King Arthur
King Arthur (Welsh: Brenin Arthur, Cornish: Arthur Gernow, Breton: Roue Arzhur, French: Roi Arthur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the
The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of
Historicity
The historical basis for King Arthur has been long debated by scholars. One school of thought, citing entries in the
The Historia Brittonum, a 9th-century Latin historical compilation attributed in some late manuscripts to a Welsh cleric called Nennius, contains the first datable mention of King Arthur, listing twelve battles that Arthur fought. These culminate in the Battle of Badon, where he is said to have single-handedly killed 960 men. Recent studies question the reliability of the Historia Brittonum.[7]
Archaeological evidence in the
The other text that seems to support the case for Arthur's historical existence is the 10th-century Annales Cambriae, which also link Arthur with the Battle of Badon. The Annales date this battle to 516–518, and also mention the Battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut (Mordred) were both killed, dated to 537–539. These details have often been used to bolster confidence in the Historia's account and to confirm that Arthur really did fight at Badon.
Problems have been identified, however, with using this source to support the Historia Brittonum's account. The latest research shows that the Annales Cambriae was based on a chronicle begun in the late 8th century in Wales. Additionally, the complex textual history of the Annales Cambriae precludes any certainty that the Arthurian annals were added to it even that early. They were more likely added at some point in the 10th century and may never have existed in any earlier set of annals. The Badon entry probably derived from the Historia Brittonum.[10]
This lack of convincing early evidence is the reason many recent historians exclude Arthur from their accounts of sub-Roman Britain. In the view of historian Thomas Charles-Edwards, "at this stage of the enquiry, one can only say that there may well have been an historical Arthur [but ...] the historian can as yet say nothing of value about him".[11] These modern admissions of ignorance are a relatively recent trend; earlier generations of historians were less sceptical. The historian John Morris made the putative reign of Arthur the organising principle of his history of sub-Roman Britain and Ireland, The Age of Arthur (1973). Even so, he found little to say about a historical Arthur.[12]
Partly in reaction to such theories, another school of thought emerged which argued that Arthur had no historical existence at all. Morris's Age of Arthur prompted the archaeologist
Some scholars argue that Arthur was originally a fictional hero of folklore—or even a half-forgotten Celtic deity—who became credited with real deeds in the distant past. They cite parallels with figures such as the Kentish Hengist and Horsa, who may be totemic horse-gods that later became historicised. Bede ascribed to these legendary figures a historical role in the 5th-century Anglo-Saxon conquest of eastern Britain.[18] It is not even certain that Arthur was considered a king in the early texts. Neither the Historia nor the Annales calls him "rex": the former calls him instead "dux bellorum" (leader of wars) and "miles" (soldier).[19]
Details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of
Several historical figures have been proposed as the basis for Arthur, ranging from
Name
The origin of the Welsh name "Arthur" remains a matter of debate. The most widely accepted etymology derives it from the Roman
Another commonly proposed derivation of Arthur from Welsh arth "bear" + (g)wr "man" (earlier *Arto-uiros in Brittonic) is not accepted by modern scholars for phonological and orthographic reasons. Notably, a Brittonic compound name *Arto-uiros should produce Old Welsh *Artgur (where u represents the short vowel /u/) and Middle/Modern Welsh *Arthwr, rather than Arthur (where u is a long vowel /ʉː/). In Welsh poetry the name is always spelled Arthur and is exclusively rhymed with words ending in -ur—never words ending in -wr—which confirms that the second element cannot be [g]wr "man".[39]
An alternative theory, which has gained only limited acceptance among professional scholars, derives the name Arthur from Arcturus, the brightest star in the constellation Boötes, near Ursa Major or the Great Bear.[40] Classical Latin Arcturus would also have become Art(h)ur when borrowed into Welsh, and its brightness and position in the sky led people to regard it as the "guardian of the bear" (which is the meaning of the name in Ancient Greek) and the "leader" of the other stars in Boötes.[41]
Many other theories exist, for example that the name has
origins.Medieval literary traditions
The familiar literary persona of Arthur began with Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudo-historical Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), written in the 1130s. The textual sources for Arthur are usually divided into those written before Geoffrey's Historia (known as pre-Galfridian texts, from the Latin form of Geoffrey, Galfridus) and those written afterwards, which could not avoid his influence (Galfridian, or post-Galfridian, texts).
