#historia brittonum

[dilutedh2so4]

so i've been reading (that's new) about origin myths of the british isles (because i can) and i have had a revelation

HEAR ME OUT

so

a sequel to the Paris musical from 1990

but about Brutus of Troy

aka Medieval Britain's OC do not steal

ITS GENIUS I PROMISE

ASK ME ABOUT BRUTUS, I WILL HAPPILY YAP

[liminalpsych]

Appendix A in Faletra's translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain

I wanted to cover these too, but they're mostly excerpts so I don't want to cover them individually.

Part of the reason I got Michael Faletra's translation of the History of the Kings of Britain was its appendices. (I believe it's also one of the more recent translations, from 2008, and that was the othe reason.)

I already posted about Vita Merlini, because that's included in its entirety. Everything else is excerpts. Appendix A is focused on historical sources that Geoffrey of Monmouth drew on for his History.

Gildas, the Ruin of Britain (De Exicidio Britanniae)

The intro description of the Isle of Britain, which Faletra included it to illustrate how Geoffrey pulled almost verbatim from Gildas for parts of the History. The excerpt continues on with a lot of deriding Britain (and I believe this is mostly Breton specifically, aka Wales and southern England, but I'm not sure): "Since the days of its earliest settlement, Britain has been over-proud in mind and spirit, rebellious against God, against its own citizens, and even occasionally against kings and peoples from across the sea." Gildas focuses on the history of Britain from the days of the Roman emperors, "describing the evils that Britain has infliced upon others."

He writes from a very Christian perspective, and mostly focuses on Christian martyrs and various saints. This is one of the more lengthier excerpts that Faletra includes in the appendices,covering a significant chunk of time that Geoffrey also covers and pulled from Gildas very directly, minus most of the moralizing. (Weirdly. You'd think Geoffrey would do more moralizing, but I suppose he was only kind of a priest, having been given a bishop position eight days after a quick ordination as a priest, probably as a reward because the Normans liked his History.)

Pseudo-Nennius, The History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum)

Faletra writes that pseudo-Nennius "seems to have been doing recovery work, wanting to get the facts and stories that he knew on the historical record before his source materials, whether oral or written, were lost forever." It has less rhetorical polish and often offers multiple accounts or versions of an event, and pseudo-Nennius tries to organize the disparate sources. Geoffrey pulls heavily from the History of the Britons for his own Historia, namely for the founding of Britain and the stories of Merlin/Ambrosius and Vortigern, and then expands upon it.

This one is clunkier to read, and more dry. It's a lot of very quick summaries, no poetic turns of phrase. Like Gildas, pseudo-Nennius also desn't seem to have a very high opinion of the Bretons and talks a lot about them being sinful.

I'll cover Appendix B (focused on Merlin) in a separate post.

[tiodolma]

merlin Ambrose getting kidnapped during a backyard basketball tournament and getting promoted into a powerful mayor then to Prime Minister is so funny to me

[pitch-and-moan]

Historia Brittonum

A period film ostensibly about a Welsh monk named Nennius writing the history of the Britons, but much of it is about the scholarship of medieval monks attempting to record mostly oral records of a history which was rarely if ever recorded, and whether or not to include certain people, acts, or battles, largely centering around one King Arthur.

[llyfrenfys]

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT Y DDRAIG TRAWS!

Certainly! I'm more than happy to oblige.

First though I'm gonna need to tldr: the history of Y Ddraig Goch before we get onto the (accidentally) canonically trans part.

A brief history of Y Ddraig Goch:

(The modern Welsh flag)

Y Ddraig Goch first appears in the tales of the Mabinogi (Charlotte Guest version) in the tale of Lludd and Llefelys where it is fighting a white dragon. The fight is also described/expanded upon in the c. 829 AD text Historia Brittonum (attributed to Nennius) - where the red dragon represents Wales and the white dragon represents the Anglo-Saxons. In the story the red dragon triumphs over the white. Of course, Geoffrey of Monmouth also covers the story c. 1136 in Historia Regnum Brittaniae in which he introduces the concept of the red dragon heralding the arrival of King Arthur.

Geoffrey of Monmouth claims Arthur used a banner featuring a golden dragon. But we also know the accuracy of Monmouth can be questionable at times. Owain Glyndŵr did use a banner with a golden dragon called Y Ddraig Aur - raised in 1401 at Caernarfon - Glyndŵr chose this banner as a nod to the supposed banner of Arthur and his father.

Later on the Tudor monarchs (being a Welsh family) adopted a red dragon on a white and green background in their heraldry. Eventually Y Ddraig Goch on a white and green background became the official badge of Wales in 1800. The design became the official flag of Wales in 1959.

Y Ddraig Traws:

Now for the thing you're all here for -

So, as outlined, the history of the dragon as a national symbol of Wales goes back a long way. If we're just talking post-1959, there's some interesting implications for Y Ddraig Goch's depiction.

This is what the Welsh flag (and Y Ddraig Goch) looked like in 1959 when it was officially adopted as the flag of Wales. It looks broadly the same as the first flag and has some common features - such as not having a penis (or, as in the correct heraldic terminology - a pizzle). Meanwhile, in the arms of the Tudors (specifically Henry VII)

(Tudor dragon with pizzle) vs (dragon on the flag of Cardiff - pizzleless)

the penis is almost always included. So much to the point that the present royal family still includes the penis. While pretty much 0 depictions of the dragon in Wales include a penis. So you could interpret this as the dragon is seen as male only by the British royal family and as female everywhere else (which kinda implies that at some point the Tudor dragon had an mtf transition in Wales and she keeps getting misgendered by the royal family every time she is depicted in (mostly) England).

So much to the point that in 1995 this pound coin was made by the Royal Mint featuring the pizzle on the dragon with all four feet touching the ground as opposed to standing up (passant rather than rampant).

But in Wales you'd be hard pressed to see a pizzled dragon anywhere. Ergo, we can only conclude Y Ddraig Goch is trans and she transitioned in Wales and keeps getting misgendered in England.

[note: This is mostly tongue in cheek - but I do think it's fun to extrapolate that the Welsh dragon is trans because of the differences in depiction between Wales and England. Like many things Welsh, it is misrepresented by England and the idea of the Welsh dragon being misgendered only in England is, I think, a good metaphor for a whole lot of English treatment of Wales.]

Unrelatedly, there is a gay Welsh flag held at the National Museum of Wales which has a very wonky dragon which I find very endearing.

(cleaned up version I made)

So much so I made it an emoji in my Welsh bilingual LGBTQIA+ Discord (requirements for joining are - be 16+, either speak or are learning Welsh and identify as LGBTQIA+ in some way. Dm for link!).

