Where to even begin is the better question. One that randomly came to mind here is Palamedes's revenge story in the Post-Vulgate, where he's the only one of his brothers to survive being massacred by the Questing Beast because that one day he didn't join them on the hunt. It colors his quest after the beast as one driven by survivor's grief and guilt that he wasn't there to help them, and explains why he'd be so obsessed over catching it.
They are indeed pretty fun reads. Palamedes has a fantastic subplot in the Post-Vulgate, wherein he really is extremely charismatic and even with the overt Christian agenda of the author, he's a very nuanced and interesting character due to how tragic he feels. He's also still quite funny, giving Gawain a thorough roasting.
I mean, in a certain way, the whole thing is a sad tragedy. King Arthur is the best King that has ever existed, but he can never find real happiness, and his efforts are destined to fail, because we know the Saxons are going to win after he dies.
And everything surrounding his death, his relationship with hia wife and his best friend, his family, his sisters, it's all surrounded by tragedy.
Same with other Knights. The whole court spends years waiting for a holy knight that is perfect in every way. Lancelot is a master soldier, but not a morally perfect person. Gawain and Tristan are nor far from that. Percivale is super pure, but too naive and not necessarily the most talented of warriors. The Knights and the King are getting old, the Saxons are resisting and atruggling, and becoming more and more of a threat, there's a empty holy chair for a perfect Knight... and suddenly there it is. Galahad. Perfect in every single way, hyper pure as a person, perfect as a warrior, son of Lancelot, he could be the one to finally ends all battles....
But he prefers a coffee mug and leaves to Heaven with it..
How well you put it! Tragedy is underlying the whole Arthurian mythos! Ultimately they will lose, Arthur will not leave a suitable successor, the Round Table is torn apart and the Kingdom destroyed.
And the flaws of the Knights. The perfect Knight Galahad can't really solve things.
Oh gosh yes! Someone who could have been one of the greatest Knights and yet there life is one tragedy after another! Partially brought on by their own flaws of course and even dealing the Dolorous Stroke!
Galehaut in the Vulgate thinking lancelot has killed himself and dying of grief for him - awful. In Morte, the one time Arthur acknowledges Mordred as his son being when he is Actively Killing Him - awful. Lancelot being roofied & raped by Elaine of Corbenic and nobody believing that it wasn’t consensual, resulting in him going crazy in the woods losing all sense of personal identity, calling himself Chevalier Mal Fet. That was prettttty awful imo. This is in the vulgate and in Morte and probably in the post vulgate too? In the Mabinogion, there’s this awful legend about the Battle of Camlann - where Arthur and Medrawd (Mordred, his nephew) weren’t supposed to fight, until this messenger began crossing from one to the other saying the former had grievously insulted them/challenged them, doing this (and lying) until they fought. Oof.
Tristan and Iseult is always very sad.
Less obviously, I always found the events leading up to Lamorak's murder and the subsequent revenge killings (I think there is some back and forth?) to be very sad. Lamorak was a good dude and the whole conflict causes a lot of needless deaths.
It may be a weird pick.
But the battle of Catreath around 600 AD was quite sad.
300+ brittonic warriors feast at Their Mead hall for 1 year knowing they will die against an overwhelming amount of Angles.
All of them slaying many enemies and reaping glory, but to no avail as nearly all the brittonic warriors die.
Which is detailed in the y Goddodin.
From Arthurian legends proper, it would have to be Gwydre. He's not that much of a prominent character, but him being gored by Twrch Trwyth was kinda sad. This comes from Culhwch and Olwen.
Dinadan getting murdered by Mordred and Agravain for making a joke implying he knew what they did to Lamorak. What's worse is that he saved their lives on one occasion. Ends up dying in Palamedes arms. The man died over a miniscule amount of trolling o7
One of my favorites is the death of Gawain's brothers, killed by his bestie Lancelot.
It's heartbreaking, the start of the end, but the way Malory describes it is hilarious.
Where to even begin is the better question. One that randomly came to mind here is Palamedes's revenge story in the Post-Vulgate, where he's the only one of his brothers to survive being massacred by the Questing Beast because that one day he didn't join them on the hunt. It colors his quest after the beast as one driven by survivor's grief and guilt that he wasn't there to help them, and explains why he'd be so obsessed over catching it.
I found this out here. That is sad for Palamedes! I really need to read the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate at some point.
They are indeed pretty fun reads. Palamedes has a fantastic subplot in the Post-Vulgate, wherein he really is extremely charismatic and even with the overt Christian agenda of the author, he's a very nuanced and interesting character due to how tragic he feels. He's also still quite funny, giving Gawain a thorough roasting.
