The Round Table
/Pull up a chair at the Round Table as we discuss the centerpiece of King Arthur’s court! How many knights sat there (more than you’d think!), what did it look like, and what did it represent to these knights that swore fealty and chivalry?
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, violence, and abduction.
Housekeeping
- Books: Check out our previous book recommendations, guests’ books, and more at spiritspodcast.com/books
- Call to Action: Send in those urban legend emails!
- Submit Your Urban Legends Audio: Call us! 617-420-2344
Minneapolis Spotlight
If you are a podcaster and want to join us in this effort, please go to bit.ly/mnpodcastads
- Café Margeurite - Accepting online gift cards to provide hot drinks and food to staff and community members. Select “Solidarity with Staff & Community” at the bottom of the Order Online page.
Find Us Online
- Website & Transcripts: spiritspodcast.com
- Patreon: patreon.com/spiritspodcast
- Merch: spiritspodcast.com/merch
- Instagram: instagram.com/spiritspodcast
- Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/spiritspodcast.com
- Twitter: twitter.com/spiritspodcast
- Tumblr: spiritspodcast.tumblr.com
Cast & Crew
- Co-Hosts: Julia Schifini and Amanda McLoughlin
- Editor: Bren Frederick
- Music: Brandon Grugle, based on "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod
- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman
- Multitude: multitude.productions
About Us
Spirits is a boozy podcast about mythology, legends, and folklore. Every episode, co-hosts Julia and Amanda mix a drink and discuss a new story or character from a wide range of places, eras, and cultures. Learn brand-new stories and enjoy retellings of your favorite myths, served over ice every week, on Spirits.
Transcript
[theme]
AMANDA: Welcome to Spirits Podcast, a boozy dive into mythology, legends, and folklore. Every week, we pour a drink and learn a new story from around the world. I'm Amanda.
JULIA: And I'm Julia. Now, Amanda, when I say Round Table, you say what?
AMANDA: I say, we dance whenever we're able. We do routines and ballroom scenes and footwork and flick cable. We dine well here in Spamalot and Camelot. We eat ham and jam and spam a lot.
JULIA: Oh, okay. Fair. Fair enough. Fair enough. The combination of, like, Camelot and the Round Table is pretty indivisible, right?
AMANDA: Yup.
JULIA: It certainly feels that way.
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: I like that it is so symbolic and so representative of Arthur's Court.
AMANDA: And, Julia, ever since I learned a few episodes in this series ago that the Round Table was literally a table so big they made a room for it, I have not felt more related to Arthurian folklore in my entire life. What's more millennial than inheriting a single piece of good furniture and being like, "You know what? This is my style now."
JULIA: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that is true. That is true. You're like, "I would never spend the money on this. Well, thank God I have it now."
AMANDA: "Did I need a credenza? No, but is that the only piece of furniture that survived my shitty '90s childhood home? Yes."
JULIA: Yes. And it probably will be the thing that you die within your home. Millennials, sound off. Well, Amanda, I'm really glad that you bring that up, because I do think that the Round Table is a thing that we can spend a whole episode on. And, hey, we're going to.
AMANDA: Yay!
JULIA: So we're back with our Arthurian series. I don't have a fun title for this one again. How about Round the Table?
AMANDA: Round and round we go:— I'm going, like, academic paper style now.
JULIA: Gotcha.
AMANDA: Gender, Homosocial Friendships, and which undertones in Arthurian legend?
JULIA: I think maybe we can get to a couple of those at least.
AMANDA: Love it.
JULIA: You might remember we touched on the Round Table last episode in relation to our girl Queen Guinevere, but there is a lot more to the Round Table as both a trope, but also a literal piece of furniture. So this week, we are going to dig a little bit further into what this table is, and more importantly, what it represents in the larger Arthurian legend.
AMANDA: Let's go.
JULIA: Starting off, if you are listening to this episode, you probably already have an image of the Round Table in your head. So, Amanda, when you're picturing the Round Table, what are you picturing exactly?
AMANDA: I'm picturing, like, dark wood, gigantic conference table. Before you taught me that it could seat literally a hundred people, I was probably picturing one that could seat like 30, like the most gigantic conference table you've ever seen, but in a sort of, like, rough-hewn, you know, like rough wood type of style. I guess I never thought about how it was literally constructed, but I would certainly assume it was, like, many planks of wood glued together or forced together and not like a giant tree.
JULIA: Hmm, okay. All right, fair enough. So what's interesting is we don't necessarily, like, get a good representation of how it is constructed and sort of, like, what it is constructed out of, but we will get to sort of the various styles of Round Table that we see in a bunch of different Arthurian, not only lore, but also art. So when we're talking about the Round Table, we are talking about both a literal table, and that's what we tend to assume about the Round Table is that it is a literal table, but it is also a metaphoric representation of Arthur's Court. And even broader than that is what he wanted his reign and rule to be about. So what we do know is that it doesn't appear in the first story about Arthur, but once it enters the canon, it becomes one of the central metaphors for Arthurian legend. So we talk a lot about, for example, chivalry in these Arthurian legends, right? So the Round Table is supposed to be this visual representation of the age of chivalry, where anyone could come to the court or to the Round Table and ask for assistance. And there would be a knight that would be a part of the court that would either be there to fight for good or who has a strict code of ethics, someone who would do their best to protect the innocent and those in need.
AMANDA: I want you to know I'm fully picturing Zohran Mamdani as you say this.
JULIA: Well, I— honestly, I'm not gonna say you're not right or wrong about that. But I will say that there is a certain global nature to the Knights of the Round Table that we'll get into later on in this episode.
AMANDA: Right on.
JULIA: But first, we have to ask the question of, where did the table originate from? In terms of sources, it is not in fact Geoffrey of Monmouth, which is a little surprising because he is the origin for a lot of our Arthurian legend, right?
AMANDA: He gets up in there.
JULIA: He has set up a lot of the basics about the myths, but Geoffrey doesn't mention the Round Table at all in his Historia Regum Britanniae. However, the source that does first mention the Round Table is inspired by Geoffrey's writing, since he managed to really kind of popularize the legend and helped it grow not only in England but in France as well.
AMANDA: He's the Dan Brown of English history, if you will. Not quite right, but sure did popularize it.
JULIA: Right. Yeah, yeah, I guess. I guess so.
AMANDA: A lot of symbols.
JULIA: There's a lot of symbols going on, for sure. I'm trying to think of another good example of what that is.
AMANDA: James Patterson.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: Tom Clancy.
JULIA: Yeah. I've— I see where your brain is at in all of this.
AMANDA: I'm thinking of my dad's bookshelf.
JULIA: Yeah, yeah. I don't have a good example, so we'll just stay with the Pattersons and the Dan Browns of it all. This writer, whose name is Robert Wace, was a Norman poet from the 12th century. So in 1155, he wrote a text that was called Roman de Brut, and it was almost exclusively a retelling of Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of Arthur's story, but with the addition of some honestly fairly minor details. Like you would think, like, "Oh, this guy is basically word for word retelling Geoffrey of Monmouth's version with, like, a couple of little things." But those little things become extremely important. One of these minor details that would become a much larger thing is that he is the first to write about the Round Table as a part of Arthur's Court.
