Having recently finished the first volume of Howard Pyle’s series on the Arthurian legends, I was struck by the number of parallels I found between Arthurian legend and Harry Potter. Here’s a bullet-point summary of the highlights so far:
~ Harry and Arthur were both orphaned, taken from their parents at an early age.
~ Both became orphans as a result of some kind of prophecy.
~ Both returned to their original “worlds” with no idea of their own special status, Harry as vanquisher of Voldemort, and Arthur as heir to the throne
~ Both were protected by a wise old wizard (Dumbledore/Merlin)
~ Dumbledore and Merlin were both very powerful and wise, but when they made mistakes, they made monumental ones (as Dumbledore said of himself)
~ The Swords: Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone (and is given Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake), and Harry pulls the Sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat (sword-in-hat?). In both cases, it is their special status that allows them to be able to pull the sword (heir to throne and “a true Gryffindor”).
~ Similar symbolism: Both stories employ the symbolism of a gryffin as well as a white stag (more on this in due time).
~ Arthur marries Guinevere; Harry falls for Ginny (Ginevra, an alternate spelling of Guinevere).
One more interesting parallel – as we know from Hermione’s reading of Hogwarts, A History, the ceiling of the Great Hall is bewitched to look like the sky. Listen now to Pyle’s description of the ceiling above the legendary Round Table:
And when the King and the Queen and the Court had entered in therat they were amazed at the beauty of that pavillion, for they perceived, an it were, a great space that appeared to be a marvellous land of Fay. For the walls were all richly guilded and were painted with very wonderful figures of saints and of angels, clad in ultramarine and crimson, and al those saints and angels were depicted playing upon various musical instruments that appeared to be made of gold.
And overhead the roof of the pavillion was made to represent the sky, being of cerulean blue sprinkled over with stars. And in the midst of that painted sky was an image, an it were, of the sun in his glory. And underfoot was a pavement all of marble stone, set in squares of black and white, and blue and red, and sundry other colors.
Fascinating stuff; more to come in the future.
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Some more Harry/Arthur parallels:
- Arthur’s predecessor was the tyrant ‘Vortigern’; Arthur was slain by ‘Mordred’ … together, almost an anagram of Voldemort (who was in power before Harry’s birth; and wants to kill him now)
- Quote from http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk on Arthurian legend:
“Mythically, they speak of the divergence between magical wisdom and power (Merlin) and worldly power (Arthur), of struggles with concepts of rightness and the true meaning of nobility.”
[sound familiar? Wizards vs. Muggles; Dumbledore's vs. Voldemort's ideaologies
- Quest for Holy Grail ~ Quest for Horcruxes
- Arthur is buried on the Isle of Avalon [in Somerset, England]. The Latin meaning of Avalon translates as “isle of apples” … Morgana, the Dark Goddess or Mother Death, and ruler of the Isle, has the power to give magical apples of immortality to kings. [um, perhaps related to term 'Death Eater'? since the Dark Lord in HP craves immortality]
Your thoughts?
p.s. I am writing a Book Seven novella (all based on canon logic) and I use Arthurian legend in connection with a Horcrux … if you would like to see, its listed under “Crouching Lion, Hidden Dragon” on fanfiction.net (pen name: Potterism); chapter 11. : )
Hi guys,
thanks for the info on the similarities. I’ve been listening to the HP audiobooks again latetly and watching BBCs Merlin from time to time (great series btw.). I’ve been thinking that there must be some kind of continuity between the arthurian legends and the HP-Universe since Merlin is mentioned and “Order of Merlin” beeing somewhat of a title for britisch wizards. Do you know something about this. Has J.K. Rowling said anything about this connection?
Greetz.
Very interesting. Also Arthur Weasley, almost slain by Volemort. I would think the Quest for the Holy Grail would analogize to the Quest for the Deathly Hallows rather than the Horcruxes, though.
Sorry – didn’t realize this was an old thread. Got faked out by the trackback.
No worries, Lily Luna. Everyone once in a while, I toy with the idea of removing all the dates from the posts, so people won’t think “old thread, no point in commenting there.” It’s good to revive old threads now and again.