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Book Details
Abstract
This is the first comprehensive authoritative survey of Arthurian literature and traditions in the Celtic languages of Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Irish and Scottish Gaelic. With contributions by leading and emerging specialists in the field, the volume traces the development of the legends that grew up around Arthur and have been constantly reworked and adapted from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. It shows how the figure of Arthur evolved from the leader of a warband in early medieval north Britain to a king whose court becomes the starting-point for knightly adventures, and how characters and tales are reimagined, reshaped and reinterpreted according to local circumstances, traditions and preoccupations at different periods. From the celebrated early Welsh poetry and prose tales to less familiar modern Breton and Cornish fiction, from medieval Irish adaptations of the legend to the Gaelic ballads of Scotland, Arthur in the Celtic Languages provides an indispensable, up-to-date guide of a vast and complex body of Arthurian material, and to recent research and criticism.
Table of Contents
Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
---|---|---|---|
Cover | Cover | ||
Half Title | i | ||
Title Page | iii | ||
Copyright | iv | ||
Contents | vii | ||
Preface | xi | ||
Acknowledgements | xiii | ||
List of Contributors | xv | ||
List of Illustrations | xix | ||
List of Abbreviations | xxi | ||
Glossary of Welsh Terms | xxiii | ||
Introduction | 1 | ||
Part One: Wales | 11 | ||
The Beginnings of Welsh Arthurian Tradition | 13 | ||
1 Arthurian references in Early Welsh Poetry | 15 | ||
2 The Earliest Myrddin Poems | 35 | ||
3 Trystan and Esyllt | 51 | ||
Native Welsh Arthurian Tales | 65 | ||
4 Culhwch ac Olwen | 67 | ||
5 Breuddwyd Rhonabwy | 80 | ||
Medieval Translations and Adaptations into Welsh | 93 | ||
6 Brut y Brenhinedd | 95 | ||
7 The First Adaptations from French: History and Context of a Debate | 110 | ||
8 Owain or Iarlles y Ffynnawn | 117 | ||
9 Ystorya Geraint fab Erbin\r | 132 | ||
10 Historia Peredur ab Efrawg | 145 | ||
11 Y Seint Greal | 158 | ||
Influences and Re-compositions | 171 | ||
12 Arthur in Trioedd Ynys Prydain | 173 | ||
13 Arthurian References in Medieval Welsh Poetry, c.1100–c.1540 | 187 | ||
14 Later Hybrid Narrative Texts in Middle Welsh | 203 | ||
15 Folklore and Popular Tradition | 214 | ||
16 Arthurian Place-names of Wales | 231 | ||
17 Arthurian Tradition in Modern Welsh Literature | 245 | ||
Part Two: Cornish and Breton Traditions | 261 | ||
18 Cornwall and the Matter of Britain | 263 | ||
19 Arthur in Earlier Breton Traditions | 281 | ||
20 Popular Traditions and the Work of Hersart de la Villemarqué | 304 | ||
21 The Arthurian Legend in Modern Breton Culture | 320 | ||
Part Three: The Gaelic World | 337 | ||
Ireland | 339 | ||
22 The Earliest Irish Material\r2 | 341 | ||
23 Irish Translations and Romances | 344 | ||
Scotland | 359 | ||
24 Scottish Gaelic Literature and Popular Traditions\r | 361 | ||
Bibliography | 375 | ||
Index of Manuscripts | 390 | ||
General Index | 392 |