both parties
16:30but Arthur was glad
16:32that his knights
16:32were hoarsed again
16:33and they fought together
16:35that noise
16:36and sound rang
16:37by the water
16:38and the wood.
16:47In the building
16:48of civilization
16:49first came
16:51the discipline
16:51of battle
16:52the code
16:53of the warrior
16:54demanding courage
16:56skill
16:57loyalty
16:59and self-control
17:01but progress
17:03required something more
17:04the word for it
17:06came from the French
17:07term for horseman
17:08it was called
17:09chivalry
17:11in those harsh times
17:13chivalry meant
17:15much more
17:16than courtly manners
17:21then the king
17:23established
17:23all his knights
17:24and charged them
17:25never to do
17:26outrageousness
17:27nor murder
17:28and always to flee
17:29treason
17:30also by no means
17:32to be cruel
17:32but to give mercy
17:34unto him
17:34that asks his mercy
17:35and always to do
17:37ladies
17:37damsels
17:38and gentlewomen
17:39succor upon pain
17:40of death
17:41also that no man
17:43take no battles
17:44in wrongful quarrel
17:45for no law
17:46nay for no world's goods
17:47unto this
17:49were all the knights
17:50sworn of the table round
17:51both old and young
17:55lancelot
17:56the best of knights
17:57galahad
17:58the purest
17:59the love-doomed
18:00tristan
18:01the vengeful
18:02gawain
18:02arthur's son
18:04the wicked mordred
18:05kay and roars
18:06arthur himself
18:07all encased
18:08in the shining armor
18:10of a deeply moral tale
18:12probably were created
18:13by a scoundrel
18:14imprisoned
18:15in the tower
18:15of london
18:17thomas mallory
18:18was accused
18:19of attempted murder
18:20rape
18:21cattle rustling
18:21plundering a church
18:22and beating up
18:23an abbot
18:24whether he was
18:26largely a political
18:27prisoner
18:27or whether he was
18:29also a common criminal
18:31we don't know
18:32but he was
18:34imprisoned
18:34for at least
18:35a year
18:36and all the evidence
18:38is this
18:39is the thomas mallory
18:40who also wrote
18:41one of the great monuments
18:42of medieval literature
18:45we don't know
18:46a lot about thomas mallory
18:48but we do know
18:48he was a man
18:49of his time
18:50a time like arthur's
18:52that was very much
18:53out of joint
18:54these were the days
18:55of the robber baron
18:56and of unconnected knights
18:58on the prowl
19:00freelancers
19:00they were called
19:01in a lawless era
19:03they took what they wanted
19:04when they wanted it
19:06mallory may have been
19:07one of these
19:08but if so
19:09he also had
19:10another side
19:13this is a handwritten
19:15copy of the book
19:16dating back
19:17more than 500 years
19:18and found only
19:19in 1934
19:20at winchester college
19:23peter field
19:24is one of england's
19:25leading experts
19:25on the book
19:26and its author
19:28the winchester manuscript
19:30is the only surviving
19:31medieval manuscript
19:33of sir thomas mallory's
19:34mort d'arthur
19:35and in 1934
19:36it was found
19:38in the bedroom
19:39of the warden
19:39of winchester college
19:42and identified
19:43by the librarian
19:44of winchester college
19:45as a copy
19:46of mallory's
19:47mort d'arthur
19:48that was one
19:50of the great
19:51literary sensations
19:53of the 20th century
19:55the image of mallory
19:57that we get
19:57from the book
19:58is very different
19:59from the image
20:00of mallory
20:00that we get
20:01from the records
20:01of his life
20:02and to mallory
20:04as an author
20:07the person
20:08that we know
20:08when we read
20:09the book
20:10and see through
20:10his eyes
20:11and feel
20:11with his feelings
20:14we meet
20:14a man
20:15who is
20:16an admirer
20:17of the ideals
20:19in human behaviour
20:20and especially
20:21of courage
20:22and of loyalty
20:23and of endeavour
20:25but a man
20:26who does not
20:28disguise from himself
20:29the fact
20:30that the world
20:30in which
20:31these things
20:32are struggled
20:33for by some people
20:35is a world
20:36in which
20:36the vicious
