Hercule Poirot & Arthurian Legends

A display of swords in Torre Abbey museum
in Agatha Christie's hometown Torquay

When I visited the World Fantasy Convention held in Brighton in 2013, my wife and I met an  artist from France. Among his interests was a focus on King Arthur. I enjoyed his paintings of Arthur and his knights, as they searched for the holy Grail, and lived out many of the other stories that surround this historical (mythological) king, his sorcerer and advisor Merlin, his right-hand man Sir Lancelot, his loving but ultimately adulterous Queen Guinevere, and the rest of those who sat around the round table. Only later did it strike me as odd that a French artist should be so interested in an English king.

Unlike English children, who would have grown up surrounded by Arthurian myth, what really drew my attention to Arthurian legends was the film "Excalibur." Named after his famous sword, the movie, directed by Englishman John Boorman swept me away with its rich characterization, gripping drama, and lush photography. I saw it several times in the cinema, and later purchased it on VHS tape, DVD, and Blu-ray. Because I loved the film so much, I later read Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, novels in the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead, and many other books and stories associated with Arthurian legend.

While King Arthur may be a curiosity in the United States, the Arthur history and myths are part of English culture. It surprised me to learn that they are also important in France. In fact, while Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur aims at being a comprehensive record of Arthurian lore, much of what he includes in his book was first recorded by French poet Chretien de Troyes. While I've not read any of these Medieval English or French stories that Malory drew on in his depiction of Arthur, I get the sense that the English and the French depict Arthur in different terms. To the English, he is heroic and wise, the first man to ever unite the disparate peoples, towns, and areas into one island nation. The French see him as a very human man, cuckolded, vulnerable, and many times ineffectual. Nevertheless, because he tries so hard, and aims so high, they still view him with affection and respect for his ambitions and achievements. 

In The Murder on the Links, a plea for assistance from Paul Renauld summons Hercule Poirot and his friend Captain Hastings to France. The name of the town where Renauld lives is named Merlinville-sur-Mer. The house in which the Renauld family lives is named Villa Genevieve. Sadly, by the time Poirot and Hastings arrive, Paul Renauld has been murdered. One of the suspects is a woman who lives next door. Once she was a beautiful young woman, the queen of her husband's financial empire, who ultimately committed adultery against her husband. The man who she committed adultery with was Paul Renauld, then known as Georges Conneau, who was her husband's right-hand man. The murder weapon is a long, sharp letter opener, or paper knife. The Renauld family also refers to it as dagger, which is a term for a short sword. And this is not just any dagger, but like Excalibur, one that was specially commissioned. 

As we all know, Merlin was the wizard who served the legendary King Arthur. Like Hercule Poirot, he was impossibly wise, and performed feats that others could only attribute to magic. In The Murder on the Links, we see events unfold through Captain Hastings' eyes. We see his initial distrust of Poirot's methods inevitably overturned, as his friend's magical methods of detection, and his wisdom, are proven true. Like King Arthur, Captain Hastings longs to be the hero of the story. In many ways, particularly with regard to the young, beautiful, and seemingly helpless Ms. Duveen, Captain Hastings risks his life and future career to preserve her life and character. While his acts ultimately prove ineffectual, we still view him with affection and respect for his ambitions and achievements.

I don't know to what extent Agatha Christie loved the King Arthur legends, but I can't help but notice the similarities between them and the characters and events in The Murder on the Links. I also find it striking how she makes the narrator, Hastings, someone we love and admire, even if his wise friend often solves mysteries through seemingly magical means. While he no longer serves in the military, he did achieve the rank of Captain, which suggests that he is a leader of men. In addition to assisting his friend Hercule Poirot, he currently serves an MP in the English Parliament, a high post for any person to achieve. Finally, of all the names she could have chosen, what name did Agatha give the narrator of her first two Hercule Poirot novels?

It was Arthur, wasn't it?

Dragon Dave