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

Reading Recollections: Three Act Tragedy

While adding a reading list for 2016, it occurred to me that I cannot continually add lists in the sidebar. So I decided to go through my list of books from 2011, and share a few recollections about those reading experiences. Then, I'll have to edit the list, or move it elsewhere on the blog.

Before we made our first visit to England that year, my wife and I spent a week on the Hawaiian Island of Maui. The first few days proved idyllic. The biggest highlight, by far, was our whale watching trip. We cruised along on a large ferry, and found ourselves constantly surrounded by whales. If they swam a little farther away from us, at least our ride was more comfortable than that enjoyed by those aboard the little powerboats, that zoomed up far closer to our aquatic neighbors.

One night, we awoke to blaring sirens. When we turned on the television, we realized that a tsunami warning was in progress. We stayed awake for most of the rest of the night, and watched ongoing news reports about the terrible devastation occurring in Japan. As our hotel lay along the beach, we debated getting in our rental car and moving to higher ground. Finally, to take our minds off our anxiety, we turned off the TV and read. 

One of those novels I remember reading that week was Three Act Tragedy. Hercule Poirot attends a party at a house along the coast of Cornwall. Drinks are passed around, and one of those who take a glass dies. Yet no poison is found, and if the drink was poisoned, how could the murderer insure that his intended victim took the correct glass from the waiter's tray? What I remember most is that Hercule Poirot, for the most part, remains a spectral, remote figure during the novel. Instead of investigating directly, the task is left to his friend Charles Cartwright, and an attractive young girl nicknamed Egg.

Ironically, that week we visited a cowboy town in the mountains. At a farmer's market, we found a yellow fruit the seller called Egg Fruit. 

The interior was dense, and this, in addition to the taste, reminded me of cheesecake. I've been back to Hawaii several times since then, and each time I've searched through the farmers markets. I have yet to find another egg fruit available for purchase. 

Oh well, there are always papayas.

Yum...papayas!
EXTERMINATE PAPAYAS!!!

Tsunamis may be regular events in Hawaii, but that doesn't mean they don't cause difficulties for everyone. Even though powerful waves did not hit Maui's shores, all the events we had booked for the rest of the week were canceled. Most were never rescheduled. We tried to go snorkeling during our remaining time there, but couldn't, as the currents around the islands were disrupted, more violent, and unpredictable. On our last day there, we broke down and purchased a second whale watching trip. But the whales, perhaps spooked by the displacement of the ocean currents, eluded us.

We never really recovered from the loss of that night's sleep. This left us in a dulled, drugged state for the remainder of the week. But if we found the remainder of our vacation rather disappointing, at least no one we knew died. This could not be said of the people of Japan, who experienced the brunt of the tsunami. Our disappointments cannot be compared to the terrible devastation visited upon that island nation. Theirs was truly a tragedy, and of far more than three acts.

Dragon Dave

The Romance of the Seafront: Part 2

Like Deauville and Trouville, Agatha Christie's English hometown of Torquay offers romantic views along the seafront. My wife and I wandered along the above stretch of seafront on our second day in Torquay. It was pleasant to stroll along, take photographs of the sea, wander through the occasional park, or climb down the stairs to the beaches we passed along the way. It offered us a nice little walk to stretch our legs, before spending the afternoon in the Torre Abbey museum.

With its palm trees, and all the sails out on the water, you might easily believe you were visiting a tropical island. But this is England, and even though it was summer, we saw few bikini-clad ladies lazing on the beaches, or families frolicking in the surf. Still, it was a lovely day, and Torquay offers a nice mix of old and new architectural styles. I especially liked this circular walkway, that corkscrews from the seafront road to the beach.

On our first day in Torquay, we had not yet located an inexpensive place to park. So we stopped in this carpark at the edge of town, and paid for an hour or two. It was such a scenic place that, after eating our lunch, I got out my pencils and started drawing. It was the first time I worked with my Prismacolor pencils, and sadly, it shows. But the main problem was that I simply didn't have time to do the vista justice, not at the parking rates they were charging, and not when there was so much of Torquay we had yet to visit.

One of my goals for the year is not only to do more sketching, but to finish the sketches I've started. Hopefully, I can do this sketch justice, by imbuing it with the sense of romance that tempts us to leave our comfortable homes, and travel great distances to such exotic locales. I loved that little place by the sea, the boat bobbing in the water in front of the island, and the waves wash gently against the rocks. I can imagine Arthur Hastings and Bella Duveen standing there, holding hands while they ponder their future together. I can also see Hercule Poirot standing on the ramp, holding onto the guardrails, and gazing out at the lovely view. How about you?

