The Syllabus and Reading List of Primary Sources: The Syllabus and Reading List of Primary Sources:
While there are some images that you can click on below that correspond to particular readings, you can go to the Arthurian Images page for more illustrations of various scenes from the romances and chronicles.
Click on the sections listed below to find a particular section of the syllabus:
The beginnings of the legend. Historical/legendary bases for the popularity of Arthur. The essential elements of what will become the stories we know:
Timeline of Arthurian Britain . This Timeline is in two parts and is a very complete chronology of known historical and literary information about Arthur. You will go back to the site often during the course of the semester.
Monday, January 27: Introduction to the course; the Latin Chronicles; preparation for Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace, Arthurian Endings
If you click on the thumbnail, you can get an up-close look at a page from the Easter Annals.
An on-line version of the class handout, Arthurian Endings is available.
Things Arthurian are alive and well in the 21st century. Go to the Arthuriana Today page to get a closer look of some of the ads and order forms for "things Arthurian" that we looked at in class. Bring in more references and I will post them to the page.
Wednesday, January 29 Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain (pp. 149-261)
Monday February 3: Geoffrey of Monmouth
Click on
the thumbnail and have a look at some of the famous scenes from the Chronicles: The Giants, Stonehenge. The first page you go to will lead you to a second one, with more images.
Wednesday, February 5: Geoffrey of Monmouth
Monday, Feb. 10: Wace, Roman de Brut pp. 1-102
.
Since Wace invented the Round Table, click on the thumbnail and have a look at one rendition of it.
Wednesday, February 19: Wace
Monday, February 24: Wace
The following links provide fuller excerpts from the Latin Chronicles:
Gildas (part of the Camelot Project)
Nennius (part of the Camelot Project)
The Welsh Annals (Annales Cambriae, from the Camelot project)
Since this is the beginning of the course, and you are reading lots of introductory materials, it might be fun to check out the home page of mystery writer Sharan Newman, who has written excellent mysteries stories about the adventures of Catherine Levendeur and which take place in 12th century France and England. One of my favorite links on Sharan Newman's page is her Six common fallacies about the Middle Ages. One of those fallacies has to do with perceiving the Middle Ages as "a thousand years without a bath!" If you're interested in some images of bathing (and hair washing), to to the Image Bank of Medieval Images and take a look.
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The introduction of new elements to the legend: the story of Lancelot and Guinevere; the knights of the Round Table; the development of the courtly tradition:
Wednesday, February 26: Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart (in Arthurian Romances)
Clicking on
the image at the left will give you some scenes from the romances.
Monday, March 3: The Knight of the Cart
Click on the thumbnail and look at an illustration of "courtly love."
Wednesday, March 5: The Knight of the Cart
Supplementary Reading: The Charrette Project . This site contains an edition of the original Old French poem and quite a lot of
information even for those who do not read French.
Wednesday, March 12: Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain or the Knight with the Lion (in Arthurian Romances)
Research paper topics due and you should have discussed them with me in advance.
Mid-term take-home question due.
Click on the image to find out why there is an image of St. Jerome associated with Chrétien's Yvain.
Monday, March 17: The Knight with the Lion
In-class mid-term question (1 hour).
Wednesday, March 19: The Knight with the Lion
Monday, March 24: Note: As we begin to read excerpts from the Vulgate Cycle (or Prose Lancelot), you should do your readings based on the Summary sheets in your xerox packet. For the Lancelot of the Lake, read the pages that are indicated and summarized in your packet in addition to those listed on the "Reading and Writing Assignments" page.
Wednesday, March 26: Lancelot of the Lake; selections (xeroxed) of episodes from the Vulgate Cycle (Merlin; Arthur becomes king; the False Guenevere)
Here's a medieval depiction of the sword in the stone.
As we begin to learn more details about Merlin's life, you can see an image here of Merlin as tutor to young Arthur.
Monday, March 31: Lancelot of the Lake; Vulgate Cycle excerpts
The Vulgate Cycle was one of the more popular sources for many sumptuous illustrations. Click on the image at the left and take a look at the
scene of the (almost!) burning of Guenevere.
Wednesday, April 2: Lancelot of the Lake; Vulgate Cycle
Draft of research paper (with bibliography) due.
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Stories dealing with the fall of Camelot, the disintegration of the Round Table, the introduction of theological elements into the story of Arthur. The enduring nature of the Arthurian legend:
Monday, April 7: The Quest of the Holy Grail
Click here for a scene of Galahad arriving at Arthur's court.
Wednesday, April 9: The Quest of the Holy Grail
Monday, April 14: The Quest of the Holy Grail
Tuesday, April 15: CLASSES FOLLOW A WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE! The Quest of the Holy Grail
Monday, April 28: The Death of King Arthur
Click here to see the scene of Arthur tossing Excalibur into the lake.
Wednesday, April 30: The Death of King Arthur
Monday, May 5: The Death of King Arthur
Wednesday, May 7: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Click on the SGGK page
for some examples of the problems of translation of medieval texts. There's a suggestion for a posting to the Discussion Board as well.
Click at the left to see two of the rare illustrations from the unique Gawain manuscript.
Monday, May 12: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Final Examination question distributed.
Wednesday, May 14: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; concluding remarks.
Research papers due.
Monday, May 19: Last day to hand in final examination question and research paper.