Arthuriana
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name(s): | Medieval Literature Fandom, Arthuriana Fandom, Arthurian Literature Fandom |
| Abbreviation(s): | Arthuriana |
| Scope/Focus: | Medieval Arthurian literature |
| Date(s): | unknown - present |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Arthuriana Fandom is a fandom present on Tumblr, Archive of Our Own, Discord, and elsewhere dedicated to medieval literature about King Arthur, his knights, and associated characters. The fandom lacks a set source material, though some texts are more popular than others and read by a large percentage of the fandom, so members group themselves together under the name of the academic journal Arthuriana. The best-known texts include Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight by an unknown author.
Texts
Arthuriana is a fandom dedicated to works of medieval Arthurian literature. Do not add non-medieval literature to this section; go to the Arthurian Legend page instead.
- Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
- Sir Gawain and The Green Knight by an anonymous poet
- The Lancelot-Graal Cycle by anonymous authors
- The Dutch Texts by various authors
- The romances of Chrétien De Troyes
- The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth
- Diu Krone by Heinrich von dem Türlin
- How Cullwch Won Olwen, The Dream of Rhonabwy, and other books of the Mabinogion
Characters
- King Arthur Pendragon
- Sir Agravaine
- Sir Bedivere
- Sir Bors
- Sir Caradoc
- Sir Dagonet
- Sir Dinadan
- Dindrane
- Sir Gaheris
- Sir Galahad
- King Galehaut of the Distant Isles
- Sir Gareth
- Sir Gawain
- Queen Guinevere
- Sir Hector de Maris
- Isolde of Ireland
- Sir Kay
- Sir Lancelot du Lac
- Sir Lionel
- Sir Lucan the Butler
- Merlin (Arthurian)
- Sir Mordred
- Morgan le Fay
- Queen Morgause
- Nimue, Lady of The Lake
- Sir Palamedes
- Sir Percival
- Sebile
- Taliesin Ben Beirdd
- Sir Tristan de Liones
- Vivian, Lady of the Lake
Fandom
Characters and Texts
Arthurian literature contains a large body of works, so some members of the fandom find a few characters to focus on and read texts based on whether or not they show up, which makes the process of finding works easier, although there are some fan-favorite groups of characters who appear frequently, such as the Orkney brothers, the Greater Cornwall Gang, the Pellispawn, and the Benoic Boys. Many characters' names exist in variations, so each individual has their own set of names which they use for characters. The fandom has expressed a desire to make Arthurian Literature more accessible and thus one of its cornerstones is members publicly sharing pdfs of the texts, some of which were scanned or even translated by the poster. Large numbers of these texts remain untranslated, so several members have taught themselves Medieval French or Welsh to understand and translate texts.
Jokes and Headcanons
Jokes in the fandom involve referring to Medieval authors by first name, either affectionately or derogatorily; pitting versions of the same character from different traditions, such as Gwalchmai (Welsh Gawaine) and Walewein (Dutch Gawaine), against each other in a theoretical fight; and making fun of common romance tropes, such as Gawaine showing up out of nowhere and stealing the show, plots motivated by the need to spite Kay, and Lancelot falling asleep and getting kidnapped constantly. Fanon associated with a well-known group of fandom creators includes Sir Galahad having a crush on St. Sebastian and the majority of the Orkneys being trans.
Fan Work Motifs
Reincarnation AUs are the most popular genre of fic AU. Some follow a plotline of trying to reassemble the Round Table and reclaim the throne, some have the characters regaining their memories but facing few threats from their pasts, and some fall somewhere in between.
Common Opinions on Related Media
Members tend to have strong negative feelings towards The Once and Future King by T.H. White, mainly due to the racism in the book and the misconceptions about other Arthurian works which it produced, along with the Fate Franchise and BBC Merlin for polluting Arthurian tags. Some fans of TOaFK, Fate, and Merlin branch into the Arthuriana fandom over time,[1] but the reverse is less common.
On Social Media
Due to the nature of the fandom, they have been repeatedly denied their own fandom tag on archiveofourown. [2] [3], causing a lower percentage of the fandom to read fic. This same problem arises for similar reasons across other platforms, so much content is spread by the members of the fandom who already follow each other. Some Arthuriana blogs on Tumblr date back to 2010 or earlier, [4] and it continues to frequently used today. On the other hand, the fandom's presence on Reddit is very small. Many members use Discord as a forum for discussion and sharing fan works and PDFs.
Shipping
There are few shipping wars in the fandom, possibly due to its small size and the wide acknowledgment that characters and their relationships vary widely from text to text. Galadred, or Galahad/Mordred, is the most popular Ao3 ship tag in the fandom, though they never meet in canon. Remarkable, or Lancelot/Gawaine, is second most tagged; the name comes from a passage in the Vulgate, similarly to Always. [5] Remarkable won a shipping poll tournament on Tumblr. [6] After these, the most common tags are for Lancevere (Guinevere/Lancelot), Guinarthur (Arthur/Guinevere), Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot, the most common poly ship; and Lancarthur (Arthur/Lancelot). The frequency of some of these ships may be tied to the commonness of A/G/L. Some Lancevere shippers on Tumblr have complained of harassment by Remarkable shippers and Lancehaut shippers, making it one of the more contentious ships. Kay/Bedivere is another very common ship, though less written about. Other popular canon/semi-canon ships include Lancehaut (Lancelot/Galehaut), Ragnelle/Gawaine, Gawain/Bertilak, and Tristan/Isolde. Femslash ships include Morgan/Sebile, Guinevere/Morgan, Guinevere/Isolde and Morgan/Vivian, although the former two are notably the most popular.
Works
Note: Do not put works which pertain to one specific character, ship, or group here. Those go on their pages. This section is for works with an ensemble cast.
Writing
- Caffè Arturiano by evynyx_pdf, galvano, Gauvain, and secace
- Took my Boat Down to Hotel Road by CharonsBudgetPsychopomp
Art
- March to Camelot wrapup by @vooruitmariek
Miscellaneous
- Arthurian Vol. 2--a zine focusing on trans Arthuriana
- Things I've learned about Arthuriana by @pandemoodium