Latest Posts by taliesin-the-bored - Page 3

A few variants of Guinevere's name and my thoughts on them:

Velivera--sounds like you'd put it in a soap, but still mellifluous.

Jennifer--the name of half the women of my mother's generation; sounds less epic than it might once have because it's used too frequently.

Guanhamara--pretty, if a little difficult; reminds me of the character from Chronicles of the Red King.

Gwenhwyfar--the Welsh option, one of the classics.

Vanora--sounds like a pretty normal fantasy name; does not sound like Guinevere.

Ginevra--also sounds fairly normal; a little more recognizable.

Guendoloena--and her less assuming relative Gwendolen; this is also Merlin's wife's name (Geoffrey of Monmouth thought it was a good wife name, apparently).

Gaynour--I like the sound, but it would be mocked mercilessly in a modern middle school.

Guilalmier--I like it. Not as classic, maybe, but charming enough.

Wenneuereia--"Can you spell that one more time, please?" I had to check Wikipedia for the spelling of this one.

Ntzenebra--from The Old Knight, the only surviving Arthurian romance in Greek. Very cool.

G(ui/we)n(n)(i)ev(i)(e)r(e)--the closest thing we have to a standard formula of the name is this. You can add some letters or you can take away some letters, and the vibes will change, but it will still be the same in essence and pretty recognizable, unlike...

Winlogee--the coup de grâce. My feelings on this one are complicated, but I feel it can speak for itself.

At the rate it's going, Hurricane Milton looks like it will be incredibly destructive. As of the latest forecast I could find on the weather channel, it was "centered 560 miles southwest of Tampa...a strong Category 4 packing 155 mph winds as of 5 a.m. EDT...tracking east-northeast at 12 mph". According to the NHC, it could potentially be "one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida".

I know it's easy to get jaded with hurricanes and that sometimes, they aren't really bad enough to be worth evacuating for, but from what I can tell, this one absolutely is. If you're in an evacuation zone, leave if you can or find a shelter if you absolutely can't. Please stay safe, everyone.

good morning tumblr! be careful. i have saved a whole load of these to my phone at this point, so...

peak storm surge-

more storm surge - darkest purple is >10 feet, and is worst - though we might need more colours

recent track, showing landfall at 2 am on Thursday rather than 8 pm on Wednesday

75 is apparently completely clogged, as you'd expect at this point. people are leaving en masse and with good reason. there is free transport to shelters through uber in pinellas, hillsborough, and pasco - use it. the promo code is MILTONRELIEF. jim cantore arrived in tampa yesterday. jim cantore.

Shana Tova everyone, and a happy holiday to all who celebrate! May this year be peaceful and fulfilling :)

The back of my Siege Perilous

Going from left to right and down, the symbols stand for Galahad, Percival, Ragnell, Blanchefleur, the Grail Heroine, the Lady of the Lake who gives Arthur Excalibur, Guinier, Gawain, Dinadan, Ector de Maris, Morgan le Fay, Caradoc Briefbras, Griflet, Isolde, Vivian, Taliesin, Tristan, Brunnisend, the Nine Witches, Laudine, the Three Queens or Morgause, Kay, Dagonet, Merlin, Palamedes, Sebile, Guinevere, Igraine, Melora, Yvain, Mordred, and Arthur.

If you’re confused about some or all of them, here’s my rationale/what the symbols are: 

