Sir Lionel
Lionel is a character in Arthurian legend. He is the younger son of King Bors of Gaunnes (or Gaul) and Evaine and brother of Bors the Younger. First recorded in the Lancelot-Grail cycle,[citation needed] he is a double cousin of Lancelot and cousin of Lancelot's younger half-brother Hector de Maris (not to be confused with the older Sir Ector, who was King Arthur's foster-father). He is also the subject of a traditional ballad.
Arthurian legend
When their father dies in battle against King Claudas, Lionel and Bors are rescued by the Lady of the Lake and raised in her otherworldly kingdom alongside her foster-son Lancelot. Like Bors and Lancelot, Lionel becomes a Knight of the Round Table upon reaching the age and then proving himself in heroic deeds.
One day, while travelling with Lancelot as a young man, Lionel is captured by the rogue knight Turquine, who whips him with briars and throws him in the dungeon. The scenario repeats itself later while he is on the Quest for the Holy Grail, where he proves very unworthy of the blessed object by trying to kill his brother for not rescuing him. Bors had seen Lionel getting beaten and led away, but had to make a decision to save either him or a young girl being dragged in the opposite direction. He saves the girl, and fears Lionel dead. But Lionel escapes, and attacks Bors the next time they meet. Bors proves himself worthy of the Grail when he refuses to fight back, and Lionel kills a hermit and Sir Calogrenant, a fellow Knight of the Round Table, when they try to protect Bors from his wrath. Before Lionel can strike his brother, however, God intervenes and immobilises him.
Lionel and the rest of his family follow Lancelot into exile when the affair with Queen Guinevere is exposed. Lionel participates in the battles against King Arthur and becomes King of Gaunnes. After the Battle of Camlann (Salisbury), Lancelot's family returns to Britain to defeat the remainder of Mordred's forces. Lionel is slain by Mordred's young son Melehan; Bors avenges his death.
Edward III of England
The 14th-century King of England, Edward III, strongly identified with Sir Lionel since his youth. King Edward role-played as Lionel at the Round Table tournaments that he organized, and even named his second son, Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, after the Arthurian romance character.[1]
Folk ballad
Sir Lionel is the subject of the late-medieval folk ballad "Sir Lionel", recorded as Child Ballad 18 and Roud No. 29, in which he slays a giant wild boar.[2] This song has much in common with a medieval tale about a knight who slays a terrifyingly fiendish boar in Sidon, in the fourteenth century romance of Sir Eglamour of Artois.[3] The terrible swine is a frequent foe in romantic tales, for instance the beast Twrch Trwyth in Culhwch and Olwen.[4]
The song has been recorded several times in the twentieth century, exclusively in the United States. The influential Appalachian folk singer Jean Ritchie recorded a version passed down through her family entitled "Old Bangum" on the album Ballads from her Appalachian Family Tradition (1961), with an Appalachian dulcimer accompaniment.[5][6] John and Alan Lomax recorded two versions in the 1930s in Harlan, Kentucky[7] and Austin, Texas.[8] Several Ozark versions were also collected, and can be heard online courtesy of the University of Arkansas and Missouri State University.[9][10][11]
Modern works
- In the musical Camelot, Lionel is the knight brought back to life by Lancelot after he accidentally kills him in a joust (though the film switches him with Dinadan). The two do not seem to be related.
- Lionel appears in the 1998 animated film Quest for Camelot as the father of the protagonist, Kayley, who wished to follow her father's footsteps. During the beginning of the film, Lionel is killed by the main antagonist, Lord Ruber, who intends to claim the throne of Camelot for himself, while trying to kill King Arthur, whom Lionel defended before he died.
See also
References
- ^ "In Search of the Once and Future King: The Soul of Chivalry". 5 November 2020.
- ^ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Sir Lionel"
- ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 209, Dover Publications, New York 1965.
- ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 209-10, Dover Publications, New York 1965.
- ^ "Jean Ritchie: Ballads from her Appalachian Family Tradition". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "Old Bangum (bangum Rid By the Riverside) (Roud Folksong Index S413149)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "Bangum and the Boar (Roud Folksong Index S257893)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "Wild Hog in the Woods (Roud Folksong Index S265758)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "Song Information". maxhunter.missouristate.edu. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "CONTENTdm". digitalcollections.uark.edu. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "CONTENTdm". digitalcollections.uark.edu. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
External links
- One version of the folk ballad Sir Lionel
- v
- t
- e
- Sir Aldingar
- Alison and Willie
- Allison Gross
- Andrew Lammie
- Archie o Cawfield
- Kinmont Willie
- Auld Matrons
- Babylon
- The Baffled Knight
- The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington
- Barbara Allen
- The Battle of Otterburn
- The Beggar-Laddie
- Adam Bell
- The Bent Sae Brown
- Bessy Bell and Mary Gray
- Blancheflour and Jollyflorice
- The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood
- Bonnie Annie
- The Bonnie Earl O' Moray
- Bonnie George Campbell
- Bonny Baby Livingston
- Bonny Bee Hom
- The Bonny Birdy
- The Bonny Hind
- The Bonnie House of Airlie
- The Bonny Lass of Anglesey
- Bonny Lizie Baillie
