It Was Supposed To Be Mordred As He’s Described In My Writing. A Friend And I Couldn’t Find Any Art

The hero tapestries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Cloisters in New York City, NY

Made fancy tea for my mom for Mother's Day. Mom served as the model for Mrs. Whitaker in my adaptation of Neil Gaiman's CHIVALRY graphic novel You can also see the china I used in the book. It's my favorite pattern.

Victor Frankenstein used corpses. Merlin used blood and fingernails.

Merlin is Frankenstein on a budget and Frankenstein is budget Merlin.

Gargantua, artificial grandson of Lancelot and Guinevere.

Veronica Whall’s depiction of Galahad ascending, from King Arthur’s Great Halls at Tintagel

I noticed that Caradoc’s and Arthur’s arms are similar: both feature crowns on an azure field, though Arthur has multiple crowns or and Caradoc just has one crown argent. Caradoc is married to one of Igraine’s daughters in the Vulgate Merlin, and he is the son of Arthur’s niece (but referred to as his nephew) in The Story of Caradoc. It’s quite possible that whoever designed Caradoc’s arms meant them to look like a humbler version of Arthur’s.

Coats of Arms of (some) Knights of the Round Table from a 16th century French manuscript, including most of our favourite Merlin knights.

From left to right:

Galahad, Percival, Lancelot du Lac, Bors

King Arthur, Gawain, Tristan, Lionel

(H)elyan the White, King Bagdemagus, King Edern, King Rience, 

King Carados, King Clariance, Duke Chaliens of Clarence and (H)ector de Maris.

Really sad Arthurian headcanon No. 1: The Grail Heroine’s namelessness

Bors is supposedly the person who comes back and tells the story of the successful Grail questing party, so all that’s known of it is what he’s willing to say, and he makes at least one omission: the name of the Grail Heroine, Percival’s sister. After she sacrifices herself for the group, Galahad, Percival, and Bors feel immense guilt. In particular, Percival and Galahad realize that as maiden knights, they too could have given blood, and if all three chipped in, they would have had enough blood to cure the lady without anyone dying. They all miss her terribly and decide never to say her name because it’s too painful a reminder.

Since Bors won’t say her name, she previously lived in a cloister (where she might have used another name), and her parents and siblings are already dead or will die young, her name ends up being forgotten.

Alan Lee’s illustration of Rhiannon from the Mabinogion

Wait a minute...

Edward the Third was an Arthuriana nerd who named his son after Sir Lionel, and...

...made up a title for him, which....

...had previously existed in Arthuriana and didn't refer to a place. Coincidence?

Probably.

Well, darn. That would've been very interesting. Then again, maybe the knowledge that Edward III was such a nerd he named his son after Sir Lionel is enough to ask.