ARTHUR THE LEGEND/Chwedl Arthur (The Legend of Arthur)
Authors: David Chauvel, Jérôme Lereculey, Jean-Luc Simon
Welsh adaptation: Alun Ceri Jones and Dafydd Jones
DALEN Publishing
108pp, paperback, 190mm x 260mm
Published: October 2007
Price: £9.99,
ISBN: 978-0-9551366-6-5
Historical graphic novel for adolescents and adults. The mythological character of Arthur is familiar to everyone, but his roots lie deep in Welsh history and culture. In this unique graphic novel series, the legend of Arthur is told from a Welsh perspective, based on the old Welsh tradition and culture.
In a detailed illustrated graphic novel, this first volume recounts the first two branches of the story, beginning with the seer Myrddin, the wild man of the woods, and the heroic rise of Arthur as the Britons’ warleader opposing the Saxon incursions into Britain. This is fifth century Britain; the Romans have gone and the indigenous British culture is resurgent; the Welsh language develops from the Brythonic mother tongue, and the earliest Welsh literature and histories are composed.
Chwedl Arthur introduces characters found in Welsh mythology as living mortals, beginning with Vortigern’s treachery in granting the Saxons a foothold in Britain, to Myrddin’s extraordinary youth and the crisis of faith which drove him to madness which was only stemmed by his companion Taliesin. Myrddin comes across the young Arthur and sees in him as the original son of prophecy who will grow and save his people. As Arthur develops into a young man he accumulates a band of like-minded warriors around him and leads them from one strategic battle to the next to keep their land free from the Saxon foe.
So,as the renowned amateur historian specialising in the period before,during and after the Romannic invasion of Britain and being well versed in Arthurian legends and having wanted to translate The Mabinogion into a series of graphic novels for a very long time,what do I think of this book?
Firstly,printing is top-notch. I was a little concerned about more squared word balloons that were used but it never actually affected my reading. And,like Cinebook,this company has made the book a two volumes-in-one effort and for just under £10.00! Book I is Myrddin:Wild Man Of The Woods and Book II:Arthur:Protector Of Britain.
My first comment:thank every star above –the team on this book have not gone down that bloody awful Victorian-Hollywood avenue of setting the stories hundreds of years out of context and in the Medieval period!
The clothing,hairstyling,weaponry,buildings and so on are as accurate as you can get them. And I am even happier that all the correct Welsh Celtic language names are used. Something that has been largely ignored by almost all the versions of the Arthurian legend I’ve seen made into comic format.
Book I. Myrddin,of course,is Merlin and his story is told here as never before. He isn’t just thrown into the book as a grey,long-bearded old man wearing a tall conical hat! We first encounter him as he is born –a talking baby! We then follow Myrddin as he grows,forges alliances,marries,takes part in battle which sends him into madness and his eventual cure,thanks to Taliesin’s incredible efforts. This is so full of the blood and guts as well as mystical elements of Celtic life that I have no idea how the author crammed it into so few pages –but he did.
Book II. Begins with Myrddin and Taliesin’s travels and we are then gradually introduced to each aspect of the future king’s early life,taking up the mercenary life,achieving status as a warrior,how he led heroic bands into battle and more. Again,the melding of everyday life with the magical tales of the Welsh is wonderfully achieved. The battle scenes are quite bloody,very dramatic and I can’t see anything here that makes me think “Oh now that’s not right!”.
Originally published in France by Delcourt,it has been translated into English by Lannig Treseizh for Dalen. The author,David Chauvel,has done a masterly job on research and needs praise heaped upon him for a well crafted story and script that gives off all the atmosphere of the Celtic tales. Artist Jerome Lereculey has produced some fantastic art here full of detail and his research must have been quite a hefty task [unless he is another collector ofr Osprey Books?!],but the military aspects aside,this is so spot on that it beats anything I’ve seen before. That said there is,naturally,another true artist deserving praise on this book;Jean-Luc Simon,the colourist. Whereas others might go for the bright colours,Simon has stuck to the basic colours for clothing that we know are accurate. But there is more in that he is able to add to the atmosphere created by Lereculey with superb colour tones.
For me,a very pleasant surprise as I had never heard of Dalen until Bethan Jones at MacDougall Gabriel Associates contacted me. Who are Dalen? Well,Dalen is based in Tresaith,Ceredigion [Wales] and have published the book with support from the Welsh Books Council. Even the printer,Gomer,are Welsh.
And for years I have said that it is ridiculous that no one publishes comics in the Welsh language to encourage its use in every day life. There have been the odd Small Press item but comics are few and far between [for example –Hwyl!,1949;Bore Da,1971;Sboncyn, 1980;Cyhoeddiadau Mei,1980,etc.]. The days of having an “idiot” board around your neck if you spoke Welsh at school are gone. And if this series of books [there will be 9 books in total] doesn’t do it nothing will!
Having said that,Dalen also publishes Lewsyn Lwcus [Lucky Luke],Tintin and other books.
Having only seen Arthur The Legend I’ll stick to that. I would highly recommend this book and suggest anyone interested in the English or Welsh versions check out Dalen’s website:
And you can choose to read the site in English or Welsh! Its nice to see that it isn’t only Welsh rugby emerging into a new golden age –perhaps Welsh comics/graphic novels also?
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