- The Boy and the Mantle
- Broom of the Cowdenknowes
- The Broomfield Hill
- Broughty Wa's
- Brown Adam
- The Brown Girl
- Brown Robin
- Brown Robyn's Confession
- Burd Ellen and Young Tamlane
- Burd Isabel and Earl Patrick
- Captain Ward and the Rainbow
- Captain Wedderburn's Courtship
- The Carnal and the Crane
- The Cherry-Tree Carol
- The Ballad of Chevy Chase
- Child Maurice
- Child Owlet
- Child Waters
- Christopher White
- Clerk Colvill
- Clerk Saunders
- The Clerk's Twa Sons o Owsenford
- The Crafty Farmer
- Crow and Pie
- The Cruel Brother
- The Cruel Mother
- The Daemon Lover
- The Death of Parcy Reed
- The Death of Queen Jane
- Dick o the Cow
- Dives and Lazarus
- The Dowie Dens o Yarrow
- Dugall Quin
- The Duke of Athole's Nurse
- The Duke of Gordon's Daughter
- Earl Brand
- Earl Crawford
- The Earl of Errol
- The Earl of Mar's Daughter
- Earl Rothes
- Edom o Gordon
- Edward
- The Elfin Knight
- Eppie Morrie
- Erlinton
- Fair Annie
- The Fair Flower of Northumberland
- Fair Janet
- Fair Margaret and Sweet William
- Fair Mary of Wallington
- The False Lover Won Back
- The Famous Flower of Serving-Men
- The Farmer's Curst Wife
- Fause Foodrage
- The Fause Knight Upon the Road
- The Friar in the Well
- The Gardener
- The Gay Goshawk
- Geordie
- The George Aloe and the Sweepstake
- A Gest of Robyn Hode
- Get Up and Bar the Door
- Gil Brenton
- Glasgerion
- Glasgow Peggie
- Glenlogie
- The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry
- The Grey Cock
- Gude Wallace
- The Raggle Taggle Gypsy
- Battle of Harlaw
- The Heir of Linne
- Hind Etin
- Hind Horn
- Hobie Noble
- Hughie Graham
- James Hatley
- Jamie Douglas
- Jellon Grame
- Jock o' the Side
- Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant
- John Dory
- John of Hazelgreen
- Johnie Cock
- Johnie Scot
- Johnnie Armstrong
- The Jolly Beggar
- The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield
- Judas
- Katharine Jaffray
- The Keach i the Creel
- Kemp Owyne
- Kempy Kay
- King Arthur and King Cornwall
- King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth
- King Estmere
- King Henry
- King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France
- King John and the Bishop
- The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood
- The King's Dochter Lady Jean
- Lang Johnny More
- The Kitchie-Boy
- The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter
- The Knight's Ghost
- The Knoxville Girl
- The Lads of Wamphray
- Lady Alice
- Lady Diamond
- Lady Elspat
- Lady Isabel
- Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight
- Lady Maisry
- The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea
- The Laird o Drum
- The Laird o Logie
- Lamkin
- The Lass of Roch Royal
- Leesome Brand
- Sir Lionel
- Little John a Begging
- Lizie Lindsay
- Lizie Wan
- The Lochmaben Harper
- Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet
- Lord Lovel
- Lord Maxwell's Last Goodnight
- The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward
- Lord Randall
- Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie
- Lord Thomas and Fair Annet
- Lord Thomas and Lady Margaret
- Lord Thomas Stuart
- Lord William
- The Maid and the Palmer
- The Maid Freed from the Gallows
- The Marriage of Sir Gawain
- Mary Hamilton
- Matty Groves
- The Mermaid
- The Mother's Malison
- The New-Slain Knight
- The Noble Fisherman
- Northumberland Betrayed By Douglas
- Old Robin of Portingale
- Sir Orfeo
- Prince Heathen
- Prince Robert
- Proud Lady Margaret
- Queen Elanor's Confession
- The Queen of Elfan's Nourice
- The Queen of Scotland
- The Rantin Laddie
- Redesdale and Wise William
- Richie Story
- Riddles Wisely Expounded
- Robin Hood and Allan-a-Dale
- Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne
- Robin Hood and Little John
- Robin Hood and Maid Marian
- Robin Hood and Queen Katherine
- Robin Hood and the Beggar
- Robin Hood and the Bishop
- Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford
- Robin Hood and the Butcher
- Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar
- Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow
- Robin Hood and the Monk
- Robin Hood and the Pedlars
- Robin Hood and the Potter
- Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon
- Robin Hood and the Ranger
- Robin Hood and the Scotchman
- Robin Hood and the Shepherd
- Robin Hood and the Tanner
- Robin Hood and the Tinker
- Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight
- Robin Hood Newly Revived
- Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires
- Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly
- Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage
- Robin Hood's Chase
- Robin Hood's Death
- Robin Hood's Delight
- Robin Hood's Golden Prize
- Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham
- Robyn and Gandeleyn
- The Rose of England
- Rose the Red and White Lily
- Saint Stephen and Herod
- Sheath and Knife
- Sir Cawline
- Sir James the Rose
- Sir Patrick Spens
- The Suffolk Miracle
- The Sweet Trinity
- Sweet William's Ghost
- Tam Lin
- Thomas o Yonderdale
- Thomas the Rhymer
- The Three Ravens
- Tom Potts
- A True Tale of Robin Hood
- The Twa Brothers
- The Twa Magicians
- The Twa Sisters
- The Unquiet Grave
- Walter Lesly
- The Wee Wee Man
- The West Country Damosel's Complaint
- The White Fisher
- The Whummil Bore
- The Wife of Usher's Well
- The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin
- Will Stewart and John
- Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter
- Willie and Lady Maisry
- Willie o Douglas Dale
- Willie o Winsbury
- Willie's Fatal Visit
- Willie's Lady
- Willie's Lyke-Wake
- The Wylie Wife of the Hie Toun Hie
- Young Andrew
- Young Beichan
- Young Benjie
- The Young Earl of Essex's Victory over the Emperor of Germany
- Young Hunting
- Young Johnstone
- Young Peggy
- Young Ronald
- Young Waters