AMANDA: Wow.
JULIA: Now, according to Wace in Roman de Brut, the Round Table was constructed because Arthur's allies kept arguing over who was the greatest and therefore, would outrank the others at Arthur's table.
AMANDA: Man, people been people for as long as we've been people, Julia.
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: How often have you fought with somebody over, like, the place at the— on the wedding seating chart or the office you have on the floor plan or the seat on the bus? Like it is indelible to humanity.
JULIA: How contentious were arguments over who called shotgun in high school in your friend group, because that's what the Knights of the Round Table were experiencing before the Round Table existed.
AMANDA: Have you considered 100-person car where everything and nothing is shotgun? I'm describing a bus. I'm describing a bus.
JULIA: Yeah, it's a 100-person car, is just a bus. Except it's wide instead of long.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm. Just a big pancake.
JULIA: Basically, in order to eliminate this infighting, a circular table was chosen so that no position would be more prominent than the others, and no lord would be unsatisfied with his place. Now, Wace, interestingly, claimed that this tradition was actually from the Britons rather than from the Normans, which is where he was from, probably because the Arthurian legends were so popular among the Britons. Now, there is also some connection between this trope of the Round Table and some historical customs that we get from Celtic records, where essentially warriors would sit in a circle around their king or leader, again, with that implication that none sits above the other except for the ruler.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: Makes sense, right?
AMANDA: Totally.
JULIA: It's like when you have a bunch of children— you relate to this Amanda as a child who grew up with siblings. But when you have, like, a bunch of kids and you get one of them a gift, so that you have to get all of them a gift.
AMANDA: Yeah. Julia, imagine two of them are twins and so rightfully expect gifts when the other one gets a gift and then me and Cece [9:10] are like, "What the fuck?"
JULIA: Honestly, yeah, that's exactly it. That's exactly it. Except you're all knights and lords who have swords and have a sense of code and dignity, I guess.
AMANDA: Not relatable, but I'll go with you.
JULIA: What is interesting as well is that Wace probably might not have actually pulled the Round Table just from Celtic traditions, but rather Geoffrey of Monmouth might have left at least a few threads that Wace then weaved into a tapestry, let's say.
AMANDA: All right.
JULIA: So according to Geoffrey, Arthur is portrayed as, "inviting very distinguished men from far distant kingdoms to join it," in terms of his court, right?
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: And that Arthur had established, "such a code of courtliness in his household that he inspired peoples living far away to imitate him."
AMANDA: So Arthur was a good manager and a classy guy with, you know, good manners.
JULIA: Right. So you're getting this, like, implication that the court is there. It's just not that they're sitting at this literal table yet, which is what Wace codifies in his own text.
AMANDA: Fascinating. I would have— Julia, if you had asked me at the beginning of this series to name, like, five things about Arthurian legend, sword and Round Table would be two of those five.
JULIA: Right. And it's wild that they're not in the first, like, really codified tellings of Arthur's story. It's a lot of the stuff that we now are like, "Ah, yes, this is the Arthurian canon," are added a lot later.
AMANDA: Man, history is such a function of the whims and desires and needs of the present man.
JULIA: In fact, Amanda, here is Wace's original description of the Round Table, right? Ready?
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: "Arthur held high state in a very splendid fashion. He ordained the courtesies of courts, and bore himself with so rich and noble a bear that neither the emperor's court at Rome, nor any other bragged of by man, was accounted as aught beside that of the king. Arthur never heard, speak of a knight in praise, but he caused him to be numbered of his household. Because of these noble lords about his hall.
Of whom each knight pained himself to be the hardiest champion. Arthur made the Round Table, so reputed by the Britons. This Round Table was ordained of Arthur that when his fair fellowship sat to meet their chairs, should be high alike, their service equal, and none before or after his comrade. Thus, no man could boast that he was exalted above his fellow, for all alike were gathered round the board. And none was alien at the breaking of Arthur's bread. At this table sat Britons, Frenchmen, Normans, Angevins, Flemings, Burgundians, and Loherins."
AMANDA: Wow. I wonder if the people who designed, like, the UN chamber thought of this.
JULIA: Hmm.
AMANDA: Right? I mean, it seems like such a metaphor for, like, folks coming together to govern in some amount of equality, which to be clear, there was a king, there's no equality, but getting there.
JULIA: It's a quality under the king, at the very least.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: And that's something, you know? If you're trying to, like, really engender loyalty and love among your peers and fellows, like having very little competition among them, I think is good. We'll talk a little bit about competition, Arthur, later on in this episode, because there is, like, a certain thing that he does that he holds the knights to a certain standard in regards to.
AMANDA: Well, that quote said, Julia, like, he doesn't speak well of them, but he treats them well. And it's like that's a very good way to keep somebody loyal and striving and wanting to prove themselves to you is to, like, never give them a compliment and also never to have any evidence that they are better or worse than their peers and probably just the anxiety of like, "I gotta show myself off here."
JULIA: Yes. So keep that in mind though, because it is going to be—
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: —an interesting little twist that he does on there to, I would say, inspire healthy competition among the knights.
AMANDA: I'm nervous.
JULIA: So, next up, the Round Table is picked up by an English poet named Layamon who wrote a series of poems about Arthur and specifically the knights that made up the Round Table. A fun fact for you, actually, Tolkien was a big fan of Layamon. He considered him very important to the documentation of early English legends for later scholars.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: As you can imagine, that also helped to inspire a lot of Tolkien's work, right?
AMANDA: That guy loves a group of guys.
JULIA: That guy does love a group of guys. And I mean, you'll see that a lot of the Arthurian writers and poets refer to the knights of the Round Table as the Fellowship of the Round Table. And you're like, "That's that word. That's that word that Tolkien used."
AMANDA: Julia, you know what a Round Table looks like?
JULIA: A ring.
AMANDA: A ring. This is literary analysis, baby.
JULIA: Yeah, keep that in mind. That will be important.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: Layamon work is known as the Brut, which is inspired by the fact that it is his own interpretation of Wace's Roman de Brut. Now, he added a couple more details. Mostly, it's like stuff related to the birth of Merlin, for example, as well as when Arthur is taken to the Island of Avalon after that final fatal battle in which he is mortally wounded. In this version, he is supposedly healed on the Island of Avalon.
AMANDA: It's the AU that everyone wanted.
JULIA: But importantly, for this episode, he added more information about the origins of the Round Table. So here is his description of the Round Table and how it came about, right? "Afterward, it is saith in the table that the king went to Cornwall."
AMANDA: Oh! Sorry, I didn't expect a Cornwall mention. Okay.
