What attracts you?

[chthonic-gnome.livejournal.com]

I was watching "History's Mysteries: The Knights of the Round Table" on the History Channel, and one historian remarked that people are drawn to the Legends because Camelot is like Eden, and the fall of Camelot is like that archetypal fall of Paradise inherent in the history of man. I think that's such a Christian way of looking at the Legends.

So what drew you to the Legends, and what holds your interest? Is it Camelot's resemblance to paradise, or is it something different?

For me, I think it is the sense of fantasy. The Legends are so rich and varied that they seem an entire universe in themselves. It's like an alternate dimension I can escape to whenever I read about them, or imagine the characters. It's probably the same feeling that LOTR fans have about Middle Earth, etc.

Comments

[athenaktt.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. I was always drawn to legends and mythology because they are interesting stories that happen in a fantasy world thats fun to escape too.

What draws me to the legends is the whole chivalry knight in shining armors theme.

Sometimes the imposing of christain ideas on to legends and mythology gets pretty annoying. Since some of the legends/myths come way before the whole addition of christian ideals onto them.

[bluerapunzel.livejournal.com]

And just wanting to add -- that I love stripping off the legends to get a sense of the man (or men) who started it all....


Me too. I love the legendary Arthurian tales but I am equally fascinated by the actual history. Too bad we don't have more evidence about his existence.

[edwardwonghau.livejournal.com]

as a former student of Yungian psychology, I think it's because we see different sides of ourselves in the stories and legends...different facests of our own personalities, or as Yung said "Ego"...

WE each have a side of our personality like Merlin,
A side like Morgana,
Aspects of ourselves that we also see in King Arthur...
Etc...
we all have our dark side, and our light side...
We all have our own personal Quests...


(of course this also applies to LOTR/Tolkien, to The Wizard of Oz...to may other fantasies and stories of old...and even films such as Star Wars,...)

(edited for typos etc) Just wanted to add...

[edwardwonghau.livejournal.com]

Yung would refer to Excalibur as the "Mana" symbol,
something that, when you divide it in half, you have two identical parts..
something saught after that brings wisdom, glory, etc...

You could also say the Holy Grail is a "Mana" symbol...

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

Nothing to do with either Eden or the Summerlands for me; I'm primarily interested in the pre-Medieval stuff, and I'm a semi-believer in both historical Arthur and Arthur-as-warleader rather than Arthur-as-King. For me it's the story of a small group of people making a last stand against assimilation/destruction, and I suppose on an archetypal level that's one of my favorite themes (I'm also quite fond of Y Gododdin). Camelot itself? Eh. No, it's the characters.

[starvingartist3.livejournal.com]

Eh, I like history, including medieval history, and I think I find the characters and thier relationships to be highly interesting for various reasons.

[madrigalblue.livejournal.com]

I like the whole thing-- the history, the romanticization, the fantasy...

But most of all, it shows me what my ideals are. Gives a general sense of history. It's all well and good for me to be an Irish-Italian-German-Native-American, but it doesn't do much for cultural identity that people of other races or communities seem to have. Of all things, I'm not British, but Arthur as a means of cultural identity just appeals to my WASPy self while still satisfying my need for academia and fantasy I suppose.

[madrigalblue.livejournal.com]

Also, as a young woman helping to understand her own sexual identity, it was/is always interesting to read about the confusing and conflicting nature of such in Arthurian legend and medieval times (hence my fixation on Guinevere).