Pre-Galfridian traditions
The earliest literary references to Arthur come from Welsh and Breton sources. There have been few attempts to define the nature and character of Arthur in the pre-Galfridian tradition as a whole, rather than in a single text or text/story-type. A 2007 academic survey led by Caitlin Green has identified three key strands to the portrayal of Arthur in this earliest material.
One of the most famous Welsh poetic references to Arthur comes in the collection of heroic death-songs known as Y Gododdin (The Gododdin), attributed to the 6th-century poet Aneirin. One stanza praises the bravery of a warrior who slew 300 enemies, but says that despite this, "he was no Arthur" – that is, his feats cannot compare to the valour of Arthur.[48] Y Gododdin is known only from a 13th-century manuscript, so it is impossible to determine whether this passage is original or a later interpolation, but John Koch's view that the passage dates from a 7th-century or earlier version is regarded as unproven; 9th- or 10th-century dates are often proposed for it.[49] Several poems attributed to Taliesin, a poet said to have lived in the 6th century, also refer to Arthur, although these all probably date from between the 8th and 12th centuries.[50] They include "Kadeir Teyrnon" ("The Chair of the Prince"),[51] which refers to "Arthur the Blessed"; "Preiddeu Annwn" ("The Spoils of Annwn"),[52] which recounts an expedition of Arthur to the Otherworld; and "Marwnat vthyr pen[dragon]" ("The Elegy of Uther Pen[dragon]"),[53] which refers to Arthur's valour and is suggestive of a father-son relationship for Arthur and Uther that pre-dates Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Other early Welsh Arthurian texts include a poem found in the
In addition to these pre-Galfridian Welsh poems and tales, Arthur appears in some other early Latin texts besides the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae. In particular, Arthur features in a number of well-known vitae ("
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, completed c. 1138, contains the first narrative account of Arthur's life.
How much of this narrative was Geoffrey's own invention is open to debate. He seems to have made use of the list of Arthur's twelve battles against the Saxons found in the 9th-century Historia Brittonum, along with the battle of Camlann from the Annales Cambriae and the idea that Arthur was still alive.[67] Arthur's status as the king of all Britain seems to be borrowed from pre-Galfridian tradition, being found in Culhwch and Olwen, the Welsh Triads, and the saints' lives.[68] Finally, Geoffrey borrowed many of the names for Arthur's possessions, close family, and companions from the pre-Galfridian Welsh tradition, including Kaius (Cei), Beduerus (Bedwyr), Guenhuuara (Gwenhwyfar), Uther (Uthyr) and perhaps also Caliburnus (Caledfwlch), the latter becoming Excalibur in subsequent Arthurian tales.[69] However, while names, key events, and titles may have been borrowed, Brynley Roberts has argued that "the Arthurian section is Geoffrey's literary creation and it owes nothing to prior narrative."[70] Geoffrey makes the Welsh Medraut into the villainous Modredus, but there is no trace of such a negative character for this figure in Welsh sources until the 16th century.[71] There have been relatively few modern attempts to challenge the notion that the Historia Regum Britanniae is primarily Geoffrey's own work, with scholarly opinion often echoing William of Newburgh's late-12th-century comment that Geoffrey "made up" his narrative, perhaps through an "inordinate love of lying".[72] Geoffrey Ashe is one dissenter from this view, believing that Geoffrey's narrative is partially derived from a lost source telling of the deeds of a 5th-century British king named Riotamus, this figure being the original Arthur, although historians and Celticists have been reluctant to follow Ashe in his conclusions.[73]
Whatever his sources may have been, the immense popularity of Geoffrey's Historia Regum Britanniae cannot be denied. Well over 200 manuscript copies of Geoffrey's Latin work are known to have survived, as well as translations into other languages.[74] For example, 60 manuscripts are extant containing the Brut y Brenhinedd, Welsh-language versions of the Historia, the earliest of which were created in the 13th century. The old notion that some of these Welsh versions actually underlie Geoffrey's Historia, advanced by antiquarians such as the 18th-century Lewis Morris, has long since been discounted in academic circles.[75] As a result of this popularity, Geoffrey's Historia Regum Britanniae was enormously influential on the later medieval development of the Arthurian legend. While it was not the only creative force behind Arthurian romance, many of its elements were borrowed and developed (e.g., Merlin and the final fate of Arthur), and it provided the historical framework into which the romancers' tales of magical and wonderful adventures were inserted.[76]