Galahad and Percival have slightly different Grails. I think Ragnell is found sitting under a tree, and another story has Gawain in a relationship with the queen of Avalon, isle of the apples. Blanchefleur means “white flower”. The square with the spiral in it is the Grail Heroine’s box of hair. The sword under the wave is fairly obvious. That is the drinking horn from Guinier’s chastity test. Gawain’s is a SGatGK reference. Dinadan’s is an aro ring. Ector de Maris, Griflet, Kay, and Palamedes all have symbols or patterns from their attributed arms. Morgan le Fay takes Arthur to Avalon on a boat. Caradoc has to be saved from a serpent which is wound around his arm. The torch is a Wagner reference. Nimue traps Merlin, whose symbol is the bird who shares his name, so she is represented by a birdcage. Taliesin got his wisdom from a cauldron, and there’s a cauldron in the Preideu Annwfn. Tristan plays a harp. The formation of the relationship between Brunnisend and her eventual husband is defined by their dire yet mutually exclusive needs for a good night’s sleep. The Nine Witches’ symbol seemed cool and has a threefold element. Laudine has a magic fountain. The evolution of the nature and deeds of Anna/Morcades/Morgause/etc. seemed to sort of go with the Maiden, Matron, Crone archetype and I really couldn’t think of anything else. Dagonet eventually became a jester. Yblis, who has a magic mantle, is Sybil scrambled, and there is a strong modern association between magic and capes. Guinevere is sometimes given authority over the knights of the vergescu. My justification for Igraine’s is particularly weak and would take too long to explain. Melora wields the Lance of Longinus. Yvain befriends a lion. Mordred has a broken table because he helped break the Round Table. Arthur is King.

Wait a minute...

Edward the Third was an Arthuriana nerd who named his son after Sir Lionel, and...

...made up a title for him, which....

...had previously existed in Arthuriana and didn't refer to a place. Coincidence?

Probably.

Well, darn. That would've been very interesting. Then again, maybe the knowledge that Edward III was such a nerd he named his son after Sir Lionel is enough to ask.

They could have snuck parts of Jaufre into Monty Python and the Holy Grail and no one would have noticed a stylistic difference.

--A wicked knight describing to Jaufre (Griflet) what a knight who touches his lance can do to obtain his mercy as an alternative to being killed after a fight

That is the start of William F. Skene's translation of "Cad Goddeu". Here are others for comparison (with a couple more lines because I like them):

I was in a multitude of forms before I was unfettered: I was a slender mottled sword made from the hand. I was a droplet in the air, I was the stellar radiance of the stars, I was a word in writing, I was a book in my prime. I was the light of a lantern For a year and a half…"

--Marged Haycock

I was in many a guise before I was disenchanted. I am a grey-cowled minstrel : I believe in illusion. I was for a time in the sky : I was observing the stars. I was a message in writing : I was a book to my priest. I was the light of the altar-horns, for a year and a half.

--John Gwenogvryn Evans (who translated the title as "The Battle of the Scrub" rather than "The Battle of the Trees")

I was woven  in so many forms before this one.  I was a sword drawn, high and long against sky, and I was its tear in the air, the dullest of stars.   I was the word among letters, the story’s breath within the book, the light of lanterns.   For a year and a half I was the continuing bridge...

--Órlaith on Wordpress

There are a number of others out there; these are just a few which struck me as being distinctive in an interesting way.

‘I have been a multitude of shapes, Before I assumed a consistent form. I have been a sword, narrow, variegated, I have been a tear in the air, I have been in the dullest of stars. I have been a word among letters, I have been a book in the origin.’ Taliesin .. c. 534 – c. 599

i don’t need gps or directions, i start walking and end up in the story pivotal location like a maiden from arthurian legends

"What's the deal with Taliesin?"

A somewhat lengthy ramble about the most powerful (or most arrogant) character in Arthurian legend

On the one hand, his powers exceed Merlin’s—Merlin describes himself as “second only to Taliesin” (in “Ymddiddan Myrtin a Talyessin”), and Taliesin claims to have profound knowledge of the cosmos dating back to Creation (he says poetic inspiration was created at the same time as fresh milk, dew, and acorns). He knows everything and can shapeshift into pretty much anything, if the catalogues he gives are anything to go by. He survived being swallowed alive, being thrown in the sea ("Ystoria Taliesin"), and (it seems) going on a raid of the Otherworld during which all but seven of Arthur’s many warriors died ("Preiddeu Annwn"). Then or at some other point while he was in Annwn, he pierced 8,000 men with spears he got from Heaven ("Cad Goddeu"). That puts his casualty count above that of anyone else I can think of in Arthurian legend (They fall "by the hundred" to Bedwyr--"Pa Gur"--but by "forty score hundred" to Taliesin). For all we know, he's indestructible; from what he claims, he's omniscient.