(triaist ti 'you tried' emoji)

~ Completely unrelatedly ~ never forget the time someone was trying to homophobic to me by suggesting that I was disrespecting all the soldiers who died 'for the Welsh flag' by making it rainbow colours and not red - arguing that any change of colour of the dragon was disrespectful. Reader, my bus pass at the time for Mid Wales Travel had a purple dragon on it.

[camlannpod]

Hi! So let’s say one of your listeners’ whole knowledge about Arthurian legends is that there was King Arthur, knights, Round Table and Grail. And they were like: fine, doesn’t matter, I will certainly enjoy Camlann anyway. And let’s say that after two episodes they did realise that it matter to them and they do have a deep personal need to actually know something more. What would you recommend them to read to learn more (or like anything) about Arthurian legends?

HI!!!!! Well, in this hypothetical situation, first of all I would say thank you very much to this listener for caring enough to ask.

Second, my big recommendations would be Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Mallory (maybe the most famous Norman version of the stories) and The Mabinogion, translated by Sioned Davies (the most Welsh version of the stories!). In particular I'd recommend this listener read up on Culhwch ac Olwen and Peredur, which have been referenced so far. I'd also strongly recommend this person read Gawain and the Green Knight (I like Simon Armitage's version, which is also available as an audiobook).

If this person wanted to go further, they could also read translations of Chretien de Troyes' chivalric romances, Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Brittonum, and medieval Welsh poetry found in the Red Book of Hergest and the Black Book of Carmarthen.

I will say Camlann is (very much on purpose) a chaotic mish-mash of Arthurian legends and British folklore. In some places we run very close to 'the canon', and in other places we throw it away completely. Sometimes I'll be referencing pretty obscure bits of Arthurian canon, sometimes we'll be bringing up fairly commonly accepted stuff.

I hope this hypothetical listener has fun!

[schweizercomics]

As of this week, I'm back from the Welsh mountains of Snowdonia, where my family and I went three weeks ago for a harp festival in which my daughter was participating. We spent most of our time in the castle city of Caernarfon, where the festival took place, and stayed across the street from a really big, really lovely old church at the base of Twthill, “Wales’s smallest mountain,” site of a Yorkist victory during the War of the Roses.

One of the days that we were there, I took a bus to nearby Bedgellert, ostensibly named for a noble but unjustly murdered 13th century dog, and set out to reach the top of Dinas Emrys, which lay outside the town and near a defunct Victorian copper mine (which I also crawled around in).

(outside the mines, before I started walking)

I wandered through a lot of countryside, woods, and sheep farms. The standard Welsh joke is "Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes," and that was the case - ten minutes heavy wind and rain, ten minutes sunshine, off and on for about four hours.

In the next pic, you can see the hillock of Dinas Emrys from before it crests upwards...

...and here it is from the top. The tree sits just outside the tower ruins (the pit to its immediate left).

I've never had such a beautiful walk to such a satisfying end. Not only was the peak gorgeous, but it also had the bonus of being a historical/mythical destination right up my alley.

The top of Dinas Emrys is where the oldest English/British histories (the 9th century Historia Brittonum and Geoffrey of Monmouth's famous History of British Kings* place the tower of Vortigern (and subsequently Ambrosius, in many versions the older brother and predecessor of Uther Pendragon), which in the legends had to be rebuilt numerous times because of the red and white Dragons that fought at the pool below it and which were taken by a (then young) Merlin as an omen for Welsh/Briton victory over eastern invaders.

*My pal Benito Cereno is currently translating Geoffrey's book from Latin, with some commentary, on his Patreon, and you can read his translation of the story here.

The sun was finally (consistently) shining by the time I got to the top, so I took off my shoes and socks to dry them, lit my pipe, set up my easel, and did some sketches of both the tower ruins and, once I climbed down to it, the hidden pool below.

I was quite happy with the travel easel I'd built and carried for the last eight or nine miles, until the heavy wind took it off the side of the mountain and broke it. It's fixable, but not without tools that I didn't have in the mountains, so that was that.

I haven't finished most of the Dinas Emrys sketches - like a lot of my travel stuff, I pencil (and sometimes ink), throw a couple of spots of color, and take photos to use as reference, so that I can do more pieces on a limited traveling schedule. But I'm looking forward to finishing the drawings of the pool especially - it felt like I was in a fairy tale down there, and I hope I can convey it (although the leafless, windswept [I think] hawthorn trees, reaching toward the pool like hands, aren't like any trees I've ever tried to draw before this trip, and trying to get them right is part of the reason I ain't yet done).

The trip back down was less idyllic, partially because going down over wet rocks is, while less strenuous than going up, more demanding of care and attention, so I had to watch my feet more than the surroundings, especially having taken a fall up by the ruins. But I'd count the trek as one of the genuine high points of my life. I was elated and in awe for hours at a stretch, and absolutely overcome with the beauty of it. And, while the rain might've been unpleasant and chilly at times, it meant that the sun fought through water and clouds to create the most incredible vistas, and the rain meant that the colors of the mosses and grasses were at their most vivid.

I'll have castle drawings down the line, too, and some others from around the harbor town, and I can't stress how much we enjoyed our time in Wales.

I did take a few days to go up to Leeds, do a signing at Traveling Man, and visit the  Royal Armouries a few times to do drawings. One of the folks who came to the signing, Dr. Tzouriadis, is a currator at the armouries and was kind enough to give me a tour on my last day in Leeds, including getting to see the research library, which I now know to make an appointment for visiting the next time I'm there (I likewise learned about the British Library reading rooms and research collection, and got a card for it for the next time I'm in London).

Dr. Tzouriadis was incredibly generous with his expertise, and I learned or clarified a lot of really neat things that'll influence how I draw swords and armor in the future. And I've had some practice this trip thanks to the incredible collections with which I had a chance to spend some time.

Each day over the month of May, I'll be posting one drawing of a sword (or other edged weapon) from either the Royal Armouries, the Tower armory, or the British Museum. It's jumping the gun a bit, but here's a sneak preview of the first one:

They're toned with a single color (indigo) so that I can collect them into a book in black and white and make both its manufacture and selling cost a bit less than I could were I to do color - it also cuts down on the time spent making them. I'll likely put them up for sale each day as I post them, likely for the same price (50 plus shipping?), as a means by which to recoup some of the (substantial) cost of the trip.

While in Leeds I also got to meet cartoonist James Lawrence, have dinner with cartoonist John Allison, and briefly stop by OK COMICS in the arcade, which was an incredible store with an amazing selection of books.

