The story of King Arthur and Star Wars go hand and hand. The Arthurian story is based on a legend from the Anglo-Saxon period of British history, the stories of a great king with a band of very brave knights have influenced many other stories. One of those stories is the Star Wars movie series, they use many of the same principles from the Arthurian legend and implement it in a science fiction movie form. Star Wars and King Arthur’s legend have many commonalities. And differences, including Arthur’s life, plot, and the settings.
King Arthur’s legend is a very interesting story full of mystery and adventure. The story of the legendary King Arthur starts with his biological father King Uther (“King Arthur”). Uther promised his first born to Merlin, after his help with getting his wife, he promised merlin his first born son(“Summary and Analysis…”) Merlin gave him to Sir Ector to raise and train him into a glorious, fearless warrior (“Summary and Analysis…”). Arthur grew up with an older brother Sir Kay (“King Arthur”). Arthur grew up thinking this was his real family not learning the truth till later in life. After King Uther died, it left the people in turmoil never being able to find a worthy king (“Summary and Analysis…”). The archbishop prayed for a sword to be embedded in rock with the words “whose pulelths this sword out of this stone and anvil shall is rightly king of all of England” engraved on it (Malory 5,). After many failed attempts by many noble knights, no one could pull out the sword.
One day on the way to a tournament for worthy knights, Sir Kay forgot his sword and sent Arthur to go get it for him(“Summary and Analysis…”). Arthur could not get into his house to get his brothers sword, so on his way back to his brother he stopped and tried pulling the sword from the rock. After pulling it out with ease, he ran to his brother to show him, Sir Kay at first tried to claim that he had pulled the sword from the rock(“Summary and Analysis…”). Sir Ector made Sir Kay give credit to Arthur for pulling the sword from the rock, then they took Arthur to the archbishop and many nobles came to watch him do it again(“Summary and Analysis…”). Arthur put the sword back in the rock and many nobles tried again and failed; then Arthur pulled it out again with ease and was proclaimed king.
Many people did to respect the fifteen-year-old king, and it was hard for him to find noble knights at first. Merlin became one of Arthur’s best advisors. Merlin was a sprite and helped Arthur out of some tight situations (“Summary and Analysis…”). This is when King Arthur started Logres,the Arthurian realm of virtue. To be a knight at the round table, knights had to display honor, protect the helpless, and behave justly to all people (“Summary and Analysis…”). No external force could destroy Logres; only internal conflict could bring it down (“Summary and Analysis…”, Hutton 25). Sadly, this would be the case and the fall of Logres would come all to soon.
Many people tried to bring Arthur down, but no one tried as hard as his half sister Morgan Le Fay. She did many things to Arthur from turning his own knights on him to taking his scabbard that always protected him (“Summary and Analysis…’). Morgan Le Fay was a skilled enchantress. Once she made Arthur battle his knight Sir Accolon, the two battled and were both mortally wounded(“Summary and Analysis…”). She also sent Arthur a beautiful robe, suspicious of it he made a maiden try it on first, the maiden was consumed in fire(“Summary and Analysis…”). King Arthur’s half sister Morgan Le Fay was very evil, and tried everything she could to make Arthur fall.
King Arthur had many very good knights that would fight and stand by Arthur for a long time. One of his bravest, strongest, noble knights was Sir Gawain, but he had a rash temper, and once killed a lady on an adventure(“Summary and Analysis…”). To redeem himself, he battled this gigantic green knight that had come to Camelot(“Summary and Analysis… “)The Green Knight was a test from the Lady of the Lake, she used a spell on him to test the value of Arthur’s realm of Logres.
Lancelout was the best knight that came to Camelot. Lancelout was educated by the Lady of the Lake,and was invincible in combat. Lancelout was the peerless knight that Merlin had spoken of (“Summary and Analysis…”). Lancelout and Queen Guinevere fell deeply in love causing the fall of Logres in the future.
Tristram was another great knight Arthur had who was only second to Lancelout. Tristram became a great warrior and scouter for Arthur’s knights(“Summary and Analysis…”).Tristram battled Marhualt when he demanded tribute of King Mark. The two were badly wounded in the battle. Marhualt sailed back to Ireland to die and Tristram ended up there when a bad storm carried his boat there(“Summary and Analysis…”).To redeem himself for killing Marhualt, he slew a dragon for the irish people.