Romance traditions
During the ongoing conquest of Wales by Edward I, he attempted to make King Arthur a fundamentally English character and hero.[77] The completion of the conquest was one of the factors that shifted storytellers away from the Welsh roots of the original tales.[77]
The popularity of Geoffrey's Historia and its other derivative works (such as
Arthur and his retinue appear in some of the
Up to c. 1210, continental Arthurian romance was expressed primarily through poetry; after this date the tales began to be told in prose. The most significant of these 13th-century prose romances was the Vulgate Cycle (also known as the Lancelot-Grail Cycle), a series of five Middle French prose works written in the first half of that century.[96] These works were the Estoire del Saint Grail, the Estoire de Merlin, the Lancelot propre (or Prose Lancelot, which made up half the entire Vulgate Cycle on its own), the Queste del Saint Graal and the Mort Artu, which combine to form the first coherent version of the entire Arthurian legend. The cycle continued the trend towards reducing the role played by Arthur in his own legend, partly through the introduction of the character of Galahad and an expansion of the role of Merlin. It also made Mordred the result of an incestuous relationship between Arthur and his sister Morgause, and established the role of Camelot, first mentioned in passing in Chrétien's Lancelot, as Arthur's primary court.[97] This series of texts was quickly followed by the Post-Vulgate Cycle (c. 1230–40), of which the Suite du Merlin is a part, which greatly reduced the importance of Lancelot's affair with Guinevere but continued to sideline Arthur, and to focus more on the Grail quest.[96] As such, Arthur became even more of a relatively minor character in these French prose romances; in the Vulgate itself he only figures significantly in the Estoire de Merlin and the Mort Artu. During this period, Arthur was made one of the Nine Worthies, a group of three pagan, three Jewish and three Christian exemplars of chivalry. The Worthies were first listed in Jacques de Longuyon's Voeux du Paon in 1312, and subsequently became a common subject in literature and art.[98]
The development of the medieval Arthurian cycle and the character of the "Arthur of romance" culminated in Le Morte d'Arthur, Thomas Malory's retelling of the entire legend in a single work in English in the late 15th century. Malory based his book—originally titled The Whole Book of King Arthur and of His Noble Knights of the Round Table—on the various previous romance versions, in particular the Vulgate Cycle, and appears to have aimed at creating a comprehensive and authoritative collection of Arthurian stories.[99] Perhaps as a result of this, and the fact that Le Morte D'Arthur was one of the earliest printed books in England, published by William Caxton in 1485, most later Arthurian works are derivative of Malory's.[100]
Decline, revival, and the modern legend
Post-medieval literature
The end of the Middle Ages brought with it a waning of interest in King Arthur. Although Malory's English version of the great French romances was popular, there were increasing attacks upon the truthfulness of the historical framework of the Arthurian romances – established since Geoffrey of Monmouth's time – and thus the legitimacy of the whole Matter of Britain. So, for example, the 16th-century humanist scholar Polydore Vergil famously rejected the claim that Arthur was the ruler of a post-Roman empire, found throughout the post-Galfridian medieval "chronicle tradition", to the horror of Welsh and English antiquarians.[101] Social changes associated with the end of the medieval period and the Renaissance also conspired to rob the character of Arthur and his associated legend of some of their power to enthrall audiences, with the result that 1634 saw the last printing of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur for nearly 200 years.[102] King Arthur and the Arthurian legend were not entirely abandoned, but until the early 19th century the material was taken less seriously and was often used simply as a vehicle for allegories of 17th- and 18th-century politics.[103] Thus Richard Blackmore's epics Prince Arthur (1695) and King Arthur (1697) feature Arthur as an allegory for the struggles of William III against James II.[103] Similarly, the most popular Arthurian tale throughout this period seems to have been that of Tom Thumb, which was told first through chapbooks and later through the political plays of Henry Fielding; although the action is clearly set in Arthurian Britain, the treatment is humorous and Arthur appears as a primarily comedic version of his romance character.[104] John Dryden's masque King Arthur is still performed, largely thanks to Henry Purcell's music, though seldom unabridged.
