Bedivere

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Sir Bedivere (also Bedwyr fab Bedrawg [ 'bedwir vaːb' bedraug ] or Bedwere ) is a legendary figure in the medieval Arthurian novels . The figure already appears in the earliest stories about the leader of the round table of King Arthur.

mythology

Bedivere is considered one of the twelve knights of the round table . In what is probably the oldest surviving Arthurian legend, Pa ŵr yw'r porthor? (“Who is the gatekeeper?”) Bedwyr is one of King Arthur's companions and witnesses the quarrel between the latter and the gatekeeper Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr . Bedwyr is named here as the best friend of the round table knight Cei fab Cynyr , with whom he goes on all adventures. So he fights at the side of the king and together with his inseparable partner Cei in the saga Mal y kavas Kulhwch Olwen ("How Kulhwch Olwen won") to fulfill the tasks set by the giant Ysbaddaden Arthur's protégé Kulhwch . When he steals Dyrnwch's cauldron, he seizes him despite his resistance.

After [another] no, Bedwyr got up, took the kettle and gave it to Hyggwydd, a servant of Arthur - he was a brother of Arthur's servant Cacamwri [...]

No one in Britain except Arthur himself was more beautiful than himself, and although he had only one hand, he would be the nimest swordsman in battle.

Arthurian novels

The mistress of the lake wields the Excalibur sword thrown into the lake by Sir Bedivere . Illustration by Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur . London: Dent, 1894.

In Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory , Bedivere becomes a key figure. As the only surviving knight of the Battle of Camlann , in which Mordred himself fell after he had mortally wounded King Arthur, he received the order from the dying king to throw the sword Excalibur into the lake. However, he was unable to do this at first, but hid the precious weapon. But the king saw through him and repeated his command.

So Sir Bedivere went, quickly took the sword out of its hiding place, and went to the water. There he tied the strap around the handle and threw the sword as far as he could into the water.

The mistress of the lake immediately accepted it, "swung it three times" and pulled it under the water.

Only now did the king allow himself to be carried to the lake, where "a small barge with many beautiful women, three of whom were queens" awaited him to take him to Avalon .

The cellar master Sir Lucan is Bedivere's brother and Sir Griflet is his cousin.

This novel is preceded by a Middle English poetry of the same name, which was created around 1400. Modern retellings have portrayed Bedivere as both a brave follower of Arthur and a lover of his wife Guinevere . He takes on the role of Lancelot at Chrétien de Troyes .

In her Arthurian trilogy, The Knights of the Round Table, Gillian Bradshaw lets Bedwyr appear as a lover of Gwynhwyfar, contrary to tradition.

Others

The landing ship of the Royal Navy RFA Sir Bedivere (L3004) is named after the legendary figure.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Philip Steele, Sabine Goehrmann: The great book of knights and castles. Knight in the seal, p. 88. Tessloff Verlag, 2007. ISBN 3-788-61492-7
  2. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. P. 82.
  3. ↑ a b Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . P. 39 f.
  4. ^ A b Arnulf Krause: The world of the Celts: history and myth of an enigmatic people. P. 149 f.
  5. ↑ Helmut Birkhan : Nachantike Keltenrezeption. Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1 , p. 290 ff.