Poet’s modern look at king who reigns supreme for England

The idea of translating a 4,000-line poem written in medieval English is a challenge you suspect many poets would shy away from. But having spent three years on Sir Gawain, Armitage found himself wanting more.

“I was looking for something else from that period because although I wouldn’t say I’ve learned Middle English, I’ve become familiar with it and really enjoy it and I didn’t want to lose the skills.”

After speaking to a couple of medieval experts, he embarked on a modern retelling of The Death of King Arthur. Like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the poem was written in alliterative verse by an anonymous writer. But whereas Gawain was a tale of magic, romance and adventure, The Death of King Arthur deals with the cut and thrust of warfare and politics and the Machiavellian relationship between Britain and Europe.

“It was a bigger challenge because it was twice as long as Gawain. What also made it more difficult is the small amount of source material known in academic circles, whereas every Tom, Dick and Harry has had a go at Gawain, so I was reliant on my own instincts about the poem,” he says. As with Sir Gawain, Armitage felt the story deserved to be retold for a modern reader. “I didn’t want it to be a word-for-word translation so the challenge was to write something that made sense to contemporary audiences.”

While working on the translation, Armitage began to realise that the medieval world wasn’t so far removed from our own. “As I was writing it I noticed peculiar parallels between Britain’s relationship with Europe and realised that nothing ever really changes. In one section, Arthur’s fighting the king of Libya who’s been on a killing spree and the Round Table becomes the equivalent of Nato calling in an air strike to finish him off.”

Armitage says the original poem was written during an Arthurian revival in the Middle Ages. “Even in those days people were nostalgic and part of this revival was about reclaiming Arthur as British, and more importantly English. If you asked anyone today about King Arthur they would say he’s an English national hero, but he’s been rebranded many times over the centuries – he’s been Welsh, Celtic, Norman and French. I suspect the English revival probably had propaganda purposes in terms of the Crusades and Britain’s place in the world.”

The legend of King Arthur has spawned countless books and films, but what is its enduring appeal?

“I think the fact he is part heroic and part tragic gives him these human attributes,” says Armitage. “He’s someone we can invest in as a national figure and the fact he never really existed helps because it means you can’t pin him down. He’s the nearest thing we have to a Greek or Roman god in this country. The amount of literature that surrounds him is huge and he’s become part of our heritage.”

Arthur’s fate is pretty obvious, given the title, but Armitage says the tale is not simply a literal one.

“One thing that unites all myths that survive is they aren’t just about one story, they don’t only offer one moral message, they’re very fluid. There’s one astonishing section in the poem where Arthur is preparing his fleet on the coast at Sandwich in Kent and it reminded me of the British task force before it set sail for the Falklands 30 years ago. You realise that Britain’s interest in lands that are far away is nothing new.”

He sees the poem not only as a way of exploring a bygone age, but showing its similarities with our own.

“It gives you a moment to reflect on the nature of these islands in relation with the rest of the world. We like to think that we live in a unique age and this is a reminder that many of the issues Britain face today have been rumbling on for centuries.

“If there is a moral aspect to the poem it’s perhaps a warning against boastfulness. At the start there is a sense that Arthur pursues a just war and when this reaches its conclusion he should pack up and go home.

“But he starts to believe his own publicity and that’s when things start to unravel for him.

“The moral of the tale seems to be saying you should get things right at home before you go striding across the world telling other people how to live their lives.”

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The Death of King Arthur, published by Faber & Faber, is out now, priced £12.99