Bedwyr - Modern Depictions

Modern Depictions

Bedivere remains a popular character in modern literature. Some modern authors such as Rosemary Sutcliff, Gillian Bradshaw, John M. Ford and Mary Stewart even give him Lancelot's traditional role as Guinevere's lover, Lancelot having been added to the cycle too late to seem historical. In Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Chronicles, Bedivere has a minor role but many of his legendary deeds (such as throwing Excalibur into the Lake; or in Cornwell's story, the sea) are instead carried out by the protagonist Derfel Cadarn.

In the Monty Python 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "Sir Bedevere the Wise" is played by Terry Jones, and in the Broadway musical Spamalot, he was originally played by Steve Rosen. He is portrayed as a master of the extremely odd logic of ancient times, claiming at one point "and that is how we know the earth to be banana-shaped." Or when Arthur asks: "Tell me again how sheep's bladders can be used to prevent earthquakes." While his logic is fairly bizarre (he condemns a woman to death for being a witch, evidenced by her weighing as much as a duck using his scales. The witch responds, after the scales prove she's a witch, "It's a fair cop", meaning she finally admits the charges against her are justifiable. The joke seems to be not that the scales are faulty but, rather, that Sir Bedevere's faulty logic was absurdly proven true), he is extremely loyal to Arthur and is the only other main character to be with Arthur at the end of the film.

Bedivere appears as main character in the novel Grailblazers by Tom Holt although he is often referred to by his companions (other Arthurian knights) as Bedders during their search for the Holy Grail.