The Once and Future Traitor: Mordred from the Medieval to the Modern

Mordred is a villain with a reputation seemingly more deeply tainted with each century of reworking of the Arthurian legend. Arthurian culture is so extensive and varied, however, that this generalization can only be reductive. This study takes a long view of the writing of Mordred from the medieval to the present day. Its focus on a single, narratively marginal (but symbolically crucial) character allows it to track developments across the long duration of Arthurian culture in more detail than many conventional studies of Arthurian reception and to make a more concentrated argument in assessing these developments. In what surviving early works there are, Mordred has always been Arthur’s nephew, but with the twelfth-century Prose Lancelot he became Arthur’s son through incest. This depiction of Mordred is one who is marked out by prophecy with a destiny for great evil or great good, with readers familiar with Arthurian legend knowing that Mordred is ultimately fated to kill and be killed by his father. The changes that undergo Mordred’s characterisation across medieval and modern texts are not linear, nor are they in a singular consistent direction. Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur is a flat villain with a singular role, whilst the anonymous Middle English Alliterative Morte Arthure is an intricate blend of sympathy and critique that presents Mordred and Arthur as equals in the text. Although the works selected for discussion do not cover all the ways that Mordred is represented in medieval literature, presenting and analysing them together in this thesis works against a narrative of progression from one text to another. Modern works might not have the same political anxieties about kingship and heirs, but from T.H. White’s The Once and Future King they have invited psychological examinations into the character and emphasized maternal concerns for the character of Mordred. Whilst newer mediums offer internal worlds for their characters, that richness of characterisation does not mean some push towards a more progressive or tolerant depiction of Mordred. With White, too, does Mordred become subject to queer coding, which is used to further villainise him. In video games, the newest medium in this thesis, is Mordred’s queerness and physiological differences are embraced, allowing the audience to embody his persona or analogues to it.<p></p>

Author dc:creator

• Marilyn Mannino (21043628)

• Arthurian literature
• Mordred
• Villains
• Arthuriana
• Prose Lancelot
• Le Morte Darthur

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved
• Open Access after 2027-11-05

Identifier

10779/exe.32233638.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/32233638