The heroic tales of the legendary King Arthur have survived throughout many centuries. Modern society has learned of this celebrated figure through oral and literary tradition, such as the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s pseudo-history Historia Regum Britanniae, Sir Thomas Malory’s romantic epic Le Morte d’Arthur and medieval Arthurian poetry.
“Hic Facet Arthurus, Rex Quondam, Rexque Futurus:” The Analysis of Original Medieval Sources in the Search for the Historica King Arthur
April 24, 2012 By
A survey of the scholarship of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
April 17, 2012 By
A survey of the major themes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SGGK) reveals both the poem’s complexity and the poet’s artistry. A general examination of the poem permits commentary upon the work’s historical background, thematic unity, and narrative structure.
Elements of the Arthurian Tradition in Harry Potter
April 3, 2012 By
Both heroes exist to save their people from doom. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, who authored Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) in 1136, Arthur ‘led his troops against the Saxons, who were still making trouble in various parts of the country, and after various vicissitudes he defeated them on a hill outside Bath, wielding a wonderful sword called Caliburn’1 (Ashe, ‘Quest’).
Hidden Manna and the Holy Grail: The Psychedelic Sacrament in Arthurian Romance
April 3, 2012 By
Scholars are generally agreed that Arthurian wonder tales like “Cullhwch and Olwen” must have been widely distributed in Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany in advance of the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Belief in a living Arthur was then in the air.
Arthurian Material in a Late-Medieval French Miscellany: Poitiers, Bibliothèque Municipale, ms. 215
March 4, 2012 By
The evidence concerning the ownership of this manuscript is tantalizingly fragmentary. Its beautifully decorated borders contain the initials AM in monogram and the Old French devise “Ie n’en voy nul jusques au trespas” in banderoles.
Coconuts in Camelot: Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the Arthurian Literature Course
February 20, 2012 By
Student enthusiasm for Monty Python’s film contrasts with the noticeably more restrained stance of scholarly opinion which, while rarely omitting to mention the film’s existence in discussions of cinematic Arthuriana, has relatively little to say about the actual film.
Chivalry, Adultery, Ambiguity: The Image of Tristan and Isolde in Medieval Art
February 19, 2012 By
Tristan and Isolde is an Arthurian legend, the origins of which predate Arthur’s Roundtable. Scholars generally agree that the story of Tristan and Isolde is Celtic in origin.
Who gave King Arthur “a crippling blow”? It was St. George, argues scholar
February 11, 2012 By
One of the key figures associated with the Middle Ages in England has been King Arthur, the legendary ruler who was made popular in medieval romances and chronicles. But in a recent lecture, Professor Henrietta Leyser argues that the Arthurian legend declined sharply in the later Middle Ages, replaced by a new hero emerged for the English people – St.George the Dragonslayer.
‘Have This Horse’: The Role of Horses and Horsemanship in Medieval Arthurian Literature
February 1, 2012 By
Sir Thomas Malory takes advantage of the horse, and horsemanship in general, to illustrate the upheavals brought about within his culture, and also within the individual, by violence and warfare.
Perception of Women of the Arthurian Legend in the Middle Ages and in the Twentieth Century
January 29, 2012 By
The first chapter of my thesis provides a chronological account of the development of female characters in the Arthurian legend. The chapter begins with Celtic myths from which the legend originated, the role of women in Celtic religion and society is described as well as the extent to which the Celtic aspects of the legend have been preserved…
Female Discourses: Powerful and Powerless Speech in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur
January 12, 2012 By
Verbal interactions of female characters of Le Morte Darthur are analyzed in various instances of speech behavior, such as advice, apology, conflict managing, complaining, nagging and teasing.
The Winter Solstice Season and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
December 23, 2011 By
Does the season of the dark and the increasing day correspond to our own journeys into the dark and a celebration of light with new understanding and strengthened connectedness? Perhaps there is more than a bit of Pluto symbolism in our activities of the winter solstice.
Guinevere, the Superwoman of Contemporary Arthurian Fiction
November 28, 2011 By
In a perceptive article published in 1987, Elisabeth Brewer explores attempts by early twentieth-century dramatists and more recent novelists to transform Guinevere from a peripheral into a central figure in the Arthurian story.
Chicks with Swords: Power and Agency in the Morte D’arthur
October 23, 2011 By
Upon first glance, Malory’s Morte Darthur appears to be a boy’s book. It is packed with blood, sword fighting, kings, knights, battles and more battles.