After Wales we went to London (Penny's first time), and Penny was unfortunately ill for a couple of days, so I spent time at the museum doing sketches, and visiting the library treasures gallery. We saw a couple of musicals that Penny was keen on seeing, went to Charles Dickens's house, visited the Tower, ate some cheap meat pie with jellied eels in Greenwich, toured Westminster and St Pauls (I went to a Eucharist service at the latter, as well as one in Wales in a lovely little church built into the castle wall more than seven hundred years ago), and a handful of other things, including seeing the Tempest at the Globe Theater - my first time seeing a play at the Globe, and my first time seeing the Tempest performed.

I also got to visit a whole store devoted to Tove Jansson's MOOMIN, where I got a mug and a biography of Jansson, and it was next door to the Benjamin Pollock's Paper Theater shop. I went to London disappointed that the Pollock paper theater museum had closed only months before after decades of operation, and didn't know that there was an (unaffiliated since the 80s) shop, so stumbling upon it was a real treat (stumbling is how I like to do cities - I walked crisscrossed the town between the Euston and the river and found some great shops, including a lot of bookstores).

Now that I'm home, I'm very keen to get back to work. I'll be doing Patreon commissions, coloring a book for my friend and frequent collaborator Kyle Starks, and just settling back into being able to work, which I missed an awful lot despite the wonderful trip.

[chimaerakitten]

Start of a running list of my opinions on things I have read/watched/listened to for Arthur Project research (or for “research” read: entertainment)

Le Mort D' Arthur (15th century): Alternates between boring as hell and unintentionally looney toones. Sometimes both at the same time (entire page thats just a sequence of knights getting knocked off their horses and then getting new horses and then getting knocked off their horses again) I'm still only 30 pages in despite my best efforts so this will probably reappear later in the list.

Historia Brittonum (8th century): Only one relevant paragraph. Extremely informative in very few words. fucking superb.

OSP’s King Arthur and Arthur’s Knights (YouTube videos, 2018): Not very in-depth, obviously, but enjoyable and helpful for listing a bunch of the more popular sources

[crynwr-drwg]

I apologise if I'm way off for assuming you'd know about this but

what's the origin of the whole "Arthur is gonna come back at the darkest hour and fuck shit up" thing? I went Googling to try and find the original/earliest version of the prophecy (in the hope that it's in Latin haha) but I couldn't find anything that matched my impression of the modern interpretation anywhere

is there a definitive source/sources or is it more of a folk legend that formed over hundreds of years?

or is the popular culture interpretation just way off, cus that wouldn't surprise me, like with Greek myths etc.

I enjoy questions like these, so don't worry! I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I have read into this a good bit as a personal thing.

Firstly, this comes Y Mab Darogan/ Y Gŵr Darogan/ Y Daroganwr, which is mostly what you speak of, a "destined" Son/Figure who "reclaims" Britain/Prydain for the Celts. While now a days people think of King Arthur (and I think it was originally attributed to being him, in Armes Prydein Vawr by the Bard Taliesin(?)) THOUGH this title has been applied and given to multiple other figures since then, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, and I believe Henry the seventh? In wales, However, the actual most famous one would undoubtedly be Owain Glyndŵr, who everyone who was born in Wales should (as in i'd be surprised if they didn't) know about.

Sorry for the ramble, moving on the real part of the question, what's the origin? Well, it could be Armes Prydein, but Arthur doens't actually appear in this early book, or apparently any others. His association with it is, assumedly, based off Historia Brittonum as he fought the Saxons, according to it. The earliest I can find right now in relation to King Arthur specifically coming back at all is from the 12th century, or claims of this sicne I can't find a copy of the book online right now. It's first mentioned at all by William of Malmesbury in 1125 and then Hériman of Tournai in De miraculis sanctae Mariae Laudunensis.

Besides that, there was William of Newburgh (1136–1198) who said, "most of the Britons are thought to be so dull that even now they are said to be awaiting the coming of Arthur." 1 2

Hope that answers the question well enough. If not, let me know and I'll try again haha.

[alkalinefrog]

Since you've been doing some background research on Arthurian content, did you know that a lot of the mythos involving the Round Table, chivalric romances, & the Holy Grail was developed by 12th century French poet Chrétien de Troyes; 400 years after the core Arthurian elements were first recorded in the Historia Brittonum?

Yeah, one of the first things I did when I started researching for the fic was to get a comprehensive look at the origins of the mythos! I found an ebook in the library that had a super digestible summary of the timeline, covering Historia Brittonum and Malory of course, but ALSO going into the Welsh and Celtic influences that predated Christian influence, which was SUPER COOL. Unfortunately the book only focused on the King Arthur character, and didn’t go into much depth about the other knights, ladies, faeries, etc.

The book didn’t go too in depth about Chrétien de Troyes other than to mention the titles of his contributions, so that’s another area for further reading I want to get into. I know him best for the story of Sir Yvain and the Lion, which was one of the first stories I stumbled across that just screamed HTTYD.

Like. Yvain meets the Lion by cutting its tail off??? (albeit it was to save it from a dragon where Hiccup was trying to kill Toothless at first alsjdfkalsdjf) and then the Lion becomes his best bud???? AND IT’S THROUGH THIS FRIENDSHIP THAT YVAIN IS REDEEMED??? AAAHHHH

At one point the Lion gets injured after defending Yvain, and Yvain makes a bed of grass on the back of his shield and literally drags the Lion to a town, then cuddles up next to him while he’s healing up, even though everyone’s hella scared of this wild animal BAWWWW

Other than that, I haven’t looked to deeply into his work! I made a bunch of notes on what early influences pre-dating Malory and Geoffrey of Monmouth that I wanted to use in combo with modern retellings that most people are familiar with!

[sunshinemoonrx]

I've been thinking about the original folkloric Arthur

Not a king, not a knight, but a great hunter and a humble soldier.

I'm not really an artist but I spent all yesterday filled with the urge to draw this version of the character, so here's a post that's 50/50 doodles and historiographical rambles about him.

I wanted to do scenes depicting the feats this earliest 9th-century Welsh folklore describes him doing, so first I needed a design for the guy.

Notes on my choices and historicity:

-These earliest local Arthur legends are recorded in an appendix to the Historia Brittonum (c. 830), where he is referred to as simply "Arthur miles" ("the soldier"), a protector-figure in south Wales. The name Arthur is thought to derive from the Latin "Artorius", so I've just written it here to create a consistent Latin version of the name and title. That doesn't mean it was his "real name"; there probably wasn't a specific real guy. Some have floated a 2nd-century Roman general named Lucius Artorius Castus as the "real king Arthur", but there's a 600-year gap between his life and any mention of Arthur, so that's extremely unlikely.