JULIA: "There he came to him anon, one who was a crafty workman, who met the king and fair him greeted. Hail be thou, Arthur, noblest of kings, I am thine own man. Through many land I have gone, I know of tree works, wondrous many crafts. I heard say beyond the sea new tidings, that thy knights gan to fight at thy board. On a midwinter's day, many there fell. For their mickle mood wrought murderous play."
AMANDA: Okay, Shakespeare.
JULIA: "And for their high lineage, each would be within. But will they work a board exceeding fair that thereat may sit sixteen hundred or more, all turn about, so that none be without, without and within, man against man. And when thou wilt ride, with thee thou mightest it carry. And set it where thy wild, after thy will, and then thou needest never fear to the world's end, that ever any moody knight at thy board may make fight, for there shall be high by even with the low." So that's all this craftsman said. And then it continues, "Timber was caused to be brought and the board to begun. In four weeks' time the work was completed."
AMANDA: One, I love how this is a fishing story that has gone from a hundred people to sixteen hundred people. That's crazy.
JULIA: Girl. Yeah, okay. So two things that are important to pull from Layamon's description. First off— well, three things. First off, he's like, "Okay, this guy is saying I've kind of, like, seen into the future. And if you're not careful, all these knights that you're bringing into your court are gonna start fighting and killing each other to— for, like, the sake of being closer to you. You don't want that to happen. So I'm gonna—"
AMANDA: No.
JULIA: "—build you this table. Now this table is gonna sit more than sixteen hundred men."
AMANDA: And also, you better bring it with you wherever your ass goes.
JULIA: Exactly what I'm saying. Okay. so King Arthur now is supposed to travel with this table wherever he went. That's crazy.
AMANDA: You know, I feel a little bit bougie, Julia, packing for a trip at the time of recording. I'm about to go to London. And I'm like, "Do I bring my bedside humidifier? Like, is that a crazy thing to do?" No! I'm not bringing a sixteen hundred-person table. I can do whatever the fuck I want.
JULIA: No. Okay, yes. So like that's what I'm saying is, first off, moving as a regular person is already a pain in the ass.
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: We were talking about your credenza earlier. Imagine trying to move with that across the country several times, right?
AMANDA: Every time. Every time. No.
JULIA: And also moving a king's court, historically, a huge to do, right?
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Now, you're trying to do it with a table that is supposed to sit sixteen hundred men. That's insane.
AMANDA: But, Julia, It's the get-along table. Okay?
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: It's like the get-along shirt. It's the get-along table where you all sit and you are all equal and nobody is daddy's favorite and nobody is daddy's least favorite. And we can all just protect daddy.
JULIA: That's— it's just— it's so much. Like, later, I'm gonna tell you about a real, like, Round Table that is 18 feet in diameter and weighs more than a ton.
AMANDA: That's what I would expect when we talk about a Round Table.
JULIA: And that's what we're saying. This one is supposed to sit sixteen hundred men.
AMANDA: No, unless it is, like, bound together by, like, ingenious, you know, like tongue and groove joints and you can take apart sixteen hundred individual boards, even that's crazy.
JULIA: Now, I mean, like, this is the guy that Tolkien likes. And Tolkien also really likes Norse mythology. And there's a lot of like, you know, dwarven craftsmanship that happens—
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: —in Norse mythology that is, like, magical. So, like, maybe those two things are combining a little here, but I kind of doubt it.
AMANDA: I don’t know, man. It's— if we had, like, the sword and the stone that only the purist could pull, maybe there's like daddy's favorite knight can lift this table or shrink it down or make it like pocket-sized because that shit is crazy.
JULIA: Maybe. Who can say? So from Layamon's portrayal, we can skip forward to Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, which probably has the most complete and coherent account of the Round Table. This is the one that really solidifies it as a trope that is expected when it is included in Arthurian lore.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: If this sounds familiar to you, it is because this is the one that we mentioned in the Guinevere episode. Because in this story, the Round Table was part of Guinevere's dowry. Now, as you might remember, the great Round Table was originally made by Merlin at the request of Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, before Arthur was even born. Now, according to Malory, the table was "round in the likeness of the world."
AMANDA: Oh. You mean they knew the world was round back then?
JULIA: Listen, we knew the world was round really, really, really early. Just to clarify for most people who are listening to this, who maybe are not historians. We knew.
AMANDA: We’ve know.
JULIA: Whereas, Layamon was claiming that it could sit sixteen hundred men, Malory's much more realistic. So he's claiming that the table could sit 150.
AMANDA: Big table, Julia.
JULIA: Still a big table. Now, on the day of his wedding to Guinevere, Arthur asks Merlin to find sufficient knights, "Which be of most prowess and worship," to fill at least 50 seats. So just 50 to start, right? So he has plans to fill the whole table eventually. And according to Malory, "This Merlin did, and fifty more came with Leodegrance," which is Guinevere's dad, by the way. So that a hundred sat down together at that table on the first day. And when they had done homage to Arthur, they returned to the hall where the Round Table stood and found that on the back of each chair was a name, set there in golden letters.
AMANDA: That's right. Yeah.
JULIA: The names were all of those already chosen and many more that were yet to come, but two remained blank, and of there, Merlin would only say that they would be filled in due course.
AMANDA: What a Merlin-esque statement to make, something that I should really bring into more of my daily life, a mysteriousness, like this will be revealed in due course, period. Where do you want to go on a date next week? This will be revealed in due course. I'm just saying, we can learn something here.
JULIA: That is true. That is true. A little bit of mystery in life is good, like happy training for anxiety brain, I think.
AMANDA: Yes, it is. Where, like, sometimes Jake will be like, "I have a surprise for you." I'm like, "You can't tell me that because now I'm just gonna obsess over what the surprise possibly could be. Is it a good surprise? Is it a bad surprise? Do I need to act surprised when you give it to me, even though you told me already that there's a surprise happening?"
AMANDA: He's like, "But, baby, I just— I'm just taking you to a new restaurant."
JULIA: Yesterday it was, "We're going to Home Depot." And I was like, "No." A nightmare. A nightmare surprise. But then he also took me to treats later, so that's good. According to Malory, the fellowship of the Round Table is intrinsically tied to the marriage of Arthur and Guinevere. Not only because he would not have the table if he had not married Guinevere, but also the first meeting of the members of the Round Table is marked by the royal wedding.
AMANDA: Of course.
JULIA: And that also, keep in mind, royal wedding tied to Round Table, going to be important later when we talk about the legacy of the Round Table.
AMANDA: All right.
JULIA: So another detail about the Round Table that I find interesting was added by a Norman poet named Béroul, who describes the table in his retelling of Tristran and Yseut, which is titled Tristran.
AMANDA: Is that their ship name?
JULIA: It is not, but—
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: —it's just like it's Tristran, but there's an R after the second T as well. So it's Tristran.
AMANDA: Huh. Like the Homeried? [23:29]
JULIA: Yeah. So he describes the Round Table as revolving, much like the Earth.
