About the Book | About the Arthur (sorry, author)
Here Lies Arthur, an alternative version of the Arthurian legend, was awarded the Carnegie Medal. It is not a historical novel, and in writing it Philip Reeve did not set out to portray "the real King Arthur", only to add his own little thimbleful to the sea of stories which surrounds him.
His interest in Arthur began on 5 July 1981 at about two o'clock in the afternoon when he wandered into the ABC cinema in Brighton to watch John Boorman's film Excalibur (cert. 15).
Instead of writing a brief description about the plot, I'll introduce the story through a different way - analysis of the individual characters.
Character Analysis
Gwyna |
The protagonist. A timid little girl, always referred to as Gwyna the Mouse. After Arthur and his men destroyed his master Ban's farm, she served as Myrddin's servant. Works as Gwenhwyfar's servant in the later part of the story. Gwyna was the one who played the lake-lady in Myrddin's tales.Her advantage is being able to stay underwater for long periods of time, just like a fish.
Gwyn |
Gwyn is Gwyna's name whenever she dresses as a boy. Through this identity, he goes through a whole lot of adventure with his master Myrddin. Gwyn was the one who told stories and in this form, he learnt alot from his master. From his travels, he met alot of people and sometimes the things he learnt come into good use. For example, when they traveled downriver to the sea to the land which Peredur Long-Knife owned when he was alive, they managed to expose Saint Porroc's evil.
Myrddin |
Myrddin is a magician and storyteller who spins stories. He believes that men believe whatever they hear and tells them what they want to hear. At the start, he holds on to the hope that Arthur was the one who would complete the great Ambrosius' job on chasing the Saxons away and helps him to gain power. However, as time passes, he realises that Arthur does not have to same goal as him: All Arthur wants is power and power. Autocratic. He only rescued Gwyna because he felt she would be useful in his stories, but afterwards realises that he has special feelings for Gwyna and treats her as a daughter. When Gwyna runs away to fight with the other men, he falls ill after worrying too much and dies shortly after he explains the facts to her.
King Arthur |
The main character of the story. He thinks that he is the most powerful and Myrddin's stories convince the others of his greatness. He believes in autocratic ruling. Towards the end, he dies in a battle and his possessions were taken away by Gywn. He also realises that the lake-lady that he had believed all along does not really exist at the end.
Uthr |
Uthr is King Arthur's father. He is already dead at the start of the story and is often mentioned in Myrddin's stories as a great man to reinforce King Arthur's greatness.
Cei |
Cei is Myrddin's best friend. He knows the truth in Myrddin's stories and is one of the only people who know about Gwyna's true identity (as the lake-lady).
Bedwyr |
Bedwyr is Cei's nephew and a good friend of Gwyn. However, ever since he killed a person in a battle, he started to become more adventurous and brave. When Gwyn "left" (on the pretext that he returned home and "here comes his half-sister Gwyna") he became more manly and at a certain point of time fell in love with Gwenhwyfar, King Arthur's second wife. When found out, he was killed.
Peredur |
Peredur is the son of Peredur Long-Knife. Gwyna first saw him as a girl (known as Peri) on his first trip downriver to the sea. His mother dressed him up as a daughter to omit him from joining the soldiers and to keep his life, hence Peredur have always lived his life as a girl. After being chased out by Saint Porroc and his men and knowing his true identity, he went to find King Arthur's men to join them, where he met Gwyna again. At the end of the story, it is stated that Gwyna and Peredur traveled together.
Saint Porroc |
When Peredur Long-Knife died, his wife and Peredur were left behind. Saint Porroc and his men came one day and promised to protect the place if she allowed them to take charge of the island. While they were good Christians on the outside, Saint Porroc was actually a crafty man. He took all the valuables in the island and hid it in his self proclaimed church which no one was allowed to enter. After being chased out by Arthur and the men after they stole all the valuables (after being exposed by Gwyna and Peredur), he returned shortly after to take control of the place and chase Peredur and his mother out. His mother died somewhere in the middle of this commotion.
Saxons |
Hated by the people, the Saxons live in the East out of Britain. Myrddin hopes that Arthur will complete Ambrosius' wish to drive the Saxons away. In one of his stories, he mentioned that the Saxons were siting in a corner, looking and laughing as they watched the people in Britain fight among themselves.
Cunaide |
The first wife of King Arthur, she lives in the hut with their children.
Gwenhwyfar |
The second wife of King Arthur, she is mostly neglected as she is not lively enough for Arthur's liking. She falls in love with Bedwyr unexpectedly when Arthur was away in a battle and Gwyna fled with her when Arthur returned and found out about their affair. Gwenhwyfar drowned herself.
Dewi |
Dewi is Gwyna's horse, whom Myrddin gave to her as a gift. This was the first gift he gave to Gwyna. Later on, when Peredur and Gwyna managed to escape unscathed in a planned battle by Myrddin, (there were guaranteed to lose - that's why Myrddin fell ill when he realised Gwyna had sneaked out to join the battle) Gwyna found Dewi lurking around alone, all the other horses being looted by the enemies.
" 'Here Lies Arthur' In A Nutshell "
A masterpiece.That's the comment given by the Sunday Telegraph, and I agree. It's an interesting adventure book full of twists and involves alot of identity/gender change. It also shows the tyranny of man when in power and the power of stories. I enjoy the exchanges between Myrddin and Gwyna and throughout the story, you could sense a strong invisible relationship between them both. It's a book worth reading.
And Arthur died in the battlefield. He lies peacefully near the river where the lake lady resides. Not in enchanted sleep under a hill. Or not on the Isle of Glass. (And definitely not in a nutshell)
Open up and read the story of Arthur from Gwyna's perspective.
Everyone's heard of King Arthur. But no one's heard the truth.
And now you will.
"There's nothing a man can do that can't be turned into a tale..."
Rating: 4/5
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