User:Marpodeschi/Alliterative Morte Arthure

Contents (Continued)
An example of the differing style of the alliterative version of the story is the treatment of Mordred. He is not simply the villain of the piece as he is in other poems but is a complex character with a varying personality. One mark of the prevalence of Christian morality in the poem is that even Mordred cries and seems to be repentant around line 3886. The Alliterative Morte is “more interested in the fates of men than of armies,” and even Arthur himself transforms from a “prudent and virtuous king to cruel reckless tyrant.” The work's humanist perspective is more critical of war in general than  most Arthurian legends, showing mixed reactions toward the "pitiless genocides" surrounding the tale.

Rather than an end rhyme, the Alliterative uses alliteration on metrical stresses, such as the “grete glorious God through grace of Himselven” (li 4) and a parataxis style of short, simple sentences similar to those seen in Iliad and Beowulf.