AMANDA: Like a Lazy Susan?
JULIA: What's interesting is I've seen a couple of stories mention it revolving, and in at least one of the versions, it's like magically levitating and slowly revolving.
AMANDA: So chic. I love it.
JULIA: Which I do think is pretty cool. Now, this is also later tied into the Vulgate Cycle, to the fact that it was said that the Round Table, again, represented the world and that there were knights represented there by all of the countries where chivalry was said to exist. So remember earlier when you were like, "I'm picturing Mamdani here."
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: Potentially, you know, if chivalry existed, any knight could sit at Arthur's table.
AMANDA: I'm curious, yeah, how they defined chivalry and if it was truly like, you know, morals across, you know, nations, man, like whatever you say, or if like many parts of English history, it's like a coded sort of decision of, like, us versus themness. But regardless, I like the idea of it.
JULIA: You're probably right in the latter part of it where it is probably intrinsically tied to Christianity.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: And like the virtues of Christim— Christendom or whatever the fuck.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: But I like the idea that it could be somewhat religiously separated from that fact.
AMANDA: One could hope.
JULIA: Most likely it is not. But there are other various versions of the table that describe it as being like a disc. So in this case, like a solid wooden table, like you're probably picturing. But sometimes it is a ringed table. Sometimes it is a semicircle or a broken ring, so that, like, servants could come and enter the interior and serve, like, food and drinks to the knights and lords there.
AMANDA: Yeah, Julia, you don't wanna like knock a glass over in the middle of that table. Then someone is, like, awkwardly climbing under the table legs. That's not good.
JULIA: That's so annoying. There's also some instances where in this, like, ringed or broken ring version of the table, Arthur, like, sits either in a throne or at his own table in the middle.
AMANDA: Aw, he's the sun.
JULIA: Which is kinda cute. I do like that quite a bit. And like in these versions where Arthur sits at an entirely separate table, it's to delineate that he is on a different level from his knights, who are all, like, equally below him.
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: Now, according to Robert de Boron's Merlin, as well as the Vulgate Cycle, the Round Table was originally established by Uther Pendragon, as we talked about before, who had been instructed by that future-seeing Merlin.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: To create it as a representation of the Last Supper, because Merlin had a vision that, one day, the Holy Grail would reside at that.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: This also further explains that Uther Pendragon then gave the table to Leodegrance, Guinevere's father, who would then include it in his dowry.
AMANDA: I just had a quick, little flash forward, Julia, to like us talking about, like, that one dinner party where, like, someone met their spouse or, like, some big drama went on that you keep talking about.
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: As like the girly pop millennial Last Supper, okay? That was— that one supper, that one dinner party in someone's apartment?
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: That was when it all went bad.
JULIA: We all know what happened then.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: To your point of, like, the, like, sort of floating magical Round Table, right, that rotates. The Round Table was also said to have a certain amount of either sentience or magic to it, right?
AMANDA: Ooh.
JULIA: So according to the German poet, Der Stricker, the Round Table would refuse a seat to anyone who had ever been guilty of villainy and therefore was not worthy to become a comrade of Arthur.
AMANDA: Fascinating.
JULIA: There are stories that contradict that. You might remember there's some wild stuff that the knights were doing in our Guinevere episode, for example. I think it's safe to say that it's probably not true. And there's also an additional thing that you'll learn later on the episode about knights who were doing villainy and then redeemed themselves and joining the Round Table. But it is interesting that it is said to have a certain magical ability to it, right?
AMANDA: It really is. From the, like, very sweet, little engravings appearing on the back of the chairs to this idea of maybe levitating or at least being able to be moved in a feat of either teamwork or superhuman strength. The table's got some gravity to it.
JULIA: It does. Now, I really want to talk about some stories that center around the Round Table. See what I did there?
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: Just as soon as we grab our refill.
AMANDA: Oh, Julia, the pitcher is across the table. Julia! Julia, you're 1,500 people away from me. Can you bring me the sangria?
JULIA: It's gonna rotate, it's fine.
AMANDA: Okay.
[theme]
AMANDA: Hey, everybody, it's Amanda, and welcome to the refill, where I would like to thank two of our smartest and most beautiful ConSpiriters, Allie and Jenna, [28:44] because Allie and Jenna have just signed up for a free trial over on the Patreon. And that means that they get a whole week to access all of the benefits that our Patreon has to offer. They can listen to the bonus urban legends episode that just came out on Friday, an all timer, y'all. I recount some of my sister's creepy dreams. It's gonna be amazing. Then you can decide for yourself. Like no pressure, no obligation. You can see it. And if you like it, you can stick around. Like our supporting producer-level patrons Uhleeseeuh, Hannah, Scott, Anne, Matthew, Lily, and Wil, and our legend-level patrons, Captain Jonathan MAL-uh-kye Cosmos, Audra, Sarah, Bea Me Up Scotty, Morgan, Rikoelike, Chibi Yokai, and Smallov. [29:23] Thank you so, so much for supporting the show. We would not be able to do this every Wednesday without you. And if you listening, yes you, right now, would like to try absolutely no obligation, some of the benefits that we have over on Patreon, you should join us for free, patreon.com/spiritspodcast. Lots of great stuff happening over in the Multitude verse. First of all, a happy book release day to Isabel J. Kim, whose novel Sublimation has been blurbed by like, I mean, the best sci-fi writers in the world because she is one of the best sci-fi writers in the world. And hey, she's right here, a multitudinous host. And we are so proud of her. So congrats, Isabel J. Kim. Go check out Sublimation from your local library or go to spiritspodcast.com/books, where you can buy a copy of Sublimation while supporting local bookstores and Spirits, a real triple play. We are also so excited to make sure you know all about Dreaming Against The Machine, which is the newest member show here in the Multitude Podcast Collective, hosted by Dr. Adam Becker, who's an astrophysicist and journalist, who is trying to figure out what a better future might look like for all of us. So Dreaming Against The Machine is a show about envisioning a realistic and hopeful future. And every single week, Adam and a guest have an earnest, entertaining conversation about possible futures through the lenses of history, science, and culture. In a world where tech oligarchs and their power fantasies are driving visions of what the future can be and who it can benefit, Dreaming Against The Machine aims to take back the terms of this public conversation about what our world can be. If, like me, and hey, like all ConSpiriters, you are interested in the stories we tell ourselves and how that shapes the world around us, I think you're really gonna like Dreaming Against The Machine. So go right on into your podcast app, search Dreaming Against The Machine and subscribe now. New episodes every Tuesday. We are, as usual, shining a spotlight on some local businesses and mutual aid efforts in Minneapolis that benefit immigrants, protesters, and activists. Number one, we'll be remiss to say that there is a whole hell of a lot happening at Delaney Hall over in New Jersey. I am very happy to connect you with resources in a secure way if you are somebody who's able to get there in person. If you also want to help contribute, I'll put some links in the description, of mutual aid orgs than frontline organizers that are putting resources to use, trying to liberate our neighbors from unjust and illegal detention. Over in Minneapolis, Café Marguerite is continuing to do the good work. This is a wonderful cafe, coffee house, local community spot that really drives connection in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. For them specifically, they have a gift card that you can contribute to online. That is their free, no questions asked community food and drink fund. If someone comes in, is hungry, is thirsty, needs something to drink or eat, and there's a balance on that gift card, they serve the neighbor, no questions asked. You can help reload that gift card by going to cafe-marg.com, click order online, and scroll to the bottom for the Solidarity with Staff and Community page. All those links are in the description, and we highly recommend if you have some money to spare.
