Mists of Avalon
Why this book is so central to our study/writing
- Cannot escape Arthur
- Retelling with new angle totally central to fantasy
- One central reimagining
➞ Understand that in the late 70s the idea of Arthur as Christian in pagan Britain & uniting the two was a new, exciting idea - but it was around - it was not Bradley’s ONE true innovation (though she uses it quite brilliantly, especially making the Merlin a title & not an individual & The Lady of the Lake again, a title)
What is her innovation? (to tell form the pagan women’s side)
- Morgaine not the villain!
Reference:
Gardner, John. Grendel. Vintage Books, 1989. ISBN: 9780679723110.
How is a villain not the villain?
She takes this one change, plus the very popular idea of the time (Christian vs. pagan) and then follows logically but in doing so explains a LOT of what we might call the “silly” or “perplexing” features of the Arthurian mythos
Exercises - Morphing
- Group morph (several times, only one change, follow logically, make sense of things that don’t make sense)
- Fairy tales for grownups
- Change in
Character
Who’s the bad guy? (or humanize the bad guy)
- Ballad morph
- (Group 1 - no magic in the ballad)
