400–539 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0061057793 (1), ISBN-13: 978-0061058394 (2), ISBN-13: 978-0061057762 (3), ISBN-13: 978-0061059735 (4)
The number of contemporary interpretations of the Arthurian myth must, by now, be legion, although most of them must also be categorized as caca. Not these books, however, for Alfred Angelo “A.A.” Attanasio managed over the course of four books to write a seriously awesome yarn that sews several differing threads together to create an all-encompassing tapestry of a tale. The Dragon and the Unicorn, The Eagle and the Sword, The Wolf and the Crown and The Serpent and the Grail retell the tale of King Arthur, Merlin, the Knights of the Round Table and All That, while adding in a serious discussion of Christianity’s displacement of paganism, the Celtic and Nordic myths of old, “gods” and mortals and how they interact with one another, the deprivations by man against the world (and the world’s response), and how everything occurring in the British Isles of the 5th Century AD could very well lead to nuclear war in our own time. Yeah, there’s a lot going on, but fear not, Dear Reader, for Attanasio proves to be a masterful storyteller who manages to keep it all together and, no foolin’, even make sense.
Take the prose, for instance, something that is sadly lacking in much fantasy literature, past and present. The planet Earth is represented as a dragon – The Dragon, to be exact, a mythical interpretation new to the Arthurian mythos as far as I can tell – and its many dreams subconsciously resonate across the world and even through the galaxy, as the Dragon seems to be in communication with other Dragons – that is, other planets – as well. These dreams have consequences, though, as they move and influence all of the tiny creatures that live, thrive and survive upon it – y’know, US. I mean, really, what a unique and novel interpretation of just what the Dragon is and why it is so powerful and influential. The pagan gods, meanwhile, are in fact electromagnetic lifeforms that live within the Earth’s geomagnetic field, that thing that extends from out from the Earth’s interior out into space where it then interacts with the solar wind from the Sun – another novel reinterpretation of Yggdrasil, the immense mythical worldtree that plays a central role in Norse cosmology.
But wait! There’s more. Attanasio hasn’t forgotten the characters of the original Arthurian mythos, and all of the old, familiar gang is to be found. Uther Pendragon, later known as King Uther, the semi-legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and, with Ygraine, the father of King Arthur. There’s Ygraine, the wife, first, of Gorlois, with whom she gives birth to Elaine, Morgause and Morgan (le Fay), before becoming the wife of Uther Pendragon and the mother, as well, of Arthur. Merlin, the prophet and madman who wandered the Caledonian Forest and who, in Attanasio’s hands, becomes the demon Lailoken in the form of a man. And of course Aquila Regalis Thor – that is, Arthor: King Arthur – the bloodthirsty and violent boy-king who, eventually, becomes all that Lailoken…er, Merlin knew he could become. Adding to this already dense and rich cosmology, Attanasio adds the plethora of Norse, Celtic and Christian tales and mythologies to create a complex, new mythos that tells a tale that is simultaneously dense, complex and fulfilling.
As usual with the Arthurian myths, it is not the hero that is the best, most compelling or fascinating character, but rather the demon Lailoken, or rather Myrddin, or else Merlinus, but best known as Merlin. Oh, Arthur, Morgeu the Fey and The Furor (that would be Odin to you and me) are all well and good, richly drawn and clearly motivated, but it is Merlin and Prince Bright Night (a prince of the daoine sídhe; y’know, faeries) who steal the show. Attanasio’s vision is really amazing, as he has written an all-encompassing work of fiction that engages both the mind and the heart with writing like poetry that entices the reader to read on and on and on. This Arthurian tetralogy transcends the original source material and presents the reader with a dense, multi-layered myth that incorporates the old tales with traditional myths in new interpretations that, somehow, all makes sense. What remains unchanged is that all of these characters must endure countless trials and tribulations to be with one another and sacrifice things dear to them, all to ensure the future.
So often a retelling of Arthurian Mythos fails to honor the old tales while bring anything new to the corpus; but with The Dragon and the Unicorn, The Eagle and the Sword, The Wolf and the Crown and The Serpent and the Grail, A.A. Attanasio succeeds in doing so in brilliant fashion.
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