Help your neighbors in New Jersey, help your neighbors in Minneapolis, help your neighbors near you. No one is looking out for us but us.
PAYNE: They told us it was a weather blip, just a glitch. It was a drone. Now it's just AI, I guess. The explanation keeps changing, but the stories don't go away.
SPEAKER 4: Videos appearing to show UFO is flying through the air are real.
PAYNE: My name is Payne Lindsey and this is High Strange, an investigative podcast about real encounters.
SPEAKER 5: Images of that rotating thing captured by US Navy Aircraft.
PAYNE: Credible people.
SPEAKER 6: We have clear things that we do not understand how they work.
PAYNE: I talk to scientists, military witnesses, pilots, and people who saw something they can't unsee.
SPEAKER 7: There was no other explanation for what we saw that day.
SPEAKER 8: I remember those faces and they weren't human.
PAYNE: This isn't a show about belief. It's about curiosity, skepticism, and investigation into the unknown. High Strange is available now wherever you listen to podcasts. Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
SPEAKER 9: This is The List Podcast.
SPEAKER 10: Each episode we sit down with a person who’s written a list of all the sexual partners they’ve had.
SPEAKER 9: Some lists are long.
SPEAKER 10: Some are short.
SPEAKER 9: But all are an honest recap about the guests’ sexual history.
SPEAKER 11: I'm ready to talk about sex.
SPEAKER 12: I was a kissing slut from [33:57]
SPEAKER 13. It's sinful and it will ruin sex for your future husband.
SPEAKER 14: He had fucked me and it reminded him that he preferred men.
SPEAKER 15: I'm happy to share. It's orgasms all around.
SPEAKER 9: Listen to The List on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
JULIA: Amanda, we are back, and for this episode, since the Round Table is all about the equality among the knights that sat there, though beneath King Arthur himself, it makes sense for us to choose an equal parts cocktail to represent that.
AMANDA: My girl loves an equal parts cocktail.
JULIA: And don't worry, it's not the Last Word, even though that is my favorite equal parts cocktail. There are a lot of good options for equal parts cocktails, so you can kind of, like, pick and choose which one you want. There's the Paper Plain, which is bourbon, Aperol, Amaro, and lemon juice. There's the Bijou, which is gin, green chartreuse, and sweet vermouth. But instead of that, for us, I am going to choose one of my favorites, which is in my mind very Spirits-coded, even though it is an Arthurian-coded, and that is the Corpse Reviver No. 2.
AMANDA: Ay.
JULIA: I mean, like maybe we can talk about, like, Corpse Reviver in the sense that Arthur is revived on the Isle of Avalon in some of these stories.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: That's an option for us. But if you're unfamiliar, the Corpse Reviver No. 2 is equal parts gin, lemon juice, Lillet Blanc, and Cointreau, which makes it a really good summer cocktail. So as we're getting into summer, a good option for you.
AMANDA: It also like— it feels like there's a lot of juice in it, but there's not. It's very balanced, very nice.
JULIA: Yeah, I think the Lillet Blanc and the Cointreau add a nice sort of, like, juicy-fortified flavor and then that pairs really well with a nice, like, citrus-forward gin.
AMANDA: Delish.
JULIA: So as the Round Table became canonized in Arthurian legend, mainly through the work of Wace and Layamon, it becomes this symbol that the other Arthurian writers could tap into, right? It becomes this sort of center point of the Arthurian myths. It is a hub around which almost all of the Arthurian stories revolved, or at least began and ended. It is where distressed subjects, often women, could come in search of help from knights that made up the court, where a story about these brave and kind knights would begin. And it also represented the peace that Arthur's reign was meant to bring. So this idea that anyone could travel safely across the entirety of the kingdom without fear of violence or theft. It is also a symbol of the worldliness of Arthur's court and how widespread they believed the concept of chivalry was. As I mentioned before, the Round Table hosted knights and heroes from all across Europe coming together to form this glittering fellowship that is dedicated to chivalry.
AMANDA: I'm like, it's a really nice idea. It's a really nice symbol. I totally understand why this symbol, even if a late addition relatively to the lore of Arthur, would become so central to it.
JULIA: Yeah, there's a reason that these authors were like, "Oh! A symbolic table—"
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: "—where everyone is equal and the knights are like doing good deeds and whatnot." Of course, you're gonna include that in your story.
AMANDA: I mean, politicians say every year here in the 21st century, like we all deserve a seat at the table or whatever.
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: Like that is hearkening back to the table.
JULIA: Yeah. And it also makes me think of— in fanfiction where you can tell that fanfic writers are reading other fanfiction.
AMANDA: Oh, yeah.
JULIA: And then something like that was created in a fanfiction becomes canon. And then when that isn't canon in the show, you're like, "Oh, no, they didn't know that actually that character's off screen unnamed daughter is named this, not that."
AMANDA: Yup, exactly.
JULIA: See, you understand what I'm saying.
AMANDA: I so understand.
JULIA: So speaking of chivalry and how it is the hub around which all of these stories would take place, let's talk about the first adventure to feature the Round Table, which coincidentally coincides with the first dinner where the knights of the Round Table met.
AMANDA: Oh, no, the first dinner went awry?
JULIA: Sort of, sort of. So it is a surprisingly rowdy first dinner, because as they sit at the table, into the hall runs a white hart. Now, in case you're unfamiliar, a hart is a stag, so essentially a mature male deer.
AMANDA: Got it.
JULIA: In runs a stag, which is being pursued first by an equally white dog, and then—
AMANDA: Oh!
JULIA: —50 pairs of black hounds.
AMANDA: Oh!
JULIA: So to recap, deer in the hall.
AMANDA: Is this where they get a hundred and one Dalmatians from?
JULIA: Amanda, I did think the same thing when I was writing this out.
AMANDA: Is it?
JULIA: I don't think so. I don't think so.
AMANDA: Oh, damn.
JULIA: So to recap, deer in the hall while they're having dinner. A hundred and one dogs come chasing it after it. It's not a great thing to happen at your dinner party when all of your friends are kind of meeting for the first time.
AMANDA: Yeah, to be honest, like even the deer would have been enough. A white stag they knew that would have been enough to make this dinner party one of legend.
