Arthurian Literature XXX

The richness and interdisciplinarity of the Arthurian tradition are well represented by the essays collected here, which range from early Celtic texts to twentieth-century children's books, and include discussion of Welsh, Irish,English, French and Latin material in both literary and historical contexts. Many of the articles focus on less well-known late medieval versions of the legend, a somewhat neglected area until recently: an Irish Grail narrative, the Burgundian prose 'Erec', the enormous prequel 'Perceforest', 'Ysaïe le Triste', 'Le Conte du Papegau', and Froissart's 'Mélyador' (the last three discussed as exercises in nostalgia). Meanwhile, anotherchapter approaches 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' from the perspective of forest ecology. The contributions represent expanded and revised versions of selected papers given at the XXIIIrd Triennial Congress of the International Arthurian Society held in Bristol in July 2011; they include two of the plenary lectures, one on 'Celtic Magic' and one on the reception of Geoffrey of Monmouth in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.