King Arthur's Forest

Wace and the Roman de Brut To understand the progression that Wace ( Wace rhymes with "Boss" ) has made with this book you really need to go back to Geoffrey of Monmouth and his "Historia" (HRB) which we covered early on.  But just as a refresher, Geoffrey took the standard latin historical chronicles of Gildas and Bede as well as other sources and built up a new history of Britain that dates all the way back to the Trojan war and the trojan Brutus from where he claims Britain got its name.  This is mostly fantasy, as is a good portion of his history, but it was devoured by the scholarly elite there and on mainland Europe and single handedly place Britain on the world stage with the rest of the continent.  It was published in Latin which was the language of the scholar and received serious treatment by other literates.  The book received such fame and recognition that it would receive treatments by other authors even during Geoffrey's own lifetime.  One of th...

Here is a small flow chart that I have been working on to display how some of the major works have depended on each other for influence as well as others that have developed independently.  You will (later on) see that after Geoffrey of Monmouth and Chretien de Troyes, the works really begin to explode with a high concentration of works in a short period.  Enjoy!

Pa Gur Pa Gur , is an unnamed poem from the "Black Book of Carmarthen" which is a collection of random medieval Welsh works of various functions and dates.  The given name, Pa Gur , derives from the 1st line of the poem which reads: "Pa Gur yv y porthaur"  which means "What man is the gatekeeper?"  The poem can be dated from around 1100 to 1160 and the Black Book of Carmarthen itself was compiled around 1250.  The poem is 90 lines long and is incomplete, terminating part way through line 90.  For this reason, I am not considering this work as part of my basic Arthurian studies list, but rather as a bit of "extra credit." The poem opens with Arthur asking who the gatekeeper is, and a man replies Glewlwyd Great-Grasp, who returns with "What man asks it?" "Arthur and Cai the fair."  "What [band] goes with you?"  "The best men in the world."  Arthur then goes into a short "name-list" of his fol...

The Triads of the Island of Britain For this brief discussion on Triads, I will be referencing The 4th ed. of Trioedd Ynys Prydein (The Triads of the Island of Britain) edited by Rachel Bromwich.  This is a very scholarly edition and each Triad is intensively researched word for word by her.  This has become a standard reference in the field of Arthurian studies (and others) with copious translation notes and personal name references. Before I discuss the Triads themselves, I should talk about what the Triads are...and are not.  The Triads are bardic strategy for memorizing a large amount of data, a mnemonic device in other words.  In this case bards would memorize stories, history, characters, items, etc. by ordering them in groups of three.  They may be three sons of a particular person, or three items stolen in different tales, or three incidents with a common theme.  Their original purpose was to be memorized and used as a means to remember detai...

Next up:  What Man? Hello, everyone!   We will be doing a few works coming up.  There are 2 smaller Welsh works that don't really fit into the scheme of "major influences" but I think merit discussion. One is Pa Gur? (What Man?) , a short, incomplete Welsh poem where Arthur recites the qualities of his warriors, much like in Culhwch and Olwen.  The other is a loose conglomeration of Welsh triads commonly referred to collectively as the Triads of the Islands Britain .  The Triads are a bardic sequence of 3 events, persons, or things that are similar, so arranged for easy memorization.  An example that I am making up right now as I stare at a poster on the wall would be:  The three great Draculas of the 20th century: Bela Lugosi as Dracula; Christopher Lee as Dracula; and Gary Oldman as Dracula.  This is just an example for fun,  the Welsh ones are much weirder.  Most of the Triads are from different times and were original...

The Life of Merlin (Vita Merlini) Welcome back!  I hope everyone enjoyed The Life of Merlin, I know I did.  I found it quite interesting as this early introduction to Merlin seems to have little to do with the wizard that is well known today. If you are just coming in now I advise going back to read one of my 1st postings regarding Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain)   Here!    It directly relates to this article and may provide extra insight, even if you read the material later.  Let me recap a little on Merlin in his earliest appearances. Prophetiae Merlini (The Prophecies of Merlin) The Prophetiae Merlini is the 1st actual appearance of the character we know as Merlin.  He was an invention of Geoffrey of Monmouth in order to deliver a set of " political   prophesies."  This work was created shortly before Geoffrey's influential work, The HRB, sometime between the year...