On the other hand, he sometimes seems like Sir Kay Xtreme Bard Edition with Extra Arrogance. In The Book of Taliesin, he has a really bitter (one-sided?) feud with other scholars and monks (some variant on "pathetic men of letters” appears many a time), who he accuses of ignorance because they don’t know the answers to various questions he never gives the answers to himself, and he loses or alienates everyone until the only person who visits him is a dude named “Goronwy, from the dales of Edrywy” ("Cad Goddeu"). Not much is known about this Goronwy, though it’s been speculated that he’s the speaker in “Claf Abercuawg”, in which case he’s an ailing societal outcast and probably couldn’t get anyone to talk to him except Taliesin. There’s a strong pathos to this—time, and maybe hubris, came with a fall, leaving him somewhat like a washed-up starlet or a burned-out wunderkind, abandoned now that he’s no longer the shiny new thing.

On the third hand, which I don't have but Taliesin could probably manage if he felt like it, much of this is from his point of view, and we have no way to prove he's telling the truth. When he tells his own origin story, he claims that he was Frankensteined together by enchanters at the dawn of time. This flatly contradicts "Ystoria Taliesin", so either there are multiple canons for his life story, he's talking as the Awen rather than as himself (in which case he's still contradicting himself--he also says it's a creation of the Lord), or he's lying about some of it. Why he would want to is anyone's guess, since he is quite powerful regardless.

If we don't take Taliesin at his word about his ability to kaiju battle giant toad monsters ("Cad Goddeu"), or take it with a grain of salt, then what are his accomplishments apart from self-preservation and repaying a life debt to Elphin? I am by no means an expert on him, but in what I've read, he does almost nothing in anyone else's story. It's almost like, apart from one or two times, he isn't able to find a way to use his powers for anyone else's good.

Then again, what is his primary power? Shapeshifting seems obvious (too obvious). He uses it for self-preservation (which is valid), for the heck of it (maybe), and/or for really dubious ends (see "Angar Kyfundawt" if you really must know, but trust me, you don't want to). Fighting is a less talked about ability of his. He can cause a lot of destruction (according to himself). It's not really clear what he fights for, though the various legendary kings he hangs out with are probably implied. Then, there's...

...the Awen. Inspiration. Poetry. He can do poetry, and he can do it very well. That is what he boasts about the most, and his boasts seem pretty justified. He’s Taliesin Ben Beirdd, Taliesin “Chief of Bards”, not Taliesin “the Shapeshifter” or Taliesin “Best of Warriors”, even though he may be both of those things. Shapeshifting only benefits him, and he's seen the horrors of war more than most people: his close friend Merlin killed his own nephew in a battle. When Taliesin fights, he kills terrifying numbers of people, maybe without full control (whether he's fully cognizant while he's using his powers is an interesting question which I won't get into right now). Perhaps that's why he doesn't interfere with others' adventures much: he is too powerful to do less harm than good for the people around him and for the narrative tension. Or maybe he just doesn't feel like it, or he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or they just don't want him there anymore, or his role as a teller of stories is more important than his role as a person in them. 

Wait a minute...

Edward the Third was an Arthuriana nerd who named his son after Sir Lionel, and...

...made up a title for him, which....

...had previously existed in Arthuriana and didn't refer to a place. Coincidence?

Probably.

Well, darn. That would've been very interesting. Then again, maybe the knowledge that Edward III was such a nerd he named his son after Sir Lionel is enough to ask.

Griflet also gets a flower crown, but his is ambiguous.

happy lancelot and his crown of roses day to all who celebrate :)

Brangain’s family in Arthuriana

As we all know, Brangain is Isolde’s handmaid, who helps her mistress with the whole affair shenanigans with Tristan. It was of interest for me to find out all there was to know about this minor character. This led me to research three different Arthuriana, two from the 13th century and the other from the 16th century.

