Crown with it I
The man who would be king (and changed his name to Arthur) weighs in on new historical flick
As a teenager, John Timothy Rothwell, now 63, had a near-death experience and became interested in the spiritual and occult. He began training as a druid, and in 1986, he had the epiphany that he was the reincarnation of the legendary British hero, King Arthur. He legally changed his name to Arthur Uther Pendragon, and today, he lives in Salisbury, England, is a druid leader and political activist, and plans to run for Parliament as an independent. He enjoys motorcycles and is in a long-term relationship with a druid high priestess, Kazz. Here, he tells REEDTUCKERabout his take on “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.”
haven’t seen the film yet. I’m too busy
being Arthur to watch someone else playing at it. But Guy Ritchie is a good director. I loved “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”
From the trailer, I can tell they’ve put a modern spin on it. And that’s OK. I’m putting a pretty modern spin on the Arthur tale, aren’t I?
The whole Arthurian tale is timeless and is retold from one generation to the next. That’s part of the power of Arthur — this mythical quality that you’re never sure whether it ever existed or in what manner it ever existed. That’s part of the magic. It’s a mystery. It wouldn’t be the same if everyone could pin it down.
You can see the movie is very much dealing with the mythical and magical as opposed to the historical, and, from that point of view, it looks very interesting. It’s the right way to go for entertainment value, isn’t it? “The Lord of the Rings” packed them in at the box office.
[The dragons, giant elephants and other mythical elements] will probably appeal to a different kind of audience, but those elements were there. They were most definitely written into the myth in every shape and form. Even in modern times, the modern Arthur — myself — I wear a dragon as my emblem. [My name is] Arthur Pendragon — Pendragon meaning “head dragon.” The dragon has always been there; it’s just not always been portrayed as a monster.
I only know Charlie Hunnam [who plays King Arthur] from “Sons of Anarchy” — his blond hair is a bit of a strange choice from a historical point of view. You look at the Celts and they were dark-haired . . .
Hunnam was born in England and was a child star over here on TV, but I think he’s more one of yours than one of ours. That’s one of the problems I had with the movie. He speaks with an American accent, even though he’s originally British. Even if [Hollywood] has British actors playing the lead roles, they don’t sound particularly British. Microsoft English, I believe you call it.
[Hunnam’s character] is pretty streetwise, I’d say. For Charlie Hunnam to play him in that manner, it’s not different from the original Welsh text. If you actually look at the mythology and some of the older writings, some of them say Arthur was a pig rustler.
The legend has been [Hollywoodized]. When you hear “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,” you’ve got to replace “king” with “chieftain” and “knight” with “mounted warrior.” That’s closer to the truth. The original Arthur was leading a light cavalry around the country, fighting a number of different enemies. It’s only in later years that they’ve been referred to as “kings.” It’s completely rewriting history.
“The whole Arthurian tale is timeless. That’s part of the power of Arthur.” — Arthur Uther Pendragon