Tennyson and the revival
In the early 19th century,
This interest in the "Arthur of romance" and his associated stories continued through the 19th century and into the 20th, and influenced poets such as
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Merlin and Viviane in Gustave Doré's 1868 illustration for Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King
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King Arthur by Charles Ernest Butler (1903)
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N. C. Wyeth's title page illustration for The Boy's King Arthur (1922)
Modern legend
In the latter half of the 20th century, the influence of the romance tradition of Arthur continued, through novels such as
The romance Arthur has become popular in film and theatre as well. T. H. White's novel was adapted into the
Retellings and reimaginings of the romance tradition are not the only important aspect of the modern legend of King Arthur. Attempts to portray Arthur as a genuine historical figure of c. 500, stripping away the "romance", have also emerged. As Taylor and Brewer have noted, this return to the medieval "chronicle tradition" of Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Historia Brittonum is a recent trend which became dominant in Arthurian literature in the years following the outbreak of the
Arthur has also been used as a model for modern-day behaviour. In the 1930s, the Order of the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table was formed in Britain to promote Christian ideals and Arthurian notions of medieval chivalry.[130] In the United States, hundreds of thousands of boys and girls joined Arthurian youth groups, such as the Knights of King Arthur, in which Arthur and his legends were promoted as wholesome exemplars.[131] However, Arthur's diffusion within modern culture goes beyond such obviously Arthurian endeavours, with Arthurian names being regularly attached to objects, buildings, and places. As Norris J. Lacy has observed, "The popular notion of Arthur appears to be limited, not surprisingly, to a few motifs and names, but there can be no doubt of the extent to which a legend born many centuries ago is profoundly embedded in modern culture at every level."[132]
See also
Notes
- ^ Modern scholarship views the Glastonbury cross as the result of a probably late-12th-century fraud. See Rahtz 1993, Carey 1999 and Harris 2018.
References
Citations
- ^ Neubecker 1998–2002
- ^ a b c Tom Shippey, "So Much Smoke", review of Higham 2002, London Review of Books, 40:24:23 (20 December 2018)
- ISBN 978-0-7139-9098-0.
- ^ Charles-Edwards 1991, p. 15; Sims-Williams 1991. Y Gododdin cannot be dated precisely: it describes 6th-century events and contains 9th- or 10th-century spelling, but the surviving copy is 13th-century.
- ^ See Padel 1994; Sims-Williams 1991; Green 2007b; and Roberts 1991a
- ^ Thorpe 1966, but see also Loomis 1956
- ^ Dumville 1986; Higham 2002, pp. 116–169; Green 2007b, pp. 15–26, 30–38.
- ^ a b Davies (1994) pp. 56
- ISBN 978-0-7139-9098-0.; "Arthur's Tomb". Glastonbury Abbey Archaeology. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ Green 2007b, pp. 26–30; Koch 1996, pp. 251–253.
