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The Arthurian mythos is intricate and daunting — with current bibliographies listing over 12,000 titles. In this collection some unchallenged, long-neglected theories have been dusted off for examination and discussion by new generations of Arthurian scholars. From a medieval translation of a thirteenth-century text to essays by twentieth-century writers, "An Arthurian Reader" presents a cross-section of speculation both scholarly and esoteric, some well-supported by cross references, others containing some astonishing undocumented flights of fancy. All is part of the total spectrum of the mythos.
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An ARTHURIAN READER A selection of lost classics from Arthurian literature. THE MOST A N C I E N T AND FAMOVS HISTORY O F T H E REN O W N ED PRIN CE A R T HV R King of B ritain e , The firft Part. W herein is declared his L ife and Death, •with a ll his glorious B attailes again jl the Saxons, Saracens and Pagans, which (for the honour of his C ou ntry) he m oft w or thily achieued. A s alfo, a ll the N oble A bis, and H eroicke Deeds of his Valiant K n i g h t s of the R ovnd T able. N ew ly refined, and publifhed for the delight, and profit o f the R e a d e r . L o n d o n , Printed by Willia?n Stansby , for lacob Bloome, 16 3 4 . Frontispiece: T itle page from a 17th cen tury ed ition of T h o m a s M alo ry ’s Le Morte D'Arthur. &KTHUR1AN D eader Selections from A rthurian Legend, Scholarship and Story Selected and edited by John Matthews The Aquarian Press An Imprint of 1 1.U |u t ( \>llms/W>//>/>iT> The Aquarian Press An Imprint of HarperCollinsPub/isbers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB First published by The Aquarian Press 1988 This paperback edition 1991 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 © John Matthews 1988 John Matthews asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 85030 909 3 Typeset by MJL Limited, Hitchin, Hertfordshire Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham PLC, Kent All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted. in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Dedication For Kathleen Raine, Guardian of the Perennial Wisdom Acknowledgements To Caitlin, as always, for typing, collating and all those other little jobs I was too lazy to do. To August Closs for permission to reprint the essay by Hannah Closs. To all the friends and colleagues who sent me rare and out of the way books and occasionally scoured the bookshops of the land for others. To Simon Franklin for faith in the idea. To Emrys for letting me get on now and then. Contents Introduction John Matthews 11 PART ONE: THE MATTER OF BRITAIN Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter 1: 2: 3: 4: Chapter 5: Chapter 6: The Finding of Merlin H arold M assingham ‘Merlin and G risandole’ Merlin Walter Stein ‘The Early Days of A rthur’ G eoffrey o f M onm outh Arthurian Localities J.S. Stuart-Glennie ‘Arthur and A ccolon’ Sir Thom as M alory 15 26 41 50 65 121 PART TWO: THE SEARCH FOR THE GRAIL Chapter 7: Mystic Gleams from the Holy Grail Francis Rolt-W heeler Chapter 8: Chapter 9: ‘The High History of the Holy G rail’ The Secret Heresy of the Middle Ages Hannah Closs 135 155 164 Chapter 10: The Grail & the Rites of Adonis Jessie L. Weston Chapter 11: Chapter 12: ‘Gawain at the Grail C astle’ The Secret School of the