Upcoming Book:   The Life of Merlin  by Geoffrey of Monmouth As we circle back to Geoffrey of Monmouth, I will discuss in my upcoming article the works just before and after The History of the Kings of Britain (HRB).  Those would be the Prophesies of Merlin which were also later included in the "History" (so you wont have to purchase that one!) and the Life of Merlin.  I will only touch on "The Prophesies" because it is not particularly relevant but of more interest is the "Life" because it adds a little definition and story to the character of Merlin though he still is not quite the Merlin you are familiar with.  The Life of Merlin is not included in the HRB but you can purchase it using the link below.  It is a relatively short work and not particularly expensive.    

Deeds of the English Kings  ( De Regum Gestis Anglorum ) I want to spend a moment on William of Malmesbury's Deeds of the English Kings before we circle back to Geoffrey of Monmouth's Prophesies of Merlin , his HRB (which we covered in the 1st lesson), and his Life of Merlin .  This is part of the chronicle tradition, much like the other historian monks like Bede, Gildas, and even Nennius and only has a couple of brief mentions of Arthur.  It is relevant in a few minor ways (in regards to Arthur) but I also just want to wrap up the important works prior to Geoffrey of Monmouth.  I do not feel that you need to purchase any text or pre-read any of it as the pertinent sections can easily be read in a few minutes while you read this.  It can be found here:  Deeds of the English Kings .  (page 11-12, and page 315).   William was a monk at Malmesbury Abbey, in Wiltshire England around the mid 12th century.  As an admirer of the Vener...

I just wanted to show off a preview of an Arthurian Timeline I am working on.  Eventually, I plan to embed it in a page on my blog but in the meantime here is a sample.  It is not comprehensive by any means and is still in its "beta" form but I thought you might enjoy seeing a sample.  (plus I wanted to see how well it embeds). Hope you enjoy, Joe Timeline

The Saints' Lives The Saints Lives are an interesting diversion from the standard chronicles and hero-stories we have read so far.  As I mentioned in the prelude, these tales sometimes depict an Arthur at odds with the Arthur you may have become familiar with so far.  In some of the examples ahead you will see a devious, lustful, jealous Arthur willing to lie and cheat to get what he wants.  Its also important to remember that these examples are small sections of larger stories - stories not about Arthur but the titled Celtic saint.  The authors of these stories sometimes want to paint the hero of the Britons as requiring Christianity, or the blessings of the saint, to save him.  If the hero of Britain happens to look petty and weak, all the better for the Saint.   C. 1019* The Life of St. Goeznovius This manuscript contains a short summation of British history mentioning Vortigern and the Saxon invasion as well as Arthur's temporary victor...

Next Up:  The Saints Lives. The Saints Lives is not one book or or even a series of stories.  They are actually disparate tales of different saints by by different authors during the early 11th and 12th centuries.  They are interesting because they feature a version of Arthur who can sometime be seen as conniving, dishonest, vain, even as a rapist, which is quite apart from the noble, generous Leader you may be used to. I will discuss them soon in more detail.  For those of you who wish to read ahead I would advise to use Richard White's King Arthur: In Legend and History   (pp.12-21), rather than the Oxford Guide. White's version has pulled the excerpts relevant to the subject which will save you from having to read unrelated material or purchase unnecessary books.  Each saint only makes brief mention of Arthur, from about a paragraph to a page, so it will be a blessedly short read.  If you only have the Oxford guide, though it does not prov...

Culhwch and Olwen Culhwch and Olwen happens to be one of my favorite of the Mabinogion tales regardless of its possible importance to the Arthurian tradition.  It is a weird and wonderful story that is positively packed with segments of various medieval welsh bardic traditions.  Within it you will see name-lists, lineages, bardic triads, folklore, and segments of poetry, many of which seem to exist outside this story.  It is as if multiple stories and traditions have been mashed together which is probably what happened according to some scholars.  When I read it, it just feels old.  It is as if I can imagine it being recited by a bard late in the evening, with every segment hinting at another tale.  It also makes me a bit sad that many of these hinted at tales have vanished from history.   For those who haven't read it yet, allow me to give a brief synopsis.  Culhwch (pronounced kil-hook or sometimes as key-look) is cursed to only l...