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Blood runs deep in the chivalric literature of the Middle Ages. To begin, the possession of noble blood is integral to chivalry. Nigel Saul explains that “chivalry and nobility went hand in hand. Chivalry idealised the estate of knighthood, while nobility was a way of describing its social exclusiveness” (172). In other words, birthright served as a gatekeeper to the noble class: “The belief was that a man’s worth was inseparable from that of his kin. His very being as honourable had been transmitted to him through the blood of his ancestors, themselves honourable men” (Saul 172). In his definition of chivalry, historian Maurice Keen connects bloodline to chivalric virtue through the attribute of franchise, “the free and frank bearing that is testimony to the combination of good birth with virtue” (2). In other words, proper bloodline manifests in the outstanding physical appearance and impeccable behavior, or code of conduct, that served to set the nobility above and apart.1 Inherent to a noble bloodline are chivalric attributes that serve as distinguishing features of the ideal medieval knight. These are, according to Keen, prowess, generosity, courtesy, and loyalty (2).
In her Harry Potter novels, Rowling brings to life for young readers a number of themes and motifs that permeate the European medieval romance, a genre that focuses on the adventures of knights and the establishment of chivalric ideals. In this paper, I focus primarily on Sir Thomas Malory’s late-fifteenth-century Le Morte D’Arthur to illustrate how Rowling engages with medievalism in her depiction of the significance of blood. I limit my discussion to Malory, whose work gained prominence upon William Caxton’s decision to print it and which is often the source for modern writers depicting Arthuriana. Certainly, Rowling’s medievalism seems closely to reflect some of the characters and themes that appear in Malory’s work. In Le Morte D’Arthur, noble blood is particularly significant to the portrayal of Arthurian knights. While it is not always a guarantee of chivalric virtue, it is nonetheless necessary for acceptance into the noble class. Further, it has restorative qualities and can be offered up as a curative.2 However, blood also proves to be both a dangerous and complicated matter: it sometimes provokes battles, including the final...