The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Was King Arthur a real person? With what time in history is he associated? If real, what was his most important contribution to the history of Britain? Why do you think this figure is still famous so many centuries later?

Teaching Suggestion: Although for a long time scholars believed that Arthur was completely fictional, some researchers now think there may be at least some basis in fact for his existence. This prompt elicits students’ prior knowledge and offers you an opportunity to fill in any gaps before they begin reading. As students work on this prompt, you might also teach them the term “Sub-Roman Britain,” the academic term gradually replacing the older term “Dark Ages.”

• This interview with Professor Marion Gibson offers an interesting look at Arthur’s historical context.
• These lecture notes from a professor at Winthrop University offer helpful insights into the reasons that the Arthur legend has endured. (Due to length and formatting, the notes may be better suited to older readers.)
• This article from Smithsonian Magazine offers arguments on both sides of the question of Arthur’s historicity. (Due to its length, this article may be better suited to older readers.)
• This article from the Penn Museum explores the historicity of King Arthur. (Teacher-appropriate; not-student-facing due to length and complexity)

2. What do historians mean when they talk about chivalry and “courtly” values? How is the meaning of “chivalry” different when it is used in ordinary conversation in a modern context?

Teaching Suggestion: Pyle’s telling of the Arthur legend heavily emphasizes the chivalric and courtly values these stories teach. If students are uncertain about the meanings of these words, you might help them reason out rough definitions before introducing them to accurate academic definitions. For instance, you might ask how they have heard “chivalry” used before (in phrases like “Chivalry is not dead,” and so on.) You might point out the root word “court” and ask how the suffix “ly” impacts its meaning. If your students are younger, this prompt offers a good opportunity to introduce them to the idea that words can have different meanings in different contexts, and that they should not assume that they know the meaning of an academic term just because they have heard the same word used in casual conversation.

• This summary explains the development of the Code of Chivalry.
• This definition of “courtly” from the Cambridge Dictionary shares many sample uses of the term.

Short Activity

In the time when the most famous stories about King Arthur were being written, knights’ shields were decorated with their coats of arms. These consisted of symbols drawn from their family heritage and achievements. A coat of arms was an important marker of identity and a source of pride.

Imagine that you are designing a coat of arms for a modern-day knight. What accomplishments would a knight want to boast about today? Choose three symbols for a coat of arms that will help a modern audience understand what your knight has accomplished. Your symbols can be serious ones, drawn from the history of heraldry, or more modern and light-hearted (vector art, emojis, etc.) Draw a shield for your knight that features a coat of arms that includes these three symbols.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity is intended to help students connect their own modern context with the distant setting of Arthurian legends. It will also help them understand Arthur’s reaction during the early chapters of the text when Pellinore is fighting under a false identity and collecting the shields of the men he defeats. Because heraldry was not generally featured on shields during the Sub-Roman era and only became important later, during the Middle Ages, this is a good opportunity to remind students that Arthur’s story really became famous during the Middle Ages and that many of the ideas the stories contain are a better reflection of Medieval Britain than of Sub-Roman Britain. When students finish, you might ask them to display their shields and invite their peers to guess what accomplishments they symbolize.

• This article shows the kinds of shields and weaponry that warriors would have carried during the historical periods shortly before, during, and shortly after the Sub-Roman period, when Arthur is said to have lived.
• This activity guide from English Heritage shows students the basics of how to create a heraldic design.
• This article from The Heraldry Society contains pictures and descriptions of the various coats of arms mentioned in the Arthurian legends.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with aphantasia may not be able to visualize images for their shields; even if the rest of the class is working without computers, you might allow these students to use images from the internet as references as they work. Students with visual impairments may not be able to complete this activity as written. Instead, they might write a paragraph describing which achievements a modern knight might want to memorialize in a coat of arms, and why.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Which of the values of chivalry do you think are still important in today’s world? Why? Which of the values of chivalry do you think are not relevant in or appropriate for today’s world? Why?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt asks students to compare their own values to those of historical Britain. It may be helpful to brainstorm a group list of chivalric values and write these on the board before students begin working on their responses to the prompt.