Fandom High School

"Good morning, class," Camulus grumbled. If one were looking closely at his kilt, one would notice that the hem looks decidedly ragged and chewed upon. This could be one of the reasons he's scowling. Then again, he's usually scowling.

"Uill, the last two classes were spent watching the film 'Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail'. And since you lot didn't have any thoughts about it, you're going to have to listen to me talk about it for a whole class."

Camulus went on to outline in depth how the structure of the movie mirrored the structure of the Mabinogian and other Arthurian tales with its random diversions and side stories. He talked about how the Knights Who Say Ni were similar to the numerous quests of Peredur and the eternal questing for the Holy Grail. The Black Knight and the Green Knight and the Beheading Game. Then how the endings were similar in that the stories didn't really end, just sort of . . . trailed off.

Yes, he spent the entire lesson talking very seriously about Monty Python.

[[Sorry for lack of class yesterday. It was my birthday and I had an exam and was busy busy.]]

There's a TV set up at the front of the class and if anyone heard Camulus humming when they came in they are obviously completely out of their heads. He isn't humming. Nope. When the class had assembled, Camulus announced, "Today we'll be watching a film that incorporates many aspects of different Arthurian traditions and introduces some new elements into the story line. While watching the film, pay attention and take note of those aspects of the legend already familiar to us, and how some of these new elements could have evolved from older stories. We'll finish watching the film next class and discuss it."

He turns off the lights and sets the film to play. A 1950s-style ad for toothpaste begins, before a voice offscreen grumbles about it being the wrong movie and switches reels. Title credits began to roll, conveniently subtitled in Swedish.

"Good morning, class. We're almost to the end of the Mabinogian. Which is a good thing, seeing as . . ." he said dryly, holding up his copy of the Mabinogian, with a large hole very clearly chewed right through it. "You will be having a quiz on Thursday on those stories we have covered from the Welsh tales, including Culhwch and Olwen from the beginning of the term. The tale of today is the story of Gereint and Enid, about a knight who fell too deeply in love with a woman and they both suffered for it."

He goes over the story, focusing on a few points and once again writing things up on the board, horribly misspelling the Welsh words unless he checked them against the book. Well, as much of the book as he still had.

"Alright. What did you think of the character of Enid in this story? How does she fit in with the mold of Arthurian women? What is the cause of the dissatisfaction of Gereint's men?"

Camulus looks like he woke up on the right side of the bed today. "Good day, class," he began. "Your essays are due today, hand them on my desk before we begin. Sign the roster and you may leave. Read The Dream of Rhonabwy for next class, be prepared to discuss how it fits into Arthurian tradition as you've encountered it."

[[Sorry, I'm just . . . yeah. Chan eil mi beo.]]

"My apologies for missing class on Tuesday," Camulus says at the beginning of class, looking, well, gloaty and satisfied and generally on top of the world. "I am sure that Phoebe took very good care of you in my absence. She was to lead you in a discussion of the role of women in Arthurian legends and in events of the time. Today I'd like you to connect what you have learned of the Grail and of Grail quests with the women of the stories - Guinevere and Isolde, for example."

He stands and reaches for his notes to continue lecturing. "Guinevere was, of course, the wife of Arthur and the eventual cause of the downfall of the Arthurian court. She was won by Arthur in a game of drunken darts with King Iubne of the leprechauns." He blinked and looked down at his notes. "What? No. No, she wasn't. How did that get in there?" He scratched something out, frowning. "Queen Guinevere seems to have been selected for Arthur as a shining example of womanhood, and often their wedding is downplayed, as is her role at his death. Despite being married to King Arthur, Guinevere is desired by most of the prominent figures in the Arthurian legends, especially Perceval, Launcelot, Mordred, and Mickey Mouse." He paused again. "No. Not Mickey Mouse." He scratched something else out on his notes, then scanned down a few lines, scratching out a few more things, practically scowling now.