Dragon Dave

The Romance of the Seafront: Part 1

Is there even one person on this planet who does not find the seafront a romantic locale? After the cataclysmic events of the Agatha Christie's Poirot episode "Murder on the Links," Arthur Hastings finds he cannot yet bear to return to England. So he remains in Deauville, and the place he immediately heads to is the seafront.

One thing he had not reckoned upon was Hercule Poirot's understanding of the human heart. So as Hastings wanders along the seafront, who should pull up, but his friend in a beautiful old car? 

The person who leaves the taxi is not Hercule Poirot, however, but Bella Duveen, the girl Arthur Hastings has fallen in love with. The seafront provides a perfect place for their reunion.

According to one blogger, Joan D., this scene was actually filmed along the old waterfront road in the nearby French town of Trouville. But whether you're looking to fall in love with a beautiful hotel lounge singer, as Captain Arthur Hastings did in "Murder on the Links," or to share a special trip with the person you already love, the two lovely French towns of Deauville and Trouville, with their sweeping views across the English Channel of the white cliffs of Dover (at least, on a cloudless day), seem like the perfect place to spice up your love life.

They seem like wonderful places to take my wife one day. Or, at least, after we've visited all the places we wish to see in England.

Dragon Dave

Internet Links
Joan D's location comments on "Murder on the Links"

Pleasant Recollections: Evil Under The Sun

While adding a reading list for 2016, it occurred to me that I cannot continually add lists in the sidebar. So I decided to go through my list of books from 2011, and share a few recollections about those reading experiences. Then, I'll have to edit the list, or move it elsewhere on the blog.

In 2011, I read two novels by Agatha Christie, both featuring her famous detective Hercule Poirot. While I'm familiar with the story of Evil Under The Sun, having seen the production many times, I cannot honestly recall anything from reading the book five years ago. Perhaps, when I read it again, some memories of that earlier experience will return.

For those not familiar with the story, it occurs on Burgh Island off the south coast of Devon, England. Cut off from the mainland, several murders take place there, and it is up to Hercule Poirot to solve them. Agatha Christie visited the island once, and her visit there inspired her to write the novel. Later, when Agatha Christie's Poirot adapted the novel, the TV production also filmed the story on Burgh Island. I had hoped to visit Burgh Island during our tour of Devon last year, but ultimately had to drop it from my itinerary.

A small, unnamed island off Beacon Cove,
one of Agatha Christie's favorite bathing spots
in her hometown of Torquay, England.

There's lots of little islands off the coast of Cornwall and Devon. Not all of them are large enough to have a hotel or village built on them. Some, such as the island of Lundy, off the west coast of Devon, are wildlife sanctuaries. I seriously considered visiting Lundy, as some key events in Charles Kingsley's novel Westward Ho! take place there. But ultimately, we had to drop that visit from our itinerary as well.

Despite all the places we couldn't visit in the time available, including Burgh and Lundy, and all the other picturesque islands off the coast of Devon, we visited some key Agatha Christie sites, including Dartmoor, Torquay, and Dartmouth. Still, with two full weeks available to us, you would think we could have seen more than a fraction of all the places we wished. After all, England is only an island nation, right?

Dragon Dave

Hastings in the Houses of Parliament

Recently, I read I Will Repay by Baroness Emma Orczy, the sequel to The Scarlet Pimpernel. Although written second, this eventually became the sixth novel in her series of books about Sir Percy Blakeney, a British nobleman who saves the French aristocracy from the guillotine. I like how Orczy took the time later to illumine earlier periods of Sir Percy's life, and I look forward to reading those prequels. I also like how her novels, or at least the two I've read thus far, illumine the French revolution for me. I don't remember studying this period in any depth in school History classes, whether in elementary, high school, or even in my college years. Any American readers out there feel as though their teachers covered the French Revolution well? Or have I just grown forgetful in my, um, mature years?

While reading I noticed some intriguing similarities between Orczy's second novel and the characters and situations Agatha Christie used in her second novel, The Murder on the Links. As Christie set her novel in France, perhaps this was intentional on her part. Likewise, when I read Orczy's first novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, I spotted similarities with Christie's debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I wrote about these in a couple posts, perhaps most extensively in "Agatha Christie: Inspiration for Hercule Poirot." (See link below). 

