The Legends about King Arthur

In

Llth-13th Centuries

Anglo-Norman Period

To Middle English Literature

From Old English Literature

II

Денежные фонды организации (предприятия).

Важнейшая сторона финансовой деятельности предприятий – формирование и использование различных денежных фондов. Через них осуществляется обеспечение хозяйственной деятельности необходимыми денежными средствами, а также расширенного воспроизводства, освоение и внедрение новой техники, расчеты с бюджетом, банками.

Денежные фонды предприятий можно разделить на 5 групп:

1) фонды собственных средств:

- уставный капитал (основной источник)

- добавочный капитал (поступления на пополнение оборотных средств, рез-ты переоценки основных фондов, т.е. их дооценку)

- резервный капитал (образуется за счет отчислений от прибыли)

- фонд накоплений (образуется за счет чистой прибыли и предназначен для развития произ-ва)

- целевые финансирование и поступления

- нераспределенная прибыль

2) фонды заемных средств:

- кредиты банков

- коммерческие кредиты

- факторинг (деятельность факторинговых фирм по взысканию денежных средств с должников своего клиента)

- лизинг (долгосрочная аренда, связанная с передачей в пользование имущества за определенную плату)

- кредиторы

3) фонды привлеченных средств:

- фонды потребления (образуется за счет чистой прибыли и исп-ся на соц. нужды работников п/п)

- расчеты по дивидендам

- доходы будущих периодов

- резервы предстоящих расходов и платежей

4) фонды, образуемые за счет нескольких источников:

- внеоборотные активы (осн.фонды), (источники – собственные и заемные)

- оборотные активы (оборотные средства),(источники – собственные средства, кредит, кредиторская задолженность, привлеченные средства)

- инвестиционный фонд (источники – прибыль, амортизационный фонд, заемные средства)

- валютный фонд (валютная выручка от экспортных операций), (источники – собственные и заемные средства)

5) оперативные денежные фонды:

- для выплаты заработной платы

- для выплаты дивидендов

- для платежей в бюджет (налоги).

UI

1066, Battle of Hastings Battlefield and Abbey

King Harold II "of England was defeated by William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy.

In 1066 great changes took place in England. In the famous battle of Hastings the last Anglo-Danish king was defeated by Duke William from Normandy. He was proclaimed the new king of England and was crowned as William I.

The Norman Conquest began with the Battle of Hast­ings in 1066. It made William I the King of England but his dynasty's outlook was far from nationalistic. Each Norman monarch held territories in what is now France as well as in the British Isles. All these lands belonged to the wider international community known as Christen­dom, where the universal Catholic Church centred in Rome played a leading role, even in non-religious mat­ters.

William the Conqueror brought a new language and culture to England where a very strong society was established.

The early medieval economy was based in the coun­tryside rather than in towns. Urban centres did exist, as did some domestic industries. But most of the popula­tion numbering fewer than 3 million in the entire British Isles worked on the land. Primary products like the raw wool accounted for most exports. After the Norman Conquest England's considerable overseas trade was directed more towards France and Flanders than to previously-important markets in Scandinavia.

The nobility spoke French, the common people spoke English, and the language of the powerful church­men was Latin. Thus each social class had its own language and literature. That period of English litera­ture was called Anglo-Norman, because the French Language penetrated into English and influenced it greatly. The Normans brought the romance to England. The romance told of adventures and love and glorified knighthood. The churchmen wrote in Latin about reli­gion, their books were moralizing and supported the feudal order of things. In the literature of the townsfolk we find the fable, a short story with animals for char-

н i. is and a moral in the end. Besides fables there Ipptared funny stories about cunning townspeople, rich merchants and their smart wives.

Old English developed into Middle English which was much easier to read and understand. Thus Middle English Literature was born. The English language had i lunged a lot since the time of "Beowulf."

In 1190 English knights joined the knights from all over Europe who answered the call of the Pope to recapture the Holy Land, captured by the Turks in 1070. Hie English knights were led by King Richard the Lion-heart. The feudal society of those days was divided into;nistocracy and common people. The nobility possessed the land, all the rest had nothing. That is why the English peasants wanted freedom, they robbed the rich and were hiding in the deep woods where nobody could find them.

A Warrior

England's favourite hero, Robin Hood, lived in the times of King Henry the Second (1154-1189) and his son Richard the Lionheart (1189-1199).

