Arthurian Legend in Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider Legend, and possibly Tomb Raider Underworld, both make use of Arthurian legend in their plots.
The Arthurian Legend
The Arthurian Legend centres around the mythical Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther, King of the Britons. As a child he was hidden from his cousin Morgan le Fay, a witch who wanted to become Queen of the Britons. (The Britons were a mixture of the local Celts and the Romano-British who had been left behind after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the midt 5th century).
Arthur was later found by the wizard Merlin, who, after the death of Uther Pendragon, famously called all claimants to the throne to pull a sword out of a stone. Many tried, but only the teenage Arthur was able to do so.
Merlin later took Arthur to the Lady of the Lake, who gave him Excalibur, the sword that would cut anything, and the scabbard which would protect him from harm. With this powerful weapon Arthur formed his court at Camelot, married Guinevere and established the Knights of the Round Table.
Arthur and his knights took on major quests such as the search for the Holy Grail, as well as others such as rescuing maidens and defeating dragons - this set a basis for courtly chivalry and knightly behaviour in the medieval period. The Kingdom of the Britons was peaceful and stable under Arthur's rule, and many knights came to join his order.
The Arthurian Legend comes to an end with the mortal wounding of Arthur at the battle of Camlann at the hands of the traitor Mordred. He was sent to Avalon in a boat under the care of the Lady of the Lake, and Excalibur was lost forever.
Inaccuracies
- In Legend, references are repeatedly made to the Crusades, with some mention made of the eleventh and tenth centuries (between 900-1100 CE). However, as King of the Britons, Arthur is more likely to have ruled in about the 5th or 6th centuries.
- Although both Lara and Alister Fletcher refer to the fact that the Sword in the Stone and Excalibur are two different swords, the use of Excalibur in the daises found variously in Legend suggests that they may be the same.
- Although Arthur was supposed to have gone to Avalon, his body is seen preserved in a large crystalline structure in his mausoleum in Cornwall as well as the sarcophagi of Guinevere, Merlin and many of his most famous knights.
