Page vs Screen: Cursed

Born in the Dawn - To pass in the Twilight

As I write this, I'm still hesitating between writing a single post about the Thomas Wheeler (author) & Frank Miller (illustrator) book Cursed and the corresponding Netflix series, or keeping page and screen separate. Even with the series - cover each episode as I have done for other series? Or because it's Netflix and I marathoned through it treat it as a single 10h film? So many decisions... I guess I'll just have to start writing and we'll see what comes out of it.

Cursed is a feminist retelling of the Arthurian myth, written by Thomas Wheeler and illustrated by Frank Miller. It's a young adult fantasy novel that reframes the Arthurian legends by telling them through the character of Nimue, famously known as the Lady of the Lake in the traditional versions (sometimes an ally of Arthur's, others the keeper of Excalibur, and in yet others a protégé of Merlin's who steals his magic and leaves him trapped in a tree). In Cursed she is a young Fey woman (the Fey are various clans of humanoid beings with a connection to the spirit world that probably inhabited Britain before humans came, and have been slowly being pushed out of their lands by humans, more recently persecuted by  fanatics called Red Paladins sent by the Church), whose mother Lenore is the Arch-Druid and healer of her Sky-Folk clan. The story begins as their village is attacked by Red Paladins, and Lenore entrusts Nimue with a powerful sword and asks her to deliver it to Merlin.

Since books have trailers now (?!), here's a look at the book and show trailers:

 

I thought it would be interesting to contrast the book and the show, as they were pretty much created at the same time (Wheeler and Miller hadn't even finished writing it when Netflix optioned it for a series adaptation, and the book hadn't been released yet while the show was filming) and Wheeler is showrunner of the Netflix series. Well, book 1 and season 1 (in case others come out in time).

Obviously spoilers for both book and TV show below! (and potentially for a follow up book if they pick up some of the threads from the show that weren't in the book)

A "historical" Arthur in SWORD AT SUNSET

The only book I had ever read of Rosemary Sutcliff's before this one was Outcast (just remembering the plot now thanks to Wikipedia), which I must have picked up at a school book fair once upon a time. I hadn't realized how prolific and well-known a children's author (particularly on Roman Britain) she was until I read several mentions of her on other blogs/pages dedicated to historical fiction. But I did remember being captivated by her book when I read it as a child, so when I saw she had written an "adult" novel on King Arthur, I just had to check it out! 😁

Sword at Sunset is Rosemary Sutcliff's telling of the Arthurian legend, under the premise that he was a historical figure and imagining how that could have been. She places the tale a generation or so after the Roman Legions have left Britain, and with the Saxon invasions increasing in number and strength. In an interview with author Raymond Thompson in 1986 she said something which reflects how I feel on the matter:

"I always believed very strongly that there could be no smoke without a fire. A legendary hero almost always has a basis in a real person, around whom bits of legend and bits of other people's stories gather and collect, rather like amber collecting little bits of paper. I was convinced that there was a real man in the middle somewhere."

So who is her King Arthur?

Well, to start out his name is Artos, and he is NOT a king! At least not until the very end. He is still Uther's illegitimate child (not even a pretense of him marrying the mother after), but in this version he was acknowledged by his father and raised at court by his uncle Ambrosius the High King after his father died (unlike Uther's other illegitimate child Ygerna whom he left with the mother because she was a girl and thus of no interest).

Outlaw by Angus Donald

When young Alan Dale barely escapes from the Sheriff of Nottingham's men after being caught stealing (and almost loses his hand as punishment!), his mother takes him to the Lord of the Wood for Sanctuary, to Robin Hood. Robin takes him in and Alan's life is forever changed. Serving a violent man, in a violent period of history, Alan will learn to follow Robin's rules and fight to survive.

The Outlaw Chronicles by Angus Donald

The Outlaw Chronicles is a series of historical fiction novels (and a few e-novellas) in which author Angus Donald shares his version of Robin Hood. They bring to life a Robin somewhat different from the traditional "noble thief" figure. This is a violent and ruthless man (think mafia don), who lived in violent times. Seen through the memory of one of Robin's most trusted lieutenants, Alan Dale (framed as if were writing his memoirs in his old age), we travel through England, the Holy Land (on Crusade), Germany (searching for a captive King Richard), Normandy (fighting the French) and more.

This is the Middle Ages, the Crusades, the battles between English and French kings over Plantagenet lands in France, sibling rivalries which threaten to topple a monarch, baronial rebellions against tyrannical kings. A very violent period of history, and very vividly brought to life in these tales.

The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper

Ever since I first read these books as a child (or teenager? Don't remember!), these lines have been engrained in my memory:

"When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back;

Three from the Circle, three from the track;

Wood, bronze, iron; water, fire, stone;

Five shall return, and one go alone. 

Iron for the birthday, bronze carried long;

Wood from the burning, stone out of song;

Fire on the candle ring, water from the thaw;

Six Signs the circle and the grail gone before. 

