Macbeth the King

Rating:
Summary: From Tragic Villain to Tragic Hero
Review: MacBeth, is one of the best-known names in literature, thanks to Shakespeare. But as a historical person, who lived and loved and fought and reigned nothing much is unknown. Shakespeare's version is great drama but utter fabrication as far as history goes. And sadly, in the tragic play, the character of MacBeth and still more of his great lady and queen, Gruoch, have been grievously defamed.

MacBeth, grandson of Malcolm II, was no savage usurper and regicide - just as his cousin, "the gracious Duncan" of the play, was not a gentle king but a weak and foolish king who was going to be a disaster for Scotland, and died, not murdered, of battle wounds. While the Queen Gruoch, who had more right to the throne than either Duncan or MacBeth, was never the female monster portrayed in Lady MacBeth, but a woman of great character and courage.

Nigel Tranter's story of the historical MacBeth and his struggle to make and save a united Scotland, of his love of a greatly - wronged young woman, of the humane laws they sought to establish, the battles he was forced to fight, the ancient Celtic Church he supported against the incursion of Rome and the ultimate price he had to pay. To a large extent, the book is also the story of Thorfinn, (MacBeth's half-brother) Viking Earl of Orkney.

Ranging all over Scotland and the Hebrides, the story also goes to Norway, Denmark and Rome. Canute, Edward the Confessor, Siward of Northumbria, King Sven of Denmark, Pope Leo IX, the Saxons and the Normans are amongst the host of forceful characters who stride across the huge and colorful canvas which Nigel Tranter has brought to life.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent dramatization One of Scotland's Greatest Kings.
Review: Mathew Allen - 02/11/98

This book takes the Scottish history concerning MacBeth from the area of Shakespeare's play to how this important king figures in the flow of Scotland's development into the nation and people that spans the Highlands and the Lowlands. It is in MacBeth's time that the Kingdom of Alba grows to encompass Galloway, Strathclyde and Lothian. This book presents dramatic details of the relationship from the lesser kings of Scotland (that would come to be known as the 13 Belted Earls, kings in their own right) to that of the High King (Ard Righ). The description of the coronation of MacBeth is worth the entire reading of the book. If a reader is interested in medieval re-creation or in understanding how the traditions of the nation have an impact on the people, this is a great place to start. (This scene reminded me of the scene in Dune where Paul claims the Dukedom before the great battle, avoiding combat with Stilguar.)

As is typical of Mr. Tranter's fictions, he doesn't list his references for this particular work. For the historians, it is difficult to know where the history and exact fact leaves off and where you are standing fully in the fiction. However, as an endorsement of Tranter's work, I have always found his historical facts to be accurate, leaving only the dialogs to the fabrication of the author. (Of course, this is what one would expect of a Historian turned novelist.)

But the work is not just a fancy story telling of the history. It contains characterizations that make it stand out as an excellent work of literature. We see a character (MacBeth the Mamor - Earl) struggle with the succession of Kings, where he has a claim to the title. Subsequently, we are introduced to the Viking blood of Scotland and the struggle as one King dies and leaves a Tanist throne in a state fit for civil war. As MacBeth becomes King of Scots (Alba) through the circumstances that will confuse a reader if they thought Shakespeare was a recounting of history, we watch the character develop with doubts and concerns that add dimension.

The aspects of history that I could not confirm as of my writing of this review, was the use and introduction of mounted knights in Scotland via Norman Mercenaries. What a concept to consider as a person scans the history from 1050 A.D. to the days of Wallace and Bruce and the days of King Edward of England. Also, my follow-up history research has been unable to confirm the detail of MacBeth's travels to the Pope and Rome, the first King of Scots to make the journey. These are details that add so much realism that you sometimes forget you are reading a Fictionalized-History and not History itself.

(I suppose I should add that I am quite a fan of the author, and own some 20 volumes of his books)

Rating:
Summary: From Tragic Villain to Tragic Hero
Review: Tranter's introduction to the human side of McBeth vs the myth protrayed by Shakespear is a sheer delight. Learning how the young man only wanted peace in his land and accepted the love of a war won lady by his stepbrother, from her war monger husband. He accepted her and her child as his own without force. He placed her and the child as honored equals at his side, taking a stand to honor women as no other man of power before him had done. This is not the McBeth Shakespear led the world to think of. Shame on Skakespear!

Rating:
Summary: McBeth the Man loved humanity and peace "a churchman".
Review: Tranter's introduction to the human side of McBeth vs the myth protrayed by Shakespear is a sheer delight. Learning how the young man only wanted peace in his land and accepted the love of a war won lady by his stepbrother, from her war monger husband. He accepted her and her child as his own without force. He placed her and the child as honored equals at his side, taking a stand to honor women as no other man of power before him had done. This is not the McBeth Shakespear led the world to think of. Shame on Skakespear!