Product Description

Although the legends of Arthur have been popular throughout Europe from the middle ages onwards, the earliest references to Arthur are to be found in Welsh literature, starting with the Welsh-Latin Historia Brittonum which dates from the ninth century. By the twelfth century Arthur was a renowned figure wherever Welsh and its sister languages were spoken. O. J. Padel provides an overall survey of medieval Welsh literary references to Arthur and emphasizes the importance of understanding the character and purpose of the texts in which allusions to Arthur occur. Texts from different genres are considered together and shed new light on the use which different authors make of the multifaceted figure of Arthur, from the folk legend associated with magic and animals to the literary hero, soldier and defender of country and faith. Other figures associated with Arthur, such as Cai, Bedwyr and Gwenhwyfar, are also discussed. Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature is an important and revealing contribution to Arthurian studies and will appeal to anyone interested in understanding more about the legends of Arthur and their sources in medieval Welsh tradition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #249761 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Review
'Although the title indicates that this is a book on Arthurian literature, any book on Arthur will have something to interest folklorists. This one, unlike so much which is published on this famous hero, is an excellent survey-cum-study, written with authority and assurance.' Folklore '...fills a major gap by providing a concise and easily digested introduction to Arthur as he appears in medieval Welsh literature...If this elegantly written and intelligent guide may be primarily intended for tyros, the freshness and perceptiveness with which the author approaches his subject is also sure to please the old salts.' Gwales.com

About the Author
Oliver James Padel is Lecturer in Celtic Language and Literature, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge.

Customer Reviews

A different Arthur
Most English-speaking readers of the Arthurian legend are familiar with the character portrayed in the French romances of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as filtered by Malory's fifteenth century redaction, or as idealised by Tennyson's Victorian bowdlerisation. To discover the original figure of Arthur one does not go to Hollywood (pace Clive Owen), but to Wales, where the earliest mythical and folkloric stories have survived in place names and poems as well as in romances influenced by the French versions. Some readers may be surprised by the author's assertion that Arthur "had an undignified, slow-witted side to his character" but may be pleasantly intrigued by the more humorous Arthur who preceded the imperial hero of Geoffrey of Monmouth. This book is an enlightening introduction to the Welsh material which should be read alongside the Mabinogion.