- ^ Charles-Edwards 1991, p. 29
- ^ Morris 1973
- ^ Myres 1986, p. 16
- ^ , De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, chapter 26.
- ^ Pryor 2004, pp. 22–27
- Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, Book 1.16.
- ^ Dumville 1977, pp. 187–188
- ^ Green 2009; Padel 1994; Green 2007b, chapters five and seven.
- ^ Historia Brittonum 56, 73; Annales Cambriae 516, 537.
- ^ Higham 2002, pp. 11–37, has a summary of the debate on this point.
- ISBN 978-0-7139-9098-0.
- ^ For example, Ashley 2005.
- ^ Heroic Age 1999
- S2CID 243164764.
- . researchgate.net. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ "Academia up in arms over King Arthur's Glasgow roots". www.thenational.scot. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-300-21092-7.
- ^ Littleton & Malcor 1994
- ^ Ashe 1985
- ^ Reno 1996
- ^ Phillips & Keatman 1992
- ^ Phillips, Graham (2016). The Lost Tomb of King Arthur: The Search for Camelot and the Isle of Avalon. Bear & Company.
- ^ Bartrum, Peter Clement (1993). A Welsh Classical Dictionary, people in History and Legend up to about A.D. 1000 (PDF). National Library of Wales. p. 35.
William Owen Pughe in his Cambrian Biography, 1803, ... put forward the suggestion that Arthur was the same person as Athrwys ap Meurig. It was discussed and rejected by Sharon Turner (History of the Anglo-Saxons, Bk.3, Ch.3, 1805) and Rice Rees (Welsh Saints, 1836, pp.185-6), but accepted by Robert Owen (The Kymry, 1891, p.77)
- Project MUSE 734087
- ^ Koch 2006, p. 121.
- ^ Malone 1925.
- ^ Zimmer 2009.
- ^ Koch 1996, p. 253.
- ^ See Higham 2002, p. 74; Higham 2002, p. 80.
- ^ Chambers 1964, p. 170; Bromwich 1978, p. 544; Johnson 2002, pp. 38–39; Walter 2005, p. 74; Zimmer 2006, p. 37.
- ^ Anderson 2004, pp. 28–29; Green 2007b, pp. 191–194.
- ^ Marcella Chelotti, Vincenza Morizio, Marina Silvestrini, Le epigrafi romane di Canosa, Volume 1, Edipuglia srl, 1990, pp. 261, 264.; Ciro Santoro, "Per la nuova iscrizione messapica di Oria", La Zagaglia, A. VII, n. 27, 1965, pp. 271–293.; Ciro Santoro, "La Nuova Epigrafe Messapica "IM 4. 16, I-III" di Ostuni ed nomi" in Art-, Ricerche e Studi, Volume 12, 1979, pp. 45–60.
- ^ Wilhelm Schulze, "Zur Geschichte lateinischer Eigennamen" (Volume 5, Issue 2 of Abhandlungen der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philologisch-Historische Klasse, Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften Göttingen Philologisch-Historische Klasse), 2nd edition, Weidmann, 1966, p. 72, pp. 333–338; Olli Salomies, Die römischen Vornamen. Studien zur römischen Namengebung. Helsinki 1987, p. 68; Herbig, Gust., "Falisca", Glotta, Band II, Göttingen, 1910, p. 98.
- ^ Green 2007b, pp. 45–176
- ^ Green 2007b, pp. 93–130
- ^ Padel 1994 has a thorough discussion of this aspect of Arthur's character.
- ^ Green 2007b, pp. 135–176. On his possessions and wife, see also Ford 1983.
- ^ Williams 1937, p. 64, line 1242
- ^ Charles-Edwards 1991, p. 15; Koch 1996, pp. 242–245; Green 2007b, pp. 13–15, 50–52.
- ^ See, for example, Haycock 1983–1984 and Koch 1996, pp. 264–265.
