The Habit Malcolm Guite and Junius Johnson Take Up the Tale
Dec 1, 2025
Join esteemed poet Malcolm Guite, known for his captivating retellings of Arthurian legends, and scholar Junius Johnson, who specializes in medieval history. They dive into their early encounters with the tales of King Arthur, revealing how these stories shaped their lives. Malcolm shares the emotional impact of his mother's storytelling, while Junius reflects on the transformative power of tales like The Chronicles and The Sword in the Stone. Together, they explore the enduring significance of these legends in British identity and the art of passing down stories through generations.
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Formative Childhood Storytelling
- Malcolm Guite learned Arthurian stories from his mother who narrated vivid, unexpurgated medieval tales while they lived in Africa.
- Her telling of Balin's Dolorous Stroke taught him that one rash act can wound the land and still hold hope for healing.
Sin Wounds The Land
- The Dolorous Stroke links personal sin to ecological devastation because the king's wound makes the land barren.
- Malcolm reads the Grail cycle as a mythic diagnosis of modern ecological and spiritual disconnection.
Childhood Escape Through Arthurian Media
- Junius Johnson discovered Arthur through The Chronicles of Narnia and Disney's The Sword in the Stone, watching the film repeatedly as a child.
- The tale offered him an imaginative escape and a vision that life could be radically different by divine providence.
