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Arthurian scholars meet in Bristol

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 Elizabeth Archibald, Dr Gareth Griffith and Professor Ad Putter of the Department of English, runs from Monday 25 to Saturday 30 July. A public lecture on “King Arthur and The Public: Popular Reaction to the Arthurian Legend” will be given by the distinguished Arthurian scholar Richard Barber  on Tuesday 26 July at 8pm.

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A wide-range of academic papers will be presented on the themes of Arthurian ideals and identities, late Arthurian romance, narrative techniques and styles, Arthurian manuscripts and early printed editions, Arthurian images and iconography, and the supernatural and spirituality in the Arthurian world.

The conference will also feature five plenary lectures by a truly international range of leading Arthurian scholars:

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La matière arthurienne à la fin du Moyen Âge: épuisement ou renouveau? – Christine Ferlampin-Acher (University of Rennes)

Approaches to Arthurian Fiction: The Case of Torec – Bart Besamusca (University of Utrecht)

‘What cheer?’: Emotion and Action in the Arthurian World – Andrew Lynch (University of Western Australia)

Remembering Brutus: Responses to Arthur’s context in the afterlife of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britannie – Siân Echard (University of British Columbia)

Celtic Magic in the Early Welsh Arthurian Tradition – Helen Fulton (University of York)

In addition, postgraduate students will be able to attend two master-classes, one on publishing, given by Caroline Palmer (Boydell & Brewer) and Samantha Rayner (Anglia Ruskin University), and one on working with manuscripts and Arthurian texts in need of further study, given by Norris J. Lacy (Pennsylvania State University) and Keith Busby (University of Wisconsin-Madison).

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Professor Archibald said: “We are delighted to be hosting this conference in the heart of Bristol, a thriving city with a rich medieval history. It is also ideally located for a number of conference excursions to sites of Arthurian and medieval interest, including Glastonbury, South Cadbury, Caerleon, Chepstow, and Hereford.”

Click here to visit the Conference website

Source: University of Bristol

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