Quotes & Sayings About Arthurian Legend

Then this is for you," Galahad said, and drew a knife from the pouch at his belt. It was an odd little thing, T-hilted and small enough to fit into a woman's hand. Its translucent blade, only an inch and a half long, was bound with scrolling bronze wire to the bone hilt. "Have a care. Obsidian is sharper than anything else in the world, sharp enough to make sunlight bleed. — Suzannah Rowntree

A knight will give a lady a ring from his hand and take a kiss from her lips, when he wishes to love her and serve her all his days," she recited, as she had when he was small. She pulled the ring from the chain and held it out to him. "This ring is the knight's who swore to serve me. Take it. One day you may find a lady to wear it. — Suzannah Rowntree

Blanchefleur felt a quick rush of affection for her. When the world frowned, Branwen went on smiling. There was a heart of steel under all that froth and bubble. — Suzannah Rowntree

Stories require faith, not facts. — T.A. Barron

The plain of Bedegraine was a forest of pavilions. They looked like old-fashioned bathing tents, and were every colour of the rainbow ... There were heraldic devices worked or stamped on the sides ... Then there were pennons floating from the tops of the tents, and sheaves of spears leaning against them. The more sporting barons had shields or huge copper basins outside their front doors, and all you had to do was to give a thump on one of these with the butt-end of your spear, for the baron to come out like an angry bee and have a fight with you, almost before the resounding boom had died away. Sir Dinadain, who was a cheerful man, had hung a chamber-pot outside his. — T.H. White

Thus Arthur achieved the adventure of the sword that day and entered into his birthright of royalty. Wherefore, may God grant His Grace unto you all that ye too may likewise succeed in your undertakings. For any man may be a king in that life in which he is placed if so he may draw forth the sword of success from out of the iron of circumstance. Wherefore when your time of assay cometh, I do hope it may be with you as it was with Arthur that day, and that ye too may achieve success with entire satisfaction unto yourself and to your great glory and perfect happiness. — Howard Pyle

Arthur, their young king, like a hero out of legend. — Marion Zimmer Bradley

Ever since I was a kid, I've always been fascinated by the Arthurian Legend, and, you know, the notion of nobility in battle and the - the notion of chivalry. — Matt Frewer

You hate him worse than me, you viper,' he whispered as the stimulant cleared his brain.
'Aye, lord, but here's the oddity of it - I love him too.' Morgan replied, her eyes void of all emotion. — M.K. Hume

A priestess of Avalon does not lie. But I am cast out of Avalon, and for this, and unless it is all to be for nothing, I must lie, and lie well and quickly — Marion Zimmer Bradley

Listen
strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. — Michael Palin

I have neither talent or taste for kingship, cousin. I am a warrior, and to dwell always in one place and live at court would weary me to death! — Marion Zimmer Bradley

Perceval said to the Grail Knight: "Will you break a spear with me this day?"

He did not expect Galahad to look down on him from Lancelot's immense height and say, gently, as if he knew it must disappoint, "Sir, I cannot."

"No? Well, there are others to fight," said Perceval, trying not to show how vexed he felt to be denied the honour.

"Not for any lack of love," Galahad added. "But for the regard in which I hold you, Perceval of Wales. — Suzannah Rowntree

The Lady smiled, close-mouthed. "You magicked for Arthur himself, Merlin. The Human part of you has always loved Arthur. — Anne Eliot Crompton

Only a child expects life to be just; it's a man's part to stand by the consequences of his deeds. — Mary Stewart

The monster, Hitler, died like Uther, frightened, hiding, haunted by his crimes and his wholly reasonable belief that all decent human beings would turn their backs on him. Who really cares where Hitler's bones lie, or how he died, as long as he is safely dead? Now, in the twenty-first century, Karl Marx's grave in a London cemetery is no longer a rallying cry to the poisoned idea that the end justifies the means. We shall never know for certain where Arthur lies, or if he even lived. If he was a myth, then it was necessary for human beings to invent him. Hail, Arthur, King of the Britons! I wish another hero would take your place, now that the west has such a need of you. — M.K. Hume