-The visuals are a mix of historic (he wears a tunic, a mail shirt and a cloak with an early medieval brooch) and the kind of anime boy that appeals to me personally. I can't tell you why I was so sure he had to be black-haired, it just felt right. I tried to avoid depicting him as too elite a warrior; I imagine the necklace was obtained as plunder from a raid. For his build, I wanted him to have some mass but not to look like a modern gym bro, and that crashed headfirst into my predilection for messy twinks, and I ended up drawing him (and the other characters here) with kinda "curvy anime babe" proportions, I guess, lmao

-The 10th-century Annales Cambriae say that at the battle of Badon, "Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were the victors". This is probably referring to to a shield design, but I thought it'd be fun to interpret it as a back tattoo. The practice is attested as being practiced in the north of Britain from a 786 synod in Northumbria. The English clergy weren't fond of it and actually tattooing a cross isn't attested until the crusading era, plus from a modern perspective the vibes of a guy with just a big Christian tattoo are a bit questionable, so I decided to pair it with something else. Earlier Roman accounts of Briton tattoos mention animal shapes, and Welsh legends often depict people or their souls becoming birds (early modern Cornish folklore even held that Arthur survived in the form of a bird), so I went with a wing-pattern.

-The precursor to Excalibur, Arthur's sword Caledfwlch ("hard-cleaver", Caliburnus in Latin, Calesvol in Cornish) isn't magic yet, and his spear and dagger are given equal prominence, so I depicted it as the kind of straight sword common at the time, derived from the Roman spatha design.

-One of the two prior stories recorded in the HB is Arthur's fighting and killing his son Amr ("fab Arthur", "son of Arthur", is my translation into Welsh); I drew Amr in a half-tunic/half-dress because, again, I just kinda wanted to

The other story involves Arthur hunting the great boar Twrch Trwyth (Troit/Troynt), so that was the next thing to design:

This is very cool to see referred to this early, because the hunt of the Trwyth is the climactic set-piece of Culhwch ac Olwen (c. 1100), the most complete Arthurian tale we have from the period after the Historia Brittonum transformed him from a minor local figure into a magical warrior-hero for all the Britons and centrepiece of Welsh legend, but before Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae further began his transformation into the chivalric king popular in France and across Europe.

In Culhwch, Trwyth is a king who was turned into a boar by God as punishment for his sins, so I came up with a human design as well as a big pig design. The king in question was probably intended as a Briton, but I thought it would be fun to depict him as a Saxon, Arthur's enemies in the HB, especially as Saxon warriors often wore boar-crests on their helmets. I did one take with a mostly historic boar-helmet, and one more fantastical, almost like a boar-themed Kamen Rider helmet, as if rather than becoming an actual boar he became this more fearsome but still humanoid warrior.

I also made his sword slightly asymmetrical, to mirror the seax knives that gave the Saxons their name. Their actual main battle swords were straight, but I thought it was a fun touch for this magical tyrant.

As for the boar-form design, I like depicting monsters with sketchy outlines, like they aren't fully solid creatures of this world.

And that's how we get our first scene proper!

The legend recorded in HB says that when Cabal (Latinisation of Welsh "Cafall"), Arthur's dog, was hunting Troynt (Trwyth), he left a paw-print in a stone, which Arthur then assembled a cairn under, and if the paw-print stone is ever removed, within 24 hours it returns to the mound. (Cafall is also featured in the version of the hunt in Culhwch!)

Anyway, I can't really draw animals that aren't big scary creatures, so I didn't want to draw an actual dog. So since I'd already turned Trwyth into a guy, I figured why not just turn Cafall into a guy too? Plus, I get to draw a guy in a collar with a dog-tail and a little fangy. So win-win, really.

I also wanted to draw a version with the human Trwyth, and I figured I'd combine that with the story of Amr, and just do a page of swordfights:

"...on fatal field / we fended our lives, as the ranks clashed in battle / and the boar-crests rang..." -Beowulf

The Amr (or Amhar) story relates that Arthur built a tomb for his son, and that every time it is measured it comes up as a different length.

The fact this is such an early story is also very interesting, because one of the most famous parts of post-HRB chivalric Arthur is the killing of his son Mordred. Early Welsh references to Mordred (Medraut or Medrawd) portray him entirely positively. I do wonder if when Mordred became the more famous son of Arthur the story of Amr got folded into his, but we don't have evidence to do more than speculate.

I also now realise that my human Trwyth looks a lot like a Ringwraith, and honestly the more medieval lit I delve through the more moments of "oh that's why that bit of Tolkien is like that" I have.

Those were what I originally wanted to depict, but in doing them two more ideas occurred to me. One was depicting the Arthur of the Historia Brittonum itself (not just the pre-existing folklore it recorded), this local hero plucked into a much grander stage, cast as a pseudohistorical general leading his people against the Saxons.

This one came out very "edgy teenager on Deviantart", but fuck it, kill the part of you that cringes and be free, right:

The title comes from one of the medieval Welsh "triad" texts, each one a short line listing the "three great X of the Isle of Britain" to help bards remember. Arthur is referred to in many of them, here as one of the "Three Red Reapers of the Isle of Britain". I thought that was a good fit for his war-hero portrayal here. Also I tried moving the cross-tattoo lower down to make it sluttier.

HB's Arthur is an interesting middle ground. He's leading the Britons as a whole, but he still has one foot in his humble origins. He's named as Dux Bellorum, "battle-leader", and it's specified that the kings of the Britons were under his leadership although he was less noble than them. It's only somewhere between the grander Welsh legends that sprung up after this and the HRB that he would get upgraded to king.

For the final picture, I was inspired by a much more recent piece of Breton verse, a 19th-century gwerz (ballad) telling of Arthur arriving in Brittany (on account of being king of all Britons) to slay a dragon and getting help from Saint Efflam. The core story, though, is remarkably consistently preserved from the Vita Euflami, the original saint's life written around 1100. I was captivated in particular by the verse in the gwerz where Arthur announces himself:

Me zo roué ar Bretonet Artur an terrub lessanvet Deut aman deus a Lannion Evit tistruji ann Dragon.

I am the king of the Britons/Bretons Arthur, known as the terrible Come here from Lannion To destroy the dragon.

For one, the way the lyrics flow in the Breton just kinda goes hard, but the bombastic tone and the length of time the story was transmitted across brought a scene vividly to my mind, inspired by the persistent story of Arthur's prophesised return: Modern travellers in the Breton countryside being set upon by a dragon, only for Arthur to miraculously appear with this declaration, defeat the beast and vanish, his original task as hunter and protector fulfilled once more.

So I drew that! Once again, I like sketchy impressionistic monsters. Also, I think the people in the back are lesbians, but that's less of a conscious decision and more just what happens when you ask me to draw two people.