JULIA: Exactly. So a chaotic chase is happening around the table. These animals are all racing around it, until finally the white dog that's leading the pack manages to catch up with the hart and bites it. Now this causes the deer to leap up high into the air, which knocks over a nearby knight in the process.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: Now this knight, frustrated, grabs the white dog and departs the hall. Now, this is, like, kind of where the story then cuts forward, but presumably then the white hart manages to escape the hall along with the rest of the hundred different dogs that are also in there. And then presumably dinner goes on.
AMANDA: I mean, I would like to assume that the dog and the knight become BFFs. Like what a meet cute for your soul pet.
JULIA: Interesting. So fast forward in the story to the next morning, a lady rides into the hall and demands that the white dog that was taken by the knight be returned to her.
AMANDA: Oh, sure.
JULIA: Because it belongs to her. But before anyone can really respond to that demand, they can't, like, call it out the knight to bring the dog or whatever, another man rides into the hall as a fully armed knight who grabs a hold of this woman and then carries her off by force.
AMANDA: Uh, excuse me.
JULIA: That's what kind of the knights were saying at the same time. The knights are like, "Um—" and then like a couple of them start sort of making jokes about it. They're like, "What is happening here?" And they're quickly admonished by Merlin, who tells them that they should not "Leave these adventures so lightly." Now, Merlin—
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: —then—
AMANDA: Someone said, "Sir, this is a Wendy's," and Merlin said, "I manage the Wendy's, so this is my problem right now."
JULIA: That is true. Merlin then claims that these events were the work of the other world, which in some versions means like the fairy world, which we know does sometimes come into play in Arthurian stories. But also, this sometimes means it is a, like, capital Q, Quest from God.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: Fascinating.
JULIA: So it's like a spiritual challenge of some kind. Now these are supposedly challenges that have been sent forth in order to test the metal of the newly instated Knights of Arthur's Round Table. Specifically, they are for three different knights. Sir Gawain, who is often portrayed as Arthur's nephew, for whom the white hart was sent. The white dog was sent for Sir Tor, who is the illegitimate son of King Pellinore. And Pellinore himself was said to have been sent the lady who was then abducted because he is already a tried and trusted warrior.
AMANDA: So a little bit level up, not just a stag, not just a dog, but a lady kidnapped by a knight, yeah.
JULIA: We already know you're chivalrous, sir, so you're gonna go after the lady and we all know it.
AMANDA: You've the expert level challenge.
JULIA: As Merlin puts it, this single event is to give rise to three separate quests, three separate adventures. And each of which I'll probably, like, touch on in future episodes because they are their own full-length narrated stories from this point. But it is, like, around this Round Table that three of the first Arthurian quest stories occur. To bring it back, however, to the Round Table, at the end of each of these adventures, each of these knights returns back to the Round Table, and all of the fellowship of the Round Table swear an oath, which is, according to Malory, this is the oath that they swear, "Never to do outrage nor murder, and always to flee treason. Also, by no mean to be cruel, but to give mercy unto him who asketh mercy, upon pain of forfeiture of their worship and lordship of King Arthur forevermore. And always do to ladies, damsels, and gentlewomen succor, upon pain of death. Also, that no man take no battles in a wrongful quarrel for no law, nor the world's goods. Unto this were all of the knights sworn of the table round, both old and young, and every year were they sworn at the high feast of Pentecost."
AMANDA: Man, do you know, Julia, how like there are a lot of people who purport to be Christians, like leading the US government right now, for example, for whom if they read like, I don't know, maybe 15 lines of the Bible, you could be like, "Hey, so like, change your whole thing"?
JULIA: Uh-huh.
AMANDA: That's how I feel about some of the sort of incels who might, you know, be like romanticizing the Arthurian era or chivalry or knighthood or whatever.
JULIA: All those Crusader Corps boys.
AMANDA: Why don't you read the fucking text? Tell me who you should be nice to, and then we can talk again.
JULIA: I would love if you gave me succor upon pain of death.
AMANDA: That would be great.
JULIA: That'd be awesome. Shout out. I think you could do that.
AMANDA: Maybe look to the least among you and say, "You're my brother." I don't know. Maybe that's just like scripture. Maybe.
JULIA: I don't know. Who can say? Who can say really? No one's ever read those books?
AMANDA: It's not like we have many millions of copies written down all over the place.
JULIA: Absolutely not. It's not like it's the most published book in the world or anything. So to recap, real quick for people, no refusing aid to anyone as long as the request is fair and the demand is honest. And also a couple other things, but that's the key one there. And which, as you can probably imagine, does get a lot of these knights into trouble, but they swore on it at the Round Table. So there you go.
AMANDA: And therefore, you gotta do it.
JULIA: And they do it every year at Pentecost.
AMANDA: Ugh, so sweet. Love a renewal of vows, with your bros around a big, big table.
JULIA: You know? Hey, I think all marriages should do that. Just a bunch of bros around a big table, swearing that they'll die rather than not give succor to a woman.
AMANDA: And like just, like, don't have a war— or wrongful quarrel for no law nor for world goods. Like, that would help a lot of us.
JULIA: That would. It truly would.
AMANDA: "I got your back, bro, but this is a wrongful quarrel." Okay, sorry, I'm done. I'm done.
JULIA: No, no, you can keep going. You can keep going. So, a lot of times when there was a feast being held around the Round Table, this is where I was saying, remember, you gotta remember that Arthur was like, "I'm never gonna praise any of these folks, but I will give them some friendly competition.
AMANDA: Got it. Got it.
JULIA: So it was said when Arthur would hold a big, holy feast around the Round Table, he had a little custom that he liked to do. So basically, anytime there was this high feast, he would not eat until one of the knights told a story of some wonder or adventure that they had been on.
AMANDA: Uh-huh.
JULIA: And keep in mind, if the king doesn't eat, then no one gets to eat either.
AMANDA: Oh, right.
JULIA: So the knights are like, "Well, shit, we've got a feast comin' up, and you know Arthur's gonna ask for a story about an adventure or a wonder."
AMANDA: I see, do it for the plot, and for your dinner.
JULIA: So as a result, a lot of Arthurian legends are knights going out into the kingdom in search for these wonders or adventures that they could then bring back to regale their king with.
AMANDA: For the plot and for your dinner.
JULIA: For the Gram. So knights would be out there rescuing ladies, but also sometimes rescuing their fellow brother knights. There would be evil knights that would be found across the land and then rooted out by their more chivalrous counterparts, and either were sent to Arthur to beg for pardon or else were killed in a just and chivalrous battle.
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: But even some of these knights that would beg for their pardon from Arthur would actually eventually become welcomed into the ranks of the Round Table knights themselves, provided that they had, like, seen the error of their ways and had actually repented.
AMANDA: Good. Repentance, forgiveness, big part of Christianity.
JULIA: Exactly. But remember earlier, it was like if you had any trace of villainy in your past, you would be rejected from the table.
AMANDA: Right.