20:38and the unadmirable
20:41is frequently
20:41successful
20:43the bad
20:44appears
20:45in strong forms
20:47as well as the good
20:48people nowadays
20:50can relate to this
20:51even if they live
20:53in worlds
20:53that are different
20:54beyond belief
20:55from the world
20:56of Sir Thomas Mallory
21:01from its beginning
21:03King Arthur
21:04has been
21:04an anachronism
21:05set in the distant past
21:07it generally
21:07has worn the clothing
21:08and dealt with
21:09the themes and issues
21:10important in the time
21:11of the storyteller
21:17Arthur can be
21:18almost whatever
21:19you want him to be
21:20and I think
21:21that it captures
21:22people's imagination
21:23in a big way
21:24Robert McKenzie
21:25has his master's degree
21:26in medieval literature
21:27but he makes his living
21:29turning out medieval armor
21:30at his shop
21:31in Truckee, California
21:32near Lake Tahoe
21:35Arthur encompasses
21:36such a large scope
21:37because you have him
21:38everything from the
21:395th century
21:39the historic Arthur
21:41as he probably existed
21:42through the 15th century
21:45when Mallory
21:45was describing him
21:46in terms of
21:48as if he were
21:48a contemporary
21:51and purely the fantasy
21:52and purely the fantasy
21:53middle ages
21:53like in the movie
21:54Excalibur
21:55where there was
21:56a middle ages
21:56that never existed
21:58well this suit of armor
21:59is typical
22:00of the suits
22:01that were built
22:03in the late 15th century
22:04in northern Italy
22:05it's relatively light
22:07about 65 pounds
22:08and very very flexible
22:09so you can move
22:10readily in it
22:11you can see that
22:12almost the entire body
22:14is covered by a series
22:15of articulated plates
22:17that move
22:18with the wearer
22:19allowing him to grasp
22:21his weapon
22:21to wield it well
22:23the knight's feet
22:24were protected
22:25by special shoes
22:26called sabatons
22:28you can see how
22:29flexible they are
22:30he's allowed to
22:31step forward readily
22:32now he's not going
22:34to do a lot of walking
22:35or marching in these
22:36but if he does have to walk
22:37he's going to be able to
22:38the hand is covered
22:40by the piece
22:40that we call
22:41the gauntlet
22:42the arm
22:43covered by
22:44the piece we call
22:45the vambrace
22:46and the shoulder
22:47by the pauldron
22:49which you can see
22:50is made up
22:50a series of
22:51smaller moving
22:53flexible pieces
22:54which allow
22:55the arm to go up
22:56and down
22:57readily
22:57and afford
22:58excellent protection
23:01against a weapon
23:02like this one
23:03this is a
23:0415th century
23:06cut and thrust sword
23:07and against
23:09armor like this
23:10a sword like
23:11of this nature
23:12would not be
23:13particularly effective
23:14it will
23:15stop it
23:16quite readily
23:17so
23:17what do you do
23:19against a person
23:19that's armored this way
23:20what do you do
23:21against a person
23:22whose legs
23:23and even whose feet
23:24are so well armored
23:25that you're not going
23:26to cut through it
23:27with the traditional
23:27weapons of the night
23:31well this was a good option
23:33this is a mace
23:35it's perhaps not going
23:36to even penetrate
23:37the armor
23:38these flanges
23:39on the mace
23:40are quite dull
23:41actually rectangular
23:42in cross section
23:43but will
23:44strike with
23:45tremendous concussion
23:47tremendous impact
23:48dent a helmet
23:49like this readily
23:50and
23:51do grievous injury
23:53to the
23:53person within
23:54a mace like this
23:56weighs
23:56three and a half pounds
23:58but all the weight
23:59is out on the head
23:59so it will strike
24:00with
24:00a tremendous degree
24:02of force
24:02we've tried it
24:03and I'm sure
24:04it works
24:06the way I looked
24:07for this shop
24:07for years
24:08as I was a kid
24:08I kept looking
24:09for this shop
24:09and every time
24:10I'd go to an antique store
24:11I'd look for the armor
24:11and of course
24:12it never was there