And that's what's been occupying my mind for the past few days! There's a couple more things I could do. Cai and Gwenhwyfar (precusors to Sir Kay and Guinivere) are characters I'd love to whip up designs for, and there's a bunch of really wild scenes in Culhwch. But that'll only be if I'm still feeling this specific creative energy.

Thanks for reading!

[jasminewalkerauthor]

Deep dives into folklore: Arthurian legend

The Arthurian legends are a captivating tapestry of myth, history, and literary invention that have evolved over centuries to become a cornerstone of Western literature and culture. Rooted in Celtic and medieval traditions, these legends center around the legendary King Arthur, his Knights of the Round Table, and the magical world of Camelot. The evolution of Arthurian legends reflects the dynamic interplay between historical events, oral storytelling, and written narratives. This week we long awaitedly explore the multifaceted transformation of Arthurian legends from their origins to their modern interpretations in the first part of this deep dive.

The origins of Arthurian legends are shrouded in mystery, with some historians speculating that they may have been inspired by a historical figure or composite of several leaders from early medieval Britain. The earliest references to Arthur can be traced to Welsh sources such as the "Historia Brittonum" and the "Annales Cambriae," both of which date back to the 9th and 10th centuries. In these texts, Arthur is depicted as a warrior who defended Britain against invading forces.

However, it was Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae" in the 12th century that provided the Arthurian legend with a significant boost in popularity. Geoffrey's work portrayed Arthur as a legendary king who established a prosperous kingdom in Britain and fought against both Saxon and Roman invaders. This narrative laid the foundation for subsequent Arthurian literature.

The Arthurian legends underwent a remarkable transformation during the High Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th and 13th centuries. This period saw the emergence of Arthurian romances, which focused less on historical accuracy and more on themes of chivalry, courtly love, and quest. One of the most influential authors of this era was Chrétien de Troyes, whose works, including "Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart" and "Perceval, the Story of the Grail," introduced iconic characters like Lancelot and the quest for the Holy Grail.

These romances introduced a new dimension to the legends, emphasizing the moral and ethical aspects of knighthood. The knights of Arthur's court became exemplars of chivalric virtues, setting the standard for medieval conduct. The character of Guinevere and her adulterous affair with Lancelot added complex layers to the stories, exploring the tension between personal desire and societal expectations.

Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur," written in the 15th century, is perhaps the most famous compilation of Arthurian stories during this period. Malory's work consolidated various legends and romances into a single narrative, emphasizing the tragic aspects of Arthur's rule and the dissolution of the Round Table.

The Arthurian legends experienced a resurgence in popularity during the Victorian era. Writers such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Sir Walter Scott created their own versions of Arthurian tales, emphasizing themes of national identity, heroism, and the importance of preserving a mythical past. Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" reimagined Arthur as a symbol of Victorian ideals, with his reign representing an idyllic and noble past.

The 20th and 21st centuries have witnessed a continued fascination with Arthurian legends, with numerous adaptations in literature, film, and television. T.H. White's "The Once and Future King" (1958) is a notable modern retelling of the Arthurian saga, exploring themes of leadership, war, and the human condition.

Arthurian legends have also been featured in popular films like John Boorman's "Excalibur" (1981) and in television series like "Merlin" (2008-2012) and "Camelot" (2011). These adaptations often reinterpret the legends to suit contemporary audiences, blending elements of fantasy, romance, and adventure.

The evolution of Arthurian legends is a testament to their enduring appeal and adaptability. From their obscure origins in ancient Celtic and Welsh folklore to their transformation into tales of chivalry and romance during the Middle Ages, and their revival and reinterpretation in the modern era, these legends have continually captured the imagination of generations. The Arthurian legends remain a rich source of inspiration, reflecting the ever-changing values and concerns of the societies that have embraced them. Whether viewed as historical accounts or imaginative fables, the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table continue to hold a special place in the literary and cultural heritage of the Western world. Next week I will be talking about the real life mark that arthurian legends had on britain, more specifically wales.

Taglist (reply or reblog to be added):

@axl-ul @crow-flower @thoughts-fromthevoid @alderwoodbooks @harleyacoincidence @tuberosumtater @sonic-spade @theonlygardenia @holymzogynybatman @nulliel-tres

[tiodolma]

merlin becomes the lebron james of east wales

[mask131]

Cold winter: King Arthur

KING ARTHUR

Category: Arthurian legend / Matter of Britain

Ah, King Arthur… THE central protagonist of the wave of medieval texts known as the “Matter of Britain”. He is so important to this Matter that it is even alternatively known as the “Arthurian myth”. And yet, King Arthur, despite being known by everybody, will have several dozen descriptions depending on who you ask. He is in the image of his own legend: throughout the texts, the cultures and the centuries he put on numerous different faces…

I) The primitive King Arthur

The roots of king Arthur, as those of his entire “myth”, lies in Welsh literature and Welsh mythology. King Arthur first appeared in literature in two Latin texts: Historia Brittonum (The History of the Britons, between the 9th and 11th centuries) and Annales Cambriae (Annals of Wales, between the 10th and 13th century). Or rather these two works are the first textual mentions of Arthur as a historical figure – both being works of history. The Annales Cambriae mentions Arthur twice: it lists the “year 72” (516 AD) as being the year of the Battle of Badon, “in which Arthur carried the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ on his shoulders for three days and three nights and the Britons were victors” ; and the “year 93” (537 AD) as the Strife of Camlann, “in which Arthur and Medraut (Mordred) fell and there was death in Britain and in Ireland”. As for the “Historia Britonnum”, it presents Arthur as a “dux bellorum” (war leader/military commander) who fought twelve battles alongside the kings of Britain against the invading Saxons: the first at the mouth of the river Glein, the second to fifth above the river Dubglas, the sixth above the Bassas river, the seventh in the forest of Celidon, the eight at the fortress of Guinnion (and it is there that he “carried the image of Holy Mary ever virgin on his shoulders”, which put the “pagans” to flight, “and through the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ and through the power of the blessed Virgin Mary his mother there was great slaughter among them”). The ninth was at the City of the Legion (Caerleon), the tenth on the banks of the rivers Tribruit, the eleventh on the mountain Agnet, and the last on mount Badon (there Arthur was said to have killed 960 men all of his own in one charge, “as in all the wars he emerged as victor”).

