Arthurian Legend
Arthurian Literature
Category=DNL
Category=DSBB
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Galahad's Grail Quest
Irony
Mordred
Romance of Fergus
Scottish Setting
Product details
- ISBN 9780859912839
- Weight: 496g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 13 Apr 1989
- Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Continuing its policy of publishing extended explorations of Arthurian subjects, this eighth volume of Arthurian Literature contains four articles. Elizabeth Archibald addresses the reasons for the insertion of the story of Mordred's incestuous birth into many versions of the Arthurian legend (including Malory's) from the early 13th century on, and follows its development from the Vulgate Cycle to later Arthurian narratives. The use of irony to point up aspects of the Lancelot-Guinevere relationship in the prologue to Le Chavalier de la Charrete is explored by Jan Janssens. The early 13th-century Romance of Fergus is introduced and translated by D.D.R. Owen, who finds it of special interest not just because of its uniquely Scottish setting, but also because its use of parody foreshadows later medieval comedy; Scottish concerns also figure in Edward Donald Kennedy's discussion of the 15th-century chroniclerJohn Hardyng's use of the story of Galahad's grail quest, and the changes he made.
RICHARD BARBER has had a huge influence on the study of medieval history and literature, as both a writer and a publisher. His first book on the Arthurian legend appeared in 1961, and his major works include The Knight and Chivalry (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971), Edward Prince of Wales and Aquitaine, The Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe and The Holy Grail: the History of a Legend which was widely praised and was translated into six languages. ELIZABETH ARCHIBALD is Professor of English Studies at Durham University, and Principal of St Cuthbert's Society.
