Here Lies Arthur

Here Lies Arthur is a young adult novel written by British author Philip Reeve in 2007. Gwyna, a young orphan girl, describes how she is taken under the tutelage of the powerful bard Myrddin who orchestrates King Arthur’s rise to power by heroizing his bloody acts. Reeve strips away the magic and chivalry from Arthurian legend, instead, presenting a harshly realistic look at life in the dark ages. As Gwyna comes of age, she grows proficient in Myrddin’s storytelling “conjuring tricks” and creates her own identity.

In Here Lies Arthur, Reeve raises compelling concerns about the power of spin: how one’s perception and belief can be shaped by false narratives, and leaders created from stories that are not true. Here Lies Arthur can be seen as an example of metafiction, as the story explores how stories are made. Gwyna and Myrddin both understand that “in the end stories are all that matter.”

Sometime around 500 AD, when Gwyna the Mouse is around ten years old, Lord Arthur, shiny in his silver-scaled armor, attacks the lands of her master and sets her village afire. Gwyna escapes the carnage by swimming down an icy river. Myrddin finds Gwyna on the riverbank and introduces himself as a “traveler and spinner of tales.” He explains that “Arthur can do nothing so bad that I can’t spin it into gold and use it to make him more famous and more feared.” Myrddin wants to see the Saxon invaders driven out of Britain. He believes that if he makes Arthur strong enough, he can unify warring chieftains, unite the country, rout the Saxons, and achieve peace.



After seeing her prowess at swimming, Myrddin has Gwyna pretend to be the Lady of the Lake. She hides behind a waterfall, swims underneath and thrusts the sword, Caliburn, out of the water and into Arthur’s grasp. Arthur is completely taken in by the deceit. Myrddin keeps Gwyna under his protection. He cuts off her tangled brown hair and disguises her as a boy. Gwyna, now Gwyn, travels with Myrddin as his serving boy. Young Bedwyr teaches Gwyn to care for Myrddin’s horse, and Gwyn finds that she prefers being a boy: the things boys get to do are more fun than women’s work and the clothes are easier to manage as well. She has no trouble passing as Gwyn, noting that “people see what they expect to see, and believe what you tell them to believe.”

As Gwyn and Myrddin follow Arthur and his warriors around Britain, Gwyn realizes that the real Arthur is rough, powerful, and selfish. She also sees how the tales Myrddin spins about Arthur expand his reputation and power. Gwyn meets Peredur, or Peri, the son of a warrior who is raised by his widowed mother as a girl. Peri believes he is female.

Arthur’s band travels to Aquae Sulis, a former ancient Roman city now in need of protection from encroaching Saxons. There, Arthur meets Gwenhwyfar, whom he later marries. Soon, Myrddin knows that Gwyn can no longer pass as a boy. He takes Gwyn away, leaving her at a household to learn women’s ways. Gwyn does not want to be a girl again but complies. As Gwyna once more, she returns with Myrddin to Aquae Sulis and becomes Myrddin’s spy in Gwenhwyfar’s household.



Discovering that he is male, Peredur travels to join Arthur’s band. He comes across Gwenhwyfar and her ladies-in-waiting, including Gwyna. They are attacked, and Gwyna protects the group but gives Peredur the credit. Bedwyr, however, is badly wounded in the leg. Gwenhwyfar takes Bedwyr under her personal care. Their relationship quickly becomes romantic. Gwyna tells Myrddin that Gwenhwyfar and Bedwyr are being unfaithful to Arthur but explains that they are truly in love. Myrddin tells Arthur, who arrives and murders Bedwyr. Gwyna helps Gwenhwyfar to escape, but, tormented by guilt, Gwenhwyfar drowns herself.

Gwyna, who had become fond of Gwenhwyfar, is upset that Myrddin told Arthur about the affair. Myrddin declares that he plans to get rid of the men who are not completely loyal to Arthur. He sets up an ambush that will take out Arthur’s half-brother Cei. When Gwyna learns that Peredur will also be in the group with Cei, Gwyna transforms back into Gwyn, runs away from Myrddin, and goes after the band to rescue them. She saves Peredur in the battle, but he is injured, feverish, and ashamed that they ran away from the fight. To help Peredur recover his confidence, Gwyna, pretending to be the lake lady, gives Peredur a wooden cup. He believes the water in the cup heals him.

Gwyn hears that Myrddin is ill and returns as Gwyna to find that the old bard has had a stroke. Myrddin shares that like Gwyna, his family was killed, and his village razed by Saxons when he was a child. Myrddin was captured as a slave. He explains that all the actions he has taken to build up Arthur have been for the good of Britain. Myrddin dies, telling Gwyna, “You’ve been a good daughter to me. And a good son, too.”



Gwyna journeys to Camlann, where she sees the bloody aftermath of the battle between Arthur’s forces those of Bedwyr’s brother, Medrawt. She watches Arthur die and hurls Caliburn into the lake. Gwyna becomes Gwyn once and for all. With her boyfriend Peredur, Gwyn earns a living as a traveling bard, telling the legendary stories of Arthur. When listeners ask if Arthur will return, she privately thinks, “Christ, I hope not!” but understands that people want to believe in the Arthur Myrddin created, the “story-Arthur,” the wisest, best King ever.

In an Author’s Note, Reeve explains that his interest in King Arthur began in 1981 when he first saw John Boorman’s film, Excalibur. Reeve describes the movie as “brilliant, beautiful, and barking mad.” Here Lies Arthur won the 2008 Carnegie Medal and was listed as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults in 2009.