Now… when I say those were the two first apparitions of Arthur, it is unexact. Arthur existed before, and was hinted at or talked about in various other older texts – but it was under his more “primitive” shape, the “original” folkloric figure of Arthur that was shared by both the Welsh in England and the Breton in France. This wide and old tradition depicted Arthur not as a king (as the above texts explains), but as a military leader of the Britons who battled against the Anglo-Saxons as they tried to invade Britain in the aftermath of the fall of the Roman Empire. A great and exceptional warrior without peer or rivals, he was presented as the defender of Britain – from both internal and exterior threats, from both natural and supernatural foes. On top of the Saxons, he was also said to have battled, hunted or killed various monsters and supernatural beings: witches, giants, dog-headed men,  dragons… Some tales describe him as living in the wilds with a group of faithful companions who are all warriors with superhuman or unnatural abilities (some even seemingly being former Celtic gods) ; and he seemed to have a strong connection with the Welsh version of the Otherworld, “Annwn”, from either his wife and weapons coming from there, to a story depicting him besieging the fortresses of the Otherworld to obtain their treasures and/or free their prisoners. “Arthur the Blessed” was seen as an embodiment of valour, a hero great warriors could never hope to rival ; as for his entourage, it was implied he had a father-son relationship with Uther Pendragon (though it was only hinted at in certain texts), and while sometimes listed as the leader of two-hundred men, his most prominent and faithful companions were Cei (future Kay) and Bedwyr (future Bedivere). He also appears in another tale (Culhwch and Olwen) as a friend and cousin of the hero Culhwch, who he helps won the hand of the titular Olwen, by assisting him in a series of seemingly impossible tasks, from obtaining belongings of otherworldly rulers to the hunt of giant supernatural boars. And it is explained in the text that while Arthur is ready to help Culhwch in any way, and even lends him his six best men for his duties, there is one thing he will never do: it is lend him his sword, Caledfwlch (future Excalibur).

Beyond these distinctive Celtic/pagan texts, and before the two Latin sources above, Arthur also appeared in some early Latin and Christian texts – the “vitae”, texts retelling the life of saints. In the “Life of Saint Gildas”, the titular saint was living in Scotia as a faithful and loyal subject to Arthur, but his 23 brothers rose up against the “rightful king”, most notably his eldest brother Hueil who would frequently raid from Scotland the rest of Arthur lands – to the point the king had to kill him. However Gildas managed to forgive Arthur, and in exchange Arthur accepted to undergo a penance for the murder of the saint’s brother. Later Gildas arrived at the city of Glastonbury and there discovered a feud between king Arthur, who was besieging the city, and Melvas, the Somerset king, who had abducted and raped Guinevere, Arthur’s wife. The saint arranged peace between the rulers by having Arthur abandon his siege and Melvas return Guinevere to Arthur. Arthur also appeared in “The Life of Saint Cadoc”, where the titular saint puts under his protection a man who killed three of Arthur’s warriors. Arthur demands as a “wergild” (man-price, a compensation for a man’s death) a herd of cattle that the saint delivers, but as soon as Arthur takes the animals they turn into bundles of ferns.

II) The English King Arthur

All of the above was the “primitive” form of Arthur – but the Arthur as we know today originates from one very specific author, and one very specific text. Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welsh cleric, and his “Historia Regum Britanniae” (The History of the Kings of Britain, 1136), a supposedly historical (but in truth much more fictional/legendary/folkloric) account of all the British kings, from Brutus (legendary “first British king, descendant of the Trojan/Roman hero Aeneas) to Cadwallader (king of Wales at the end of the 7th century).

Monmouth included Arthur in his list, and created him as the character we know today. Descendant of Constantine the Great and son of Uther Pendragon, Arthur was conceived when Uther (with Merlin’s magic) tricked Igerna (Igraine, wife of Gorlois duke of Cornwall) into sleeping with him at Tintagel. Arthur succeeded to his father at the latter’s death, when he was just fifteen – he underwent a series of battles against the Saxons, the Picts and the Scots, conquering Ireland, Iceland and the Orkney Island, building what is known as the “Arthurian empire”. After twelve years of peace, Arthur expanded to Norway, Denmark and the Rome-controlled Gaul, eventually leading to a battle against Rome itself. Arthur and his three closer men, Kaius (Kay), Beduerus (Bedivere) and Gualguanus (Gawain) vanquished the emperor Lucius Tiberius in Gaul, and would have marched on Rome if Arthur hadn’t heard that his nephew Mordredus (Mordred), that he had left to rule Britain in his stead, had married his wife Guenhuuara (Guinevere) and taken his throne. Arthur returned to Britain, and in a final battle against Mordredus on the river Camblam, he killed his nephew but was mortally wounded in turn. He left his crown to Constantine, before being taken to the otherworldly island of Avalon – to be there healed of his wound, and never be seen again.

This story is the foundation on which all of the Arthurian myth was formed. You have everything there: Uther as Arthur’s father, Guinevere as his wife, Merlin as the wizard-counsellor, Mordred as his final enemy, and even Excalibur (in its primitive form of “Caliburnus”).

III) The French King Arthur

Monmouth’s text became MASSIVELY popular and led to many texts expanding or talking about the Arthurian legend, but after this first wave a second important point shifted the Matter of Britain around: the “French Arthurian tales”. Aka Chrétien de Troyes’ various Arthurian novels, which in turn caused a new wave of Arthurian text and traditions in the 12th and 13th centuries. In the Chrétien de Troyes story, interestingly the focus of the tales aren’t on Arthur himself – who becomes just a background character. Chrétien de Troyes added several new elements of focus and importance in the Arthurian myth, such as Lancelot or the Holy Grail, and due to focusing more on the “knights of the Round Table” that surround Arthur, the characterization of the king changes quite a bit. As we follows the adventures of Percival, Gawain, Galahad, Ywain or Tristan, Arthur… does nothing. While before he was a great military leader, a monster-slayer and a ferocious warrior, in this new tradition he becomes an inactive and even some would say “lazy” king. He is still a glorious figure renowned in the Arthurian world and a supreme authority no one would ever dare contest, but from physical prowess, military power and active exploits, Arthur’s qualities shift towards wisdom, dignity, a patient and balanced temper – at the cost of him appearing seemingly… apathic. Weak. Feeble. Barely reacting to the events around him while everyone else goes on adventures, or always retiring from the story for one reason or another – sometimes even depicting Arthur as nodding off after a feast and having to sleep while everybody else stays awake. The Chrétien de Troyes story also introduced the idea of an adulterous love between Lancelot and Guinevere, making Arthur a royal cuckold. A true decline of the hero in the time of the romances.