"So what does this have to do with Grail quests?" he continued, determined, after trying a few more sentences and finding his notes to be wrong, wrong, wrong. He went on about how both the women and the Grail were sought after because of the purity that they represented and the prestige they conferred on the knights, starting and stopping and growing increasingly irate as they were still wrong, wrong, wrong. And he began to get suspicious, suspicious, suspicious.

"Launcelot was the only one to never acheive - orgasm?!" With a snarl, Camulus flung the now-crumpled sheaf of notes to the ground and stomped out of the class, bellowing, "ORLIN!"

[[I? Am dead. Ergo, movie time!]]

"Grail quests. On my desk," Camulus orders. He's looking a little distracted today which may or may not have anything to do with Orlin. "And now on to a related topic, but instead of making you read and taxing your poor brains, we'll be watching a film entitled 'The Mists of Avalon', which provides a more female perspective of the legends. Sit down. Be quiet. Pay attention."

[[Sorry for the lateness and the shortness. Day of death. Don't have the energy to do more. Just let me know how you did on the quiz.]]

"Alright, class, time for your quiz." Camulus moves around the room, placing two pages facedown on each desk. "Fifteen multiple choice on the first page worth one mark each, five passages on the back, two marks each, I just want the title and the author. I hope you all read 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' because it is on here. If you read the stories, you should get a hundred percent. Begin now."

Once the quiz was passed in, Camulus moved back to the front of the class and waved around 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'. "Alright. Written around 1400 BCE by an unknown poet, usually called simply the Gawain-poet or the Pearl Poet, who is also credited with three other poems found on the same manuscript. The first modern translation was produced in 1925 by JRR Tolkien, who I understand is rather more famous for some fantasy children's story or something like that.

"You'll notice a few things about the poem, namely the use of assonance, similiar sounds in a string of words to emphasise points. While I say that this is a translation, it's really only more of an update, showing the words in their modern forms, so this assonance was deliberately done by the original poet. The use of clashing 'g's and hard 'c's, mirroring the battle or conflict in the story.

"The bob and wheel. The small verse at the end of each stanza, which summarises what went before or gives a preview for what comes next. Four three-beat lines rhyming abab (the wheel) and a one-beat tag that rhymes a (the bob). The 'bob and wheel' is what the Gawain-poet is known for.

"One last thing. There are a couple of very Celtic motifs running throughout the poem. The first is the idea of three-fold repetition. There are three hunts, three Masses, three of anything important. The pattern of threes repeat itself again and again in Celtic lore, and there were several three-fold goddesses, each expressing a different aspect of a central idea. Another of the Celtic motifs is something we like to call The Beheading Game. This is the challenge that is made to Gawain at the beginning of the poem - he can behead the Green Knight if he promises to receive the same stroke at a point a year hence - a pattern of action which is mirrored in several Celtic tales as well, including the Mabinogian."

He says all this while writing key phrases on the board. While his back his still turned, he says, "Do you have anything to add, Miss Alexander?"

[[Sorry. Ran out of braaaaaaaaains. So you get the cheap-o lecture today.]]

Upon entering the class, students will notice that the sarcophagus is gone. The bottom drawer of his filing cabinet is also empty, but they wouldn't know that without snooping.

"Feasgar math, a chlas," Camulus begins. "I hope you have at least read Geoffrey of Monmouth for today's class, as I expect you to provide some sort of opinion on the reading. But first . . ."

Camulus delivers a lecture on 'The History of the Kings of Britain' as a bit of background for their studies.

"Your turn. Share."

The students may notice a small change in the classroom when they walk in. An empty wheelchair is sitting beside Camulus' sarcophagus.

"Congratulations, class, on a perfect attendance record. For a whopping two classes," Camulus says, rather sarcastically. "Let's hope it remains this way. While I was lenient while trying to build up a power base last semester, I will not be so any longer. Three absences without a note or what I deem a valid excuse and you are in detention."

He stands up and moves to the board, once again writing rather haphazard notes on the board while he talks. They resemble more a list of names, dates, and places with no relation to each other. It's up to the students to create coherent notes from them.

