Episode image for The Making of King Arthur

Duration: 1 hour

Poet Simon Armitage traces the evolution of the Arthurian legend through the literature of the medieval age and reveals that King Arthur is not the great national hero he is usually considered to be. He's a fickle and transitory character who was appropriated by the Normans to justify their conquest, he was cuckolded when French writers began adapting the story and it took Thomas Malory's masterpiece of English literature, Le Mort d'Arthur, to restore dignity and reclaim him as the national hero we know today.

Last on

Sun 22 Aug 2010 02:50 BBC Four

  • Simon Armitage explores the legend of King Arthur

    Simon Armitage explores the legend of King Arthur

  • About the Presenter

    About the Presenter

    Simon Armitage CBE is a poet and novelist, who has worked extensively in film, radio and television. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. 

    Simon’s first collection of poems, 'Zoom!', published in 1989, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Prize. In 1993 he was awarded the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award for 'Xanadu and Kid'. His most recent work includes a collection of poems entitled 'The Not Dead' (2008), and 'The Poetry of Birds' (2009), a collection of avian verse co-edited with Tim Dee.

  • Norman Season

    Norman Season

    This programme is part of Norman Season on BBC Two and BBC Four, a collection of programmes highlighting the effect that the Normans have had on our civilisation.

    Go to the Norman Season site

Credits

Presenter
Simon Armitage
Director
Matt Hill
Producer
Matt Hill
Executive Producer
Jonty Claypole
Writer
Simon Armitage

Broadcasts

See all broadcasts of The Making of King Arthur (4)

Buzz about this programme

On Blogs

Links are found automatically and then selected for relevancy.

Find out more or report a problem.

See all buzz for The Making of King Arthur

bbc.co.uk navigation

BBC © 2012 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.