- ^ Online translations of this poem are out-dated and inaccurate. See Haycock 2007, pp. 293–311 for a full translation, and Green 2007b, p. 197 for a discussion of its Arthurian aspects.
- ^ See, for example, Green 2007b, pp. 54–67 and Budgey 1992, who includes a translation.
- ^ Koch & Carey 1994, pp. 314–15
- ^ Lanier 1881
- ^ Sims-Williams 1991, pp. 38–46 has a full translation and analysis of this poem.
- ^ For a discussion of the tale, see Bromwich & Evans 1992; see also Padel 1994, pp. 2–4; Roberts 1991a; and Green 2007b, pp. 67–72 and chapter three.
- ^ Barber 1986, pp. 17–18, 49; Bromwich 1978
- ^ Roberts 1991a, pp. 78, 81
- ^ Roberts 1991a
- ^ Translated in Coe & Young 1995, pp. 22–27. On the Glastonbury tale and its Otherworldly antecedents, see Sims-Williams 1991, pp. 58–61.
- ^ Coe & Young 1995, pp. 26–37
- ^ Bourgès, André-Yves, "Guillaume le Breton et l'hagiographie bretonne aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles", in: Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l'Ouest, 1995, 102–1, pp. 35–45.; See Ashe 1985 for an attempt to use this vita as a historical source.
- ^ Padel 1994, pp. 8–12; Green 2007b, pp. 72–75, 259, 261–262; Bullock-Davies 1982.
- ^ Wright 1985; Thorpe 1966
- ^ Mulligan, p. 262–4.
- ^ Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae Book 8.19–24, Book 9, Book 10, Book 11.1–2
- ^ Roberts 1991b, p. 106; Padel 1994, pp. 11–12
- ^ Green 2007b, pp. 217–219
- ^ Roberts 1991b, pp. 109–110, 112; Bromwich & Evans 1992, pp. 64–65
- ^ Roberts 1991b, p. 108
- ^ Bromwich 1978, pp. 454–455
- ^ See, for example, Brooke 1986, p. 95.
- ^ Ashe 1985, p. 6; Padel 1995, p. 110; Higham 2002, p. 76.
- ^ Crick 1989
- ^ Sweet 2004, p. 140. See further, Roberts 1991b and Roberts 1980.
- ^ As noted by, for example, Ashe 1996.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-563-48714-2.
- ^ For example, Thorpe 1966, p. 29
- ^ Stokstad 1996
- ^ Loomis 1956; Bromwich 1983; Bromwich 1991.
- ^ Lacy 1996a, p. 16; Morris 1982, p. 2.
- ^ For example, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae Book 10.3.
- ^ Padel 2000, p. 81
- ^ Morris 1982, pp. 99–102; Lacy 1996a, p. 17.
- ^ Lacy 1996a, p. 17
- ^ Pyle 1903
- ^ Burgess & Busby 1999
- ^ Lacy 1996b
- ^ Kibler & Carroll 1991, p. 1
- ^ Lacy 1996b, p. 88
- ^ Roach 1949–1983
- ^ Ulrich von Zatzikhoven 2005
- ^ Padel 2000, pp. 77–82
- ^ See Jones & Jones 1949 for accurate translations of all three texts. It is not entirely certain what, exactly, the relationship is between these Welsh romances and Chrétien's works, however: see Koch 1996, pp. 280–288 for a survey of opinions
- ^ BNF c. 1475, fol. 610v
- ^ a b Lacy 1992–1996
- ^ For a study of this cycle, see Burns 1985.
- ^ Lacy 1996c, p. 344
- ^ On Malory and his work, see Field 1993 and Field 1998.
