In many romances, King Arthur has great prestige, but does little to show why he deserves it - why?

Question

If Arthur is presented as weak, how does he keep his prestige in stories like Yvain by Chretien de Troyes and Lanval by Marie de France

Answer 1

Because it's a romance. It's not about what makes King Arthur great. What's romantic about weakness?

Answer 2

I guess it's because the story is more about Merlin and the knights. We know that Arthur was chosen to be king and to unite Britain.But that was pushed to the background by Merlin's magic and the daring do's of the knights.The real Arthur was actually a chieftain and not a king and he fought against the Romans during the Dark Ages; just before Rome fell.Merlin if he did exist would have been a Druid and Guinevere would certainly not have cheated on Arthur with a Frenchman! And there would not have been any knights either,because they didn't come along until the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain. Still it's a nice story especially the part about Arthur coming back.

Answer 3

You are looking at a litterary tradition that takes its origins from Celtic traditions, althougha similar format is seen in other works. The format is quite simple and is carried on in modern films. The hero must be seen to suffer to be worthy of our respect. He must undergoe great trials in order to be deamed worthy of hero statues before their eventual victory.

If you read stories, like the Heros of Ulster, or even Gilgamesh, we see this common framework. Arthur, in many of the stories, is a re-write of much ealier tales, handed down in an oral format. The holy grail being taken from a tale about a magic couldron.

In all instances, the hero is seen as troubled, suffering, or weak, until overcoming their difficulties and proving themselves heroic.