Dr Mary Bateman

Yeah, potentially. And some of these lays are Arthurian in nature. And some of them are quite typical. Some of them are a bit more unusual. There's one called Lanval about a knight who is overlooked by Arthur and Guinevere and just not treated very well. And he ends up being rescued by a fairy lover who he has... a very good time with in a meadow in a tent somewhere.

Yeah, potentially. And some of these lays are Arthurian in nature. And some of them are quite typical. Some of them are a bit more unusual. There's one called Lanval about a knight who is overlooked by Arthur and Guinevere and just not treated very well. And he ends up being rescued by a fairy lover who he has... a very good time with in a meadow in a tent somewhere.

And she rides in to rescue him and he leaps on the back of her horse and rides off just as he's about to be given this terrible trial at Arthur's Court.

And she rides in to rescue him and he leaps on the back of her horse and rides off just as he's about to be given this terrible trial at Arthur's Court.

So she's great. I love Married France and they're a good length as well. You can just kind of dip in it.

So she's great. I love Married France and they're a good length as well. You can just kind of dip in it.

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah, a little bit. It's also really the first time that we start to see a lot of these disparate stories being brought together into a kind of very epic, coherent whole. But yeah, the Vulgate cycle, we're not sure exactly who wrote it, but we think it may have been written by someone, possibly a secular author who had spent time in Cistercian circles.

Yeah, a little bit. It's also really the first time that we start to see a lot of these disparate stories being brought together into a kind of very epic, coherent whole. But yeah, the Vulgate cycle, we're not sure exactly who wrote it, but we think it may have been written by someone, possibly a secular author who had spent time in Cistercian circles.

And they were all about kind of mystical things, which explains why... So they were monks? Yes, which explains why the Grail is such an important part of that.

And they were all about kind of mystical things, which explains why... So they were monks? Yes, which explains why the Grail is such an important part of that.

Yeah, and so it really is answering to that image of the ideal knight as a Christianised kind of a knight. And it also raises the question as to whether there are forms of knighthood that shouldn't be idealised so much.

Yeah, and so it really is answering to that image of the ideal knight as a Christianised kind of a knight. And it also raises the question as to whether there are forms of knighthood that shouldn't be idealised so much.

And I think by drawing that connection between the Grail quest and the death of Arthur, the mortatou, which is kind of the end point in the story, in the Vulgate collection, if you like, it's really reinforcing the potential for... The failure to achieve something as being potentially something that could lead to the downfall of somebody great. Yeah. Like Arthur.

And I think by drawing that connection between the Grail quest and the death of Arthur, the mortatou, which is kind of the end point in the story, in the Vulgate collection, if you like, it's really reinforcing the potential for... The failure to achieve something as being potentially something that could lead to the downfall of somebody great. Yeah. Like Arthur.

I mean, it's really massive. We think Mallory was using sources written in French and sources written in English. But there is at least one book in the book. It's a book split into books, confusingly. And there is at least one book in there where we don't know what his source was, which is very intriguing.

I mean, it's really massive. We think Mallory was using sources written in French and sources written in English. But there is at least one book in the book. It's a book split into books, confusingly. And there is at least one book in there where we don't know what his source was, which is very intriguing.

It's an amazing fate of being able to synthesize a huge amount of stories and weave them together into a master narrative.

It's an amazing fate of being able to synthesize a huge amount of stories and weave them together into a master narrative.