I Am Mordred: A Tale from Camelot - Hardcover

Springer, Nancy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399231439 ISBN 13: 9780399231438

Publisher: Philomel Books, 1998

Synopsis

After a prophecy by Merlin that Mordred will grow up to kill his father, the beloved King Arthur, young Mordred struggles with fate, loathing the great king who tried to kill him as a baby, but he travels to Camelot, where he learns to idolize his father.

About this title

Review:

"In language worthy of her heroic subject, Springer reworks Arthuriana to craft an original tale resonant with archetypal themes of love, loss, betrayal and reconciliation. Her strong female characters and bold recasting of traditional villains and heroes will draw the rapt attention of both sexes." --Publishers Weekly

"This is an involving, moving story. Although many of the characters have magical abilities, they are portrayed as real human beings. A complex... novel that will reward serious readers." --School Library Journal

"A thoroughly captivating and poignant tale." --Booklist

"This is an unusual but sympathetic view of Mordred, beautifully written with magical images and characters." --Teacher Magazine

"A thrilling and original take on the Arthurian legend, Springer's prose has poise and insight." --TES Primary

From the Author:

Born Guilty
Are all children born innocent? Not according to the medieval worldview. A child born wrongfully -- out of wedlock, for instance -- could be assumed to be bad to the bone right from the git-go. (We retain vestiges of this belief when we call someone a "bastard" or "son of a bitch.") When young King Arthur, then, made the mistake of having sex with his sister, the resulting child was assumed to be morally evil. The king's son and also his nephew? Monstrous. Mordred was born guilty, condemned before the fact of being his father's killer.

For me, a post-Freudian writer accustomed to dealing with psychological character motivation, it was fascinating to approach the traditional Arthurian material from the modern point of view that Mordred was born innocent, as good-hearted as any kid who ever ran along a seashore or loved to ride a horse. The story as experienced through Mordred's growing pains assumes a whole new perspective. King Arthur, the one who put forty babies in a boat and pushed them out to sea -- he's the good guy? And Mordred, who has never done anything except try to do his best -- he's bad?

How does a lonely, sensitive boy turn into a father-killer? In writing Mordred's story, I found a whole new meaning to the words "self-fulfilling prophecy." And while Mordred's story takes place in Camelot, I was thinking as I wrote of modern teens, assumed guilty, deprived of constitutional rights the moment they enter a school door, discriminated against in ways that no other American has to tolerate -- imagine if the convenience store sign said that only two of your demographic group at a time could enter? I was thinking of young people in general when I dedicated the book "to oddlings everywhere."

About this edition

• Publisher: Philomel Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0399231439
• ISBN 13: 9780399231438
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 184
• Editor: Green Michael
• Illustrator: Leister Bryan