Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are in some versions said to be different, though in other incarnations they are either the same or at least share their name. In Welsh, it is called Caledfwlch; in Cornish, Calesvol ; in Breton, Kaledvoulc'h; and in Latin, Caliburnus. Several similar swords and other weapons also appear in this and other legends.
Mabon ap Modron is a prominent figure from Welsh literature and mythology, the son of Modron and a member of Arthur's war band. Both he and his mother were likely deities in origin, descending from a divine mother–son pair. He is often equated with the Demetian hero Pryderi fab Pwyll, and may be associated with the minor Arthurian character Mabon ab Mellt.
The Mabinogion are the earliest British prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created c. 1350–1410, as well as a few earlier fragments. The title covers a collection of eleven prose stories of widely different types, offering drama, philosophy, romance, tragedy, fantasy and humour, and created by various narrators over time. There is a classic hero quest, "Culhwch and Olwen"; a historic legend in "Lludd and Llefelys," complete with glimpses of a far off age; and other tales portray a very different King Arthur from the later popular versions. The highly sophisticated complexity of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi defies categorisation. The stories are so diverse that it has been argued that they are not even a true collection.
In the Matter of Britain, Igraine is the mother of King Arthur. Igraine is also known in Latin as Igerna, in Welsh as Eigr, in French as Ygraine, in Le Morte d'Arthur as Ygrayne—often modernised as Igraine or Igreine—and in Parzival as Arnive. She becomes the wife of Uther Pendragon, after the death of her first husband, Gorlois.
Bedivere is one of the earliest characters to be featured in the legend of King Arthur, originally appearing in several Welsh texts as the one-handed great warrior named Bedwyr Bedrydant. In the French-inspired Matter of Britain, based on his portrayal in the Historia Regum Britanniae, Bedivere is described as being the Knight of the Round Table of King Arthur who serves as Arthur's marshal and eventually returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. There, he is frequently associated with his brother Lucan and his cousin Griflet, as well as with Kay.
In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay is King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. In later literature he is known for his acid tongue and bullying, boorish behaviour, but in earlier accounts he was one of Arthur's premier warriors. Along with Bedivere, with whom he is frequently associated, Kay is one of the earliest characters associated with Arthur. Kay's father is called Ector in later literature, but the Welsh accounts name him as Cynyr Ceinfarfog.
The Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain are a series of items in late-medieval Welsh tradition. Lists of the items appear in texts dating to the 15th and 16th centuries. The number of treasures is always given as thirteen, but some later versions list different items, replacing or combining entries to maintain the number.
Welsh mythology consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Celtic mythology and history were recorded orally by specialists such as druids. This oral record has been lost or altered as a result of outside contact and invasion over the years. Much of this altered mythology and history is preserved in medieval Welsh manuscripts, which include the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. Other works connected to Welsh mythology include the ninth-century Latin historical compilation Historia Brittonum and Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century Latin chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae, as well as later folklore, such as the materials collected in The Welsh Fairy Book by William Jenkyn Thomas (1908).
Robert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction.
Mythago Wood is a fantasy novel by British writer Robert Holdstock, published in the United Kingdom in 1984. It won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985. It served as the first in a series of novels known as the Mythago Wood or Ryhope Wood cycle. It belongs to a type of fantasy literature known as mythic fiction. It has received critical acclaim for the quality of its prose, its forest setting, and its exploration of philosophical, spiritual and psychological themes.
Lavondyss also titled Lavondyss: Journey to an Unknown Region is a fantasy novel by British writer Robert Holdstock, the second book in his Mythago Wood series. Lavondyss was originally published in 1988. The name of the novel hints at the real and mythological locales of Avon, Lyonesse, Avalon and Dis; within the novel Lavondyss is the name of the remote, ice-age heart of Ryhope wood.
Llyn Cowlyd is the deepest lake in northern Wales. It lies in the Snowdonia National Park at the upper end of Cwm Cowlyd on the south-eastern edge of the Carneddau range of mountains, at a height of 1,164 feet (355 m) above sea level. The lake is long and narrow, measuring nearly 2 miles (3 km) long and about a third of a mile wide, and covers an area of 269 acres (1.1 km2). It has a mean depth of 109 feet (33 m) and at its deepest has given soundings of 229 feet (70 m), this being some 45 ft (14 m) greater than its natural depth, the water surface having been raised twice by the building of dams.
The Hollowing is a fantasy novel by British writer Robert Holdstock, the third in the Mythago Wood series written. It was originally published in 1993. The title refers to a magical pathway, or hollowing, an archaic English term for a sunken lane or hollow-way. The Hollowing was inspired by the story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The Bone Forest is a collection of fantasy short stories by British writer Robert Holdstock, published in 1991 (UK) and 1992 (US). It opens with a novella of the same name, followed by seven short stories. The novella is a prequel to the entire Mythago Wood cycle. According to the author it was written "to fill in the background and back-story to Mythago Wood" at the request of a screenwriter who was working on a planned movie version of Mythago Wood.
This is a bibliography of fantasy author Robert Holdstock.
Avilion is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Holdstock. It was published in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2009. It is his first Ryhope wood novel since Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn was published in 1997. Avilion is Tennyson's term for Avalon in Idylls of the King. Avilion is described by Tennyson as an island valley with ideal weather and fertile land.
Merlin's Wood; or, The Vision of Magic is a short novel by British writer Robert Holdstock, first published in the United Kingdom in 1994. The novel is considered part of the Mythago Wood cycle, but takes place in Brittany, France instead of Herefordshire, England. The work has all new characters and focuses on the mythical birthplace and burial site of Merlin, the magical wood Brocéliande. Brocéliande is a smaller version of Ryhope wood where British myth predominates.
King Arthur's family grew throughout the centuries with King Arthur's legend. Many of the legendary members of this mythical king's family became leading characters of mythical tales in their own right.
Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr is a hero, warrior, and porter in tradition and Arthurian mythology, in which he appears as a knight in Arthur's retinue and chief gatekeeper of his court. He is one of the earliest characters to be associated with Arthur and appears in a number of texts, including Culhwch ac Olwen, Geraint fab Erbin, Iarlles y Ffynnon, Pa Gur yv y Porthur and the Welsh Triads.
Giants feature prominently in Welsh folklore and mythology. Among the most notable are Bendigeidfran fab Llyr, a mythological king of Britain during the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, Idris Gawr of Cader Idris, and Ysbaddaden Bencawr, the chief antagonist of the early Arthurian tale How Culhwch won Olwen. Both Arthur and Gwalchmai fab Gwyar feature prominently as giant-slayers in Welsh tradition.
