▼ The Arthurian myth is a complex system of tales, each of which focuses on someaspect of the legendary King Arthur, his Knights of the Round Table, or the royal court at Camelot. The power of the myth is that it is mutable, recyclable, and recursive. The purpose of this thesis is to examine and evaluates these elements of the myth and how they have evolved from the medieval era to the Victorian era. The inquiry will focus primarily on Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King and the ways in which he implemented recursive circles and cycles stylistically, structurally, and narratively throughout his individual idylls and the complete poem to wholly express the self-reflexive, appropriative, and contemporary natures of the Arthurian myth. Finally, the investigation moves toward Tennyson's contributions to the myth and the ways authors continued to experiment artistically with the myth into the twenty-first century. Advisors/Committee Members: Marsha, Dutton (Advisor).