The Robin Hood Ballads *

In the 12th century only the King of England could hunt in certain forests of the country. If anybody killed a deer there, he was punished by death. The men who guarded those forests were king's foresters, and the Head Forester was a very important person. The Head Forester of the Sherwood Forest, which was near the town of Nottingham, had a son, Robin by name. No­body still can tell for sure if Robin really existed. He was partly a historical, partly legendary character. We know about him only from the legends and ballads.

The sheriff of Nottingham hated Robin's father and threw him into prison. There in the prison his father died very soon. Meanwhile, Robin's mother also died, and Robin remained alone at the age of 19. He loved the life of the forest, and he wanted to become the Head Forester instead of the new Head Forester who was appointed to his father's place. Robin quarrelled with the Forester and, finally, killed him during that quarrel. Then he had to hide in the forest, because the Sheriff of Nottingham was looking for him. A large sum of money was promised for Robin's head. The Sherwood for­est, which was called the Greenwood, was the shelter for many outlaws, hiding from the sheriff, the rich Nobles and tradesmen, the greedy monks and bishops. The outlaws wore green clo­thes to hide better in the Greenwood. Robin Hood Some of them knew Robin well, and 14

vii у soon he became their leader. Robin Hood was a noble outlaw, he robbed only rich people to give their money to the poor. Robin and his Merry Men were very brave, courageous and bold. Popular ballads show Robin as a tireless enemy of the Norman oppression.mil the Church. They sing about his readiness to help the poor and the needy.

The outlaws never took anything from women or In mi good yeomen. Moreover, Robin Hood and his Mt'iry Men helped the common people when they were deceived. The outlaws were excellent bowmen, and Robin Hood was the best among them.

The earliest ballads about Robin Hood were sung. The singer was a poet who changed the words in these ballads-poems from time to time. Only in 1489 "Л Little Geste of Robin Hood" was printed, when the first Robin Hood Ballads were collected. The Robin I lood Ballads, such as "Robin Hood and Little John" or "Robin Hood in Nottingham" and "Robin Hood and the King" are known all over the world.

ROBIN HOOD AND THE KING The king came to Nottingham with a great number of knights to catch Robin Hood. But nobody in the town knew where Robin Hood was. Meanwhile, one of the king's foresters advised the king to get monk's clothes in the abbey near the river and take the road through the forests. Hardly had the king gone far in the Greenwood when he met Robin Hood and his men.

Robin Hood came up to the king and asked "Sir Abbot" (the king was wearing the abbot's clothes) to give some of his riches to poor people. The king gave

И I I. и.,I.они- money. Robin Hood invited "Sir АЫн tt" to h;tvc dinner with him under his greenwood

During the dinner Robin Hood asked his guest to see how they played. It was an interesting perform­ance. Robin Hood's men put up two marks for shoot­ing. Then two men at a time began to shoot arrows at the marks. If a man's arrow didn't hit the target, he had to go on one knee and take his hood off. After that the other man hit him as hard as he could on the head. When Robin Hood didn't hit the mark he asked "Sir Abbot" to hit him on the head. "Sir Abbot" (the king) took off his monk's coat and hood to free his arm. Immediately he was recognized. All the out­laws went on their knees. Robin Hood asked the king to pardon them. The king promised to pardon them if they all came to live with him in London, because he needed such brave and honest men at his court. Robin Hood stayed in London for a year. He was not happy there, though the king was kind to him. Robin Hood dreamed to return to their Greenwood. His Merry Men also missed their life in the open air under the trees. They wanted to be free and help the poor.

Robin Hood went to the king and told him that London was not for him. The king let him go back to his Greenwood. He only asked Robin Hood to see him in London when he could. As soon as Robin Hood found himself in the forest, he was happy. He enjoyed the singing of the birds and the beautiful wild nature. Moreover, he decided to shoot a big deer to remember old times. Afterwards he sounded his horn and all his Merry Men came through the trees to greet their leader.

In the Middle Ages there was great interest in ro- stories. A certain idea of individualism appeared in the romances when a knight was opposed to the

lety. The noble knight wandered in the woods and then ictired to a lonely castle to live and die there.

I In- name of King Arthur became important as a Figure Horn the dark past who fought against the Anglo-

ons in Britain between the 5th—7th centuries. His ii.niir was mentioned in the 10th century by Nennius,. i historian. By the 12th century the legends had been mixed with the romantic ideas and myths. The stories ui King Arthur were told in the South-West England where the Celts were driven by the Anglo-Saxons. King Ai Ihur was a shadowy figure. Did he really exist? There are many literature references in early Celtic literature to a man called Arthur. The first stories were found in WHsh literature. In the heart of the Welsh countryside there is King Arthur's labyrinth carved into the ancient rocks deep under the mountain. Only a boat can ride along a beautiful river through the great waterfall and into the labyrinth full of mystery and legends. One of them is a tale of the giant Rhita, vanquished by King Arthur.

