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Arthurian
According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the post-Roman Britons in battles against the Anglo-Saxons in the late-5th and early-6th centuries. He first appears in two early medieval historical sources, the '' Annales Cambriae'' and the ''Historia Brittonum'', but these date to 300 years after he is supposed to have lived, and most historians who study the period do not consider him a historical figure.Tom Shippey, "So Much Smoke", ''review'' of , ''London Review of Books'', 40:24:23 (20 December 2018) His name also occurs in early Welsh poetic sources, such as '' Y Gododdin''. The character developed through Welsh mythology, appearing either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies or as a magical figure of folklore, and was sometimes associated with the Welsh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthurian Romance
The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth's (''History of the Kings of Britain)'' is a central component of the Matter of Britain. It was one of the three great Western story cycles recalled repeatedly in medieval literature, together with the Matter of France, which concerned the legends of Charlemagne and his companions, as well as the Matter of Rome, which included material derived from or inspired by classical mythology and classical history. Its pseudo-chronicle and chivalric romance works, written both in prose and verse, flourished from the 12th to the 16th century. Name The three "matters" were first described in the 12th century by French poet Jean Bodel, whose epic ' ("Song of the Saxons") contains the lines: The name distinguishes and relates the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matter Of Britain
The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the list of legendary kings of Britain, legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth's (''History of the Kings of Britain)'' is a central component of the Matter of Britain. It was one of the three great Western Literary cycle, story cycles recalled repeatedly in medieval literature, together with the Matter of France, which concerned the legends of Charlemagne and his Paladin, companions, as well as the Matter of Rome, which included material derived from or inspired by classical mythology and classical antiquity, classical history. Its pseudo-chronicle and chivalric romance works, written both in prose and verse, flourished from the 12th to the 16th century. Name The three "matters" were first described in the 12th century by French poet Jean Bodel, whose epic ' ("Song ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avalon
Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recover from being gravely wounded at the Battle of Camlann. Since then, the island has become a symbol of Arthurian mythology, similar to Arthur's castle of Camelot. Avalon was associated from an early date with mystical practices and magical figures such as King Arthur's sorceress sister Morgan, cast as the island's ruler by Geoffrey and many later authors. Certain Briton traditions have maintained that Arthur is an eternal king who had never truly died but would return as the "once and future" king. The particular motif of his rest in Morgan's care in Avalon has become especially popular. It can be found in various versions in many French and other medieval Arthurian and other works written in the wake of Geoffrey, some of them also linkin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guinevere
Guinevere ( ; ; , ), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First mentioned in literature in the early 12th century, nearly 700 years after the purported times of Arthur, Guinevere has since been portrayed as everything from a fatally flawed, villainous, and opportunistic traitor to a noble and virtuous lady. The variably told motif of abduction of Guinevere, or of her being rescued from some other peril, features recurrently and prominently in many versions of the legend. The earliest datable appearance of Guinevere is in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudo-historical British chronicle ''Historia Regum Britanniae'', in which she is seduced by Mordred during his ill-fated rebellion against Arthur. In a later medieval Arthurian romance tradition from France, a major story arc is the queen's tragic love affair with her husband's best knight and trusted f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lancelot
Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), alternatively written as Launcelot and other variants, is a popular character in the Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition. He is typically depicted as King Arthur's close companion and one of the greatest Knights of the Round Table, as well as a secret lover of Arthur's wife, Guinevere. In his most prominent and complete depiction, Lancelot is a beautiful orphaned son of King Ban of the lost kingdom of Benoïc. He is raised in a fairy realm by the Lady of the Lake while unaware of his real parentage prior to joining Arthur's court as a young knight and discovering his origins. A hero of many battles, quests and tournaments, and famed as a nearly unrivalled Swordsmanship, swordsman and Jousting, jouster, Lancelot soon becomes the lord of the castle Joyous Gard and personal champion of Queen Guinevere, to whom he is devoted absolutely. He also develops a close relationship with Galehaut and suffers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historicity Of King Arthur
The historicity of King Arthur has been debated both by academics and popular writers. While there have been many claims that King Arthur was a real historical person, the current consensus among specialists on the period holds him to be a mythological or folkloric figure. The first definite mention of Arthur appears circa 828 in the '' Historia Brittonum'', where he is presented as a military leader fighting against the invading Saxons in 5th- to 6th-century Sub-Roman Britain at the Battle of Badon, more than three centuries before the work was written. Arthur developed into a legendary figure in the Matter of Britain from the 12th century, following Geoffrey of Monmouth's influential but largely fictional ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. Historians propose a variety of possible sources for the myth of Arthur, perhaps as a composite character. Historical figures involved in such theories include Artuir mac Áedán, a son of the 6th-century king of Dál Riata in modern Scot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mordred
