Arthur. Is there a single more used man in the retellings of myth and legend? Maybe, but not many. After all, few of them offer as much to the storyteller as Arthur does. Heroics! Tragedy! Drama! And, of course, maybe most crucially, ambiguity. Who was he? Briton, Roman, Sarmatian, euhemerized God? What is the correct way to retell his story? Which of his many companions and tales deserve to be mentioned?
Once upon a time I found out Bernard Cornwell had opinions on this, and that started one of the greatest reading experiences of my life.
Cornwell's decision was to tell it in a "realistic" style - a fairly historical Dark Ages Romano-Britain where the enemy is the Saxons - and does so through the first person narration of Derfel, a brand new character loosely based on Bedwyr/Bedivere. A fair selection of famous characters such as Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Galahad are included; a few major ones like the Orkney brood and Percival omitted; minor characters such as Culwch and Sagramor given more import; and there's some new introductions as well. In other words, his interpretation is pretty loose, but hits most of the major elements.
The looseness becomes more obvious when looking at The Winter King's plot. There, Arthur is the illegitimate son of an ageing sickly Uther of Dumnonia, banished after Uther blames him for the death of his son Mordred at the Saxons' hands. The throne of Dumnonia's true heir (Devon and Somerset mainly) is Mordred's unborn child. It is at the birth that the story begins, for Derfel (a boy on the cusp of manhood) is there as one of a pack of servants to Merlin's priestess, Morgan. The child survives and is a boy - named Mordred too - but with a club foot on a night of ill omens. Uther will die soon. How is a newborn cripple going to be King?
Uther seeks oath-sworn protectors for his heir - his champion Owain, Tewdric of Gwent, and Merlin. Nimue, answering on the absent Merlin's behalf, demands Arthur be included too, and Tewdric goes along with her. And that is how Arthur comes into the story, a warleader tasked to protect his nephew. And the story of The Winter King is how Arthur comes to be the most powerful man in Dumnonia, if not Britain, and how Derfel comes to serve and aid him.
Derfel and Arthur are the heart of this story and one of the many canny things Cornwell does here is making Derfel very like Arthur; honest, mostly straight-forwards, affable, slightly insecure as an outsider but to the point of it twisting them, driven by conscience and ambition. That means even when Arthur isn't involved, it feels Arthurian. It also makes Derfel a pleasant first person narrator to share the thoughts of, for he's a basically good, observant and understandable person. The tendency of first person books to be a tad marmite depending on how readers get on with the narrator is well known, but I've never seen anyone say they can't get along with Derfel.
The difference is Arthur is only mostly straight-forwards. There's a certain Captain Carrot-esque subtlety to him, the ability to trap people with his openness and to suddenly show ruthlessness and authority like a cat unsheathing its claws. Making Arthur feel like Arthur is a big part of doing these retellings and Cornwell nails this for me, to the point that his Arthur is Arthur to me like Alan Rickman is the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Speaking of nail on the head interpretations, I'm not sure Cornwell's Merlin is the perfect Merlin but dear gods is he glorious. Sarcastic, arrogant and mischievous, he is an absolute scene-stealer who makes sense for how a powerful sorcerer would feel in those times - completely superior. It often translates into a sense of malevolence; often playful, but every now and again we get to him exercise it in his full terrifying authority. If Arthur represents the attempt to have lasting, benevolent, consensual power and good government, then Merlin is one of the many counterpoints saying "this is the jungle, and only strength matters". Speaking of Rickman, it is a gigantic shame he never got a chance to play this Merlin on screen.
The storytelling and prose are classic Cornwell, altered only a little for the occasion. To me that is a huge strength as nobody does tales of war, adventure and intrigue better. Nobody. That this is as far into fantasy as he ever got is a huge shame (quick note - it's unclear here whether magic actually works or not, so it's semi-fantastical). The Winter King is mostly focused on the intrigue/politics side and war side, and that works just fine, although its a bit of a shame to have an Arthurian story without quests. There's a couple of excursions but they're more interludes.
And that is the crux of The Winter King. It is a fantastic Bernard Cornwell story and an imaginative retelling of Arthur. Is it going to satisfy someone who wants an update on Malory? I doubt it. It takes a very different slant in its search for realism. If I'm thinking about it as an Arthur story, then I have to admit I feel a little disappointed. As its own thing though, The Winter King is a very compelling story. And that is how I take it.
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