King Arthur

It is interesting to know that the Snowdon Mountain which dominates the ancient landscape of North Wales (1085 m) is said to be the burial place of the giant Rhi­ta. Moreover, some believe that Arthur's knights sleep beneath.

In the Middle Ages writers described the knights and ladies of King Arthur's court. Paul White in his book "King Arthur — man or myth?" suggests that Arthur existed, though he was not a king. He was a member of the royal family or a brave warrior who struggled in Cornwall which was not lost to the Saxons and re­mained free until the 9th century.

The native Celtic peoples had to defend themselves against the powerful Saxon invaders who captured Devon and parts of Somerset. Arthur's strength and fighting skills made him the leader of the Britons in their war against the Saxons and the invaders from South Wales and Ireland too. The forces of Darkness were defeated, because Arthur was a successful warri­or. He became a national hero of England. Further­more, Arthur was a political symbol of the country. Some of the kings of the time were envious of him. Others named their sons Arthur. The tales of Arthur's deeds were sung throughout the land, developing into legends as they passed from generation to generation. Characters, such as the magician Merlin who could go from place to place by magic and change himself into any bird or animal, Queen Guinevere, Sir Ector, Sir Lancelot and others began to appear in English litera­ture. Later a literary fantasy of the Grail and the Knights of the Round Table, the myths about the Sword Excalibur became very popular, especially in times of war or crisis.

The legends of King Arthur began with the birth of Arthur, the son of King Uther and the beautiful Prin­cess Igraine. Some scholars suggest that Arthur was conceived at Tintagel. Others think that Arthur was conceived and born there. Tintagel, the castle which was known as the stronghold of the ancient dukes of 18

< ornwall, is situated half on the island and half on the 111.1111l.111d with a narrow neck between. The castle was Imilt around 1230-1236. Earl Richard of Cornwall, am- bltious son of King John (1176-1216), knew that I intagel was connected with King Arthur. He decided to start the con-st ruction of the l istle, because he w.inted to be seen us the true heir of the great King Arthur. The func­tion of the castle was symbolic. Af­ter 200 years

Tintagel Castle

since its building, the castle was in

ruin.

When Arthur was only three days old Merlin, the magician, took him away and gave the child to a good knight named Sir Ector. Arthur was brought up with Sir Ector's son Kay. When he became a man, Merlin made Arthur the king with the help of the magic Sword, which Arthur managed to take out of the magic stone where it was written:

" TH6 MAM WHO GAM TAK6

THIS SWORD OUT OF ТЖ ST0M6

IS TH6KIMG OF BRITAIM"

So Arthur became king and married the beautiful Princess GuineVere. Merlin gave Arthur a Big Round Table and 128 knights. One hundred and twenty-eight knights took their seats at the table, but there were one hundred and fifty places at the table. Each knight had

his name written in golden letters on the back of each seat. As time went on, more and more noble knights came, and King Arthur gave them seats. All the knights had to be brave. A knight was a man who historically was a leader in the war, a good fighter and had the word "Sir" before his name: Sir Ector, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad. One of the legends about King Arthur and his Round Table, "The Grail", tells a thrilling story how Sir Gala­had was given the "Seat Perilous" (the place at the Round Table where no knight could sit if he had ever done any bad thing to anyone). If a bad man occupied the "Seat Perilous", he would die. Thus it was empty for a long time. Only Sir Galahad was given that place, and he managed to see the Grail from which Jesus drank on the night before He died.

Many kings and evil people, such as Queen Morgan le Fay, Sir Damas, Queen Annoure made war against Arthur, but he routed them all, because Merlin helped him. He showed Arthur how to become a good king and a brave knight; he helped him to build the beautiful castle Camelot where King Arthur ruled well, so that all the people loved him.

THE SWORD EXCALIBUR

Once upon a time Arthur and Merlin came to a lake. There was an arm with a sword in its hand in the middle of the water. The Lady of the Lake made the Sword Excalibur for King Arthur to protect him in any dangerous situation, because the scabbard of the sword was magic. No man could kill the man who possessed it. Merlin told Arthur to take that sword. The magic sword helped King Arthur to win the fights.