24:13so I had to invent
24:15the shop
24:15here we are
24:19beneath the breastplate
24:21lies the heart
24:23a source of
24:24infinite complication
24:25and trouble
24:26for many a night
24:27then and now
24:30Mallory's women
24:31like his men
24:32were both saints
24:33and sinners
24:36marriages generally
24:37were arranged
24:38affairs then
24:39and romantic love
24:41usually was found
24:42outside the marriage
24:43vows
24:52and so the relationship
24:54between knights
24:54and women
24:55gave us that
24:56medieval variation
24:58on morals
24:58manners
24:59and social graces
25:01known as
25:02courtly love
25:05lifted from the
25:06illuminated pages
25:07of 12th century
25:08romances
25:09the best night
25:10and the best love story
25:12were a French import
25:14Lancelot fell in love
25:15with his king's wife
25:16the legend
25:18would never be the same
25:20the main story
25:22the main story was then
25:22taken up by a number
25:24of French writers
25:25the most famous of them
25:27being Chrétien de Troyes
25:28who wrote a number of romances
25:31with a love interest
25:32a much stronger love interest
25:35very chivalric
25:36and enormously popular
25:38and it was Chrétien
25:40who more or less invented
25:43the figure of Lancelot
25:44and the story of Lancelot's love
25:48for Guinevere
25:51the lady sends the knight
25:52on quests
25:53and judges his deeds
25:54she also leads him to sin
25:58the struggle between love
26:00and loyalty
26:00is played out
26:02in their affair
26:03this was one of the fault lines
26:05along which an empire
26:06would crack
26:08the romantic interest
26:11of the story
26:12is Lancelot's love
26:13for Guinevere
26:15Arthur's queen
26:16and you have there
26:18the very ancient pattern
26:19of the eternal triangle
26:22and the terrible dilemma
26:24of Lancelot
26:25who is the greatest knight
26:26in Arthur's court
26:28who is totally loyal
26:31to Arthur
26:32but at the same time
26:33is totally in love
26:36with Arthur's queen
26:38and equally loyal to her
26:41so that there is inevitably
26:43a tragic clash
26:45Queen and lover
26:46a symbol of authority
26:48and virtue
26:48and of unfaithfulness
26:50Guinevere represents
26:52the imperious contradictions
26:53of love
26:54and their potentially
26:55disastrous consequences
26:57we could see various themes
26:59embodied in the story
27:01wisdom as a ruler
27:03in Arthur himself
27:04chivalry in Lancelot
27:06love in Guinevere
27:09holiness in Galahad
27:11many of these characters
27:13could be seen
27:14as embodying something
27:15and perhaps above all
27:16Merlin
27:17the desire for
27:19the belief in mystery
27:20and magic
27:24Merlin
27:25the devil's son
27:27they called him
27:28emerged from this cave
27:29to give Arthur life
27:30and lead him to greatness
27:31he too may have been based
27:34on a genuine article
27:35a transition figure
27:37who was part druid
27:38part christian
27:41Merlin
27:42he was clearly something more
27:44than just an evil sorcerer
27:46he is
27:47in the sense
27:49a great political figure
27:50he creates Arthur's kingdom
27:52he creates
27:52a round table
27:53originally
27:54and in the end
27:56he is captured
27:57by being all too human
27:59that a woman
28:00entraps him
28:01learns his secrets
28:03and shuts him up
28:04in some kind of
28:05mysterious prison
28:06so he is not
28:07invincible
28:08he is something like us
28:15Tintajua
28:15the legend says
28:17that in a castle
28:18on this spot
28:19Huther Pendragon
28:20sired Arthur
28:21in the cliff below
28:22is Merlin's cave
28:24not a cave really
28:26but a tunnel
28:27carved by the awful
28:29powers of the sea
28:31behind these stones
28:32and shadows
28:33we can imagine
28:33the place
28:34it all began
28:35a place of passage
28:37where the past
28:38flows into the present
28:40where myth
28:41and history
28:41flow together
28:42and a corridor
28:44to the dark side
28:50Darth Vader
28:51is a modern creature
28:53of the dark side