JULIA: In this case, it's like, "Hey, you can get redemption. It's okay."
AMANDA: Yeah. Maybe like villainy that you are not yet ready to repent for would get you ejected.
JULIA: For sure, for sure. Now, like I said earlier, there were a decent amount of nights that occupied the Round Table. As I also said, I don't think Layamon's sixteen hundred is exactly reasonable. But most authors agreed that there was somewhere between, like, a hundred to 300 seats at the table. Usually most of them averaged around 150, though every author it seemed like they had a different number, more or less, right?
AMANDA: It's like, "Bruh, the biggest table you can picture. Bigger than that, bruh."
JULIA: And you'll remember in the origin story that I gave that, like, all of the seats were labeled by Merlin except for two, right? One of these seats was one that was pretty much permanently empty.
AMANDA: For Elijah to check if we're all circumcised?
JULIA: Honestly, not too far off, I guess.
AMANDA: Great.
JULIA: It was being saved for the knight who would one day be successful in the quest for the Holy Grail.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: So, close.
AMANDA: Pretty close.
JULIA: This is a religious-related empty chair, so—
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: —we're there. So that seat ended up getting a name. It was called the Siege Perilous.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: Siege, Amanda, originally in English, meant seat or throne, comes from the old French word siege. Now, we get our modern meaning of the word in English, as in, like, to siege a castle or something like that, from the fact that an army would sit outside or before a fortress, stopping anyone from entering or exiting.
AMANDA: Fascinating.
JULIA: But back then, just meant seat or throne. And so it was said in Arthurian legend that the Siege Perilous was strictly reserved, and that anyone who was unworthy of the seat who then sat in it would die through tragic means.
AMANDA: Well, sure.
JULIA: Makes sense, right?
AMANDA: Don't sit in the empty seat for the guy who's gonna find the Holy Grail. That's the next Jesus.
JULIA: That is presumptive of you, for sure. So this theme of the sort of, like, dangerous seat or a seat that, like, tells you if you're not worthy of it has some origin in, like, Welsh and Cornish mythology, but also can be specifically tied to this Celtic kingship ritual that we don't have a lot of surviving documentation on, but some scholars think is tied to this Irish stone, which is known as the Fall, or the Stone of Destiny or the Speaking Stone, it has a couple different names.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: And it was said to have roared. And again, there's two separate versions of the story. It would roar either if the king was the rightful king, or if a false king or someone unworthy of the role attempted to be coronated in front of it.
AMANDA: Incredible.
JULIA: Pretty cool, right?
AMANDA: Very cool. I mean, can you imagine a stone making a noise? Like that would shock the shit out of me.
JULIA: I can imagine— like, you know, if the wind is hitting a stone that maybe has some holes or some, like, crevasses or something in it the right way—
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: —that could make a roaring sound. But if you look up pictures of the thing, it does not have those.
AMANDA: Wild.
JULIA: So the Siege Perilous would eventually be revealed to be the seat of a knight. Though, actually, which knight it is changed over time as we sort of get these changes in the Arthurian canon, right? The first versions of the tale say that the seat ends up being the seat of Sir Percival, but later, with the popularization of the Vulgate Cycle, the role and the seat were instead given to Sir Galahad, both of whom I'm sure we're gonna be talking about in future episodes.
AMANDA: Most certainly.
JULIA: Now, in terms of which knights sat at the Round Table, it depended on which author was writing, as is often the case with Arthurian legend, right? Now, I'm gonna give you a non-exhaustive list of the knights that show up in multiple Round Table stories. Some of them probably will sound familiar, others of them might be new to you. So just, like, shout out when you hear some faves, because there are some good names in here that are fun to say.
AMANDA: Let's go. Okay, trans folks, keep an ear out. I would love for you to name yourself after a night at the Round Table.
JULIA: There are some good ones in there. If you're considering taking on a name change, there are some good ones.
AMANDA: Let's go.
JULIA: So Arthur, obviously. Accolon, Aglovale, Agravain, Bagdemagus.
AMANDA: Okay, that's a fat cat.
JULIA: That was the one that I knew you were gonna say something about, Bagdemagus.
AMANDA: All right, all right, all right.
JULIA: Bedivere, Bors the Younger, Brunor.
AMANDA: Okay, that just sounds like my grandpa saying Austin's best friend Bruno's name.
JULIA: Brunor.
AMANDA: Hey, Brunor, come here. Come here.
JULIA: Cador, Calogrenant, Caradoc, which I believe is Welsh and I'm probably not pronouncing it correctly, but Caradoc.
AMANDA: Definitely a name.
JULIA: Claudin, Constantine.
AMANDA: Great. More trans boys named Constantine, please.
JULIA: Dagonet, Dinadan or Dinadan, Ector/Hector, Elyan the White.
AMANDA: A name.
JULIA: Erec but it's spelled with two E's, E-R-E-C.
AMANDA: Huh!
JULIA: Esclabor.
AMANDA: Right on.
JULIA: Gaheris, Galahad, Galehault, who we talked about earlier he's the "friend" of Lancelot.
AMANDA: Oh, yeah.
JULIA: Galeschin, Gareth, Gawain, Gingalain, Gornemant.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: Griflet.
AMANDA: That sounds like a Pokémon, Julia.
JULIA: Hoel, but it in the Welsh it's spelled H-O-W-E-L. And then in the like English it's H-O-E-L, like Joel but Hoel. I think Hoel sounds the most appropriate to you. It did autocorrect, I was right on that.
AMANDA: Okay. Okay.
JULIA: Kay, who we have talked about in previous episodes, he's just K-A-Y.
AMANDA: Also, every trans person I know is a three-letter name.
JULIA: It's a real non-binary folk kind of name, you're right. Lamorak, Lancelot, Lanval, Leodegrance.
AMANDA: Great, strong candidate.
JULIA: Lionel, Lucan, Maleagant.
AMANDA: Okay. Underline that.
JULIA: Mordred.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: Morholt, Morien.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: Palamedes.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: Pelleas, Pellinore. I think Pellinore is a good one. Pellinore is a fun one.
AMANDA: Pellinore is a good name.
JULIA: Perceval, Safir.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: Sagramore, Segwarides.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: Tor, T-O-R.
AMANDA: Great technology and teen publishing imprint.
JULIA: Tristan, Urien, Yvain or Owain, and Yvain the Bastard, sometimes Yvain the Adventurous.
AMANDA: Adventurous is a great euphemism for bastard.
JULIA: Uh-huh. So that is the, again, non-exhaustive a lot of the knights that show up multiple times and multiple stories.
AMANDA: Sick.
JULIA: There's some good ones in there. I like those a lot.
AMANDA: Bagdemagus remains so good.
JULIA: And then I was like, "I don't know if I need to do this." And then I saw , Bagdemagus, and I'm like, "Yeah. No, we do have to— we have to talk about all of them."
AMANDA: So good. Thank you.
