Arthur, Origins, Identities and the Legendary History of Britain / / Jean Blacker.

• Superior document: Explorations in Medieval Culture ; 25
• VerfasserIn: Blacker, Jean,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2024.; ©2024
• Year of Publication: 2024
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Explorations in Medieval Culture ; 25.; Late Antiquity and Medieval Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2023.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (579 pages)

Geoffrey of Monmouth's immensely popular Latin prose Historia regum Britanniae (c. 1138), followed by French verse translations - Wace's Roman de Brut (1155) and anonymous versions including the Royal Brut , the Munich, Harley, and Egerton Bruts (12th -14th c.), initiated Arthurian narratives of many genres throughout the ages, alongside Welsh, English, and other traditions. Arthur, Origins, Identities and the Legendary History of Britain addresses how Arthurian histories incorporating the British foundation myth responded to images of individual or collective identity and how those narratives contributed to those identities. What cultural, political or psychic needs did these Arthurian narratives meet and what might have been the origins of those needs? And how did each text contribute to a "larger picture" of Arthur, to the construction of a myth that still remains so compelling today?

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements -- Introduction --  1 Contextualizing Geoffrey's Historia, Arthur, and the Early French Brut Tradition --  2 Structure of Arthur, Origins, Identities -- 1 Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae: Part 1 --  1 Introduction --  2 Description of Britain, Arrival of Brutus, Foundation Myth: Geoffrey and His Predecessors --  3 Adventus Saxonum and the Passage of Dominion -- 2 Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae: Part 2 --  1 Geoffrey of Monmouth: Adventus Saxonum and Preview of Other Landmark Events --  2 King Arthur --  3 Post Arthur: Gormund's Donation, Augustine's Conversion of the English, the Passage of Dominion (Reprise) - Cadwallader and the Final Days --  4 Postscript: Geoffrey's Ideas on Multiple Ethnicities, Nationalities, Allegiances - including His Prejudices Interwoven with Origin Stories as Part of His Endeavor to Negotiate Identities -- 3 The First Variant Version --  1 Introduction --  2 Dating and Authorship of the First Variant Version --  3 The Description of Britain and the Foundation Myth --  4 Adventus Saxonum --  5 King Arthur --  6 Stages of the Passage of Dominion --  7 Cadwallader and the Final Passage --  8 Conclusion -- 4 Wace's Roman de Brut, Part 1 --  Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis --  1 Introduction --  2 Setting the Stage: Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis --  3 The Prologue to the Estoire des Engleis --  4 The Foundation Myth, the Adventus Saxonum, and the Passage of Dominion --  5 The Epilogue to the Estoire des Engleis -- 5 Wace's Roman de Brut, Part 2 --  1 Wace's Roman de Brut: Organization of the Chapter --  2 Foundation Myth --  3 The Adventus Saxonum --  4 King Arthur --  5 Gormund's Donation and the Passage of Dominion; Gormund and Arthur as Leaders --  6 Augustine's Conversion of the English --  7 Cadwallader and the "Final Days" --  8 Conclusion: The Role of Language, Ethnic/Cultural Separatism, and the Characterization of Arthur as Insider/Outsider, Barbarian and Civilizer -- 6 The Anonymous Verse Brut Tradition --  1 General Introduction --  2 Contextualizing the Anonymous Verse Bruts: Wace and Authorial Voice --  3 Overview: Anonymous Verse Bruts --  4 Common Content of the Anonymous Verse Bruts Relative to the Historia and Wace --  5 Anonymous Verse Bruts --  6 Chapter Conclusion -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1: Wace's Roman de Brut in Its Manuscript Contexts -- Appendix 2: Anonymous Verse Bruts -- Appendix 3: Arthur's "Twelve Battles": Comparative Chart -- Bibliography -- Index.