Similarities can always be drawn between stories, especially stories written about a particular country or topic. But one similarity is especially worthy of note. For his early adventures, including The Murder on the Links, Agatha Christie partnered Hercule Poirot with his friend Hastings. Ex-Army officer Captain Arthur Hastings had strong links with the British aristocracy, and worked for a Member of Parliament. Plus, he was an all-around good guy, and fun to have around.

In Baroness Emma Orczy's novels, and especially in I Will Repay, Sir Percy Blakeney helps whisk French nobility from the murderous mobs with stalwart companions who join The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. One prominently mentioned in I Will Repay is Lord Edward Hastings. Although I don't know him so well, I'm sure he's also a really good guy, and equally fun to have around.

Later in her series, John Hastings (Edward's cousin) would also join the League. I look forward to reading about that.

In 2011, on our first visit to London, my wife and I visited the Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament. The Prime Minister (or P.M.), and the Members of Parliament (or M.P.s), meet in the House of Commons. That's the green upholstered room in the Palace of Westminster, where these elected officials discuss, argue, and vote on governmental issues. By the time we were allowed admittance, the meeting in the House of Commons had adjourned for the night, so we could not see that section of the Palace. But we were allowed admission to the House of Lords. This other wing of the Palace, in which Lords appointed by the monarch, or their successors, meet to discuss the same or similar issues as those of the M.P.s, is upholstered in red. So, in Christie's world, Hastings works for an M.P., elected by the people, who helps run the government of Britain in the green House of Commons. In Orczy's world, Hastings helps run the government in the red House of Lords. Both authors envisioned an important, trustworthy, and fun-loving man named Hastings working in the Palace of Westminster, on the affairs of the nation, on behalf of the British people. An interesting similarity, don't you think?

Of course, as I mentioned in "Agatha Christie's Exclusive Club," Christie and Orczy were both members of The Detection Club, an exclusive writers' club in England. But that would come later for Agatha Christie. When she published The Murder on the Links, she was just an up-and-coming writer, inspired by the efforts of her literary heroes. Might Baroness Emma Orczy have been a hero of Christie's? It'd be nice to pop into Doctor Who's TARDIS, travel back in time, and chat with her about that. After all, it was a Doctor Who TV story, the First Doctor era six-part episode "The Reign of Terror," that got me interested in Baroness Emma Orczy, and reading her books about the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Dragon Dave

Related Poirot Posts:
Agatha Christie: Inspiration for Hercule Poirot
Agatha Christie's Exclusive Club

Agatha Christie's Favorite Bathing Spots

In the Agatha Christie's Poirot adaptation of "Murder on the Links," Captain Arthur Hastings goes out one morning to swim, or bathe, in the ocean. There he bumps into Bella Duveen, the glamorous singer who so entranced him in the lobby of the Hotel Du Golf. When she tells him that the water is freezing, he abandons his swimming plans and instead treats her to breakfast in a warm restaurant. 

Later, after Poirot leaves for London, Hastings meets up with her again. As they walk along the seafront, she convinces him to allow her to tag along to the Police evidence room, where she can see all the items catalogued by Inspector Giraud as he investigates the murder of Paul Renault. He thinks it will all be terribly boring for her. She convinces him that, while she's fascinated by murder, she also enjoys his company.

Deauville, a jewel of the northern coast of France, owes much of its heritage to tourism. The city is renowned for its swimming and bathing opportunities. Over 150 years ago, a series of hydrotherapeutic baths were constructed. Today, visitors are still drawn to its famous pompeian baths.

Agatha Christie loved vacationing in France. Hence, Hercule Poirot often travels there during his storied career. Still, she never lost her love for Torquay. Her childhood home, locating on a stretch of coastline known as the English Riviera, offers beach lovers many places to enjoy an invigorating swim or a relaxing soak. According to one guidebook, Beacon Cove was one of the places Agatha Christie returned to again and again. With its sparkling azure waters and rugged coastline, its easy to imagine her loving this place.

Perhaps that's what drew me to capture this place in more than a photograph. While my wife wandered along the shore, hunting for interesting rocks and shells, I sat down with my pencils and hurriedly sketched out what I saw. The ocean breeze grew cool and bracing as the afternoon waned, but I didn't mind. For an hour or so, I immersed myself in one of Agatha Christie's favorite bathing spots. 

Afterwards, instead of swimming, my wife took me out to a warm restaurant for dinner. But then, she's occasionally admitted that she's fascinated by my sketching, and that she enjoys my company.

Dragon Dave