The essays in this volume, some reprinted in their original form and some extensively revised, are concerned with the Arthurian traditions associated with Glastonbury Abbey. Certain of the essays are analytic and others provide editions of hitherto unknown texts. They all examine ways in which legendary materials and historical facts interconnected in the process by which Glastonbury Abbey came to present itself, nationally and internationally, as the custodian of King Arthur's relics and the burial place of Joseph of Arimathea, and the importance, political and ecclesiastical, that it derived from the connection. Professor JAMES CARLEY is the author of Glastonbury Abbey: The Holy House at the Head of the Moors Adventurous and a past editor of Arthurian Literature. Topics: Glastonbury Legends (WATKIN, GRANSDEN), Legend of St Joseph of Glastonbury (LAGORIO), Guinevere at Glastonbury (WOOD), Vera Historia de Morte Arthuri (BARBER, LAPIDGE), Was Mordred buried at Glastonbury? (BARBER), Glastonbury in Welsh Vernacular Tradition (LLOYD-MORGAN), Second Exhumation of Arthur's Remains, 1278 (PARSONS), Abbey Memorial Plate (GOODALL), Arthur's Epitaph/s (CARLEY, BROWN, WRIGHT, WITHRINGTON), Hardyng and Holy Grail (KENNEDY, RIDDY), Henry V and Joseph of Arimathea's Bones, Holy Cross of Waltham at Montacute, Excavation of Arthur's Grave (CARLEY), Perlesvaus (Wells fragment), Quedam Narracio de nobili rege Arthuro, De Origine Gigantum (CARLEY, CRICK, EVANS), Glastonbury tablets (KROCHALIS), Relics in 14th Century (CARLEY, HOWLEY).

The first in-depth study of Arthurian places in late medieval and early modern England and Wales. Places have the power to suspend disbelief, even concerning unbelievable subjects. The many locations associated with King Arthur show this to be true, from Tintagel in Cornwall to Caerleon in Wales. But how and why did Arthurian sites come to proliferate across the English and Welsh landscape? What role did the medieval custodians of Arthurian abbeys, churches, cathedrals, and castles play in "placing" Arthur? How did visitors experience Arthur in situ, and how did their experiences permeate into wider Arthurian tradition? And why, in history and even today, have particular places proven so powerful in defending the impression of Arthur's reality? This book, the first in-depth study of Arthurian places in late medieval and early modern England and Wales, provides an answer to these questions. Beginning with an examination of on-site experiences of Arthur, at locations including Glastonbury, York, Dover, and Cirencester, it traces the impact that they had on visitors, among them John Hardyng, John Leland, William Camden, who subsequently used them as justification for the existence of Arthur in their writings. It shows how the local Arthur was manifested through textual and material culture: in chronicles, notebooks, and antiquarian works; in stained glass windows, earthworks, and display tablets. Via a careful piecing together of the evidence, the volume argues that a new history of Arthur begins to emerge: a local history.

This collection of essays in two volumes explores patterns of medieval society and culture, spanning from the close of the late antique period to the beginnings of the Renaissance. Volume 2 analyzes of forms of devotion, both popular movements and those practices and ceremonies limited to elite groups. The exploration of medieval paradigms comes to a close with a group of essays which follow the medieval patterns well past the Middle Ages, even into the present.

King Arthur is arguably the most recognizable literary hero of the European Middle Ages. His stories survive in many genres and many languages, but while scholars and enthusiasts alike know something of his roots in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin History of the Kings of Britain, most are unaware that there was a Latin Arthurian tradition which extended beyond Geoffrey. This collection of essays will highlight different aspects of that tradition, allowing readers to see the well-known and the obscure as part of a larger, often coherent whole. These Latin-literate scholars were as interested as their vernacular counterparts in the origins and stories of Britain's greatest heroes, and they made their own significant contributions to his myth.

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.

• Arthur in the Celtic Languages is a reliable up-to-date introduction to the field. • It is the only book covering Arthurian literature and traditions in the Celtic languages (Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Irish, Scottish Gaelic) • This book covers medieval and modern literatures. • It also discusses folklore, ballads and other popular traditions as well as place-names.