Women Characters in Arthurian Literature
October 16, 2011 By
The main issue, then, is how Arthurian women characters have been portrayed throughout the centuries and the reasons for those particular ways of portrayal.
Heraldry and Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
October 2, 2011 By
Heraldry and Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur By Lani Visaisouk Master’s Thesis, Utrecht University, 2006 Introduction: In 1136, King Arthur makes his first appearance in the English literary tradition: Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain contains a lengthy section on Arthur. As in other early sources on Arthur, he is both […]
The Æðelen of Engle: Constructing Ethnic and Regional Identities in Laȝamon’s Brut
September 23, 2011 By
The Æðelen of Engle: Constructing Ethnic and Regional Identities in Laȝamon’s Brut Kleinman, Scott (California State University — Northridge) Exemplaria: A Journal of Theory in Medieval and Renaissance Studies 16.1 (2004) Abstract At the beginning of Laȝamon’s Brut, the author makes a striking point of identifying himself by telling us his name and that of […]
Displacement and redemption in the Lais of Marie de France
September 18, 2011 By
Displacement and redemption in the Lais of Marie de France Dunkel, Sharon Lynn M.A. Thesis (French), University of British Columbia, April (1988) Abstract In the endless cycle of life and death, the issues of love and marriage are a constant and recurrent theme of literature. The man, as a foreigner, comes to court the woman […]
The use of trial by battle in the work of Sir Thomas Malory
September 4, 2011 By
The use of trial by battle in the work of Sir Thomas Malory Enyon, Nadine Ruth(Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) M.A. Thesis, English, University of Saskatchewan (1974) Abstract In this thesis I will examine the use of trials by battle in the work of Sir Thomas Malory. In Chapter One, I will study the historical practice of judicial combat […]
Characters and Narrators as Interpreters of Fidelity Tests in Medieval Arthurian Fiction
September 4, 2011 By
Characters and Narrators as Interpreters of Fidelity Tests in Medieval Arthurian Fiction Besamusca, Bart Neophilologus (2010) Abstract This article discusses a number of fidelity-testing tales and episodes, focusing on the function of characters and narrators who provide interpretations of the outcome of the tests. The testing of a series of characters takes place during a social […]
“An Unhappy Knight”: The Diffusion and Bastardization of Mordred in Arthurian Legends from Select Works of the Sixth through the Fifteenth Centuries
August 29, 2011 By
“An Unhappy Knight”: The Diffusion and Bastardization of Mordred in Arthurian Legends from Select Works of the Sixth through the Fifteenth Centuries By Emerson Richards University of Florida: Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume 10, Issue 3 (2010) Introduction: From the earliest incarnations of Arthurian legend, the figure of Mordred was a constant. His character has […]
Dialectical Heroes: Robin Hood and King Arthur Across Time, Genre and Politics
July 31, 2011 By
Dialectical Heroes: Robin Hood and King Arthur Across Time, Genre and Politics By Stephen Knight Research Papers in the Humanities No.6 (2007) Introduction: Initial reflection on Robin Hood and King Arthur suggests that they fulfil the most opposite, even unrelated form of dialecticality. Robin represents resistance to bad authority, Arthur represents good authority under fatal […]
Arthurian scholars meet in Bristol
July 22, 2011 By
World-leading experts on the legend of King Arthur gather in Bristol next week for the 23rd Triennial Congress of the International Arthurian Society, hosted by the University of Bristol. The Society was founded in 1948 and has twelve national branches in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, and Japan. The conference, organised by Professor […]
Insult and Redress in Cyfraith Hywel Dda and Welsh Arthurian Romance
June 26, 2011 By
Insult and Redress in Cyfraith Hywel Dda and Welsh Arthurian Romance Cichon, Michael Arthuriana, Vol. 10:3 (2000) Abstract This article, treating the laws in their context as well as specific legal references in the Romances, examines the transactional nature of insult and redress as portrayed in medieval Welsh law and literature. The laws contain commentary […]
Bounds of Imagination:Grail Questing and Chivalric Colonizing in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival
June 26, 2011 By
Bounds of Imagination:Grail Questing and Chivalric Colonizing in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival Hasty, Will The Grail, the Quest and the World of Arthur, ed. Norris J. Lacy (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2008) Abstract The Arthurian and Grail narratives of the High Middle Ages, particularly by means of their adventures and quests, occupied a new territory in the imagination of […]
How you can Follow Us!