Two lives, so different, yet intertwined within each other. Past and present come together and mix. Something thought to have been holy and within Christian beliefs, turns out to have a completely different origin in this piece of literature. The novel, Labyrinth, written by Kate Moss, brings two stories, both past and present together, and makes it seem easy. Love and loyalty are tested, and the characters fates are carried on through the ages.
Taking place in both the 1200’s and the 2000’s, the novel carries out two different stories that eventually cross paths with each other. A young girl, fifteen years of age, Alaïs learns the secret of the Holy Grail from her father. A little over 800 years later, a young woman, Alice Tanner, unknowingly breaks open the path to her destiny. A cave is discovered to be housing two skeletons, some strange writing, and a ring with the imprint of a labyrinth on it. What she has discovered is the product of her past self’s sacrifice.
The consequences of opening the cave, lead Alice on a series of journeys to satisfy both her curiosity and her past self’s unfinished business. The past intertwines with the present, bringing both past allies and enemies to Alice. She finds an old friend in Audric, who she later discovers is really Sajhë. She is reunited with her past self’s husband, Guilhem, now in the form of Will. Alice has an unspeakable connection with the young man, and doesn’t understand why until later on in the novel.
Alaïs takes the book from her father, and attempts to hide it as he has asked, needing to keep it safe from her sister, Oriane. She flees from the city of Carcasonne with her young friend Sajhë to keep the book and the ring safe. Many years pass before Oriane finall...
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...ve and loyalty is proven to beat the greedy hands of betrayal, and it lives on, completing the destiny that was started 800 years ago. How is it possible that the lives of the people from the 1200’s were carried on through into the future? How is it that the legend lasted so long. Power? No, it lasted because of love and destiny, and the courage to do what is needed.
Works Cited
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Mosse, Kate. Labyrinth . New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2006. Print.
"Wise Geek." What is the Holy Grail?. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. < http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-holy-grail.htm>.
Malory, Thomas. King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales by Sir Thomas Malory, ed. Eugene Vinaver (London: Oxford UP, 1975) 124-25.
Many can see that throughout the film that King Arthur and his knights were on a noble quest to find the Holy Grail. This quest is much like another many know, the reading Beowulf. Beowulf goes on a quest to defeat all of the evil that was attacking herot or was a threat to herot. Another reading that is much like
The Arthurian cycle shows a sporadic awareness of the impossibility of mere humans fulfilling all the ideals that Arthur and his court represent. The story of Lancelot and Guenevere, Merlin's imprisonment by Nimu‘, and numerous other instances testify to the recognition of this tension between the real and the unrealistic.
Who was King Arthur? Most people would tell of a great King; a devoted circle of heroic knights; mighty castles and mightier deeds; a time of chivalry and courtly love; of Lancelot and Guinevere; of triumph and death. Historians and archaeologists, especially Leslie Alcock, point to shadowy evidence of a man who is not a king, but a commander of an army, who lived during the late fifth to early sixth century who may perhaps be the basis for Arthur. By looking at the context in which the stories of King Arthur survived, and the evidence pertaining to his castle Camelot and the Battle of Badon Hill, we can begin to see that Arthur is probably not a king as the legend holds.
What Was Jim Crow?. (n.d.). What was Jim Crow. Retrieved April 11, 2014, from http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
This grim mind blowing Spanish film written by Guillermo del Toro, originally known as El Laberinto del Fauno, translated to, The Labyrinth of the Faun, is a fantasy story set in Post-Civil War, Spain. Ofelia, the young protagonist, travels with her sick, pregnant mother to meet and live with a sadistic general, Captain Vidal, the father of her soon to be step-brother. During the first night, a fairy comes to Ofelia and leads her to the middle of a crumbling labyrinth where she meets a white-eyed, crippled faun who tells her that she is a princess of the Underworld who has long past died and has been reincarnated in her body. According to legend, before she can be reunited with her father in the Underworld, she must complete three difficult, gruesome tasks to obtain immortality. If she does not succeed with a pure heart in all three tasks before the moon is full, she might lose both worlds. The main theme played throughout this film, is Good vs. Evil vs. Innocence. This film beautifully pronounces this theme through it’s cinematography/lighting, makeup, and camera angles, making this dark film’s aesthetic entrancing with its morbid gore scenes and fairytale like mood.