Up to the early 13th century, most of the Matter of Britain (if not all) was told in verse (from Chrétien’s novels in verse, to Marie de France’s lais). Starting with the 13th century, we start to have prose texts about Arthur: the Vulgate Cycle, or Lancelot-Grail Cycle. Five prose works that focus almost exclusively on both Merlin’s story and the quest of the Holy Grail, while pushing Arthur in the background. BUT these texts also added a key element to the Arthur legend: the idea that Mordred, the nephew destined to kill him, was also actually his son, born of an incestuous relationship he had with his sister Morgause. Plus, the idea that Camelot was Arthur’s main court and castle also came from the Vulgate Cycle. The tradition around those prose texts also decided to include King Arthur as part of a group of men known as the “Nine Worthies”: nine men who were the perfect example and embodiment of chilvary. Three pagans (Hector, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar) ; three Jewish (Joshua, David and Judas Maccabeus), three Christians (King Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey of Bouillon).

IV) The late King Arthur

The wave of the French texts, both verse and prose, came to an end by a full return to England: in the late 15th century, Thomas Malory wrote and published “La Morte d’Arthur”, a retelling of the entire Arthurian legend as build up by the previous centuries in one single text, that became MASSIVELY popular and became the new foundation for the Arthurian myth in England. However King Arthur’s popularity and figure slowly died out alongside the Middle-Ages – unable to resist to a Renaissance that praised and focus mostly and chiefly on Greco-Roman culture, rejecting everything deemed too “medieval”. Up until now, the various texts linked to Arthur were considered as either fully or semi-historical, and everyone agreed that he must have been an historical figure – but by the 16th century people opposed fiercely this idea and rejected Arthur’s tales as pure and entire fiction, complete inventions, and in return they disgraced the entire Matter of Britain from any kind of true “legitimacy” or “interest”. The Arthurian legends were never completely erased – for they were too much part of the culture of several countries and nations – but they lost their prominence and importance: it wasn’t taken with any seriousness, sometimes reserved as folktales and fairytales for children, other times reinvented as comedies and parodies ; and when they were treated seriously, the Arthurian tales were just used for political messages or political allegories (mostly about the politics of the English monarchy, or as reflections of its various kings). After all, King Arthur represented a “golden age” of Britain – he was the greater ruler of England, the “king of kings” who built an empire that crumbled only after his death. Many kings of England aspired to be associated with this figure – to the point Henry VIII himself had a personal “Round Table” built for him!

- - - - -

But to have a true “rebirth” of the Arthurian myth, we will have to wait a few more centuries. Just like King Arthur is said to wait or sleep forever in an otherworldly location, ready to come back to save England whenever it would be in trouble, the Arthurian legend stayed dormant throughout the Renaissance before waking up in the 19th century.

You had a conflagration… 19th century was the century of medievalism, of Romanticism, of the Gothic revival, and they all sought to know more about and revive the Arthurian myth and romance. Malory “Le Morte d’Arthur” was reprinted in 1816 (when its last edition was 1634), the Arthurian time with its knights was paralleled with the Victorian time and its gentlemen, king Arthur became a source of inspiration for many poets (such as Alfred Tennyson) and the Matter of Britain became the prime subject of the painters known as the Pre-Raphaelites. The craze even went beyond Europe, in the USA thanks to Mark Twain’s famous “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”…

But unfortunately the World Wars would seriously damage the reputation of the Arthurian myth and cause a mass rejection of the idea of chivalry – one would have to wait until the 50s to see Arthur return to the stage, with works such as T. H. Whites “The Once and Future King”, later adapted by Disney as “The Sword in the Stone”, or Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “The Mists of Avalon”.

King Arthur’s figure is a vast, complex and difficult one to explore in its globality, since each time he has been reinterpreted differently: an otherworldly hero, a messianic king, the pure and golden embodiment of chivalry and knighthood, or a symbol of a great man succumbing to his weakness and falling for his own faults… But my seasonal series are just to provide introductions and starting points, so enjoy this brief recap and if you are interested, go look in the world for more Arthur! Gosh knows the media are now FLOODING us with king Arthur content.

[liminalpsych]

Read All the Arthurian Literature!

I was originally going to do this chronologically, but after pulling the enormous list of classic texts from @fuckyeaharthuriana's Arthurian List of Everything, I quickly abandoned that idea.

Instead, I'm going to start with the "core texts" in chronological order... more or less. I'll fill in the remaining literature over time if I stick with this project long enough. Core texts are bolded. These are the very influential, foundational texts that Arthurian literature built on over time, and that modern Arthuriana derives from. (What's a "core text" is debatable; I'm bolding the texts that I've most often seen recommended across the internet.)

This is my tracking sheet for what I've acquired, what I've read, and what I have left to read, with a link to the tag associated with that text where you can find my reactions, thoughts, and quotes from the text. Currently a shortlist, with additional texts from the complete list added in as I read them.

✓ 540 - Excerpt from De Excidio Britanniae / The Ruin of Britain, by Gildas. Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

□ The rest of De Excidio Britanniae, by Gildas. (Probably not going to bother with this.)

✓ 600 - Y Gododdin. Translated by Gillian Clarke

✓ 828 - Excerpt from Historia Brittonum, by pseudo-Nennius. Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

□ The rest of Historia Brittonum, by Nennius. (Probably not going to bother reading this.)

□ 1000-1185 - The Lives of Saints (various saints with Arthurian content in their stories) - This is not what I'd call a core text, I'll probably skip most of them for now, but I already read excerpts in Faletra's appendices and I wanted credit for it.

□ 1000 - Life of St. Illtud

□ 1000 - Life of St. Cadoc, by Lifras of Llancarfan

□ 1019 - Legenda Sancti Goeznovii (Arthur is mentioned as being "recalled from the actions of the world" and not much more, probably skippable)

□ 1100 - Life of St. Padarn (only a brief mention of Arthur and Caradoc, probably skippable)

□ 1100 - Life of St. Efflam

✓ 1130 Excerpt from Vita Gildae / Life of St Gildas, by Caradoc. Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

□ The rest of Vita Gildae / Life of St Gildas. Translated by Hugh Williams because it's literally the only one I can find.

□ 1185 - The Life of Kentigern, by Jocelyn of Furness

✓ 1100 - The Lais of Marie de France. Translated by Claire Waters (newest recommended translation I could find, from 2018 by Broadview Press which was the selling point for me because they're amazing; has translation on one page and the old French on the other).

✓ 1138 - Historia regum Britanniae / History of the Kings of Britain, by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

✓ 1125 - Excerpt from Gesta Regum Anglorum / The Deeds of the Kings of the English by William of Malmesbury. Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

□ The rest of Gesta Regum Anglorum, by William of Malmesbury. (Probably not going to bother reading this.)

✓ 1150 - Vita Merlini / Life of Merlin, by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

□ 1155 - Roman de Brut, by Wace. (Might skip this, not sure.)

