King Arthur's Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition

There are probably very few of us who have not read at least some of the stories and legends featuring King Arthur, and marveled about the ideals of Camelot, which could easily be described as an utopian sort of early democracy. The round table, around which the knights could be seated in such a way that they were all equal, the romanticism, the idealism and magic of the Arthurian legends are rather timeless and very familiar to us. But just like with any other story about somebody who lived so long ago, the details and the truth are rather elusive. Like so many others I’ve only ever heard of Mordred, Arthur’s son, who tended to be portrayed as villain. Tyler R. Tichelaar changed my perception about that and added several interesting directions to explore. And this was just the beginning of the fascinating tale spun by Tyler R. Tichelaar. The book is divided into four parts. Part I talks about Arthur’s most plausible other children, the three sons mentioned in the Welsh sources – Gwydre, Amr and Llacheu. Part II is devoted to the mystery of Mordred. Was Mordred Arthur’s son or nephew? Was he a villain or a great king whose crown Arthur tried to usurp? Part III delves into Arthur’s descendants, including the possible link between Arthur and the English royal family and Arthur and the famous clan Campbell. As the author mentioned already in the Introduction, if Arthur indeed had children, and more importantly, if Arthur ever really existed – and who could say that he did not? - quite a few of us could be his descendants. Part IV was, in some ways, the most fascinating to me, talking about possible other children, mentioned in different works during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as well as the modern fiction featuring Arthur and his children. It was this last part that truly made me realize how very present the Arthurian legends still are, and how relevant they are even in the 21st century. While this is certainly a scholarly study, the author’s writing style remains accessible to any reader who is curious about the subject of Arthur’s potential children. Even a brief glance at the bibliography at the end of the book tells one about the depth and scope of the research Tyler R. Tichelaar had to perform to write this fresh, fascinating and exciting study. Eight pages of sources should provide even the most curious of readers with lots of additional reading, and the Index decidedly made looking for content of interest much easier when I decided to go back and re-read certain sections. I have thoroughly enjoyed “King Arthur’s Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition,” and I recommend it highly to any lover of Arthuriana. Listen to Live interview on Inside Scoop Live Read Interview with Tyler R. Tichelaar

Tyler R. Tichelaar, who has a Ph.D. in literature, has been fascinated with King Arthur since a child. I understand that, as in 6th grade my class read a King Arthur story and then wrote a play about him that we later performed. I have great memories of all that went into the writing, the sets, the learning of lines and then performing the play not just two times for the elementary school but later at night presenting it to our parents and other people from the community. That started my own fascination with Arthurian legend. Did he really exist or on the other hand, is he just a legend? As an adult, I continued to read about Arthur in Stephen Lawhead’s five book series The Pendragon and then Avalon: The Return of King Arthur. Therefore, I was excited to read Tichelaar’s King Arthur’s Children and I was not disappointed. King Arthur’s Children looks at the literature since the fifth century tracing every mention of the children of Arthur starting with the Welsh legends. Tichelaar also looks at the French romances and other references to the children during the Middle Ages. He then brings it up to modern times where authors continue to write about the king and his children, often making up new children. Lawhead’s series is just one of many modern novels he discusses. This though is not a dry historical account but Tichelaar is a storyteller and in the midst of all the details of the children, storylines are shared that made me want to read more about Arthur. Why is it that even in the 21st century we are still interested in King Arthur, his adventures and his family? Maybe it is the fact that we do not know if he really did exist, or is it the classic issues his story brings up – family struggles, forbidden love, best friends in love with the same woman, or maybe our fascination is with all the adventures of King Arthur. I do not know but Tichelaar’s work has added something valuable to those who study the man or to those of us who still want to read more of the infamous king. I highly recommend King Arthur’s Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition. Tichelaar himself is going to add to the King Arthur books with his upcoming novel King Arthur’s Legacy. After reading this book, I am looking forward to reading his novel also.

Interesting if you are looking for hints and ideas with which to develop your own ideas concerning the legends. Or to write your own novel. Also interesting for the various origins for elements of the legends the author highlights. Not for non arthur nuts