Sir Thomas Mallory wrote the story Le Mort Darthur, which is a story about medieval times and the day of King Arthur. From those times to the present day, a variety of stories have been crafted. Some examples of these stories (which also could be put in movie or television form) would be like A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, Excalibur, Knights of the Round Table, and much more. In this essay, I will be comparing the differences between Le Mort Darthur and the movie Excalibur.
One major difference between Excalibur and Le Mort Darthur is that there was only one sword in Excalibur and two swords in Le Mort Darthur. The one sword in the movie, Excalibur, did break, as with the first sword in Le Mort Darthur. But, unlike Le Mort Darthur where Arthur receives his second sword from the lady of the lake, in Excalibur, the lady of the lake fixes Excalibur. Also, with the swords, in the movie Excalibur, Uther Pendragon, the father of Arthur, drove Excalibur into the stone. In Le Mort Darthur, the sword that was in the stone was NOT Excalibur, and also Uther Pendragon did not touch either sword in Le Mort Darthur.
Another major difference between Excalibur and Le Mort Darthur is Mordred, Arthur’s son. In Le Mort Darthur, Arthur was more willing to give Mordred land, unlike in the movie Excalibur, where Arthur refuses to give his land to Mordred. In Le Mort Darthur, Arthur was going to give Mordred his land after he had died. But, like I mentioned earlier, in Excalibur, Arthur did not want to give land to Mordred at all, even though Mordred was his son. In both versions, though, Arthur and Mordred do fight. In Excalibur, there was only one battle in which Arthur attacked Mordred. In Le Mort Darthur, there were two battles, one of which was an accident. Also, there are two different deaths in both the movie Excalibur and Le Mort Darthur. In Excalibur, Mordred runs a spear through Arthur, and in return, Arthur hits Mordred with Excalibur. In Le Mort Darthur, the story changes, it sort of flip-flops. In Le Mort Darthur, Arthur runs a spear through Mordred, and Mordred in return, hacks Arthur in the head with a mortal blow, which kills him.
The Essay on Morte Darthur
We have all heard of the noble King Arthur and his stouthearted knights of the round table. Their tales of chivalry and romance have born some of the best literature these eyes have ever seen. One may ask, "where have these men who would risk their lives for honor, and for love?" Looking through the eyes of a modern-day woman, I can say that I have yet to meet a man that has even come close to the ...
Finally, I’d like to point out a few more differences between Le Mort Darthur and Excalibur. The people who surrounded Arthur (his knights) in Le Mort Darthur were different from the people in Excalibur. First of all, in Excalibur, only one knight survives to return to Arthur, while in Le Mort Darthur, two knights survive to return to Arthur. Also, in Excalibur, Sir Lancelot challenged other men, while in Le Mort Darthur, someone else challenged other men. Also, in Le Mort Darthur, Sir Benevire throws Excalibur into the lake, while in Excalibur, Sir Percival throws Excalibur into the lake.
In conclusion, there are similarities between Le Mort Darthur and Excalibur, but there is a great deal of differences between both stories. If you look at the stories and really think about it, all it is are branches off of the original story, Le Mort Darthur. Overall, the major differences between Le Mort Darthur and Excalibur were the facts about the sword(s), the conflicts between Arthur and his son Mordred, and the people who surrounded Arthur.