□ 1170 - Tristan, by Thomas of England

□ 1170-81 - Romances of Chretien de Troyes

□ 1170 - Erec and Enide. Translated by Ruth Harwood Cline (the only one who's done verse translation instead of prose). Started reading it and then had to skip to Vulgate for a writing project.

□ 1176 - Cliges. Translated by Ruth Harwood Cline

□ 1177 - Lancelot: the Knight of the Cart. Translated by Ruth Harwood Cline

□ 1177 - Yvain: the Knight of the Lion. Translated by Ruth Harwood Cline

□ 1181 - Perceval: the Story of the Grail. Translated by Nigel Bryant (because it's the only edition that also includes all the Continuations)

□ 1185 - Le Bel Inconnu / Fair Unknown, by Renaut de Bage

□ 1191 - Poems of Robert de Baron. Translated by Nigel Bryant (because it's the only edition I could find that included all the poems in one volume)

✓ 1191 - Excerpt from Itinerarium Kambriae / The Journey Through Wales, by Gerald of Wales. Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

□ The rest of Itinerarium Kambriae. Probably skippable.

✓ 1200 - Excerpt from De Principis Instructione Liber / The Education of Princes, by Gerald of Wales. Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

□ The rest of De Principis Instructione Liber. Probably skippable.

□ 1200 - Wigelois, by Wirnt von Grafenberg

□ 1200 - Conti di Antichi Cavalieri (Conto di Brunono e di Galeotto suo figlio) - this is not a core text, I just want all the Galehaut content I can get

□ 1200 - First Continuation of Chretien's Perceval, by Unknown / Wauchier of Denian. Translated by Nigel Bryant (because it's the only edition I could find that includes Chretien's Perceval plus all the Continuations)

□ 1200 - Second Continuation of Chretien's Perceval, by Gauchier of Donaing. Translated by Nigel Bryant (because it's the only edition I could find that includes Chretien's Perceval plus all the Continuations)

□ 1200 - Lanzelet, by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven (date debated, may be much earlier). Translated by Thomas Kerth (literally the only version I could find in hardcopy) (this isn't a core text, but I really like Lancelot, so I'm reading it). Currently reading it, it’s not as entertaining as I’d hoped, have bounced off of it and will come back to it later.

□ 1200 - Perlesvaus / High Book of the Grail. Nigel Bryant's translation, acquired.

□ 1200 - Tristan, by Beroul

✓ 1200 - Tristan, by Gottfried von Strassburg

✓ 1210 - French Vulgate / Lancelot-Grail / Prose Lancelot. Translated by a team of scholars led by Norris J Lacy (it's 2024 and I'm still into Arthuriana so I have acquired this!). I haven’t read it cover to cover but I’ve read most of it in out-of-order chunks while writing a larp. Goal is still to read it cover-to-cover someday.

□ 1230 - Third Continuation of Chretien's Perceval, by Manessier. Translated by Nigel Bryant (because it's the only edition I could find that includes Chretien's Perceval plus all the Continuations)

□ 1230 - Fourth Continuation of Chretien's Perceval, by Gerbert de Montreuil. Translated by Nigel Bryant (because it's the only edition I could find that includes Chretien's Perceval plus all the Continuations)

✓ 1230 - Post Vulgate. Translated by a team of scholars led by Norris J Lacy (it comes in a set with the Lancelot-Grail, acquired). I haven’t read it cover-to-cover but I’ve read most of it in disparate chunks.

□ 1250 (or 1000) - Welsh Triads

✓ Excerpt translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

□ 1300 - Black Book of Carmarthen. Translated by Meirion Pennar because I can't find any other translation in hardcopy.

✓ ~950? What Man is the Gatekeeper? / Pa gur yw y porthor? Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

✓ ~1100? Afallennau / The Apple Trees. Translated by Michael Faletra (appendix in Faletra's History of the Kings of Britain)

□ 1300 - La Vendetta Che fe Messer Lanzelloto de la Morte di Miser Tristano (Lancelot avenging Tristan; not a core text, but sounds very relevant to my interests)

□ 1300 (or 900) - Book of Taliesin. Translated by Lewis & Rowan because it’s the most recent translation and I can’t find any comparisons between translations, or recommendations about translations, so I’m going with most recent and hoping that works.

□ 1300 - The Stanzaic Le Morte Arthur. Maybe Sharon Kahn’s verse translation? Alternatively, Larry Benson’s because it comes with the Alliterative Morte.

□ 1382 - The Mabinogion. Translated by Sioned Davies. (Acquired. Started reading it and finished book 1 almost by accident.)

□ 1400 - Alliterative Morte Arthure. Probably Simon Armitage’s translation? Alternatively Larry Benson’s translation because it comes with the Stanzaic Mort?

✓ 1400 - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. (I have Tolkien's translation in ebook format, might go with a different translator though.)

□ 1400 - Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carlyle

□ 1446 - La Tavola Ritonda. Translated by Anne Shaver. I’ve read some of a terrible scan of this and am waiting on a better one to read the rest.

□ 1450 - The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell

□ 1485 - Le Morte Darthur, by Thomas Malory. Translated by Keith Baines because it's apparently the least tedious of the translations. (Acquired.) I have attempted and failed to get through other translations of Morte at least five times over the past decade or two, I have a grudge against Malory.

□ 1500 - The Grene Knight

[camlannpod]

Ok u followed me back so now that we are moots it has openned the flood gates for me to gush about the fact that I've LOVED Arthurian lore ever since I was a middle schooler watching the bbc merlin tv shows and immediately hyper fixated on it. I actually read the history brittonium for fun just because its the oldest reference to king arthur and merlin and im learning welsh specifically because i am a nerd who want to visit wales some day to go to Mold to go to the library with the largest collection of Arthurian legend texts. So yeah anyway im so excited for your podcast!!!!

Haha, we actively encourage Arthurian gushing! Hi!!!!! I got deeeeeep into BBC Merlin in my last two years of school - I used to rewatch episodes and make notes about it (I wrote....so much fanfic). I love the Historia Brittonum! But you know one of the oldest references to Arthur (we believe) is in Culhwch ac Olwen, a Welsh story! I'd also really recommend the Four Branches of the Mabinogi (more commonly known as The Mabinogion, best translation by Sioned Davies). And I enjoy the Chretien de Troyes stuff too!

I'm always enthusiastically in support of anyone learning Welsh, it's a beautiful language!! I hope you are able to visit Wales one day. Our show is actually set near Carmarthen because its name in Welsh, Caerfyrddin, means Merlin's Castle! (Or fortress)

I'm really glad you're excited for the podcast, thank you! I hope you enjoy ep 1 and ep 2 (coming this Monday!)