RTT Quarterly July-September 2024 Arthurian Britain

Image from Teepee12

Time to return to Camelot! While Arthurian Britain would really fall under the Ancient/Biblical times, it has its own category due to the plethora of reading material available.

This period is from the departure of the Romans from Britain to about AD 500-600, when the Middle Ages begin. It's very distinct from the Ancient and Biblical Times, focusing on King Arthur, his court, or the happenings surrounding it. There are many different interpretations of the King Arthur stories and many debates about the truth in the myth. Also included in this time period are stories set just after King Arthur’s death and during the decline of his realm, as well as stories like Tristan and Isolde (in all their interpretations) that also fall within this time period. Books about this time period range from using well-known characters like Arthur, Merlin and Guinevere, to using original characters as the main character. There’s a range from gritty realistic to more historical fantasy to idealized fairy tales to find for this time period. Focusing specifically on Great Britain/King Arthur this quarter is encouraged. The Celts also occupy parts of this era. However, if one wants to place their focus elsewhere during this time period, you are welcome to do so! As always, both fiction and non-fiction will work.



What others have read in past quarters:
The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf
The Skystone by Jack Whyte
The Squire’s Tale byGerald Morris
The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights by John Steinbeck
Shadow Over Avalon by C.N. Lesley
I Am Morgan le Fay by Nancy Springer
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Parsifal's Page by Gerald Morris
Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen
Warrior of the West by M.K. Hume
The Mabinogion Anonymous
Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell
The Killing Way by Tony Hays

What will you be reading? What can you recommend?

Here is the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php?title=Reading_Through_Time_Quarterly_The...

My favourite Merlin will always be Mary Stewart's: The Crystal Cave and its sequels. But I have a few others on my shelves and I hope to get around to some of the French versions of the legend, such as Le pas de Merlin.

I am not a fantasy reader! This time period is always difficult for me, plus I hope to read from my shelves this year. I do have two books I think would work:
The Celtic Twilight by W.B. Yeats wherein the poet collects faerie and folklores from Ireland.

The Lost Tomb of King Arthur (Celtic Twilight Book 2) by Oliver Hayes I don't know how reliable this book is.......but we can give it a try!

I plan to read these two

The Fall of Arthur by J.R.R. Tolkien, a long poem in alliterative verse
Auf der Suche nach König Artus by Jürgen Wolf, a nonfiction book about the historical roots of King Arthur

Both are rereads for me and I am looking forward to them very much!

>4 MissBrangwen: I wasn't aware of the Tolkien poem (hanging my head in shame). As for the Inklings, there's also a collection of Arthurian poetry by Charles Williams, Taliessin through Logres, The Region of the Summer Stars, and Arthurian Torso, which I read some half-century ago and which I think I may still have around the house somewhere (but I'm not sure I could even find it if I do).

I think what I may do, though, is go with Edwin Arlington Robinson's Collected Poems, which seems to include his Arthurian trilogy of Tristram, Lancelot, and Merlin. I've been meaning for ages now to do a thorough read of Robinson (I have a particular interest in Maine literature) and I think the Arthurian trilogy (Tristram is particularly lengthy) may take up a substantial portion of this volume.

I'd also like to get to Malory's Le Mort Darthur (Norton Critical Edition) as well as taking a stab at Chrétien de Troyes, whom I've got in "complete works" in French. And I've got The Boy's King Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory's History of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, which could be worth getting to for the sake of those N.C. Wyeth illustrations.

I also have Mary Stewart's The Merlin Trilogy in a three-in-one omnibus, as yet unread.

For a Great Courses video, I'll be watching King Arthur: History and Legend.

>5 CurrerBell: The poem was only published in 2013 in the newish wave of posthumous Tolkien publications.
I am taking note of the Arthurian Charles Williams poetry - I haven't read anything by him so far.

I read Lancelot, The Knight of the Cart by Chrétien de Troyes at uni, although translated. It wasn't my favourite, but I'd still like to read more by him one day.

I love this topic and I already know that I will take so many notes this quarter because of all the works the members of this group will be reading!

I read Arthurian fiction all the time. It's one of my favorite "genres." I also do extensive lists at the beginning of the year from which I pick books to read randomly. At a rough glance I have at least 10 Arthurian titles in this year's lists. I'll try to make at least some of them a priority in the next three months.

Here's what's on tap...
The Door to Camelot
Excalibur Rising
Dark Age Monarch
Lancelot and the Wolf
First Knight
Ygerna
Ambrosius Aureliani
The Road to Avalon
The Book of Joby
and I've been thinking about rereading the
Hawk of May trilogy, and maybe
The Crystal Cave

>6 MissBrangwen: I actually read some of Chrétien de Troyes in an undergrad French course in the early 70s. It was in modern French, very much abridged, and I remember hardly anything.

>7 WelshBookworm: Thank you for contributing to the possibilities!

Must be time for a reread of The Once and Future King.