...trols the characters and the atmosphere through consciousness manipulation. At the end of the movie, Alice is about to be persecuted by the Queen of Hearts, when she sees herself through the door and tells herself to open her eyes. When she opens her eyes the characters and her agony vanishes. Alice is able to turn on and off her imaginative world similar to a human controlling an electronic device. Yet Rosaleen’s power is illustrated when she unleashes the wolf inside her. Throughout the story, she lived under her grandmother’s influence. When Rosaleen decides to disobey her grandmother, she surrenders her fear and gains control over her life. Although, she is in the main character of the story, that is not apparent until she transforms into a werewolf. By means of transformation, Rosaleen gains power over herself. The characters’ world contributes to their power.
The Quest of the Holy Grail is an exciting tale that follows the adventures of King Arthur's knights as they scour the countryside for the legendary Holy Grail. Throughout their journeys, the knights engage in many exciting jousts and sword fights with a variety of enemies. The author of The Quest of the Holy Grail intends for the story to be more than just entertainment: the knights' search for the Holy Grail is analogous to the pursuit of morality and spiritual chivalry, showing success through asceticism, confession, chastity, and faith.
Ralls, Karen. "Legends of the Grail: The Chivalric Vision." Http://www.theosophical.org/publications/1506. Quest Magazine, Nov.-Dec. 2003. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is a satiric comedy about the quest of King Arthur. The movie starts out with Arthur, King of the Britons, looking for knights to sit with him at Camelot. He finds many knights including Sir Galahad the pure, Sir Lancelot the brave, the quiet Sir Bedevere, and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Lancelot. Through satire and parody of certain events in history (witch trials, the black plague) they find Camelot, but after literally a quick song and dance they decide that they do not want to go there. While walking away, God (who seems to be grumpy) come to them from a cloud and tells them to find the Holy Grail. They agree and begin their search. While they search for the Grail, scenes of the knight's tales appear and the reasons behind their names. Throughout their search, they meet interesting people and knights along the way. Most of the characters die; some through a killer rabbit (which they defeat with the holy hand grenade), others from not answering a question right from the bridge of Death, or die some other ridiculous way. In the end, King Arthur and Sir Bedevere are left and find the Castle Arrrghhh where the Holy Grail is. They are met by some French soldiers who taunted them earlier in the film and were not able to get into the castle. The movie ends with both King Arthur and Sir Bedevere being arrested for killing a real-life man who was a historian.
For nine hundred years, the enigmatic Holy Grail has intrigued millions worldwide. Popularized by European poets, the story of the Grail is one of the most fascinating legends of its time. The Grail has been portrayed as a cup, serving dish, and even a magical stone with many powers that range from the different variations of the legends. The mythology surrounding the Holy Grail has impelled many to begin the search for this ancient relic. Though the fact is, there is no way to know if the Grail legends are true or if this sacred chalice even exists. Traditional stories from cultures around the world consistently suggest that at one point in time, an actual Grail existed. The legend of the Holy Grail, according to Celtic myths, legends, and
In “Looking For The Holy Grail”, Richard Barber write of the earliest references of the Holy Grail. He rejects the idea that Troyes borrowed the idea of the grail from Celtic or pagan stories, even though this is what Barber expected to find. He concludes, that for Troyes, it is created as an “object linked to the central images of the Christian faith” (Barber 13). The trend towards looking for Celtic origins came some six hundred years later (13). Chretien de Troyes introduces the mystery of the grail in his 12th century writing. The story of Perceval encountering the Fisher King is the first literary reference to
Currency Fluctuation, What is Currency Fluctuation, 2014. Available at: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-currency-fluctuations.htm Retrieved at 6th April 2014
Very similar events transpire including the war between the Witch’s army and Aslan 's army. In the end the sibling are crowned as royalty and end up going back to their own world finding that no time had
Found by two archaeologists in modern times, her book was recovered and her tomb destroyed. Sent to a group of Australian women (in order to keep it out of the claws of the modern De Ville, Professor Horniman), the book found it's way into the hands and heart of Trace, a street kid from Sydney, come north as part of a modern children's crusade. Unwilling to return to the slums of Kings Cross, Trace had found her way to the women's homes and beguiled herse-lf of them. To conclude the story, Professor Horniman attempted to steal the book, and it was destroyed. All of this was spoken by one Dr Renouf (a possible future Trace and modern day Berengaria), in an attempt to draw together the warring factions of the middle east. One of the most primary themes in the book, apparent even in the summary, is the repetition of events: recurrence and echoing of past events and people. The binding threads of time, so to speak, are constant and absolute: even in different times, the same forces are still at work throughout the novel. The change of setting is incidental, and the characters are a constant equalling force. The children's crusade, the concepts of war and peace, good and evil are all tied together in the plot, past mirroring future. However, another theme that is important is the power of the undecided (* - wyrd, the blank Viking rune, is the rune of 'maybe'), and the outcomes are different -- Professor Horniman was defeated, De Ville was not.