The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend

For more than a thousand years, the adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have been retold across Europe. They have inspired some of the most important works of European literature, particularly in the medieval period: the romances of Chrétien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. In the nineteenth century, interest in the Arthurian legend revived with Tennyson, Wagner and Twain. This Companion outlines the evolution of the legend from the earliest documentary sources to Spamalot, and analyses how some of the major motifs of the legend have been passed down in both medieval and modern texts. With a map of Arthur's Britain, a chronology of key texts and a guide to further reading, this volume itself will contribute to the continuing fascination with the King and his many legends.

Chronology; Introduction Ad Putter and Elizabeth Archibald; Part I. Evolution: 1. The early Arthur: history and myth Ronald Hutton; 2. The twelfth-century Arthur Ad Putter; 3. The thirteenth-century Arthur Jane H. M. Taylor; 4. The fourteenth-century Arthur John Burrow; 5. The fifteenth-century Arthur Barry Windeatt; 6. The Arthur of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries Rob Gossedge and Stephen Knight; 7. The Arthur of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries Norris Lacy; Part II. Themes: 8. Questioning Arthurian ideals Elizabeth Archibald; 9. Arthurian ethics Jane Gilbert; 10. Imperial Arthur: home and away Andrew Lynch; 11. Love and adultery: Arthur's affairs Peggy McCracken; 12. Religion and magic Corinne Saunders; 13. Arthurian geography Robert Allen Rouse and Cory James Rushton; Further reading; Index.

For more than a thousand years, the adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have inspired some of the most important works of European literature. This Companion outlines the evolution of the legend from the earliest documentary sources to Spamalot.

Elizabeth Archibald is Professor of Medieval Literature at the University of Bristol.
Ad Putter is Reader in English Literature at the University of Bristol.