The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend

by Elizabeth Archibald, Ad Putter

Overview

For more than a thousand years, the adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have been retold across Europe. They have inspired some of the most important works of European literature, particularly in the medieval period: the romances of Chrétien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. In the nineteenth century, interest in the Arthurian legend revived with Tennyson, Wagner and Twain. This Companion outlines the evolution of the legend from the earliest documentary sources to Spamalot, and analyses how some of the major motifs of the legend have been passed down in both medieval and modern texts. With a map of Arthur's Britain, a chronology of key texts and a guide to further reading, this volume itself will contribute to the continuing fascination with the King and his many legends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521677882
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/10/2009
Series:	Cambridge Companions to Literature
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	286
Sales rank:	733,878
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Archibald is Professor of Medieval Literature at the University of Bristol.

Ad Putter is Reader in English Literature at the University of Bristol.

Table of Contents

Chronology; Introduction Ad Putter and Elizabeth Archibald; Part I. Evolution: 1. The early Arthur: history and myth Ronald Hutton; 2. The twelfth-century Arthur Ad Putter; 3. The thirteenth-century Arthur Jane H. M. Taylor; 4. The fourteenth-century Arthur John Burrow; 5. The fifteenth-century Arthur Barry Windeatt; 6. The Arthur of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries Rob Gossedge and Stephen Knight; 7. The Arthur of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries Norris Lacy; Part II. Themes: 8. Questioning Arthurian ideals Elizabeth Archibald; 9. Arthurian ethics Jane Gilbert; 10. Imperial Arthur: home and away Andrew Lynch; 11. Love and adultery: Arthur's affairs Peggy McCracken; 12. Religion and magic Corinne Saunders; 13. Arthurian geography Robert Allen Rouse and Cory James Rushton; Further reading; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'The welcome new addition to the authoritative Cambridge Companion series traces Arthurian narrative from history through pseudo-history to romance, and on into the post-medieval centuries. … Ad Putter's chapter on the twelfth century is a masterpiece of compression …' The Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher