Bors (Arthurian legend)

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Galahad , Bors d. Younger and Parzival reach the Grail

Bors (debate [ 'bɔrz] , even Bors de Ganis , French Bors ) is the name of two Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend , once "Bors the Elder" and "Bors the Younger".

King Bors the Elder

Bors the Elder is king of the crooks or Gauls at the beginning of King Arthur's reign . He is the brother of King Ban of Benoic. The crooks come from the Frankish empires of Neustria , the Netherlands , Normandy , Brittany and western France.

As the brother of King Ban, he is the uncle of Launcelot and Hector de Maris. He is married to Evaine, the sister of Ban’s wife Elaine, and has two sons. These are Bors the Younger and Lionel . Ban and Bors became allies of King Arthur very early when he had to defend himself against eleven rebellious kings of Britain , including Lot of Orkney , Urien , and Caradoc . In return, Arthur promised to help them fight their enemy Claudas, who was seeking their land. Arthur, however, is too late to keep his promise, and Claudas succeeds in the invasion, which results in the deaths of the kings Bors and Ban. Ban's son Lancelot is raised by the “ mistress of the lake ”, while the sons of Bor grow up in captivity with Claudas' entourage.

Sir Bors the Younger

Bors the Younger is the son of Evaine and King Bors (the Elder), who is an ally of Arthur in the struggle for supremacy in England . From this Bors inherits the throne of Gaul. Sir Bors and Sir Lionel lived at Claudas' court for many years. Finally they rebel against him and kill his common son Dorin. Before Clauda's vengeance, the boys are rescued by a servant of the mistress of the lake and carried away by magic to grow up with their cousin Lancelot. They grow up to be excellent knights and go later to Camelot to the followers to join King Arthur. Bors is marked with a prominent scar on his forehead. He takes part in most of the battles of King Arthur and ultimately recaptures his father's lands from Claudas. Bors begets, seduced by a magic ring, to sleep with the daughter of King Brandegoris, a son who is called Sir Elyan the White. He later introduces this into the round table.

Bors saves a virgin instead of freeing his brother Lionel

Many legends tell of his virtuous character.

  • Bors is always portrayed as one of the noblest of the Round Table, but he recovered his true glory in the tales of Thomas Malory in the Grail quest , where he proves to be worthy enough to the Grail mysteries together with the knights Lancelot, Galahad and Percival to testify. They bring the Grail to Sarras , a mystical island in the Middle East . According to tradition, he is said to have been the only one of the three Grail Finders who later returned to Camelot.
  • For example, once Bors approaches a lady who swears that she will commit suicide if he does not sleep with her. He refuses to break his vow of celibacy and the lady and her virgins threaten to throw themselves from the battlements of the castle. As they jump down, they reveal themselves as demons who have come to deceive him by appealing to his compassion.
  • Another time, Bors has to choose between rescuing his brother Lionel, who is whipped in one direction with thorns by a robber baron named Turquine, and freeing a young girl who is kidnapped by another mean knight in the opposite direction. Bors decides in favor of the helpless maiden, but prays fervently for his brother to be spared. Lionel escapes his tormentors and tries to kill Bors. However, he refuses to raise his gun against a family member. Sir Calogrenant , a Knight of the Round Table, and a religious hermit attempt to intervene, but Lionel kills them both when they get in his way. Before he can kill his brother, however, God captivates him with a crippling pillar of fire.
  • In Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur , Sir Bors agrees to fight for Guinevere in a tournament when she is accused of trying to poison a knight. Bors hesitates at first, as their preferred knight, Sir Lancelot Camelot, has already had to leave Camelot for Guinevere. But he feels sorry when Arthur sees Guinevere kneeling pleadingly before him. He was preparing to play the tournament when Launcelot came to take his place. Like the rest of his family, Bors goes into exile with Lancelot when his affair with Guinevere comes out. He also assists in saving the Queen from her execution at the stake. In the ensuing war between Lancelot and Arthur, Bors becomes one of Lanzelot's closest advisers and ruler of Claudas' former lands.
  • In the Battle of Camlann he fights on Arthur's side against Mordred . Sir Lionel is killed by Melehan. Together with his cousin Launcelot, he kills Mordred's sons Melehan and Melou after the battle.
  • In TH White's The Once and Future King , Bors is described as "misogynist" or "almost virgin" and always "grouchy".

Representation in the film

  • In Monty Python and the Holy Grail (from 1975), Sir Bors ( Terry Gilliam ) is the first knight of the Round Table to fall victim to Caerbannog's killer rabbit (he is quickly beheaded before he can attempt a single blow).
  • In the film adaptation of King Arthur (from 2004) there are few similarities to his traditional, almost holy character. Here Bors ( Ray Winstone ) is portrayed as brazen, bold and violent. He is Dagonet's brother in arms ( Ray Stevenson ), has a local lover Vanora and more than ten illegitimate children.

See also

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ban and Bors at Le Morte Darthur on sacred-texts.com
  2. ↑ see chapter 12
  3. ↑ see Chapters 9 and 10
  4. ↑ Grail ways between East and West books.google.at