I wasn't around when the group set up the time periods and I can only imagine the to-and-fro about this category! :-D

Regardless, I have a few options:

• The Warlord Chronicles (by Bernard Cornwell)
• The Once and Future King (by T.H. White)
• The Death of King Arthur: The Immortal Legend (by Sir Thomas Mallory; translated by Peter Ackroyd)
• The Complete Romances of Chrétien de Troyes (translated by David Staines)
• The Mists of Avalon (by Marion Zimmer Bradley)

I read Mary Stewart's Arthurian Merlin Saga when I was high school and have found memories if it; but TBH Im afraid to re-visit it and find out that the "magic" is gone!

I will be reading The Once and Future King by T.H. White since it has been sitting on my TBR shelves for a very long time. It's time to finally get to it.

>10 JayneCM: same, plus the book of merlin which was written to follow TOFK but usually is printed separately

I chose "Merlin's Mirror," a new to me twist on the Arthurian legend involving space travel and modern communications devices. Merlin and Arthur are both the by-product of the sky people impregnating women of earth.

Merlin's duty to Arthur and a united Britain is designed to lift his people out of squalor and constant war and set them upon a path to the stars.
*****

"Skystone" by Jack Whyte is one of my favorite Arthurian tales.

Long before there was an Arthur or Camelot, there was the Roman occupation of Britain beginning in the 1st Century C.E., lasting until the beginning of the 5th Century. The first part of the story establishes the character of and relationship between Romans General Caius Britannicus and his primus pilus, Publius Varrus. These two men will become the grandfathers of Arthur.

Caius and Publius are fictional, but the major Roman characters and events are historically accurate. The overrun of the Hadrian Wall in 367C.E., which features the two men in action, the revolts against command and Rome, multiple emporers, the steady decline in morale and effectiveness of the legions and the ultimate with drawal of all legions back to Rome are factual.

Because he foresees this collapse coming long before others, Caius lays the foundation for a secure settlement around his ancestral lands. Publius, cashiered out of the legion due to an injury which left him crippled in one leg, returns to his grandfather's smithy where he turns out weapons for the legions based in Colchester, a job which others look down upon, including Caius, initially. Caius urges Publius to join his colony near Aqua Sulis, but Publius refuses until circumstances force him to flee Colchester.

The skystone of the title will become the metal from which Publius will forge Excalibur.

>15 cfk: really interested in this.

and marion zimmer bradleys take on the story is brilliant mists of avalon

>16 cindydavid4: Mists of Avalon was my first and I still love it.

read the sequel to that as well, just as marvelous

I completed The Lost Tomb of King Arthur (Celtic Twilight Book 2) by Oliver Hayes. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this 46 page book. The purpose of the book was not to debate if there was a King Arthur, the author assumes there was at least a great warrior by the name of Arthur, and many historians concur. The purpose of the book was to determine if "King Arthur" was buried in Glastonbury and was Glastonbury ever called Avalon. Although not a scholarly book, the author does a good job in giving the reader enough information about his sources so that if they wish, information can be further researched. For example, "in Geoffrey Monmouth's history....chapter 2, page 11..." etc. There is no definitive answer as to where Arthur might be buried, if in fact he was a real "king." 46 pages 4 stars

I have kept some old messages that are an interest to me.
This was in 2020:
July - September 2020 - Arthurian Britain
I am not sure how to find old messages that have been deleted.

>20 mnleona: They are never deleted, but depending upon how much "traffic" goes after them, are sometimes difficult to find. I use the quarterly wiki and it has all the previous time periods. The one you reference can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/321370

someone suggested Pendragon Cycle bk 1by Stephen Lawhead which I somehow skipped over in my all fantansy book s all th time. Hope its good..... eta just received the book love the cover, and think this will be the perfect book for our beachtrip. looking forward toreading it

Shouldn't be buying more books, and I've already got a good bit of Arthurian TBR that I can go to for this Q3, but I just bought The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur by Lev Grossman (author of The Magicians trilogy, which is non-Arthurian – in fact, it's rather a take on Narnia).

Merlin's Booke by Jane Yolenis an assortment of related short stories concerning the life of said magician. However, some are more related than others. Each chapter begins with a quote, usually from Geoffrey of Monmouth. My problem with the book was the leap from one "chapter" to the next was not obvious, especially to a non Merlin/King Arthur student. The narrative does not flow well. 176 pages 3-*

I took The Hollow Hills from the shelf and enjoyed it every bit as much as the last time. My favourite version of Merlin.

I’ve started Alfred Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, which I hope to complete by the end of the quarter. Loving this beautiful piece of Victorian Arthuriana which I’ve not read before.

I was reading the Introduction to The Complete Romances of Crétien de Troyes (translated by David Staines) and realized that I should go and read "Tristan and Isuelt" first...
On gutenberg.com, I found the the 12th-century poem-- a reconstruction of source material by Joseph Bédier (1900); translated from the French into English by M. Belloc Lowndes in 1913. Its rendering into English has lost its poetical structure and rhythms, and reads like prose now; but you still get a sense of the oral tradition and magic of the story. Basically, Tristan is a trusted knight who falls in love with Iseult, and she with him; but the catch is that she is married. There's honor and heartache, fate, chivalry, and a little bit of melodrama. It certainly evokes a romantic sense of the time and ignites the imagination. King Arthur is mentioned very briefly as the regional authority over the other kings in the Welsh lands.
I'm now reading Crétian de Troyes' "Erec and Enide"-- the first poem in the collection I mentioned above. King Arthur, Guenivere, and Sir Gwain have made significant appearances but they are not the main characters of the story. Erec has taken to wife the beautiful Enide and given up all his knightly pursuits to loll around in bed with her all the time. Enide hears of some of the court gossip saying that she has bewitched Erec and emasculated him. She's embarrassed and when Erec finds out, decides the two of them should hit the road in pursuit of restoring his honor. So far, lots of jousting and repelling highway bandits....