- ^ Vinaver 1990
- ^ Carley 1984
- ^ Parins 1995, p. 5
- ^ a b Ashe 1968, pp. 20–21; Merriman 1973
- ^ Green 2007a
- ^ Parins 1995, pp. 8–10
- ^ Wordsworth 1835
- ^ See Potwin 1902 for the sources that Tennyson used when writing this poem
- ^ Taylor & Brewer 1983, p. 127
- ^ See Rosenberg 1973 and Taylor & Brewer 1983, pp. 89–128 for analyses of The Idylls of the King.
- ^ See, for example, Simpson 1990.
- ^ Staines 1996, p. 449
- ^ Taylor & Brewer 1983, pp. 127–161; Mancoff 1990.
- ^ Green 2007a, p. 127; Gamerschlag 1983
- ^ Twain 1889; Smith & Thompson 1996.
- ^ Watson 2002
- ^ Mancoff 1990
- ^ Workman 1994
- ^ Hardy 1923; Binyon 1923; and Masefield 1927
- ^ Eliot 1949; Barber 2004, pp. 327–328
- ^ White 1958; Bradley 1982; Tondro 2002, p. 170
- ^ Lagorio 1996
- ^ Lupack & Lupack 1991
- ^ Porius. New York: Overlook Duckworth 2007. pp. 8–19.
- ^ C. A. Coates, John Cowper Powys in Search of a Landscape. Totowa, NJ: Barnes & Noble, 1982, p. 139.
- ^ New York: Simon and Schuster. C. A. Coates, John Cowper Powys in Search of a Landscape. pp. 92–97.
- ^ Harty 1996; Harty 1997
- ^ Taylor & Brewer 1983, chapter nine; see also Higham 2002, pp. 21–22, 30.
- ^ Thompson 1996, p. 141
- List of books about King Arthur.
- ^ Thomas 1993, pp. 128–131
- ^ Lupack 2002, p. 2; Forbush & Forbush 1915
- ^ Lacy 1996d, p. 364
General and cited sources
- Anderson, Graham (2004), King Arthur in Antiquity, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-31714-6.
- Ashe, Geoffrey (1985), The Discovery of King Arthur, Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-19032-9.
- Ashe, Geoffrey (1996), "Geoffrey of Monmouth", in Lacy, Norris (ed.), The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, pp. 179–182, ISBN 978-1-56865-432-4.
- Ashe, Geoffrey (1968), "The Visionary Kingdom", in Ashe, Geoffrey (ed.), The Quest for Arthur's Britain, London: Granada, ISBN 0-586-08044-9.
- Ashley, Michael (2005), The Mammoth Book of King Arthur, London: Robinson, ISBN 978-1-84119-249-9.
- Barber, Richard (1986), King Arthur: Hero and Legend, Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, ISBN 0-85115-254-6.
- Barber, Richard (2004), The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief, London: Allen Lane, ISBN 978-0-7139-9206-9.
- Bibliothèque nationale de France [French National Library] (c. 1475), Français 116: Lancelot en prose [French MS 116: The Prose Lancelot] (in French), Illuminated by Évrard d'Espinques. Originally commissioned for Jacques d'Armagnac, now held by the BNF Department of Manuscripts (Paris)
- Binyon, Laurence (1923), Arthur: A Tragedy, London: Heinemann, OCLC 17768778.
- Bradley, Marion Zimmer (1982), The Mists of Avalon, New York: Knopf, ISBN 978-0-394-52406-1.
- Bromwich, Rachel (1978), Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Welsh Triads, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, ISBN 978-0-7083-0690-1. 2nd ed.
- Bromwich, Rachel (1983), "Celtic Elements in Arthurian Romance: A General Survey", in Grout, P. B.; Diverres, Armel Hugh (eds.), The Legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages, Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, pp. 41–55, ISBN 978-0-85991-132-0.
- Bromwich, Rachel (1991), "First Transmission to England and France", in Bromwich, Rachel; Jarman, A. O. H.; Roberts, Brynley F. (eds.), The Arthur of the Welsh, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 273–298, ISBN 978-0-7083-1107-3.