I go by Ambrosius, Wild Man of the Woods, and Son of the Devil. Call me what you want, but I am Merlin." - Merlin — Ben Zackheim

We have The Idylls of the King in English class this term. I like some things in them, but I detest Tennyson's Arthur. If I had been Guinevere I'd have boxed his ears - but I wouldn't have been unfaithful to him for Lancelot, who was just as odious in a different way. As for Geraint, if I had been Enid I'd have bitten him. These 'patient Griseldas' deserve all they get. — L.M. Montgomery

He felt in his heart cruelty and cowardice, the things which made him brave and kind. — T.H. White

Because this story struck me as extraordinary, and it still does. Once upon a time there was a man in a spacesuit in a secret reconnaissance plane reading The Once and Future King, that great historical epic, that comic, tragic, romantic retelling of the Arthurian legend that tussles with questions of war and aggression, and might, and right, and the matter of what a nation is or might be. — Helen Macdonald

Sir Ector looked into the fire, fidgeting with something in his pocket.
"I have something for you," he said at last. "It was your mother's." And he drew out the thing in his pocket and held it up to her.
The ring Blanche took from him was antique silver, cabochon-set with a glimmering moonstone. Her mother's ring! Blanche folded it into her hand and held tightly to the only thing her parents had left her. — Suzannah Rowntree

Your music hurts, the way sunshine hurts when you've existed for a long time in darkness. — Thea Harrison

There was carpet under Blanchefleur's feet and the scent of clean and delicate things in her nostrils - perfume, babies, soap, and tea. Homesickness hit her like a clenched fist; this was worse than memory. — Suzannah Rowntree

I did not do it for you, sire." Gawain was deadly serious now. "Death comes to us and all mortals. I shall still lose you one day. But Logres! The only perfection under heaven would fall if I could not save you. — Suzannah Rowntree

And so, perhaps, the truth winds somewhere between the road to Glastonbury, Isle of the Priests, and the road to Avalon, lost forever in the mists of the Summer Sea. — Marion Zimmer Bradley

Because it was one of my favorites from the Arthurian legend, one of the things that I really enjoyed doing was the legend of the crystal cave. In my head, it was fun to imagine what it was going to look like because there was a lot of CGI involved, in seeing visions of the future reflected within crystals. — Colin Morgan

In the dim sunset Perceval looked the glade over and said, "Does your lady wife think so little of sending you out on deadly errands?"
Sir Gareth unstrapped the blanket from behind his saddle. "It's our fourth child. I've grown accustomed to it."
"Of course," Perceval said with a grin, "even dragonfire might burn less hot than my lady aunt's temper."
Sir Gareth cuffed Perceval across the ear. "For that piece of insolence, youngster, you take the first watch. And be glad you are so tender in years that I dare not risk my honour upon you in single combat to prove my Lynet as sweet-tempered as she should be. — Suzannah Rowntree

I read H.P. Lovecraft. I also like Sword and Sorcery stuff, Arthurian legend. — Bruce Boxleitner

It is one thing to have the gift of seeing the spirits and hearing the Gods who move about us as we come and go; but it is a gift of darkness as well as light. — Mary Stewart

How you must hate Logres," she said in a dry mouth.
"Hate Logres?" He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. "There is an anger that is deserved, Blanche. Tell me. Look me in the eye, if you can, and tell me - to my face - that Logres is without sin. — Suzannah Rowntree

Look out your window on a morning in spring, ten or twenty years hence, and perhaps you'll see me coming. — Suzannah Rowntree

I am nothing, yes; I am air and darkness, a word, a promise. I watch in the crystal and I wait in the hollow hills. But out there in the light I have a young king and a bright sword to do my work for me, and build what will stand when my name is only a word for forgotten songs and outworn wisdom, and when your name, Morgause, is only a hissing in the dark. — Mary Stewart