The earliest of these Arthuriana is the French one, “Tristan en Prose” (which is also known as the Prose Tristan), written by Luce de Gat & Helie de Boron in the 13th century. According to Löseth (1890) and Curtis (1994), Brangain is a young lady of noble birth under the service of then Princess Isolde of Ireland (later Queen Isolde of Cornwall). She serves as one of her ladies-in-waiting. Interestingly, she’s not the only member of her family that comes to Cornwall as part of Isolde’s royal retinue.

In the part of Prose Tristan in which Tristan is hiding his identity in Ireland, there’s a tournament going down in which he disguises himself as a white knight. Brangaine helps him by providing him with armor and assigns her younger brothers, Mathael and Perrin (also called Perynin/Perinis), as his squires. After he’s discovered, he leaves for Cornwall in the company of Brangain’s brothers who laments their departing (Löseth, 1890; Curtis, 1994).

Much later in the narrative, Tristan is wounded by an arrow. King Mark sends one of his wife’s ladies-in-waiting, who is very much loved by the queen and is also a relative of Brangain (most likely a cousin) as his messenger. This cousin is very fond of Tristan and Tristan is fond of her as well. And she comes in the company of her younger brother, who is a squire (Löseth, 1890; Curtis, 1994).

Fast forward once more, another scene features Brangain’s niece, accompanied by her younger brother, a squire, whom she raised since he was an infant. Isolde sent her to Logres with a message for Tristan in order to meet to have some, ahem, alone time (Löseth, 1890).

By the end of Prose Tristan, though, out of all the relatives mentioned, only Perrin makes a reappearance. He sends a letter to his sister and her husband Governal telling them where Tristan and Isolde’s graves are located. Brangain and her husband come to the graveyard to mourn for Tristan and Isolde. Afterwards, Perrin and Tristan’s dog Husdent leave with Brangaine and her husband to the kingdom of Lyonesse (which Tristan gave to Governal) where he serves as his sister’s seneschal (Spector, 1973).

On the other hand, in the German Arthuriana “Tristan” by Gottfried von Strassburg (which was also written in the 13th century), Brangain is called Brangwen in the narrative. She’s most probably a niece of Queen Iseult the Wise (Iseult’s mother) from the maternal side of the family and a first cousin of Isolde (Iseult the Fair in the narrative) as well. She’s also called the Full Moon to Iseult the Wise’s sun and Iseult (Isolde) the Fair’s dawn. Moreover, she advises her aunt not to kill Tristan, accompanies Iseult to Cornwall and we all know the rest of the story (Von Strassburg, 2020).

In contrast, in the 16th century Spanish Arthuriana “Tristan de Leonis y el rey don Tristan el joven, su hijo” by an unknown author, Brangain is called Brangel. Brangel is Iseo la Brunda’s (Isolde in the narrative) handmaid and she has two younger brothers, who are assigned by Iseo to be Tristan’s squires in the tournament (which coincides with Prose Tristan) (Cuesta Torre, 1997).

Long story short, on the voyage to Cornwall Tristan and Iseo drink the love potion and consummate the passion they feel for one another. Iseo falls pregnant and they land in this island called “Ploto.”  Brangel and another of the ladies help Iseo give birth to her first child with Tristan, whom they also called Tristan. They also have a daughter named Iseo like her mother (because Tristan and Isolde can’t keep their hands off each other) (Cuesta Torre, 1997).

We all know the rest of the story. Anyways, Gorvalán (as in Governal in the narrative) and Brangel get married, but they don’t rule over Lyonesse. Instead, according to the will Tristan left, Governal is to be his son’s regent until he comes of age. Fast forward a few years, young Tristan becomes king and he and his sister Iseo become the godparents of Gorvalán and Brangel’s son Leonelo (in English Lionel) named after the city he was born in (Cuesta Torre, 1997).

If these sources are consolidated, the following can be thus concluded:

Brangaine is of noble birth and a first cousin of Isolde from the maternal side of the family. She’s the eldest of her two younger brothers, Perrin and Mathael. Moreover, she has a niece and a nephew from an older sibling. In addition, she also has cousins, one of them a lady-in-waiting and the other a squire.