>27 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I have the German version of the Erec story, Erec by Hartmann von Aue, on my shelf, but I won't get to it this quarter. I definitely want to read it one day, though!

I have finished reading The Once and Future King by T.H. White. This one is obviously a classic, so it was time for me to get to it. And although I know the Arthur story in general terms, there are lots of parts to it that I did not know, and I'm glad to finally get an understanding of the complete story. I have a much better idea now of how it all unfolded.

on my list of top fav books ever.!

I’m watching a Great Courses video on the Early Middle Ages, which would include Arthurian Britain. And there’s a lecture with that title. I’m enjoying the video.

I finally read my first book for this quarter, The Fall of Arthur, written by J.R.R. Tolkien and edited by Christopher Tolkien, who also wrote four essays and an appendix that are included in the book.

This was a reread for me and while I still absolutely loved the poem, I have some minor criticism of two of the essays. On the whole, though, this is a wonderful read.

You can find my review here if you wish.

A bit late for me to enter perhaps but i would have read Mark Twains classic A connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs court. A great story.

>33 kurben: Never too late!

>33 kurben: You can join anytime if you would like to!

Finished watching Dorsey Armstrong, King Arthur: History and Legend 5***** on the Great Courses Plus. I'd give it 5½***** or even 6****** if TPTB allowed it; and the instructor has a few other courses that look interesting, including Great Minds of the Medieval World, which runs from late classical antiquity through early Renaissance and that I might use for the upcoming Q4.

As to Q4, however, I'm going to start with a reread of Dante. (I'm with Milton as the greatest poet, so he gets my more frequent rereads, and I haven't really done Dante thoroughly since my college years). I'll be using Mark Musa's Penguin translation. I'd rather be using Dorothy Sayers (my Dante read a half-century ago) in terza rima rather than Musa in blank verse, but Musa is used by William R. Cook and Ronald B. Herzman in their Great Courses video Dante's Divine Comedy, which I'll also be watching. I really love Cook and Herzman, who did a great job for the Great Courses with St. Augustine's Confessions.

Beyond video, I was going to read something Arthurian as well, but RL intervened – in the form of four bricks coming detached from the outer wall of my 75yo house, which has sent me scrambling to find a mason to repair the gap so that I don't have more loss with part of the upper wall coming down.

Good luck with the repairs!

>25 MissWatson: I have not read i ages and I also have. I should do a re-read.

>37 MissWatson: Thank you! I'm so very fortunate to have found a mason who's going to do the repairs for just $300. I'm fairly confident in him since he was recommended by my church's Music Director, who used this mason for their own house.

Unfortunately (and I'm not surprised, just from my own viewing), the mason recommended that I get a tree cut down because the tree's tilt into the house's corner is what damaged the brickwork. The mason has a friend who he's going to ask to contact me, but a tree that's as old as the 75yo house (and taller than the house!) worries me for the cost of removal.

And I just got back from a Home Depot where I bought some bird netting. I have a visitor (nothing exotic, just a plain old yard bird) who got in through a door I carelessly left open when doing some yard work! I'm hoping it's a humane "capture and eviction" but unfortunately the little guy is stubborn and wouldn't leave through a door I opened and tried to direct him to. I now have him locked in a bedroom and will begin Operation Evict shortly.

All told, it's been a frazzling past few days. I really do want to get on to The Fortune of the Rougons for the Emile Zola group read.

>39 CurrerBell: A lot going on, Mike! Take care and I hope everything is resolved satisfactorily to the pocketbook.

I still have to report that I finished my second book for this quarter, Auf der Suche nach König Artus by Jürgen Wolf. This was a reread and I enjoyed it even more this time.
The author provides an overview of the history of King Arthur from the very beginnings until now. This includes the historical evidence of a real Arthur (as little as there is), the first mentions of him in historical texts in the early Middle Ages, the flourishing of Arthurian literature across Europe and even further, and the developments until the publishing of fantasy novels and films in the 20th and 21st centuries.

I finished my second book for this period. The Leper of S:t Giles by Ellis Peters. Quite a good mystery. The reader is at a disadvantage because he always assumes the obvious suspect is not guilty, often rightly as in this case, but it makes the herd of suspects smaller. The manner of the murder is rather telling and excludes many so the suspect pool isn't really big. I guessed right in the end but nor because the clues were obvious or anything like that. Feel like reading more of Peters later.'
Now i'm thinking of what my third book should be. Haven't decided yet but i must look in history shelf, i think there is some unread history there in either the french or the english section.

>42 kurben: The Leper from St. Giles is also awaiting on my shelf!