Mordred or Modred ( or ; Welsh: ''Medraut'' or ''Medrawt'') is a major figure in the legend of King Arthur. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle ''Annales Cambriae'', wherein he and Arthur are ambiguously associated with the Battle of Camlann in a brief entry for the year 537. Medraut's figure seemed to have been regarded positively in the early Welsh tradition and may have been related to that of King Arthur's family, Arthur's son. As Modredus, Mordred was depicted as Arthur's traitorous nephew and a legitimate son of King Lot in the pseudo-historical work ''Historia Regum Britanniae'', which then served as the basis for the subsequent evolution of the legend from the 12th century. Later variants most often characterised Mordred as Arthur's villainous bastard son, born of an incestuous relationship with Morgause, his half-sister, the queen of Lothian or Orkney named either Anna, Orcades, or Morgause. The accounts presented in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenance in infinite abundance, often guarded in the custody of the Fisher King and located in the hidden Grail castle. By analogy, any elusive object or goal of great significance may be perceived as a "holy grail" by those seeking such. A mysterious "grail" (Old French: ''graal'' or ''greal''), wondrous but not unequivocally holy, first appears in '' Perceval, the Story of the Grail'', an unfinished chivalric romance written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1190. Chrétien's story inspired many continuations, translators and interpreters in the later-12th and early-13th centuries, including Wolfram von Eschenbach, who portrayed the Grail as a stone in ''Parzival''. The Christian, Celtic or possibly other origins of the Arthurian grail trope are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Excalibur
Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. Excalibur as the "sword in the stone" functioning as the proof of Arthur's lineage is an iconic motif featured throughout most works dealing with Arthur's youth since its introduction in Robert de Boron's ''Merlin''. The sword given to the young Arthur by the Lady of the Lake in the tradition that began soon afterwards with the '' Post-Vulgate Cycle'' is not the same weapon, but in '' Le Morte d'Arthur'' both of them share the name of Excalibur. Several similar swords and other weapons also appear within Arthurian texts, as well as in other legends. Forms and etymology The name ''Excalibur'' ultimately derives from the Welsh ( Breton , Middle Cornish ), which is a compound of , , and , . Caledfwlch appears in several early Welsh wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historia Brittonum
''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions have a preface written in that name. Some experts have dismissed the Nennian preface as a late forgery and argued that the work was actually an anonymous compilation. Overview The ''Historia Brittonum'' describes the supposed settlement of Britain by Trojan settlers and says that Britain was named for Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas. The "single most important source used by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical ''Historia Regum Britanniae''" and through the enormous popularity of the latter work, this version of the early history of Britain, including the Trojan origin tradition, was incorporated into subsequent chronicles of the long-running history of the land, such as the Middle English '' Brut of England'', also known as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrétien De Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes (; ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on King Arthur, Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including ''Erec and Enide'', ''Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, Lancelot'', ''Perceval, the Story of the Grail, Perceval'' and ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, Yvain'', represent some of the best-regarded works of medieval literature. His use of structure, particularly in ''Yvain'', has been seen as a step towards the modern novel. Life Little is known of his life, but he seems to have been from Troyes or at least intimately connected with it. Between 1160 and 1172 he served (perhaps as herald-at-arms, as Gaston Paris speculated) at the court of his patroness Marie of France, Countess of Champagne, daughter of Louis VII of France, King Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who married Henry I, Count of Champagne, Count Henry I of Champagne in 1164. Later, he served t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth (; ; ) was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth, Wales, and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle '' The History of the Kings of Britain'' ( or ') which was widely popular in its day, being translated into other languages from its original Latin. It was given historical credence well into the 16th century, but is now considered historically unreliable. Life and career Geoffrey was born between about 1090 and 1100, in Wales or the Welsh Marches. He had reached the age of majority by 1129 when he is recorded as witnessing a charter. Geoffrey refers to himself in his as (Geoffrey of Monmouth), which indicates a significant connection to Monmouth, Wales, and may refer to his birthplace. His works attest to some acquaintance with the place-names of the region. Geoffrey was known to his contemporaries as or variants thereof. The "Arthur" in these vers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
