Newsletter 11/21/16

Volume 1, Issue 1

T HE A RTHURIAN D AILY
so

Editor: Andrew Vuong

About Bernard Cornwell INSIDE THIS ISSUE

By: Andrew Vuong
About Bernard Cornwell 1

Born in London, England (1944), his father The Warlord Series & Magic 1

was a Canadian airman and his mother was in the Enemy of Britain 2
Bernard's Writing Technique with The Battle of Lugg Vale 2
Britains Womens Auxiliary Air Force. A family in
Possible Model for King Arthur? 3
Essex who was part of a religious group called the
Integration of The Warlord Series and Traditional Tales 3
Peculiar People adopted him, but he later escaped
The Elements of a Newsletter 5
to London University. At first he was a teacher,
but then went on to join the BBC Television where
he continued to work for the next 10 years. permit from the US government, so it was an easier
occupation to obtain. For a long time he has
His first job when he came to BBC was as a
wanted write stories about the adventures of British
researcher on the Nationwide program and then
soldiers in the Napoleonic wars making the
his last position was as a Head of Current Affairs
Sharpe series to have begun. Bernard and Judy
Television. He met his wife at Judy (an American)
finally married in 1980, where they live together in
while working in Belfast, and fell in love. She
the United States. He still continues to write the
wanted to move to Britain, however she had family Sharpe series.
reasons that restricted her from doing so. When
Bernard heard of this he decided to move to the
states, but was refused a Green Card. From this
experience, he decided that writing would be the
best way to make a living. It also did not need a

The Warlord Series & Magic

By: Andrew Vuong

The Warlord series is a magnificent set of
books written by Bernard Cornwell. It tells of the
tales of King Arthur and his men in times of
ancient Great Britain. We follow a character by the
name of Derfel, who tells of his experiences he
encounters throughout his lifetime. Most of which
relate back to Lord Arthur.
Much of the story is connected to religion
or some type of upper power. The term "magic"
would be an appropriate use for this concept. All
of the events that happen are related back to
superstition and religion. Merlin for example has
much power with the all of Britain because of his
"magical" powers. Also, druids in general had much
power in any civilization of Europe at the time
(Saxons, Irish, Franks, etc).
A very important use of this "magic" in the
series is in "Enemy of God". When Merlin, Ceinwyn,
Nimue, Derfel, and his men go onto the Dark Road
to achieve the Cauldron of Britain, they

Please see Great Articles on page 4

Page 2 The Arthurian Daily

The Enemy of Britain

By: Andrew Vuong
Britain was prosperous under the reign of
King Uther. Everything had order, and there was
no civil war amongst the cities of Britain. However,
he has a wicked son named Mordred who will later
take his place. Once King Uther dies of illness is
when the enemy of Britain comes onto its lands.
Lord Arthur. Oath bound to King Mordred,
where his duty is to protect him until he is right of
age. In the meantime, he manages Dumnonia for
him. However, he does not succeed to well in
doing so.
A depiction of Lord Arthur before
going into the Battle of Lugg Vale.
Lord Arthur is hated by many. At one
point, both Pagans and Christians hated him.
The reason for that was because of his idiotic
decision of not marrying the daughter of Powys
(Ceinwyn). Instead, he insults her by marrying a
women named Guinevere. Although, now it is
just the Christians that despise him, wanting
Lancelot as their ruler instead.

Bernard's Writing Technique with the Battle of Lugg Vale

By: Andrew Vuong
Bernard makes many different events have
a cliff-hanging suspense that makes you want to
read more. He uses basic dialogue and persuasive
wording to make the reader feel the emotions of
the character. Most importantly however, he
makes the view of the entire story not from Arthur
perspective, but from a third-person view.
A good example that expresses this is the
Battle of Lugg Vale. Before the battle even begun,
Bernard uses factual evidence to state that the
numbers that Arthur had was useless compared to
King Gorfyddyd's number of men. He then
proceeds to affect the emotions of the reader
by writing about how Lord Arthur had begun
winning in the beginning of the battle.
However, it was all deception when the real
number of Goryddyd's army came to view.
Making the reader worry that King Arthur and
his men were to perish on that battlefield.

