Thesis Abstract and Dissertation Abstracts
The Motif Of The Dolorous Stroke In Sir Malory's "Le Morte Darthur"
Abstract Category: Arts
Course / Degree: Modern Languages and Literatures
Institution / University: University of Trento, Italy
Published in: 2011
The motif of the Dolorous Stroke in Arthurian legends is a very interesting literary topos and is very well represented in Le Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory. The book of Sir Malory is composed by eight main books; each book contains many tales: the story begins with the birth of King Arthur and ends with the sunset of his kingdom; quite all the tales narrate the adventures of king Arthur’s knights. The tales, moreover, are rich in topics about honor and defense of the realm’s lands: consequently they are rich in fight descriptions. One of the most famous and discussed scene is the meeting of an Arthur’s knight, named Balin, and a king, enemy of king Arthur, named Pellam. The tale in which the enemies meet is the one entitled “The tale of Balyn and Balan”: sir Balin is determined to revenge a wrong made by King Pellam who lives in a castle in which the famous Holy Grail is guarded. During the competition with king Pellam sir Balin breaks his sword, and in search for a new weapon for continuing the fight he finds, in a chamber of the castle, a magic spear that he pierces into the rival, landing the Dolorous Stroke: at that point the whole bastion of the grail collapses on the fighters, burying them; thereafter the whole country becomes a “waste land”. The weapon used by Balin, according to the Christian tradition, was the lance used by Longinus to pierce the side of Jesus after his death and for that reason it seems to have the magic power to destroy everything if used in a wrong way. For other researchers the lance is a literary topos that has its origin in the Celtic legends: the most accredited theory is that this legend was born pagan and became Christian with the spreading of the Gospel. In fact the Christian legend has many correspondences with the story "The Blinding of Cormac", which is an Irish ancient account.
The place wherein the lance is attended is thought to be the same place in which Joseph of Arimathea arrived from the Middle East with other crucifixion relics.
Sir Malory of Newbold Revel was born around 1415 or 1417, before the War of the Roses but during the first riots that led to the civil war that lasted thirty years. He was a landowner and a knight serving Richard Neville during the war and was involved in political and social struggles of that time.
Many specialists say that he completed his masterpiece in the prison of Newgate during the last years of his life.
The questions are: if Sir Malory was not a professional author, why did he collect that amount of Arthurian legends, and why did he write such a masterpiece?
Thesis Keywords/Search Tags:
Thomas Malory, War of the Roses, King Arthur, Dolorous Stroke, Balin, Pellam, Bleeding Lance, Longinus Spear
This Thesis Abstract may be cited as follows:
Michele Marinoni (2011). The Motif of the Dolorous Stroke in Sir Malory's Le Morte Darthur. Unpublished Thesis. University of Trento. Faculty of Letters and Philosophy. Degree in Modern Languages and Literatures.
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Balin hits King Pellam (click to enlarge) |
Submission Details: Thesis Abstract submitted by michele marinoni from Italy on 21-Oct-2011 16:26.
Abstract has been viewed 4946 times (since 7 Mar 2010).
michele marinoni Contact Details: Email: michele.marinoni@yahoo.it
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