» >ne day Arthur decided to travel through a forest.in.I did not take his Excalibur; he left it at Queen Morgan le Fay's castle, because King Arthur thought thai (he Queen was his friend. Suddenly he lost his w.iу in the forest and found himself in the castle of Nil Damas, a very evil knight. Sir Damas was sitting in a great hall. He asked his men to bring Arthur to hi in. There in the hall Sir Damas ordered King Arthur to fight for him against another knight whose face was hidden so that Arthur could not see it. Besides, King Arthur had no Sword Excalibur and was very glad when a man sent by the Queen Morgan le Fay came with the Sword Excalibur to Sir Damas's castle. King Arthur needed the sword and he was happy to have it again. But during the fight Arthur realized that it was not the Excalibur, it was some other sword made to look like Excalibur. During the fight the sword broke, but Arthur continued to struggle. In­deed, he managed to hit the rival on the head so hard that he fell down and dropped the sword. That was Excalibur! And the knight's name who fought against King Arthur was Sir Accolon. He was the knight of the Round Table. King Arthur was surprised why the knight was fighting against his King. Sir Accolon told Arthur that he did not know that he would fight against him, because Queen Morgan le Fay had asked him to save King Arthur and kill Sir Damas. Thus Sir Accolon was deceived by the Queen. More than that, Morgan le Fay gave him the Sword Excalibur "to protect" the king.

King Arthur made Sir Damas give his castle and all that he had to his younger brother, because a real knight couldn't betray his King.

II.1

lulc, Queen Morgan le Fay learned that | Arthur was alive. She rode her black horse and 11 everyone she met where King Arthur was. Finally, one man told her everything about the great fight of King Arthur against Sir Damas during which Arthur was wounded and went to the House of Good Women who helped the poor and the sick. When Queen Morgan le Fay came to that House, she went into King Arthur's room where he was sleeping;mcl stole the magic scabbard of the Sword Excalibur.

Hardly had she gone away when King Arthur opened his eyes and noticed that his scabbard had disappeared.

Arthur got on his horse and rode away. While he was riding through a forest and up a hill he looked down and saw Queen Morgan le Fay far away. She noticed King Arthur too. The Queen got off her black horse and threw the scabbard into the lake which was black and dead. No animal drank water from that lake.

Queen Morgan le Fay thought that King Arthur would be killed in fight without the magic scabbard. So King Arthur never got the scabbard, but he had the Sword Excalibur.

Meanwhile, Merlin became old and King Arthur had to do without the help of magician.

The end of King Arthur and his knights was tragic. Unfortunately, they were badly wounded in a great fight against Sir Mordred, an evil knight, who wanted to become king instead of Arthur. During that fight all Mordred's men were killed. King Arthur managed to kill Sir Mordred with a spear which went through his body. But Mordred wounded Arthur with his

sword. King Arthur understood that he was dying. He ftsked Sir Bedivere, who was alive, to take his Sword Bxcalibur, go to the Lake and throw it into the water. ЛI first Bedivere decided to hide the sword not far from the lake, because he saw how beautiful and expensive it was. But later he threw the sword far over the water. No sooner had he thrown the sword than an arm came out of the water, caught Excalibur and disappeared in the lake. The Lady of the Lake took her Sword back.

After that King Arthur asked Sir Bedivere to take him to the lake where he saw a black ship with many ladies dressed in black. His last wish was to be put on the ship. Sir Bedivere set him down in the ship, and Sir Arthur went out over the lake.

The legends of a Water Goddess form part of the mystery which goes back to the ancient times, and there are similar tales belonging to the Celts, based around perceptions of a Water Goddess. The legend of Llyn (the lake) у Fan Fach tells of the Lady of the Lake, daughter of a king of the Tylwyth Teg — the Fair Folk, who appeared from time to time on the water's surface. She fell in love with a local farmer. Three sons were born, but the Lady of the Lake had to return to the waters once again.

The stories of King Arthur and his knights have attracted many writers. Sir Thomas Malory (1410— 1471) wrote eight separate stories about King Arthur and his Knights'of the Round Table. His book was called "Morte d'Arthur" {"Arthur's Death"). The title of the book was written in French because some stories were translated from the French language. The book was

written in prose. Some parts of his book Sir Thomas Malory wrote in prison. "Morte d'Arthur" was printed after his death in 1485 by William Caxton.

The features of the legends were used by Edmund Spenser in 1590-1596 to praise Queen Elizabeth. In 1660 John Milton mentioned Arthur's name. In 1842 Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) wrote his "Po­ems" where the reader came across some of King Arthur's legends. Tennyson, who visited Tintagel in 1848 and 1860, recreated the legends in his "Idylls of the King". One of his poems is about the Lady Vivien who sang a song to captivate the wise magician Merlin:

Дата добавления: 2014-01-07