28:54and a sharp twist
28:56on the Arthurian
28:57conflict
28:57between father
28:58and son
29:06and what really
29:07grabbed the audience
29:08more than anything
29:09is the underlying
29:10psychological motif
29:11or fantasy
29:11where you get
29:13eroded
29:13by the evil side
29:16the anger
29:17the bitterness
29:18that turn you into
29:20in essence
29:21what Vader was
29:22at one point
29:23which is a mechanical man
29:24a man with no soul
29:26and no feeling
29:29Luke
29:30help me take
29:32this mask off
29:34but you'll die
29:38nothing
29:38can stop that now
29:48in the Star Wars saga
29:50Luke saves
29:52his father's soul
29:52and good
29:54triumphs over evil
29:55in their struggle
29:56an evil empire
29:58dies
29:59but in what Arthur
30:01is a tragedy
30:02Arthur and his knights
30:04are powerful men
30:05with powerful flaws
30:06theirs is a world
30:08where mere accident
30:09and unintended consequence
30:11combine with the wages
30:12of sin
30:12to destroy the hero
30:14and his realm
30:16the ancient stories
30:18tell how Arthur
30:21begot a son
30:23unknowingly
30:24on his half-sister
30:26and consequently
30:29the son Mordred
30:31is the product
30:31both of adultery
30:33and of incest
30:36Arthur goes abroad
30:38to conduct a war
30:41Mordred
30:42is left behind
30:44as his grown-up son
30:45to look after the kingdom
30:47betrays him
30:48tries to capture
30:50Guinevere
30:51and eventually
30:52Arthur returns
30:53and fights Mordred
30:55now we have here
30:56a classic case
30:57a kind of
30:58Oedipus complex
30:59in a way
31:01but also
31:02that great traditional story
31:04of the battle
31:05between father and son
31:07which has so many
31:09psychological implications
31:15and there
31:16King Arthur
31:17smote
31:17Sir Mordred
31:18under the shield
31:19with a thrust
31:20of his spear
31:20and right so
31:22he smote
31:23his father Arthur
31:23with his sword
31:24holden
31:25in both his hands
31:26and therewithal
31:27Sir Mordred
31:28fell back
31:29stark dead
31:30to the earth
31:31and the noble Arthur
31:32fell in a swoon
31:34to the earth
31:35we come to the inevitable
31:37human tragedy
31:39Arthur is not only a king
31:41he is a man
31:42and a man must die
31:47like its hero
31:48the legend too
31:49would seem to die
31:50killed by the dragons
31:52of satire
31:53and ridicule
31:54and trivialization
31:55Don Quixote
31:57the first modern novel
31:58was a spoof
31:59on the questing knight
32:00Mark Twain
32:02had enormous fun
32:02putting a wily
32:03practical Connecticut Yankee
32:05in King Arthur's court
32:06and still later
32:08Arthur's own countrymen
32:09would savage him
32:18Camelot
32:19Camelot
32:20Camelot
32:21it's only a model
32:22Shh
32:24Knights
32:24I bid you welcome
32:25to your new home
32:26let us ride
32:27to
32:29Camelot
32:31We're knights
32:32at the round table
32:32we dance
32:33where we're able
32:34we do routines
32:35and all the scenes
32:36and work work
32:37impeccable
32:38we dine well
32:38here in Camelot
32:39we eat ham
32:40and jam
32:40and scrammelot
32:47We're knights
32:48at the round table
32:49our shows
32:50our war
32:51made table
32:52so many times
32:54we give them
32:54rinds
32:55without white
32:55dancing able
32:56we're not
32:56the magic
32:57ever
32:57preaching
32:58from the
32:58dire Camelot
33:07Camelot
33:07in the desert
33:09only in Las Vegas
33:12Welcome to the
33:13fabulous
33:14Excalibur Hotel
33:15Casino
33:16I
33:17am King Arthur
33:18join me
33:20on a guided
33:20tour
33:21of the
33:21largest
33:21and most
33:22exciting
33:23hotel
33:23in the world
33:28a carnival
33:29a circus
33:29a sideshow
33:30attraction
33:31from breakaway
33:33weapons
33:33to head
33:34bashing
33:35knights
33:37merlin
33:38in sequence
33:40knights
33:41in plastic
33:42armor
33:43the round table
33:44the round table
33:45is a supper club
33:45act
33:46the legend
33:47of King Arthur
33:48has never looked
33:49so tacky
33:56on second thoughts
33:58let's not go to Camelot
