A mythological king is an

archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. A king is considered a "mythological king" if he is included and described in the culture's

. Unlike a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

al king, aspects of their lives may have been real and legendary, or that the culture (through legend and story telling) believed to be real. In the

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

, the legends that surround any historical truth might have evolved into symbols of "kinship" and leadership, and expanded with descriptions of spiritual,

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

or magical chain of events. For example, in legend the king may have magical weapons and fight dragons or other mythological beasts. His

archetypical The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...

role is usually to protect and serve the people.

Archetypes of kings

One mythological

is the "good king" (McConnel 1979), also sometimes called the "monarchical hero". The "good king" is often the epic hero who made his world safe for civilization. Two examples that scholars have identified as filling the roles and earning the reputation of "good kings" were

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

and

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...

, above and beyond their legendary and historic lives. Beowulf for example is a mythological king in training in the epic tradition, because he fights "a strenuous battle against the disorganization of the universe." (McConnel 1979:59) Another is the great king "Oxthar", a leopard headed man that journeyed to the mythical underworld of Palulu (which is the supposed place where the sun goes to rest at night) and stole glowing stones from the bed of the sun to give light and power to his people.

Mythemes of kings

Some

mytheme In structuralism-influenced studies of mythology, a mytheme is a fundamental generic unit of narrative structure (typically involving a relationship between a character, an event, and a theme) from which myths are thought to be constructed—a mi ...

s and cultural belief systems that are explored through myths about kings include: what is the source of the king's power, what is the training he must go through, what tests of courage does he pass, what are the battles he must fight, and what are the effects of taking power. In

epics The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software tools and applications used to develop and implement distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, telescopes and other large sci ...

of war, source of power is often having physical skills above ordinary men, owning "magical" weapons and political alliances. In spiritual mythologies the king's power may come from a spiritual source and also spiritual weapons. In romantic and contemplative myths his power and success may from internal personality traits, such as from courage, wisdom and self-restraint. Another common theme is the king's wounds, sacrifice and (sometimes) death for the betterment of the people. The

Fisher King The Fisher King is a figure in Arthurian legend, the last in a long line of British kings tasked with guarding the Holy Grail. The Fisher King is both the protector and physical embodiment of his lands, but a wound renders him incapable and hi ...

is an example of theme of the "wounded king." One other theme to be aware of in

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

and mythology is that the king's health is often symbolic of the health of the kingdom or society: For example, a sick king means a weakened and vulnerable society, a healthy king means a healthy society, an emotionally or physically distant king means the society is in danger. Also, the installation of kings at the New Year was believed to renew the

cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

: "The king becomes in a manner responsible for the stability, the fecundity and the prosperity of the entire Cosmos." (Eliade 1963:41)

References

* Eliade, Mircea (translated). ''Myths and Reality.'' Translated from French by Trask, William, edited by

Ruth Nanda Anshen Ruth Nanda Anshen (June 14, 1900 – December 2, 2003) was an American philosopher, author and editor. She was the author of several books including ''The Anatomy of Evil'', ''Biography of An Idea'', ''Morals Equals Manners'' and ''The Mystery ...

. New York: Harper and Row, 1963. (esp. Section III "Myths and Rites of Renewal"; Section IX "Survivals and Camaflages of Myths - Eschatological Myths of the Middle Ages") * McConnell, Frank. ''Storytelling and Mythmaking.'' New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979 . (Discusses the different types of mythological kings) {{Stock characters

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Stock characters

Archetypes of kings

Mythemes of kings

See also

References