Tag Archives: Hellawes

One Comment

The Fall of Arthur

  By

THE FALL OF ARTHURfallarth
J. R. R. and Christopher Tolkien
HarperCollins, May 2013

Guinevere will always remain the Yoko Ono of Arthurian romance. For men of a certain bent, she summons to mind the new wife or girlfriend of their old friend, who now threatens to intrude upon the Round Table of their male camaraderie. What if she doesn’t just stay at home and darn his socks? What if she wants us to see her as a person, not just our friend’s possession? Already, she’s changed him. Remember the good old days when he slapped you on the back and denounced all women as whores?

Tolkien’s The Fall of Arthur continues the ungenerous tradition of presenting Guinevere as a figure of treacherousness, not just discord. On those occasions where she rises from the role of disputed possession, she becomes a manipulative temptress towing men to their deaths. From her first entrance, we hear of her remorselessness, Continue reading

  • You might also like

    • Granny Against the World

      MY GRANDMOTHER SENDS HER REGARDS AND APOLOGISES Fredrik Backman, translated by Henning Koch Sceptre, June 2015, RRP $29.99 It can be hard to be different in a world where conformity is the nature of the game. Society has rules, and those rules must be followed. A little bit different might … Continue reading