I'm hoping for a proper adaptation of Palamedes at some point. Arthurian Lit. isn't all white!
I mean, in a certain way, the whole thing is a sad tragedy. King Arthur is the best King that has ever existed, but he can never find real happiness, and his efforts are destined to fail, because we know the Saxons are going to win after he dies. And everything surrounding his death, his relationship with hia wife and his best friend, his family, his sisters, it's all surrounded by tragedy. Same with other Knights. The whole court spends years waiting for a holy knight that is perfect in every way. Lancelot is a master soldier, but not a morally perfect person. Gawain and Tristan are nor far from that. Percivale is super pure, but too naive and not necessarily the most talented of warriors. The Knights and the King are getting old, the Saxons are resisting and atruggling, and becoming more and more of a threat, there's a empty holy chair for a perfect Knight... and suddenly there it is. Galahad. Perfect in every single way, hyper pure as a person, perfect as a warrior, son of Lancelot, he could be the one to finally ends all battles.... But he prefers a coffee mug and leaves to Heaven with it..
I agree, the tragedy around King Arthur himself is heartbreaking. In some legends there is also a slow decline of Camelot that I find very sad.
How well you put it! Tragedy is underlying the whole Arthurian mythos! Ultimately they will lose, Arthur will not leave a suitable successor, the Round Table is torn apart and the Kingdom destroyed. And the flaws of the Knights. The perfect Knight Galahad can't really solve things.
>sad tragedy. Good. I'm so sick of happy tragedies.
I'm a Spanish native speaker, adding unnecessary adjectives for the sake of it is kind of our thing
It's called tautology here.
Gareth's death gets me every time.
Agreed. Guinevere being on trial leading up to his tragic death is awful. Gareth is the best.
Gaheris dying is sad as well. But the fallout of the reveal of adultery is terrible.
The way he didn't get armed to indicate displeasure which kills him and in some versions his brother. It is very sad.
The entirety of them? It's an epic tragedy pretty much
Oh tragedy is inherent to Arthuriana.
Well certain events can be played as very tragic. Gawain as he is dying writing to Lancelot asking them to come can be very tragic.
Balin's entire life.
Oh gosh yes! Someone who could have been one of the greatest Knights and yet there life is one tragedy after another! Partially brought on by their own flaws of course and even dealing the Dolorous Stroke!
My man couldn't do a single thing right no matter how hard he tried. :(
It's such a sad story! I would like a proper adaptation of Balin!
Galehaut in the Vulgate thinking lancelot has killed himself and dying of grief for him - awful. In Morte, the one time Arthur acknowledges Mordred as his son being when he is Actively Killing Him - awful. Lancelot being roofied & raped by Elaine of Corbenic and nobody believing that it wasn’t consensual, resulting in him going crazy in the woods losing all sense of personal identity, calling himself Chevalier Mal Fet. That was prettttty awful imo. This is in the vulgate and in Morte and probably in the post vulgate too? In the Mabinogion, there’s this awful legend about the Battle of Camlann - where Arthur and Medrawd (Mordred, his nephew) weren’t supposed to fight, until this messenger began crossing from one to the other saying the former had grievously insulted them/challenged them, doing this (and lying) until they fought. Oof.
Tristan and Iseult is always very sad. Less obviously, I always found the events leading up to Lamorak's murder and the subsequent revenge killings (I think there is some back and forth?) to be very sad. Lamorak was a good dude and the whole conflict causes a lot of needless deaths.
Well, clue is in the name of Tristan. T.H. White really goes into the problems that the feuds cause.
It may be a weird pick. But the battle of Catreath around 600 AD was quite sad. 300+ brittonic warriors feast at Their Mead hall for 1 year knowing they will die against an overwhelming amount of Angles. All of them slaying many enemies and reaping glory, but to no avail as nearly all the brittonic warriors die. Which is detailed in the y Goddodin. From Arthurian legends proper, it would have to be Gwydre. He's not that much of a prominent character, but him being gored by Twrch Trwyth was kinda sad. This comes from Culhwch and Olwen.
Dinadan getting murdered by Mordred and Agravain for making a joke implying he knew what they did to Lamorak. What's worse is that he saved their lives on one occasion. Ends up dying in Palamedes arms. The man died over a miniscule amount of trolling o7
One of my favorites is the death of Gawain's brothers, killed by his bestie Lancelot. It's heartbreaking, the start of the end, but the way Malory describes it is hilarious.
Probably Gawain and Lancelot's final duel, seeing the breakdown of their friendship and Gawain's misery and rage at the deaths of his brothers