33:59it is a silly place
34:00and the unkindest
34:03cut of all
34:04trashed in his own
34:05birthplace
34:06in modern
34:07Tintagua
34:08Arthur is
34:09bellyhooed
34:10and sold
34:10with sandwiches
34:12and souvenirs
34:14oh how the mighty
34:16are fallen
34:16if Arthur
34:18is a mythic
34:19presence
34:19in the 20th century
34:21as he has been
34:22for many other
34:23centuries
34:23he is a mythic
34:25presence
34:25whose
34:26character
34:27does not have
34:28to be reserved
34:29for
34:30high seriousness
34:31for serious
34:33literary retellings
34:34it also
34:35has penetrated
34:36popular culture
34:37and folklore
34:37to an extent
34:38that very few
34:39other fictional
34:40or barely
34:41historical figures
34:42have
34:43and I think
34:43that's the best
34:44proof
34:44of the importance
34:45of Arthur today
34:55people say
34:56that we don't
34:56have heroes anymore
34:57but I think
34:58people would like
34:59to have heroes
34:59and if you have
35:00to have them
35:01in stories
35:01why so be it
35:05John Cullen Murphy
35:06is a Connecticut
35:07Yankee
35:07with a different slant
35:09from a small studio
35:11behind his house
35:12in Costco
35:13Murphy turns out
35:14one of the longest
35:15running comic strips
35:16in America
35:17Prince Valiant
35:18based on the legend
35:20of King Arthur
35:21I think the saga
35:23of Prince Valiant
35:24and the legend
35:24of King Arthur
35:26really appeals
35:26to people
35:27all over the world
35:28people are in need
35:30of heroes today
35:32probably more than
35:34have been
35:34in a long time
35:35and they also love
35:36romance
35:37excitement
35:38chivalry
35:40beautiful women
35:42and strong
35:42courageous knights
35:45it appeals
35:46it has a universal
35:47appeal
35:47it had an appeal
35:48even back in the
35:491100s
35:50in England
35:51and in France
35:53we lean on
35:54Mallory
35:55and Tennyson
35:56and Jeffrey
35:57of Monmouth
35:58and people
35:59like that
35:59mainly as to
36:01the characters
36:02but our plots
36:04are human plots
36:06people were the same
36:07then as they are
36:09today really
36:09Prince Valiant
36:11hits the streets
36:12every Sunday morning
36:12in 350 cities
36:14in 18 countries
36:15including Japan
36:16it has endured
36:18generation
36:18after generation
36:20Prince Valiant
36:21has a wide
36:22readership
36:23cuts across
36:23all ages
36:25and we have fans
36:26I get a number
36:27of letters
36:27every week
36:28and many of them
36:29are from people
36:30that say that
36:31they've been reading
36:32it from the very
36:32beginning
36:33so these people
36:33must be in their
36:34late 60s
36:35or 70s
36:36or 80s
36:36but the young
36:38people seem
36:38to enjoy it too
36:43a startling thing
36:45happened in
36:45Mallory's Camelot
36:47a miraculous
36:48visitation
36:49by the Holy Grail
36:51the cup
36:51used by Christ
36:52at the Last Supper
36:54appeared briefly
36:55before the knights
36:56and fed them
36:58and vanished
37:02the entire round table
37:03vowed to find
37:04the cup again
37:05seeing in it
37:06a challenge
37:07none could refuse
37:08the quest for the grail
37:10proved to be
37:10a trial of the soul
37:11rashly undertaken
37:13by most
37:13it was a lethal
37:14obstacle course
37:15it would kill
37:15many of Arthur's
37:16knights
37:16and greatly
37:18weaken as well
37:19a foolish adventure
37:20perhaps
37:21but also a glimpse
37:23of transcendence
37:24a reach
37:25that exceeded
37:26their grasp
37:27the quest for the grail
37:29is itself
37:30a crucial part
37:31of the Arthurian legend
37:32because it contains
37:34in it the notion
37:35of quest itself
37:36we are looking
37:37for something
37:38we are on a quest
37:39to find something
37:40the grail
37:41after all
37:42can be
37:43anything
37:44and it is often
37:45used as a metaphor
37:47for anything
37:47we are seeking
37:54the 19th century
37:56saw the most famous
37:57adaptation of the book
37:58till that time
37:59by England's poet laureate
38:00Alfred Lord Tennyson