- Bromwich, Rachel; Evans, D. Simon (1992), Culhwch and Olwen. An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, ISBN 978-0-7083-1127-1.
- Brooke, Christopher N. L. (1986), The Church and the Welsh Border in the Central Middle Ages, Woodbridge: Boydell, ISBN 978-0-85115-175-5.
- Budgey, A. (1992), "'Preiddeu Annwn' and the Welsh Tradition of Arthur", in Byrne, Cyril J.; Harry, Margaret Rose; Ó Siadhail, Padraig (eds.), Celtic Languages and Celtic People: Proceedings of the Second North American Congress of Celtic Studies, held in Halifax, August 16–19, 1989, Halifax, Nova Scotia: D'Arcy McGee Chair of Irish Studies, Saint Mary's University, pp. 391–404, ISBN 978-0-9696252-0-9.
- Bullock-Davies, C. (1982), "Exspectare Arthurum, Arthur and the Messianic Hope", Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies (29): 432–440.
- Burgess, Glyn S.; Busby, Keith, eds. (1999), The Lais of Marie de France, London: Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-044759-0. 2nd. ed.
- Burns, E. Jane (1985), Arthurian Fictions: Re-reading the Vulgate Cycle, Columbus: Ohio State University Press, ISBN 978-0-8142-0387-3.
- Carey, John (1999), "The Finding of Arthur's Grave: A Story from Clonmacnoise?", in Carey, John; Koch, John T.; Lambert, Pierre-Yves (eds.), Ildánach Ildírech. A Festschrift for Proinsias Mac Cana, Andover: Celtic Studies Publications, pp. 1–14, ISBN 978-1-891271-01-4.
- Carley, J. P. (1984), "Polydore Vergil and John Leland on King Arthur: The Battle of the Books", Arthurian Interpretations (15): 86–100.
- Chambers, Edmund Kerchever (1964), Arthur of Britain, Speculum Historiale.
- Charles-Edwards, Thomas M. (1991), "The Arthur of History", in Bromwich, Rachel; Jarman, A. O. H.; Roberts, Brynley F. (eds.), The Arthur of the Welsh, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 15–32, ISBN 978-0-7083-1107-3.
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Further reading
- S2CID 161217897.
- Breeze, Andrew (September 2016). "Arthur's Battles and the Volcanic Winter of 536-7". Northern History. LIII (2): 161–172. S2CID 164111727.
- ISBN 978-0-19-870084-5.
- Higham, Nicholas J. (2018). King Arthur: the making of the legend. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-21092-7.
External links
- International Arthurian Society
- "Arthurian Gwent". Blaenau Gwent Borough County Council. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008. An excellent site detailing Welsh Arthurian folklore.
- Green, Caitlin. "Arthuriana: Studies in Early Medieval History and Legend". A detailed and comprehensive academic site, which includes numerous scholarly articles.
- Arthuriana: The Journal of Arthurian Studies, published by Scriptorium Press for Purdue University, US. The only academic journal solely concerned with the Arthurian Legend; a good selection of resources and links.
- "Celtic Literature Collective". Provides texts and translations (of varying quality) of Welsh medieval sources, many of which mention Arthur.
- Green, Thomas (October 2012). "John Dee, King Arthur, and the Conquest of the Arctic". The Heroic Age (15)..
- The Camelot Project, The University of Rochester. Provides valuable bibliographies and freely downloadable versions of Arthurian texts.
- The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe. An online peer-reviewed journal that includes regular Arthurian articles; see especially the first issue.
- Of Arthour and of Merlin translated and retold in modern English prose, the story from Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland MS Advocates 19.2.1 (the Auchinleck MS) (from the Middle English of the Early English Text Society edition: O D McCrae-Gibson, 1973, Of Arthour and of Merlin, 2 vols, EETS and Oxford University Press).
- Alliterative Morte Arthure translated and retold in modern English alliterative prose, from Lincoln Cathedral MS 91, the Lincoln Thornton Manuscript.