Brangaine later marries Governal with whom she has a son named Lionel. She and her husband are King and Queen of Lyonesse after Tristan gave it to his tutor before he died. Her brother Perrin is their seneschal.

References

Cuesta Torre, M. L. (1997). Tristán de Leonís y el rey don Tristán el joven, su hijo: (Sevilla, 1534). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Curtis, R. L. (1994). The Romance of Tristan: The Thirteenth-century Old French “prose Tristan.” Oxford University Press.

Löseth, E. (1890). Le roman en prose de Tristan, le roman de Palamède et la compilation de Rusticien de Pise: Analyse critique d’après les manuscrits de Paris (E. Bouillon, Ed.). Macon, Protat Frères, Imprimeurs.

Spector, N. B. (1973). The romance of Tristan and Isolt. Northwestern University Press.

Von Strassburg, G. (2020). Tristan (A. S. Kline, Trans.). Poetry in Translation. https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/German/Tristanhome.php

Morgan le Fay casually making Satan her bitch. From a fan translation of Segurant, Knight of the Dragon, which I found on reddit here.

The Burne-Jones agenda: Gawain had an emo phase

Griflet-centric Reincarnation AU following Mort Artu canon

Griflet remembers bits and pieces of his past life, mostly from Camlann, so he starts doing surface-level research on Arthuriana. Since he's the one to throw the sword in the lake in Mort Artu but Bedivere is best known for it, he becomes convinced that he's the reincarnation of Sir Bedivere.

There are two outcomes which immediately come to mind. One is that he runs into other Arthurian reincarnations. In this case, he might vastly confuse everyone, particularly if Bedivere shows up too. They might even think he's an imposter. However, they might remember who he actually was and have a laugh about the whole thing.

The other is that he never tells anyone, or only tells the people he's closest to, because he doesn't think anyone will believe him. He goes about the rest of his life secretly thinking he's Bedivere. It impacts nothing substantial, though from time to time he makes references which confuse the people around him and he's always kind of worried something will happen to his hand.

Still fighting with the html to adjust lettering sizes but the Medieval Literature list is now two pages long :^)

I've added an updated Parzival, Iwein, Erec, Iban, Wigalois, Wigamur, Jaufre, Tristano Riccardiano, an additional translation of The Mabinogion by Sinoed Davies, & more!

Do you happen to have a link to the text of Caradoc? I'm very intrigued by it.

uhhh yeah i have it here is a scan. i dont recommend it if im being honest i enjoyed it but i did not like it. thats my review. also some warnings under the cut

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x_a3CmlJtIlI01mFMKvfxCehRkr6Z1fz/view?usp=sharing

this text has some rape and bestiality and just?? a lot of wierd sexual shit thats my warning i guess if u want o read it anyway i mean. i read it so im not gonna judge u but its A Lot

It's a rare day that I'll go to bat for Uther, but...

--"The Death-Song of Uther Pendragon"

...there is compelling evidence that he knows what a rock is.

Really, it would probably be better for everyone if he became a geologist. Better yet, since he says he's a skilled poet and harper, he should have been a bard.

Arthurian characters ranked by how good a geologist I think they'd be:

Uther. There is no evidence he knows what a rock is. 0/10

Gawain. Could probably swing a rock hammer pretty hard, but has a history of not disclosing outside funding. 2/10

Bedivere. Likely has some experience in studying geography when making battle plans. 3/10

Arthur. He touched a rock once. He also has a decent amount of patience and strategy skill from being a king. 4.5/10

Lancelot. Good at getting lost in the woods, but I think he would forget to label his samples. 4.5/10

Tristan. He jumped off a cliff and survived once, which is a very geologist thing to do. 5/10

Merlin. Apparently very good at putting swords in stones, which means he knows what rocks are. Points off for getting trapped in a cave. 6/10

Morgan le Fay. Has experience in employing the scientific method through her attempts to murder Arthur, and is generally a very learned woman. 9/10

Palomides. Knows that the Earth is round, and is good at finding things in the wilderness. He cried by a well once, thereby demonstrating his knowledge of groundwater systems. 10/10

I'm sure he meant this as a compliment but it could just as easily be a grievous insult.