"But fate, as Merlin always taught

us, is inexorable. Life is a jest of
the Gods, Merlin liked to claim,
and there is no justice. You must
learn to laugh, he once told me,
or else you'll just weep yourself
to death.
- Bernard Cornwell, Winter King
A visual showing Lord Derfel Cadarn before
the Batlle of Lugg Vale.
The Arthurian Daily
Possible Model for King Arthur?
By: Andrew Vuong
A scholar from Britain was said to have found
a model inspired to be "King Arthur". That person
was possibly a fifth-century "high king" from Briton,
known as Riothamus.
The scholar's name was Geoffrey Ashe, who
was also a historian, worked with many different
archaeologists to find the surprisingly similar
coincidence between Arthur and Riothamus.
Riothamus led an army made of Britain soldiers to
take out the barbarian Goths from the region of
Burgundy (just as how King Arthur tried to expel the
Saxons from Britain). Just like Arthur, Riothamus
went into Burgundy, but was betrayed by a fellow
member of the army. He fought as best has he could
against the Barbarians, but did not win and
disappeared from history in 470 A.D.
Integration of The Warlord series and Traditional Tales
By: Andrew Vuong
Bernard includes many traditional legends
in the Warlord series. He incorporates them
throughout the entire book(s). He makes them play
crucial roles in the storyline, and also makes them
connected in one way or another.
One example of him doing this is the
Round table. He makes is such a minor detail, that
it still plays a crucial role in the tale. He speaks
about it when the great warriors of Britain all go to
Lord Arthur's Sea Palace to be bind into the
Brotherhood of Britain. However, the table is
described as something not as grand as many
people say it is, but a very basic glass table with a
crack in one of its legs.
Page 3
Riothamus goes into battle
to fight of the barbarian
Goths.
This was resemblance between King Arthur
and Riothamus is strikingly similar. They were both
around the same era in which they both ruled, had
similar actions and roles, and played a crucial role
for Briton. Not to mention they both went into battle
to take out foreign enemies that invaded the
country.
Another example is the Holy Grail. This is
incorporated by the Dark Road quest to find the
Cauldron. Where Merlin, Nimue, Ceinwyn, Arthur,
and his men go to find one of the ancient artifacts
of Britain. Merlin needs its magical power in order
to save Britain from many of the foreign enemies
that invade it.
One last example is the characters. Bernard
keeps many of the traditional actions these
character's have in other stories. One pair is
Guinevere and Lancelot. They secretly still go for
each other behind Arthur's back. Making it like
many other tales where Guinevere cheats on Arthur
because of her boredom for her.
Page 4 The Arthurian Daily

The Warlord Series and Magic from

page 1
superstitiously believe that the use of Nimue's
charms and Merlin's chants protect them from the
Irish Blackshields. They also believe that their
escape from the Blackshields was from a spell
Merlin casted to shield them. Scientifically
however, the spell that Merlin "casted" was just a
fog rolling in from sea, and coincidentally Merlin
"casted" a spell the night before. Making everyone
around him gullibly believe his power.
 Company Name
5857 117th Ave N
About the Editor: Andrew Vuong
Pinellas Park, 33782
Born in St. Petersburg Florida, and raised
Phone:
(727) 688-1511
in Pinellas Park, I group up in a one-story
household with two sisters. One of the being
Fax:
N/A 34, the other being 31. I have always had a
E-Mail: passion for writing anything my mind could
Vuong.edu.prof@gmail.
conjure up. I would love to write different
com
fantasy and poems, anything that required a lot
Motto of creativity. I also loved reading, most of which
were non-fictional.

Citiations:

Wilford, John Noble. "A NEW THEORY POINTS TO MODEL FOR KING ARTHUR." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 18 Mar. 1985. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.

4Cornwell, Bernard. "About." Bernard Cornwell. Bernard Cornwell, 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.