38:03Tennyson
38:04lamented an idealism
38:06pulverized by the
38:07industrial revolution
38:08a number of victorians
38:10had a strong sense
38:13of the dangerousness
38:15of the world
38:16and therefore
38:17Tennyson
38:19was well able
38:20to call upon that
38:22in evoking
38:24that sense of doom
38:25and the collapse
38:26of empire
38:27and in the disillusioned
38:29twilight
38:30of a dying age
38:31he wrote
38:32the great king's
38:33complaint of God
38:34for I being simple
38:36thought to work
38:37his will
38:37and have but stricken
38:39with the sword
38:39in vain
38:40and all whereon
38:41I leaned
38:42in wife and friend
38:43is traitor
38:44to my peace
38:45and all my realm
38:46reels back
38:47into the beast
38:48and is no more
38:49my God
38:50thou hast forgotten
38:51me in my death
38:52one of the paradoxes
38:55of Tennyson
38:55is that he
38:56set out
38:57to write a story
38:58that would be
38:59a reaction
39:00against his own time
39:02and that would suggest
39:03that it ought to be
39:04an optimistic epic
39:05and in fact
39:06it turns very quickly
39:07into a pessimistic epic
39:09that beauty
39:11that goodness
39:13and so on
39:14cannot last
39:15and the Arthurian story
39:16as would be said later
39:18becomes one brief
39:19shining moment
39:20after which
39:21the world returns
39:22to the chaos
39:23that it was in before
39:25the mortally wounded Arthur
39:27is placed on a barge
39:28by his faithful knight
39:29Bedivere
39:30and accompanied
39:31by three queens
39:32dressed in black
39:33sets out
39:34for the enchanted
39:35isle of Avalon
39:36he would seem to die
39:38but the door of doubt
39:40is left open
39:41and the possibility
39:42of the hero's return
39:43is kept alive
39:46there was the idea
39:47the constant human yearning
39:50for a golden age
39:52and of course
39:53in the case of Arthur
39:55there was the prophecy
39:57the folk belief
39:58that he wasn't really dead
39:59he's asleep in a cave
40:01or he's on an enchanted island
40:03and someday he will come back
40:05and the golden age will return
40:07we haven't really lost it
40:09and one way or another
40:11it has enabled
40:12a whole series of authors
40:14to take up this story
40:16in different ways
40:17and for the story itself
40:19it goes away sometimes
40:21then it comes back
40:22it goes and comes
40:23each according to the different age
40:27in which it occurs
40:28but it has this enduring vitality
40:31in the 1930s
40:32T.H. White published
40:34the first volume
40:34of The Once and Future King
40:38from the musical comedy
40:40it inspired
40:40to the Disney cartoon
40:43which followed
40:43it reconditioned Arthur
40:45and again recalled
40:46a golden age
40:47when old wrongs were righted
40:48and justice reigned
40:50Arthur after all
40:51is once and future
40:53there is a permanency
40:54in the legend
40:55that makes him
40:56available to us
40:57and if he is indeed
41:00a mythological figure
41:02if he does satisfy
41:04a need for myth
41:05for us
41:06there is no reason
41:07to think he is
41:08any less pertinent
41:09to the 20th century
41:10or that he will be
41:11later on
41:12than he has been before
41:14Great myths
41:15and the symbols
41:17they produce
41:17and the values
41:18and ideals
41:19they nourish
41:19are the solder
41:21which wields a culture
41:22a link with our roots
41:24to which we return
41:24in times of trouble
41:36we have recourse
41:38anew to this myth
41:39of Arthur
41:40in times of particular
41:42disunity
41:43or unsettled periods
41:46therefore when we were
41:47unsettled by the death
41:49of Kennedy
41:49we did not know
41:50what was going to happen
41:51afterwards
41:52certainly a powerful leader
41:54had been removed
41:55and therefore
41:56we create the notion
41:58of a Camelot
42:02the story of King Arthur
42:05never really dies
42:07any more than we might hope
42:10the spirit of chivalry
42:11really dies
42:12it takes different forms
42:14the importance of association