Once the round table was full of able and honorable knights, they all went out on the grail quest, which would be the end of Logres (“Summary and Analysis…”). Arthur and Lancelout battled after Arthur learned of the affair and only four knights would live when it was all said and done. The Arthurian legend is a great story with many great knights and battles that are an important part of British Culture.
The legend of King Arthur and the Star Wars movies have many commonalities from the characters to some of the plot. In Star Wars episode three, there are many aspects of the plot that can compare to the King Arthur story. In the King Arthur legend, there is the round table and in star wars the Jedi also sit in a circle to show they are all of equal importance (“Summary and Analysis…”, Star Wars). In the legend of Arthur all the knights have very powerful swords, In Star Wars they all have lightsabers, a science fiction twist on the sword. In Star Wars episode three obi wan takes Luke Skywalker and takes him to a safe place to be raised till he is ready to become a Jedi and save their country and return peace. This is much like when Merlin took Arthur to a home till he was old enough to be king (“Summary and Analysis…”, Star Wars). The places in both the stories are also similar. In the Arthurian legend there are many castles like Camelot. In Star Wars they have great buildings, much like the great castles in the Arthurian legend.
Many characters are similar in both of the stories. Merlin and Obi Wan Knobi are similar because they both mentor young, prominent warriors. In the Star Wars story, Anakin has a child, and he is taken in by Obi Wan to protect him much like Merlin did to King Arthur. The settings in the movies are similar in ways also. In the legend of Arthur they travel to many places like great forest and Castles. In Star Wars they also travel to many places to battle and they have great buildings and places for both friend and foe.
There are some differences in the stories like the settings, language, and armor. In Star Wars, the setting is futuristic. They are in outer space fighting nasty space monsters and all other kinds of creatures. In Star Wars they battle the Sisth, which is made up of clone troops, weird monsters, and robot troopers.In the legend of King Arthur, they are set in the Anglo-Saxon period and are thought to battle more viking like forces. The way the two battle is also different, In the Arthurian Legend they battle on open fields; In Star Wars they battle all over the place, in the air, on ships, in volcanic rivers, and other countries. The language of both stories is different also. The movie is more modern, and would say “ Luke i am your father,” as to where King Arthur is more of an old English, and would say “Whoever pulleths this sword from thy rock is King,”. The way they battle and the armor used in battle is probably the biggest difference in both stories. In Star Wars, they have Stormtroopers, futuristic knights with a full body suit and a laser gun. Armor is in separate pieces between the chest and two legs, the armor is also all white and the helmets sometimes have different colors on them (Star Wars). The guns they use shoots out a laser that burns up what it hits (Star Wars).They also have light sabers instead of a metal sword. The light saber cuts things off by melting them, it is a very hot light that comes out of a handle. (Star Wars). Instead of horses, Star Wars has planes, and travel by jet.
The differences and similarities of the legend of King Arthur and Star Wars are very interesting. The way the writers of Star Wars used elements of an old legend and used it for a top selling movie is incredible. There are many differences and commonalities of the Arthurian legend and Star Wars like the life of Arthur, the plot of the stories, and the settings of both the stories.
Works Cited
Hutton, Ronald. Witches,Druids and King Arthur. Hambledon and London. 2003
“King Arthur”. biography.com,www.biography.com/people/king- arthur-9190042, accessed, 5 September, 2017
Malory, Thomas . The book of king Arthur and his noble knights. J.B. lippincott company.1949.
Star wars episode 3, Revenge of the Sisth. Directed by George Lucas, Starring Hayden Chris Renson, Natalie Portman. 20th century Fox. May 15, 2005.
“Summary and Analysis: Arthurian Legends Merlin, King Arthur, Gawain, Launcelot, Geraint, Tristram, Percivale, the Grail Quest, and the Passing of Arthur’s Realm”Cliff notes, https://www.cliffsnotes.com/ literature/m/mythology/summary-and-analysis-arthurian-legends/ merlin-king-arthur-gawain-launcelot-geraint-tristram-percivale-the- grail-quest-and-the-passing-of-arthurs-realm. Accessed ` september 5, 2017.