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Children's Literature in Education

, Volume 45, Issue 2, pp 89–100 | Cite as

Enid on Enid: Blyton’s Use of Arthurian Narratives in The Knights of the Round Table

  • T. J. Lustig
Original Paper
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Abstract

The article begins by assessing Enid Blyton’s contribution to the Arthurian revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, setting this in the context of longstanding debates about the function of children’s literature. It goes on to argue that Blyton’s use of the story of Enid in The Knights of the Round Table (1930) has a personal significance which deserves attention. The article also suggests that other figures in the story—Enid’s father, her mother, and her husband Geraint—have parallels in Blyton’s life. In Alfred Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King,” the tale of Geraint and Enid concerns the early phase of married life—a phase which must meet certain criteria if children are to be forthcoming. But Blyton’s source might have prompted unease on her part, for it was in 1928—the year in which The Knights of the Round Table was serialized—that Blyton, who had not conceived after 4 years of marriage, consulted a gynaecologist.

Keywords

Enid Blyton Thomas Malory Alfred Tennyson Medieval romance Arthurian narrative Literary adaptations 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of HumanitiesKeele UniversityKeeleUK

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