King Arthur: A CasebookEdward Donald Kennedy Taylor & Francis, 1996 - 311 pages Examining the origins of the Arthurian legend and major trends in the portrayal of Arthur from the Middle Ages to the present, this collection focuses on discussion of literature written in English, French, Latin, and German. Its 16 essays, four published here for the first time, deal with such matters as the search for the historical Arthur; the depiction of Arthur in the romances Erec and Iwein of Hartmann von Aue; the way Arthur is depicted in 19th-century art and the Victorian view of manhood; and conceptions of King Arthur in 20th-century literature. Six of the essays, originally published in French and German, are translated into English especially for this book. Two essays have been substantially revised. An introduction offers a general discussion of the development of the legends in the countries of Europe. Works discussed include medieval and Renaissance chronicles (Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, Wace's Roman de Brut, Polydore Vergil's Anglica Historia, Scottish vernacular and Latin chronicles), medieval romances (the Lancelot en prose, the Mort Artu, the Post-Vulgate Roman du Graal, and works of Chrétien de Troyes, Hartmann von Aue, and Sir Thomas Malory), Spenser's Faerie Queene, Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and T.H. White's Once and Future King. A bibliography lists selected major secondary studies of King Arthur as well as major reference works. |
Contents
SERIES EDITORS PREFACE | ix |
xlix | |
KING ARTHUR AND THE ROUND TABLE IN THE EREC | 45 |
KING ARTHUR IN THE PROSE LANCELOT | 71 |
THE EVOLUTION OF THE THEME OF THE FALL | 91 |
APPEARANCES AND REALITY IN LA MORT LE ROI ARTU | 105 |
Karl Josef Höltgen | 121 |
MALORYS KING MARK AND KING ARTHUR | 139 |
KING ARTHUR IN THE SCOTTISH CHRONICLES | 173 |
THE ARTHURS OF THE FAERIE QUEENE | 205 |
TENNYSONS ARTHURIAN | 229 |
KING ARTHUR AND THE CON | 257 |
CONCEPTIONS OF KING ARTHUR IN THE TWENTIETH | 299 |