Fire from the mountains shall find the harp of gold

Played to wake the Sleepers, oldest of the old;

Power from the green witch, lost beneath the sea;

All shall find the light at last, silver on the tree."

Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell

We've reached the final volume in the Warlord Chronicles trilogy, with Arthur finally the undisputed leader of the British (while his nephew Mordred remains King of Dumnonia in name only, guarded in his palace with no real power, kept alive basically until he marries and produces an heir). It's time for one of the key events in Arthurian lore: Mount Badon! From the author's website:

"If Arthur existed (and I am quite certain he did) then he was probably the great British war leader who won the battle of Mount Badon. No one knows where it was fought, or how it was fought, but we do know that the battle took place and it was the one great defeat inflicted on the English invaders of Britain. In Excalibur we follow Arthur and Derfel to that enormous struggle and incredible victory. It not only throws the Saxons back, but reunites Arthur and Guinevere. He might hope now to be left alone, to have a time of peace after gaining a great victory, but new enemies arise to destroy all he has achieved. First is Mordred himself, the crippled king who owes everything to Arthur and now tries to kill his benefactor. Mordred’s ally is Nimue who has come to hate her mentor, Merlin. And so the story ends as it has always ended, at Camlann . . . ‘and so my lord was gone. And no one has seen him since.’"

Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell

Second volume in the Warlord Chronicles trilogy, the story starts moments after the ending of the first volume with the aftermath of the terrible battle of Lugg Vale against Kings Gorfyddyd of Powys and Gundleus of Siluria. The warring British kingdoms are now unified in their fight against the Saxons, From the author's website:

"At the end of The Winter King Arthur fought the battle that forces unity on the warring British kingdoms and now he sets out to face the real enemy – the English (it is one of the great ironies of the Arthur stories that he should have become an English hero when, if he existed at all, he was a great war-leader who opposed the invading Sais). First, though, Merlin leads a perilous expedition into the mysterious west to retrieve a cauldron, one of the treasures of Britain – this cauldron story is almost certainly the root of the holy grail strand in the Arthur tales. The treasures of Britain, Merlin believes, will bring the old Gods onto the side of the British in their struggle against the Saxons (and the Christians, whom Merlin hates). But the treasures will also set Briton against Briton – especially as Guinevere, now Arthur’s wife, wants to make a magic of her own. ‘Chaos was now thick across Britain, for someone had spilt the Cauldron’s power and its horror threatened to engulf us all.’"

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell

First book in the Warlord Chronicles trilogy, in which we discover Arthur as a fully-fledged warrior through the eyes of one of Merlin's pupils, former Saxon-slave Derfel, who will become one of Arthur's trusted lieutenants. From the author's website:

"‘Once upon a time, in a land that was called Britain, these things happened . . . . and I was there, and this is how it was.’ The Winter King, like the rest of the trilogy, is narrated by Derfel (which is pronounced Dervel), one of Arthur’s warriors. This first book tells how after the death of Uther, High King of Britain, the country falls into chaos. Uther’s heir is a child, Mordred, and Arthur, his uncle, is named one of the boy’s guardians. Arthur has to fight other British kingdoms and the dreadful “Sais” – the Saxons – who are invading Britain. Arthur is supposed to marry Ceinwyn, a princess of Powys, but falls disastrously in love with Guinevere – ‘There have been many more beautiful women, and thousands who were better, but since the world was weaned I doubt there have been many so unforgettable as Guinevere . . . and it would have been better, Merlin always said, had she been drowned at birth.’"

The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell

oops! Wrong order in bottom 2! :p

Although Bernard Cornwell may be better known for his Sharpe novels, on his website he confesses that his Arthurian trilogy are his favourite amongst his own novels!

From Bernard Cornwell's website:

"Once upon a time, in a land that was called Britain, these things happened . . . " well, maybe. The Warlord Trilogy is my attempt to tell the story of Arthur, ‘Rex Quondam Rexque Futurus’, the Once and Future King, although I doubt he ever was a king. I suspect he was a great warlord of the sixth century. Nennius, who was one of the earliest historians to mention Arthur, calls him the ‘dux bellorum’ – leader of battles or warlord.

Bernard Cornwell's Britain is that of the fifth and sixth century, a dark time when the Britons, after having been recently abandoned by the Romans who "civilised" them (many Britons still held to all things Roman), were facing wave after wave of Saxon invasions. Invasions which would inevitably lead to the Saxon colonisation of Britain. And they weren't alone: the Irish, fellow Celts, were constantly raiding along the western shores, and the north was frequently under attack from the tribes beyond Hadrian's wall. In fact some Britons had already abandoned the fight and found refuge across the sea in Brittany / Armorica. It was a Britain without any unity, divided into smaller kingdoms regularly at war with each other. It was a Britain in the midst of a religious conflict as well: that of the ever-growing Christianity against what little remained of Druidism (almost extinguished by the Romans) and other religious beliefs also imported by Rome (such as Mithraism).