"Last class I asked you to read the story of 'How Culhwch Won Olwen', which is an example of one of the early Wlesh sources of Arthurian lore. Before we look at Arthur's role specifically, I'll provide some background on the story itself. 'Culhwch and Olwen' is part of the Mabinogian, a collection of stories which forms the primary source of Welsh lore. While the oldest surviving manuscript containing these tales dates only from the thirteenth century, there is evidence that an older copy dating from the sixth century once existed. This is the Welsh text Gododdin, an account of a war in the country of Gododdin, in what is the modern Strath-Clyde region of southern Scotland. The eleven branches or sections of the Mabinogian are derived from the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest. 'Culhwch' is the fifth branch, following directly after the Mabinogi, the core group of four stories which tell the story of Pryderi, a Welsh king. We won't be concerned so much with these, but may look at the second branch, 'Branwen', when we discuss Grail lore.

"Of the remainder of the Mabinogian, Arthur appears frequently, but as a background character who serves as a catalyst or bankroller for the main action. The final three branches - 'The Lady of the Fountain', 'Peredur', and 'Geraint and Enid' - are stories of Arthur's knights, in the bent of the French romances. The Mabinogian was heavily influenced by other literary and bardic traditions. Continental and international motifs appear again and again, often mitigating a Celtic code of conduct with French chivalry. Many of the same motifs which appear in the Mabinogian form the basis of several modern fairytales.

"But now to the specific story I have set before you. 'Culhwch and Olwen'. A fairly simple story. I trust you all read the excerpt. A few things I'd like to bring to your attention. The first is a very Celtic theme. Olwen's father, Ysbadden the Giant, is unwilling to give up his daughter to Culhwch - or any man - because he believes that he will die if he does so. Which is what ultimately ends up occuring anyway. Compare the Irish tale of 'The Wooing of Emer' by the hero CuChulainn - both giant, ogrish fathers go to great lengths to make their daughters inaccessible.

"The second thing I would like to point out is what is being won in the raid on Ireland - a magic cauldron. This particular cauldron produces unlimited food. Another magic cauldron in this cycle of tales - also in Ireland - reanimates dead soldiers which are thrown into it. Keep your eye on the cauldron, my students. Magic cauldrons have been connected to King Arthur far longer than the Cup of Christ.

"My final point is to make note of the companions that Arthur gives to Culhwch - Bedwyr and Kai. These two figures appear again and again as important knights. We'll be talking more about them later."

He turns away from the board, dusting the chalk off his hands fastidiously. "Alright. That was quite a bit of speaking on my part. Now it's your turn. Feedback on the story. Questions you had. Confusing sections. Something that struck you as odd, or you remember reading somewhere else. Theories. Interpretations." He gives them all the hairy eyeball. "Speak."

[[I didn't realise how long the version of the story I had found was. I meant to assign from part 7 onwards. Sorry! And also, Cammie's teaching style is based on my Celtic Lit prof from the Deep South. Why am I telling you? Because I'm tired and I'm not really sure. And sorry for the late post, there were . . . mitigating circumstances.]]

[[I have some OOC notes about the class and a class info post for assignments and readings for you. And yeah, I know I used it last time, but it's a good assignment.]]

"Madainn mhath dhuibh," Camulus intones to the class. "Good morning to you. This is Arthurian Traditions and I am Camulus your god. In this class you will be studying all aspects of the legends of Arthur, from their beginnings to modern times in this timeline. We will begin with the Celtic origins of the Arthurian legend and through medieval sources, looking at how it has evolved and changed. If we have time at the end of the semester we will look at Victorian resurgances of the legend, and maybe some of the earlier Welsh romances about peripheral figures in the Arthurian tales.

Before we begin, I wish for you to marshal your knowledge of the subject by preparing for next class a short paper, minimum of half a page, beginning with the words, 'I am Arthur, King of the Britons.'" He pauses. "You may not include the words 'coconut' or 'swallow' in your paper. I mean it.

"Please introduce yourselves to the class and you may have the rest of the period for the assignment."