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Welcome to King Arthur's Forest

Welcome everyone to King Arthur's Forest!

This is my first post and my first attempt at running a blog in at least 5 years so I hope everyone will be patient as I reformat everything.  This is as much a test as it is a dipping of the toes in the proverbial water.  I have to shake the dust off my computer and get some blood flowing back to my fingers.

Why I'm here:

I have started this blog with a singular purpose in mind.  I want to learn everything there is to know about King Arthur.  Not just the history or pseudo-history, not just today's version of the story, but EVERYTHING. Once I learned how weird and wild the formation of his story over the centuries was,  I could not get enough.

 As it turns out there is quite a bit to learn.  I had a feeling there was a lot but that is an understatement.  There is actually a monumental amount of material, about 1500 years worth to be exact.  Now, I am sure that Arthurian scholars are lamenting the lack of sources for their particular studies, but from a beginners standpoint, the material seems almost overwhelming.  The obsessive side of me is actually looking at this problem with some anticipation but I am sure it can be a bit intimidating to most.

Contrary to what some may think, there is no "original" King Arthur story in the way that most understand it.  He is believed by some to have been a real person or, at least, based on a real person.  Now take that root individual and whatever historical incidents that may have been associated with him and embellish on that for 15 centuries.  It only took 400 years for his warriors (not knights quite yet) to acquire magical powers, at least according to some traditions.  Every author before and since has changed, added, subtracted, and combined his stories.  Other stories have even been drawn in from external sources.

Everything above is just a taste.  I plan to elaborate on each of those subjects down to individual works and ideas.  We will cover history, locations, important works, minor works, maybe even movies. As part of this blog I will track my learning and share it with you.  I am ahead of the curve enough where I can talk intelligently enough regarding some of the early subjects and I think the process of writing will actually help me learn the material better. 

Now just a short bit on the name of my blog.  I chose the seemingly awkward name King Arthur's Forest because it relates to a standard trope in the early traditions of Arthurian literature.  It seems that when a knight would venture away from the castle into the local forest, he would almost immediately be set upon by maiden in need, a task, a puzzle, or an angry knight.  Adventure would find him.  This is sometimes humorously or maybe even fondly referred to by scholars as the "forest of adventure."  In the same way, I hope this blog will have new exciting things about Arthur each time you visit.

Thanks,  Joe

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