(from "The Dialogue of Myrddin and Taliesin" in The Black Book of Carmarthen)

A few things which are “canon” somewhere for people who are worried they’re stretching it too far

Arthur was killed by a giant cat. 

Arthur killed the cat.

Arthur didn’t fight the cat. Kay did.

Kay and Bedivere use salmon as taxis. 

Lucan is half giant, half lion. (This Lucan, Lucano in the original Italian, is evil and not related to Bedivere). 

King Arthur raided the land of the dead.

The human knight Caradoc Briefbras has three half siblings: a dog, a horse, and a pig.

A large portion of Arthur’s troops was killed a while before Camlann by his nephew’s attack ravens in self-defense. Arthur and said nephew were playing chess at the time and neither did much to stop it.

Merlin retired peacefully and went to live in the countryside with Taliesin.

Wherever Arthur walks, plants die. They don’t grow back for years.

Arthur had a spunky (half?) brother who died in battle after making a mysterious oath.

Dagonet is more or less able to run the kingdom when Arthur is gone. His biggest error is overspending on mercenaries.

Guinevere has an evil almost identical twin half-sister.

Hector beat up all the best knights except for Galahad while possessed by a demon.

Gawain plays tennis.

Gawain has used a chessboard as a weapon.

Near the start of his reign, Arthur left Lot in charge of the kingdom and went on a quest with a sassy parrot.

Gawain or Galahad succeeded Arthur as king. 

Stained glass by Heaton, Butler & Bayne, depicting the female knight Britomart from Spenser's The Faerie Queene, at Cheltenham Ladies' College.

You mean to tell me that you don't?

A lot of the time when I see people talk about aromanticism they bring up the way a lot of us tend to think that romance is just exaggerated in fiction and are surprised that people feel that way in real life and not just in the movies and that's honestly kind of funny, imagine just going about your life and one day finding out that most people's high school years were actually like disney channel and you're the exception

Maybe I should be asking why poisoning is so common there that Kay feels the need (and has the means) to provide poison-proof cups which can feel anger, or how the silver is on fire, and I am now, but the first question which came to my mind was, "What is in the blue stew?" Blueberries? No, that would be indigo or just plain purple. I can't think of any means of dyeing food blue which they would have had in the Middle Ages. Was there some lost technique? Is that one of Kay's powers? If anyone has insight on this one, be it scholarly or humorous, please let me know.

I really appreciate that the Alliterative Morte Arthure is giving Kay a solid 45 lines to go full batshit mad scientist on his feast preparations, featuring

Peacocks, plovers, pork, porcupine, herons, swans, beef, wild boar, barnacle goose, young hawks in bread, cranes, curlews, rabbits

By my rough count, approximately eight different kinds of wine

On-fire blue stews ("wavy with azure sauce all over, they appeared to be flaming")

More fire: "pheasants adorned in flaming silver"

Poison-proof gold cups: ("So that if any poison should go secretly under them [in the cup],/The bright gold would burst all to pieces with anger,/Or else the poison should lose its power because of the virtue of the precious stones")

Arthuriana ask game!!

bc why not

♘ Favourite Knight/King

🫅Favorite Lady/Damsol/Queen

💚 Favorite Quest/Story Arc

✒A Medieval Text You Like

📚A Retelling/Modern Work You Like

📽Recommend a book/movie/tv show etc

💛A Sibling Group/Dynamic That IS NOT The Orkneys

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Okay Now You Can Talk About Orkneys

😤Your Most Specific Nitpick About Your Fave (anything from "Gareth would not have a beard" to "this is basically a different guy")

🥰An Arthuriana Headcanon

😏Gawain?

🥖Favorite French/du lac (Lancelot, Hector de Maris, Bors, Lionel, Galahad, ect)

👨‍👦Favorite Parent

🗡️Who Are You Betting On In This Month's Tournament?