JULIA: Now, one of the most interesting things about the Round Table is not necessarily the Round Table itself, but the legacy that it left behind. Because, again, it is such an impactful image and symbol of the Arthurian legends. So it shouldn't be surprising by any stretch of the imagination that there were attempts to recreate not only the table itself, but what it represented. So for example, during the Middle Ages, with the earliest being recorded in 1223, there were tournaments called Round Tables that were held.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: Now, these were essentially like jousting, feasting, dancing, and they were done in a way to imitate King Arthur's court. Now, from what I can tell, they weren't held on any sort of, like, regular or annual basis. Like, it wasn't like there was a festival date to celebrate a Round Table, right?
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: But rather they were held to celebrate an occasion. Usually, it was weddings, sometimes it was betrothals, sometimes it was military victories, right? So the first Round Table that we have on record, for example, was held by a lord to celebrate his eldest son being knighted.
AMANDA: Classic. A little graduation party.
JULIA: Exactly, very cute. Now, these were, like, pretty elaborate affairs. Like I said, there was jousting, usually with blunted weapons, because it isn't fun if someone dies at your celebration.
AMANDA: Word.
JULIA: And there was also costuming, which I think is fun. So celebrants would dress up often as Arthurian knights, popular costumes being Lancelot, Tristan, and Palamedes, for example.
AMANDA: Oh, my God, so cute. Little fancy dress party, little ball.
JULIA: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And these were celebrated fairly widely throughout Europe, so from the 13th century to the 15th century, and in places like France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and of course, England and Scotland.
AMANDA: Man, we really always have yearned for the good, old days in a way.
JULIA: We really have, we really have. So some of the Round Table tournaments that we have the most records for are from King Edward I. So he notably held one to celebrate his marriage. He had another one after he returned from the conquest of Wales. And we have records of him also sponsoring these tournaments up until 1304, which was three years before his death by dysentery.
AMANDA: No, it claimed another one.
JULIA: That's okay. It's a— Edward wasn't great.
AMANDA: I don't— yeah. I don't mourn any king, Julia, especially not an English one.
JULIA: But one of the remaining artifacts that we have from his celebrations was known as the Winchester Round Table, which still hangs in Winchester Castle to this day.
AMANDA: Wow.
JULIA: So it is 18 feet in diameter and weighs 1.2 tons.
AMANDA: That's a lot.
JULIA: It's also decorated with the various names of the knights of the Round Table.
AMANDA: Insane that a lineage or family could have a table that is, you know, going on 700 years old, but wild.
JULIA: We also specifically know when it was commissioned and what it was commissioned for, so we know it was commissioned in 1290 to celebrate the betrothal of one of Edward's daughters.
AMANDA: Wow.
JULIA: So he quite literally hosted these Round Tables, but he also commissioned a physical Round Table for himself.
AMANDA: Wild.
JULIA: And he's not the only Edward to do so, because in 1344, Edward III swore an oath that he was going to restore the order of the Round Table, and that all of the knights in attendance on that day would be invited back on Pentecost to make their vows.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: Bold move, and it fully didn't happen.
AMANDA: Oh, no.
JULIA: Mostly because he was busy raiding northern France by the time that Pentecost rolled around, and he's like, "I got distracted."
AMANDA: Yeah. "Are we all cool to just rain check this while we conquer France, just once and for all? Everyone okay with that?"
Julia : So this Round Table, the second Round Table, never came to fruition, even though he really liked the idea of it.
AMANDA: Who wouldn't, man? You're an English king. You're gonna make another Round Table. No one tell Charles.
JULIA: We'll finish out this episode, as we often do for these Arthurian series, with a poem.
AMANDA: Yay!
JULIA: This one being Thomas Love Peacock's The Round Table or King Arthur's Feast, which is from 1817 and has some really, like, beautiful imagery of Arthur and the Round Table at the beginning of the poem. It's a long poem, I'm only reading the first three paragraphs of it, so here we go. "King Arthur sat down by the lonely sea-coast, as thin as a lath and as pale as a ghost. He walked on the east and the west and the south with a tear in his eye and a pipe in his mouth. He said to old Merlin, who near him did stand, drawing circles, triangles, and squares on the sand, 'Sure nothing more dismal and tedious can be than to sit always smoking and watching the sea. Say when shall the fates re-establish my reign and help my Round Table in Britain again?'" Or again. "Old Merlin replied, "'By my art it appears, not in less than 370 years. But in the meantime, I am very well able to spread in this island your ancient Round Table, and to grace it with guests of unparalleled splendor. I'll summon old Pluto forthwith to surrender. All the kings who have sat on your throne from the day when from Camlan's destruction I snatched you away.' King Arthur's long face, by these accents restored, grew as round as his table, as bright as his sword. While the wand of old Merlin waved over the ocean, soon covered its billows with brilliant commotion. For ships of all ages and sizes appearing towards the same shore were all rapidly steering, came cleaving the billows with sail and with oar, yacht, pinnace, sloop, frigate, and seventy-four."
AMANDA: Oh, those all sure are kinds of boats, Julia.
JULIA: They sure are. So it's this really kind of beautiful image of Arthur post his reign. This idea of, like, Arthur is living in eternal, like, slumber or rest until he's like going to do the second coming again.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: Because he's definitely not Jesus. Don't worry about it.
AMANDA: Which by my calculation is the year 2187, so, you know, not that much longer to go. We won't be here, but let us know.
JULIA: Someone let us know if Arthur comes back in that year because I'm very curious.
AMANDA: Hit us up in the comments. The YouTube video will say posted a 146 years ago.
JULIA: Let us know. So this poem goes on quite a bit more, and if you like it, definitely worth seeking it out. And look, I know doing a whole episode on a table seems like a lot, but I think that having a little bit more info on the Round Table and what it represents in the Arthurian stories is really important as we begin to dig a little deeper into the stories of the various knights. You kind of get a chance to see what standard they hold themselves to and how many of them are motivated to seek out adventure and wonder in a world where they have also, like, sworn to only do good, right? And I think no knight better represents that than the one that we are going to talk about next time in our Arthurian series. But you're gonna have to wait to find out next time who exactly that is.
AMANDA: What a cliffhanger. Well, Julia, I can't think of anybody else that I would want to sit next to me. Not below, not above, but right next to me at any table we're at.
JULIA: Yes. And remember the next time you're slowly revolving around a table, around your king, remember, stay creepy.
AMANDA: Stay cool.
JULIA: Later, Satyrs.
[theme]
AMANDA: Your gay elders are calling, it's time to pick up. Silver Linings with The Old Gays is a podcast hosted by four larger-than-life personalities sharing wisdom, laughs, and a little lovingly earned side eye after decades of life experience. They talk about everything from health and aging, to relationships, queer culture, and the moments that shape who we become. It is honest, hilarious, and surprisingly heartfelt. So if you want stories that are as entertaining as they are meaningful, check out Silver Linings with The Old Gays wherever you get your podcast.