Arthurian Inspiration
Objects
The Square Table
King Arthur is famous for his Round Table, where all men (including the King) were equal because there was no head to sit at. In ‘Knights and Knightresses’, Princess Flame and her knightresses apparently extolled this method, although we never actually saw their round table. In Series 1, the Knights of the Square Table only gathered around the Table for important meetings and playing bingo; but in Series 2, they started eating meals there too. The Square Table can be seen in the following episodes: ‘Knights and Knightresses’; ‘Robbing Hoodlum’; ‘Sir Hare’; ‘Bleepin’ Beauty’; ‘The Age of Retention’; ‘The Lost Ruby Hat of Omar the Ham’; ‘Three Dragons and a Baby’; ‘Erik the Well-Read’; ‘You Dim Sum, You Lose Some’; ‘Single Green Dragon’; and ‘Griddle’s Sleepless Knights’.
Excaliburn
King Arthur’s Excalibur is probably the most famous legendary weapon in the western world. In some versions of the legend, Excalibur is the sword that Arthur draws from the stone to prove that he is the rightful king, while in other versions the sword in the stone is a different sword, and Arthur acquires Excalibur later from the Lady of the Lake. Blazing Dragons seems to be unsure exactly where it stands on the matter. In ‘Excaliburn’, it is revealed that King Allfire drew Excaliburn from the stone in order to become king. Later in the episode, King Allfire says that he intends to consult the Lady of the Lake about Exacaliburn’s apparent reluctance to come out of the stone because ‘Excaliburn was her sword in the first place’, proving that the creators of Blazing Dragons are well aware that Excalibur’s origins are complicated. However, when Excaliburn reappears in the Series 2 episode ‘Excalibroke’, it is stated that the Lady of the Lake gave the sword to King Allfire along with her firstborn son, Sir Loungelot. This seems to be somewhat at odds with King Allfire’s back-story as it was presented in ‘Excaliburn’. In ‘Excalibroke’, Loungelot accidentally breaks the sword on one of Griddle’s fruitcakes, causing Flicker to come out with such evocatively legendary phrases as ‘forged when the world was young’ and ‘you broke what could not be broken’. Excaliburn is apparently such a magical sword that the land starts to decay when it is broken (as does Queen Griddle’s face). Excaliburn is seen and mentioned by name again in the final episode of Blazing Dragons, ‘Slay the Dragon’.
The Holy Quail
The Holy Grail is supposedly the goblet from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper; the most famous quest undertaken by King Arthur and his knights was to find this particular treasure. In ‘The Quest for the Holy Quail’ it is revealed that King Allfire and his knights undertake a similar quest every year, but that they are looking for a small brown bird in a bishop’s hat instead of a sacred goblet. As the Holy Quail always proves so elusive, Sir Blaze comes up with two alternative quest objects: the Holy Pail and the Holy Kale.
The Holy Grail
The ultimate treasure itself makes a brief appearance at the end of ‘Excalibroke’, when Sir Loungelot accidentally breaks it.
The Singing Mace
The magic mace in ‘Achy Breaky Mace’ is evocative of the Singing Sword of Prince Valiant. Valiant is not one of the better known Knights of the Round Table, although some children of the 1980s are familiar with his eponymous comic book and cartoon series.
The Golf Club in the Stone of St Andrews
A clear adaptation of King Arthur’s sword in the stone, the golf club can only be withdrawn by the descendants of the royal Furnace clan in the Series 2 episode ‘MacBreath’. By drawing the club from the stone, Sir Burnevere proves that he is the rightful king of Scotland. Golf is the sport with which Scotland is most associated, and St Andrews is one of the world’s most famous golf courses.