Arthur, High King of Britain

Product Information

Ford, P. K. (1983), "On the Significance of some Arthurian Names in Welsh", Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies (30): 268–273 .

David, Brian, Review of Nicholas J. Higham, King Arthur: The Making of the Legend in Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 50:221-222 (2019) doi: 10.1353/cjm.2019.0021 ProjectMUSE 734087 Spence, John (2013). Reimagining History in Anglo-Norman Prose Chronicles. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 978-1903153451 . Retrieved 11 March 2014.

Reviews

Stokstad, M. (1996), "Modena Archivolt", in Lacy, Norris J. (ed.), The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, pp.324–326, ISBN 978-1-56865-432-4 . Vargas Díaz-Toledo, Aurelio Vargas (2013). "A Matéria Arturiana na literatura cavaleiresca portuguesa dos séculos XVI-XVII". E-Spania (in Portuguese). 3. paragraphs 29–32 . Retrieved 4 November 2014.

Harty, Kevin J. (1996), "Films", in Lacy, Norris J. (ed.), The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, pp.152–155, ISBN 978-1-56865-432-4 . Please don’t hate me but I really love Mordred, such a good antagonist, he wasn’t just a character that came out of no where and was against Arthur, we got to see him grow up and all that stuff, and I think that’s why he’s such a likeable character, yes he did bad things but the way he was also Lagorio, V. M. (1996), "Bradley, Marion Zimmer", in Lacy, Norris J. (ed.), The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, New York: Garland, p.57, ISBN 978-1-56865-432-4 . In the latter half of the 20th century, the influence of the romance tradition of Arthur continued, through novels such as T. H. White's The Once and Future King (1958), Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave (1970) and its four sequels, Thomas Berger's tragicomic Arthur Rex and Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon (1982), in addition to comic strips such as Prince Valiant (from 1937 onward). [119] Tennyson had reworked the romance tales of Arthur to suit and comment upon the issues of his day, and the same is often the case with modern treatments too. Mary Stewart's first three Arthurian novels present the wizard Merlin as the central character, rather than Arthur, and The Crystal Cave is narrated by Merlin in the first person, whereas Bradley's tale takes a feminist approach to Arthur and his legend, in contrast to the narratives of Arthur found in medieval materials. [120] American authors often rework the story of Arthur to be more consistent with values such as equality and democracy. [121] In John Cowper Powys's Porius: A Romance of the Dark Ages (1951), set in Wales in 499, just prior to the Saxon invasion, Arthur, the Emperor of Britain, is only a minor character, whereas Myrddin (Merlin) and Nineue, Tennyson's Vivien, are major figures. [122] Myrddin's disappearance at the end of the novel is, "in the tradition of magical hibernation when the king or mage leaves his people for some island or cave to return either at a more propitious or more dangerous time", (see King Arthur's messianic return). [123] Powys's earlier novel, A Glastonbury Romance (1932) is concerned with both the Holy Grail and the legend that Arthur is buried at Glastonbury. [124] 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]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. 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] Blaess, Madeleine (1956). "Arthur's Sisters". Bulletin Bibliographique de la Société Internationale Arthurienne. 8: 69–77. Vargas Díaz-Toledo, Aurelio (2006). "Os livros de cavalarias renascentistas nas histórias da literatura portuguesa" (PDF). Peninsula: Revista de Estudos Ibéricos (in Portuguese). 3: 233–247 . Retrieved 4 November 2014. Breeze, Andrew (2015). "The Historical Arthur and Sixth-Century Scotland". Northern History. 52 (2): 158–181. doi: 10.1179/0078172X15Z.00000000085. S2CID 161217897. ; Breeze, Andrew (2020). British Battles 493-937: Mount Badon to Brunanburh. London: Anthem Press. pp.13–24. doi: 10.2307/j.ctvv4187r. ISBN 9781785272233. JSTOR j.ctvv4187r. S2CID 243164764.