42:16of loyalty to one's friends
42:19and loyalty to some superior ideal
42:23and that clearly enough
42:24is still strong these days
42:27even if we don't have to dress up in armor
42:29and ride around knocking each other off horsebacks
42:36Excalibur still is a potent symbol
42:39reminding us
42:40it is sometimes necessary
42:42to use the sword
42:43to sustain the process
42:46and we still depend
42:47on the moral courage
42:49of those who will sacrifice
42:50or dedicate their lives
42:52to the wider cause
42:56humanity still needs
42:57the example of heroes
43:02all human beings
43:04I think
43:05need some ideals
43:07they need some sense
43:09of community
43:09and
43:11they need
43:12if not heroes
43:14at any rate
43:15leading figures
43:17for the imagination
43:18to follow
43:20and perhaps
43:21to
43:21model themselves on
43:23and you can see this
43:25from the very beginnings
43:26of Arthurian story
43:38Many of our ideals
43:40are rooted in ancient times
43:42when the civilizing process
43:43first began
43:44the need for belief
43:47and belonging
43:48and benign order
43:49has existed
43:50from prehistoric times
43:52and from the beginning
43:53we have built structures
43:55to house those yearnings
44:07civilization becomes more
44:09sophisticated
44:10and complex
44:13but the yearnings remain
44:15to be part of something
44:17to be of use
44:20to be worthy
44:30The knights of the round table
44:31tested their worthiness
44:32in the search
44:33for the holy grail
44:35At trial
44:36the best of knights
44:36would fail
44:37and only the purest
44:39would pass
44:55Sir Galahad
44:56knelt and prayed
44:57and his soul
44:58was borne visibly
44:59to heaven
45:00by a company
45:01of angels
45:02Then a hand
45:03appeared
45:04and took
45:05the holy grail
45:06and bore them
45:07also to heaven
45:08and no man
45:09has seen them since
45:14But most men
45:16remain earthbound
45:17struggling with their frailties
45:19finding strength
45:20in unison
45:21and dedication
45:23Beneath these arches
45:24the consecration
45:26of the individual
45:27in the service
45:27of a greater meaning
45:28continues
45:29and worthily magnify
45:31thy holy name
45:32through Christ
45:33our Lord
45:34Amen
45:38The passing on
45:39of faith
45:39Receive the body
45:41of our Lord
45:41The ability to believe
45:42in something more important
45:45than the self
46:00a lot of people
46:03have given up
46:04their lives
46:05to push us
46:06to the level
46:06that we are today
46:08and it's for us
46:08to continue
46:09to push
46:10and push
46:11for the right reasons
46:12and for the right
46:13values
46:14and those values
46:16exist in all forms
46:18Some
46:19of them exist
46:19purely in your gut
46:21Some of them exist
46:22in the Bible
46:22Some of them exist
46:23in the Koran
46:24Some of them exist
46:24in the teachings
46:25of Buddha
46:26Some of them are just
46:28common sense
46:32And it's taking that
46:33and saying there's
46:33some validity to this
46:34and if you follow
46:35this path
46:36good will come out of it
46:51The myth travels
46:53in time
46:55and in space
46:55It changes shape
46:58An image
46:59of the human condition
47:01It inspires
47:03the centuries
47:03old monarchy
47:11And serves as well
47:12in a 20th century
47:13democracy
47:21It's a song
47:23The words change
47:25Put the music
47:27in jewels
47:27Of thee I sing
47:32Learn where my
47:36fathers died
47:39And of the
47:42pilgrims cried
47:45From every mountain
47:51and time
47:52There is
47:54free
47:55of we
48:07Some men say
48:09in many parts of England
48:10that King Arthur
48:11is not dead
48:12And men say
48:14that he shall come again
48:15and he shall win
48:16the Holy Cross
48:17I will not say
48:19that it shall be so
48:20But many men say
48:22that there is written
48:22upon his tomb
48:23this verse
48:24Here lies Arthur
48:26the once
48:27and future
48:28King
48:48Kingë°©
49:09la
49:10la
49:10la
49:10la
49:11la
49:11la
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