The richness and interdisciplinarity of the Arthurian tradition are well represented by the essays collected here, which range from early Celtic texts to twentieth-century children's books, and include discussion of Welsh, Irish,English, French and Latin material in both literary and historical contexts. Many of the articles focus on less well-known late medieval versions of the legend, a somewhat neglected area until recently: an Irish Grail narrative, the Burgundian prose 'Erec', the enormous prequel 'Perceforest', 'Ysaïe le Triste', 'Le Conte du Papegau', and Froissart's 'Mélyador' (the last three discussed as exercises in nostalgia). Meanwhile, anotherchapter approaches 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' from the perspective of forest ecology. The contributions represent expanded and revised versions of selected papers given at the XXIIIrd Triennial Congress of the International Arthurian Society held in Bristol in July 2011; they include two of the plenary lectures, one on 'Celtic Magic' and one on the reception of Geoffrey of Monmouth in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Author(s): Elizabeth Archibald, David F. Johnson (eds.)
Publisher: D. S. Brewer
Year: 2013
Language: English, French
Pages: 188
City: Cambridge
General Editors’ Foreword vii
List of Contributors
I. Magic and the Supernatural in Early Welsh Arthurian Narrative: 'Culhwch ac Olwen' and 'Breuddwyd Rhonabwy' / Helen Fulton 1
II. How Green was the Green Knight? Forest Ecology at Hautdesert / Michael W. Twomey 27
III. Edward III’s Arthurian Enthusiasms Revisited: 'Perceforest' in the Context of Philippa of Hainault and the Round Table Feast of 1344 / Richard Barber 55
IV. Pagan Gods and the Coming of Christianity in 'Perceforest' / Nigel Bryant 75
V. Malory’s Sources for the 'Tale of the Sankgreal': Some Overlooked Evidence from the Irish 'Lorgaireacht an tSoidigh Naomhtha' / Aisling Byrne 87
VI. 'Transmuer de rime en prose': The Transformation of Chrétien de Troyes’s Joie de la Cour episode in the Burgundian Prose 'Erec' (1450–60) / Carol J. Chase 101
VII. La Rétro-écriture ou l’écriture de la nostalgie dans le roman arthurien tardif: 'Ysaïe le Triste', 'Le Conte du Papegau' et 'Mélyador' de Froissart / Patricia Victorin 117
VIII. Remembering Brutus: Aaron Thompson’s 'British History' of 1718 / Siân Echard 141