Chivalry and the Medieval Imaginary

An Analysis of Chivalric Idealizations in The Mists of Avalon

Abstract

This article analyzes the idealizations of the medieval knight figure in The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, relating them to historiographical concepts of knighthood and the medieval imaginary. The research is based on a theoretical survey of chivalric representations throughout history and discusses the symbolic construction of characters such as Lancelot and Gawaine, contrasting their traits with the courtly ideal and Christian knighthood. Through a qualitative and comparative approach, the study observes how Bradley reinterprets these medieval images within a context of religious and cultural dispute, revealing moral tensions and paradoxes present in Western literary and historiographical tradition.