Oh, Perceval, a falcon is born to hunt, and so are you. One day you will hunt indeed--but not yet."
"Why? Am I not ready?"
She looked at him sadly and said, "Give me a little longer. — Suzannah Rowntree

Guenever never cared for God. She was a good theologian, but that was all. The truth was that she was old and wise: she knew that Lancelot did care for God most passionately, that it was essential he should turn in that direction. So, for his sake, to make it easier for him, the great queen now renounced what she had fought for all her life, now set the example, and stood to her choice. She had stepped out of the picture.
Lancelot guessed a good deal of this, and, when she refused to see him, he climbed the convent wall with Gallic, ageing gallantry. He waylaid her to expostulate, but she was adamant and brave. Something about Mordred seems to have broken her lust for life. They parted, never to meet on earth. — T.H. White

I am like a ruined piece of parchment scrawled over and over again with your name, so many times it has become illegible. — Elizabeth Wein

Growing up in England, I was constantly surrounded by the Arthurian legend. — Jamie Campbell Bower

Thinking and planning is one side of life; doing is another. A man cannot be
doing all the time. — Mary Stewart

That night she dreamed about the King again.
She stood in a riverside meadow between greenwood and castle. Overhead the sun shone gilt in a sky like powdered lapis and struck golden sparks from the King's blood-red dragon banner. — Suzannah Rowntree

I have always said the success of the show has stemmed from our audience being able to relate to the characters on different levels - being based on the universally loved Arthurian legend is only a tiny part of its success - it's a story about acceptance and growing up. The breathtaking finale of this series leaves you with no doubt that characters have been on their journeys and had their stories told - it's completely the right time to draw our telling of the story to a close. — Katie McGrath

At least Morgan is honest! Artor thought as he forced his tired lips to smile. She refuses to eat at my table because she is my enemy. How many of my guests pretend? — M.K. Hume

Stop, Morgian. Your wiles cannot avail you now.' He turned to the High King and said, 'The hurt this woman has done me, I readily forgive. It is for the harm that she has caused others that she is to be judged. — Stephen R. Lawhead

But every time we read a new version of the Arthurian legend, we must compare, contrast, and recreate our image of the characters: each new version is, in a sense, metafiction — Ann F. Howey

No, don't draw away from me. Whatever else I am, I am your son - your most wretched son. If you do not hate me, try to love me a little, Father; it is lonely never to have been loved, only devoured. — Rosemary Sutcliff

The Queen of Air and Darkness tilted back her head and laughed. A more ghastly sound I hope never to hear. 'Do you think I care about these trifles?'
'Murder is no trifle, woman,' Arthur said.
'No? How many men have you killed, Great King? How many have you slain without cause? How many did you cut down that you might have spared? How many died because you in your battle-rage would not heed their pleas for mercy?'
The High King opened his mouth to speak, but could make no answer. — Stephen R. Lawhead

I have fled from the wilderness fasting, with woe and unflagging travail,
I have sought for the light on the mountain, and skirted the devilish dale.
I have laid my mouth in the dust, and begged the Might to be kind,
I have come to the feast, and I famish. Now grant me the Holy Grail. — Suzannah Rowntree

I mean," he said, "that by your own showing, the greatest threat to heaven comes from within the ranks of the angels themselves. Before you can prove to me that heroes can defeat villains with nothing but the purest chivalric ideals, you must convince me that heroes do exist, and that villains are not a fanciful tale for children. You must tell me, sir, if you dare, that you are incorruptible, and that your colleagues and commanders are as pure as you. — Suzannah Rowntree

Giving her a slow, coaxing smile that turned the heat in the room up by a thousand degrees, he stroked her lips with the balls of his thumbs as he murmured, "Can we get back to talking about possibly inviting that werewolf for sex? — Thea Harrison