🙏Pick A Grail Knight

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Pick A Pelli Spawn (Percival, Aglovale, Tor, Lamorak, Aylane, Dindrane, Donar, ect)

💏Crack Ship (s)

🫂Platonic Ship(s)

Funny story. Due to a very strange series of events, a number of people are now convinced that I'm the reincarnation of Sir Kay. This is not a joke. I'm not really sure what do with that or how to explain the strange stuff which happened. So, yeah. I can imagine it.

Reincarnation aus are funny to me because like. Imagine finding out that you’re the reincarnation of a medieval knight, brought back to save mankind in its darkest hour etc etc. But then you find out that you’re fucking like. Sir Gaheris. Absolutely mid-tier ass knight. Like what do you do with that.

Gems and their associated supernatural properties

(From Magic and the Supernatural in Medieval English Romance by Corinne J. Saunder)

(Link to a previous post here) So, to list some of it down:

Amethyst - prevents drunkeness

Emerald - inceases intelligence, gives prophetic powers, refreshes eyes and also act as mirrors

Amber - used in medicine

Jet - drives away snakes, detects possessed people and virginity

Asbestos - gives poison resistance

Memphitis - anasthetic

Selenite - affected by the phases of the Moon

Diamond - protects against poison, witchcraft and fear

Astrion - prevents wounds in battle

Onyx - induces sorrow and debate,

Topaz - allows water flow

Chalcedony - prevents hallucination

Opal - grants Invisibility

Hi :) Could I have the source for "wherever Arthur walks, plants die"? That's very "Holly King" coded of him

Sure thing! It's from Triad 23 in the Red Book of Hergest. Here's a translation by John Rhŷs and John Gwenogvryn Evans:

Three Red Ravagers of the Island of Britain: Rhun son of Beli, and Lleu Skilful Hand, and Morgant the Wealthy. But there was one who was a Red Ravager greater than all three: Arthur was his name. For a year neither grass nor plants used to spring up where one of the three would walk; but where Arthur went, not for seven years.

Peniarth MS 54 lists "{t}hree red-spotted ones of the Island of Prydain. Arthur; and Run son of Beli; and Morgant Mwynfawr" (W.F. Skene's translation), which probably means the same thing, since both include Arthur, Rhun son of Beli, and someone named Morgant. In Welsh, "Morgant the Wealthy" is Morgant Hael, and I haven't been able to determine whether he and Morgant Myfanwyr are the same person.

Thanks for the ask!

Wikipedia, most definitely.

For several years, nearly all of my Arthurian knowledge came from Wikipedia, because I (rather oddly) decided to try to get a comprehensive idea of Arthuriana as a whole before actually diving into medieval literature. This was probably because, despite having absorbed my very eccentric great-grandfather's belief that we were descendants of Merlin, I wasn't really into Arthuriana before I was given a prompt to write an alliterative paragraph featuring the letter G, started writing about Gawain, never came to a conclusion, decided to make it a novel, decided I needed to do research to write a novel, etc. This led my seventh grade self to a lot of bad takes, particularly about Lancelot, and very random headcanons. On the other hand, the assumptions I made about Agravaine, while based purely on his name, were mostly accurate.

I can spot at least four possible morals to this story and there are probably more, but I'll leave them to the reader.

Anyway enough King Arthur flour asks time to talk about Ragnelle.

I noticed that Caradoc’s and Arthur’s arms are similar: both feature crowns on an azure field, though Arthur has multiple crowns or and Caradoc just has one crown argent. Caradoc is married to one of Igraine’s daughters in the Vulgate Merlin, and he is the son of Arthur’s niece (but referred to as his nephew) in The Story of Caradoc. It’s quite possible that whoever designed Caradoc’s arms meant them to look like a humbler version of Arthur’s.

Coats of Arms of (some) Knights of the Round Table from a 16th century French manuscript, including most of our favourite Merlin knights.

From left to right:

Galahad, Percival, Lancelot du Lac, Bors

King Arthur, Gawain, Tristan, Lionel

(H)elyan the White, King Bagdemagus, King Edern, King Rience, 

King Carados, King Clariance, Duke Chaliens of Clarence and (H)ector de Maris.