Arthurian Literature (book series)

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Arthurian Literature is a book series published annually since 1982 [1] by Boydell & Brewer.

Richard Barber, founder of The Boydell Press (later Boydell & Brewer), was the editor until volume 11, with co-editors on some volumes. Volumes XIX to XXIII were edited by Keith Busby and Roger Dalrymple. In 2006, Norris J. Lacy described Boydell & Brewer as "surely the most energetic publishers of Arthurian translations (as well as studies and editions)". [2] The editors of the 32nd volume, to be published in 2015, are Elizabeth Archibald and David F. Johnson. [3]

As originally published, the series included long articles on the literary, historic, and artistic aspects of Arthurian legend in Europe in the medieval and early modern periods. It now also includes shorter pieces of up to 5000 words that are published in a "Notes" section. Notes and Queries described it as "An indispensable component of any historical or Arthurian library". [4]

Supplements to The New Arthurian Encyclopedia have been issued with each volume.

Related Research Articles

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King Arthur was a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and modern historians generally agree that he is unhistorical. The sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthur's name also occurs in early poetic sources such as Y Gododdin.

Round Table Table in the Arthurian legend

The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of Arthur's fabulous retinue. The symbolism of the Round Table developed over time; by the close of the 12th century it had come to represent the chivalric order associated with Arthur's court, the Knights of the Round Table.

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Constantine was a 6th-century king of Dumnonia in sub-Roman Britain, who was remembered in later British tradition as a legendary King of Britain. The only contemporary information about him comes from Gildas, who castigated him for various sins, including the murder of two "royal youths" inside a church. The historical Constantine is also known from the genealogies of the Dumnonian kings, and possibly inspired the tradition of Saint Constantine, a king-turned-monk venerated in Southwest Britain and elsewhere.

Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, editions, and translations of material related to the Arthurian legend. There are also series that publish studies in medieval German and French literature, Spanish theatre, early English texts, in other subjects. Depending on the subject, its books are assigned to one of several imprints in Woodbridge, Cambridge (UK), or Rochester, New York, location of its principal North American office. Imprints include Boydell & Brewer, D.S. Brewer, Camden House, the Hispanic series Tamesis Books, the University of Rochester Press, James Currey, and York Medieval Press.

<i>Notes and Queries</i> Academic journal

Notes and Queries is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism". Its emphasis is on "the factual rather than the speculative". The journal has a long history, having been established in 1849 in London; it is now published by Oxford University Press.

Gaheris or Gaheries is a character in the Arthurian legend, a nephew of King Arthur and a knight of the Round Table, the third son of Arthur's sister or half-sister Morgause and her husband Lot, King of Orkney and Lothian. He is the younger brother of Gawain and Agravain, and the older brother of Gareth and half-brother of Mordred. In Thomas Malory's popular Le Morte d'Arthur, Gaheris is little more than a supporting character to Gawain and Gareth, with the murder of Morgause an odd exception, but his role is greater in the French prose cycles. He and Gareth are both killed by Lancelot during his rescue of Guinevere.

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Lancelot-Grail

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Lohengrin character in German Arthurian literature, son of Parzival (Percival)

Lohengrin is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, is a version of the Knight of the Swan legend known from a variety of medieval sources. Wolfram's story was expanded in two later romances. Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin of 1848 is based upon the legend.

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Richard Barber 20th and 21st-century British historian of the Middle Ages

Richard William Barber FRSL FSA FRHistS is a British historian who has published several books about medieval history and literature. His book The Knight and Chivalry, about the interplay between history and literature, won the Somerset Maugham Award, a well-known British literary prize, in 1971. A similarly-themed 2004 book, The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief, was widely praised in the UK press, and received major reviews in The New York Times and The New Republic.

Debra A. Kemp was an American author.

Norris J. Lacy is an American scholar focusing on French medieval literature. He is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor Emeritus of French and Medieval Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. He is a leading expert on the Arthurian legend and has written and edited numerous books, papers, and articles on the topic. In 2014 the International Arthurian Society, North American Branch, presented him an award for Lifetime Service to Arthurian Studies.

Kairo-kō: A Dirge is a 1905 novel by the Japanese author Natsume Sōseki. The earliest, and only major, prose treatment of the Arthurian legend in Japanese, it chronicles the adulterous love triangle between Lancelot, Guinevere, and Elaine of Astolat.

<i>Merlin</i> (poem) medieval epic poem

Merlin is a partially lost epic poem in which Robert de Boron reworked Geoffrey of Monmouth's material about the legendary figure of Merlin, writing in Old French sometime in either the late 12th or early 13th century. Merlin tells the stories of the origin and early life of Merlin, his role in the birth of Arthur, and how Arthur became the king of Britain. It emphasises Merlin's power to prophesy as well as his connection to the Holy Grail. Merlin introduced a number of new motifs that later became popular in medieval and later Arthuriana, also ensuring the lasting place of Merlin as a key character in the legend of King Arthur.

Catholic Record Society

The Catholic Record Society, founded in 1904, is a scholarly society devoted to the study of Reformation and post-Reformation Catholicism in England and Wales. It has been described as "the premier Catholic historical society in the United Kingdom", and has been credited with making much otherwise obscure archival material more readily available.

Michael Lapidge, FBA is a scholar in the field of Medieval Latin literature, particularly that composed in Anglo-Saxon England during the period 600–1100 AD; he is an emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and Fellow of the British Academy, and winner of the 2009 Sir Israel Gollancz Prize.

Moriaen is a 13th-century Arthurian romance in Middle Dutch. A 4,720-line version is preserved in the vast Lancelot-Compilatie, and a short fragment exists at the Royal Library at Brussels. The work tells the story of Morien, the Moorish son of Aglovale, one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.

Sebile, alternatively written as Sedile, Sebille, Sibilla, Sibyl and other similar names, is a mythical medieval queen or princess who is frequently portrayed as a fairy or an enchantress in the Arthurian legends and Italian folklore. She appears in a variety of roles, from the most faithful and noble lady to a wicked seductress, often in relation with or substituting for the character of Morgan le Fay. Some tales feature her as a wife of either King Charlemagne or Prince Lancelot, and even as an ancestor of King Arthur.

References

  1. Arthurian Literature I. Archived 2015-05-20 at the Wayback Machine Boydell & Brewer. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  2. Lacey, Norris J. (2006). A History of Arthurian Scholarship. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer. p. 57. ISBN   978-1-84384-069-5.
  3. Arthurian Literature XXXII. Archived 2015-05-20 at the Wayback Machine Boydell & Brewer. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  4. "Reviews", Francoise Le Saux, Notes and Queries, (1996) 43 (2): 203-204.