Arthurian Legend Archive
-
Which Knight of the Round Table Are You?
Posted on November 21, 2014 | No CommentsAre you one of the best knights of the world? Or, would you fail miserably at your quest? Take this quiz and find out! -
Medieval Pop
Posted on November 14, 2014 | No CommentsSo what can we learn from reading medieval fiction alongside our history books? Here are five things, for a start. -
Crafting the witch: Gendering magic in medieval and early modern England
Posted on November 2, 2014 | No CommentsThis project documents and analyzes the gendered transformation of magical figures occurring in Arthurian romance in England from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. -
Which Woman Would You Be in King Arthur’s Court?
Posted on October 22, 2014 | No CommentsThe legendary days of King Arthur were full of love and betrayal, loyalty and ambition, violence and intrigue. Which woman would you have been in Arthurian times? Take the test and find out! -
Knighthood in Le Morte D’Arthur: Recapitulation of Development of Medieval Chivalric Literature
Posted on October 11, 2014 | No CommentsUndoubtedly chivalry belongs among the most influential phenomena in medieval Europe. Since its emergence in the eleventh century chivalry with its concept of knighthood is adopted by various European countries in the era as one of the principal codes applied not only in military campaigns but also in the sphere of morality as well as the social stratification of the monarchies. -
Competition and tradition: Carolingian political rituals, 751-800
Posted on September 15, 2014 | No CommentsIn 751, the Carolingians supplanted the traditional ruling dynasty of Francia. This article surveys Carolingian political rituals between 751 and 800, and argues that ritual was one means through which this new royal family sought to construct and legitimate its authority against its dynastic competitors. -
Reflection of the Wars of the Roses in Thomas Malory`s Le Morte D`Arthur: Literary-cultural analysis
Posted on August 12, 2014 | No CommentsThe aim of this research paper is to analyse the Morte D’Arthur and find certain historical moments incorporated in the book. Firstly, as the goal of work follows a hypothesis that Thomas Malory reflected manifold incidents from the Wars of the Roses in the Morte D’Arthur, it was inevitable to understand author’s position in this civil war, which meant investigating in the authorship. -
A Kiss Is Just a Kiss: Heterosexuality and Its Consolations in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Posted on August 5, 2014 | No CommentsThe famous line from that modern romance- "A kiss is just a kiss"- is the message the Gawain-poet gave his listeners six centuries ago. -
Edward I and the Appropriation of Arthurian Legend
Posted on May 26, 2014 | No CommentsI recount some of the various activities of Edward I where he appears to use Arthurian legend in a political context, making no attempt to draw conclusions about the nature of national identity in thirteenth century England, but rather to demonstrate the potential of this era for re-evaluation and reinterpretation by those interested in pursuing such matters. -
The Arthurian Legend on the small screen: Starz’ Camelot and BBC’s Merlin
Posted on May 1, 2014 | No CommentsThe story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table has endured for a thousand years. It has been told and retold countless times, in novel form, as poetry, on stage, and on screen. -
Returning the King: The Medieval King in Modern Fantasy
Posted on April 5, 2014 | No CommentsTales of kingship in modern fiction, specifically in the work of Neil Gaiman (The Sandman) and George R. R. Martin (A Game of Thrones), are similar to the medieval models, as kingship and the requirements of kingship were popular themes in medieval texts, including Beowulf and King Horn. -
Translating the Life of Merlin
Posted on March 22, 2014 | No CommentsThis essay analyses three of the most prominent translations of the Life of Merlin, in order to discern how the translator's differing methods have resulted in subtle, yet important, changes in meaning. -
Star Wars and the Middle Ages
Posted on March 16, 2014 | No CommentsWhen George Lucas wrote up the screen play that would become Episode IV: A New Hope, he would make use of medieval history to help create his galaxy far, far away. -
‘Some Like it Hot’: The Medieval Eroticism of Heat
Posted on March 16, 2014 | No CommentsThe late fourteenth-century romance Sir Launfal narrates the financial, martial and erotic adventures of one of the lesser-known knights of the Arthurian court. -
Mordred: Treachery, Transference, and Border Pressure in British Arthurian Romance
Posted on March 12, 2014 | No CommentsThis study focuses on the question of how Mordred comes to be portrayed as a traitor within the British Arthurian context. -
![The battle of Badon [Bellum Badonis], in which Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were victorious.](http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Battle-of-Badon-115x115.jpg "The derivation of the date of the Badon entry in the Annales Cambriae from Bede and Gildas")
The derivation of the date of the Badon entry in the Annales Cambriae from Bede and Gildas
Posted on March 5, 2014 | No CommentsThe battle of Badon [Bellum Badonis], in which Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were victorious. -
A Quest for the Black Knight: Casting People of Color in Arthurian Film and Television
Posted on February 23, 2014 | No CommentsHowever, though there are more people of color in Arthurian film and television productions, progress toward inclusivity has not been quick or simple to achieve. -
The Prologue to Chrétien’s Erec et Enide: Key to the Alchemical San of the Romance
Posted on February 6, 2014 | No CommentsCritical consensus holds that Chrétien’s first Arthurian romance, Erec et Enide, tends toward cultural and psychological realism. -
Tristan and Isolde: A Medieval Story of Love and Betrayal
Posted on February 1, 2014 | No CommentsBy the high middle ages, Tristan and Isolde’s love story had become extremely popular. -
![Depictions of the Scots in the Arthurian Legend Diana Jefferies Journal of the Sydney Society for Scottish History: Vol 14 (2013) Abstract This paper will explore how motifs of Scotland […]](http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Arthur-Pyle_King_Arthur_of_Britain-115x115.jpg "Depictions of the Scots in the Arthurian Legend")
Depictions of the Scots in the Arthurian Legend
Posted on January 22, 2014 | No CommentsDepictions of the Scots in the Arthurian Legend Diana Jefferies Journal of the Sydney Society for Scottish History: Vol 14 (2013) Abstract This paper will explore how motifs of Scotland […] -
The Public and Private Boundaries of Motherhood: Queen Igraine in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia and Laȝamon’s Brut’
Posted on January 11, 2014 | No CommentsIn literary criticism, awareness of transmission of tales between British and continental literature tends to encourage a view of some Arthurian narratives as more similar in tone, style, and language than they in fact are. -
Lancelot Can Keep His T-Shirt
Posted on January 2, 2014 | No CommentsIf t-shirts had been all the rage in the Middle Ages, you can bet there would have been 'Team Lancelot' ones selling like hotcakes. You can also bet that I wouldn't have owned one. -
The Development of Arthurian Legends
Posted on November 24, 2013 | No CommentsKing Arthur is a well known character of literature and film, and any person on the street could probably recall many aspects of his story. However, the story that so many people know and love is the result of hundreds of years of transformation and manipulation of a legend. It did not begin with much grandiosity or with very much background information. -
The millennium King Arthur: the commodification of the Arthurian legend in the 20th century
Posted on October 15, 2013 | No CommentsThe prophesy that King Arthur will return has come true. This legendary icon of Western civilization lives again in the popular culture novels of contemporary and futuristic literature. -
The uses of secular rulers and characters in the Welsh Saint’s lives in the Vespasian Legendary
Posted on September 29, 2013 | No CommentsThis study focuses on the functional use of famous characters from the Welsh literary and historical contexts, like King Arthur and King Maelgwn of Gwynedd, in the Welsh Saints’ Lives found in the Vespasian Legendary, the most significant Welsh legendary extant, dated to ca. 1200.
