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The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends
For more than 500 years the epic adventures of KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS have been one of the most potent forces in English literature and a rich part of our Celtic heritage and mythology. Generations have been introduced to a lost world of chivalry, valour and courtly love, and poets, writers and artists have found inspiration in all the tales of the Search for the Holy Grail, the Green Knight, and Lancelot and Guinevere.
Lavishly illustrated with paintings, engraving, maps, arm family trees, this fascinating work provides the most comprehensive source available on the Arthurian legends, bringing together material from a wide range of sources such as Malory, Chrétien de Troyes, the Mabinogion, and the English Gawain cycles.
Lavishly illustrated with paintings, engraving, maps, arm family trees, this fascinating work provides the most comprehensive source available on the Arthurian legends, bringing together material from a wide range of sources such as Malory, Chrétien de Troyes, the Mabinogion, and the English Gawain cycles.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 6, 2021
Often plundered and even plagiarised – frequently online and most notably in print by Mike Dixon-Kennedy in his Arthurian Myth and Legend: an A-Z of People and Places (1996) – this was the first really accessible dictionary of Arthurian personages, locales and other miscellanea. While not an academic publication the Encyclopaedia at least references most of its entries (unlike its main rival, mentioned above) while still striving to be user-friendly. This original edition includes full-page line drawings by Courtney Davis in a neo-Celtic style, but soon gave way to a fully-illustrated full-colour coffee-table edition which must have sold in even more numbers.
Entries are sometimes terse but rarely uninteresting, and relatively easy to cross-reference. There are family trees, some in variant versions from differing narrative traditions (for example Welsh, German or French); and a few maps, though these are rather basic. Coghlan, though an idiosyncratic author (his books range from Robin Hood to cryptozoology, from Sherlock Holmes to an excellent dictionary of Irish Christian names) is an enthusiastic Arthurian, no doubt aided by his stint as a dealer in secondhand and antiquarian books trading as Excalibur Books.
This is most useful as a ready-reference book for those more obscure Arthurian sites and personages, and its list of consulted books is still useful if now a little dated. As this is primarily a sourcebook of legends there is relatively little on literary works of more recent centuries, but Coghlan is strong on Arthuriana up to and including Malory, though he does include a few notices of later folklore and popular tales. Even for seasoned Arthurians there is much of interest here, and it’s consistently reliable (which is more than can be said for the Dixon-Kennedy rip-off).
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-encyclo
Entries are sometimes terse but rarely uninteresting, and relatively easy to cross-reference. There are family trees, some in variant versions from differing narrative traditions (for example Welsh, German or French); and a few maps, though these are rather basic. Coghlan, though an idiosyncratic author (his books range from Robin Hood to cryptozoology, from Sherlock Holmes to an excellent dictionary of Irish Christian names) is an enthusiastic Arthurian, no doubt aided by his stint as a dealer in secondhand and antiquarian books trading as Excalibur Books.
This is most useful as a ready-reference book for those more obscure Arthurian sites and personages, and its list of consulted books is still useful if now a little dated. As this is primarily a sourcebook of legends there is relatively little on literary works of more recent centuries, but Coghlan is strong on Arthuriana up to and including Malory, though he does include a few notices of later folklore and popular tales. Even for seasoned Arthurians there is much of interest here, and it’s consistently reliable (which is more than can be said for the Dixon-Kennedy rip-off).
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-encyclo
January 20, 2009
Thi is a great reference guide to have kicking around if you like Arthurian legends. Just having it from the library isn't good enough. I hope to own it one day because it is truly an encyclopaedia so it isn't something you can just read from start to finish though I tried. I found that I learned a lot and was often looking up things mentioned on Wikipedia as well to learn more if the references to a person/event were too brief.
January 26, 2023
A gorgeous book I bought used recently for my love of Arthurian legend. The art is gorgeous, and it does have a great compilation of names and places; however, for many of the names shown in here, only sparse information is given. But, this is more than worth purchasing just for the gorgeous cover and art, and the list of names to quickly search through when you want a reminder of who a certain Arthurian figure is. Use it more as a field guide to quickly refresh yourself on a person or as a launching stage to discover new figures and places. I do recommend it!
July 7, 2021
The Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends by Ronan Coghlan
In my earlier mad hunts through secondhand bookstores for every Arthurian tome I could find, I saw a foreword from John Matthews - and a desire to have a good compendium of Arthurian characters that I selected this book. Indeed, I'm grateful I did. Taking from sources including Geoffrey of Monmouth, The Mabinogion, and Chrétien de Troyes, there's a great mix of Celtic, Christian, and historical lore found here. Characters, artefacts, and locations can be found in this reference book. In my copy, presently lies roughly two-dozen sticky notes.
As an intro and reference book, The Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends is a great launching pad for Arthurian enthusiasts. It's excellent at starting one's journey in researching a character, per se. While each addition isn't especially extensive (except for major players such as Merlin or the Grail), one that had pages for each addition would be huge. (I mean, I'd buy it, but that's because I'm in this Arthurian journey for the long haul; as a means of dipping one's toes or needing a fleeting refresher, a catalogue this size does the trick.)
And that's all to say nothing of the illustrations by Courtney Davis, which are just gorgeous. I particularly love her take on Merlin's Madness.
In all, I would definitely recommend this title if you're into Arthurian lore, be it newly so or an old friend of the mythology. 3/5.
In my earlier mad hunts through secondhand bookstores for every Arthurian tome I could find, I saw a foreword from John Matthews - and a desire to have a good compendium of Arthurian characters that I selected this book. Indeed, I'm grateful I did. Taking from sources including Geoffrey of Monmouth, The Mabinogion, and Chrétien de Troyes, there's a great mix of Celtic, Christian, and historical lore found here. Characters, artefacts, and locations can be found in this reference book. In my copy, presently lies roughly two-dozen sticky notes.
As an intro and reference book, The Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends is a great launching pad for Arthurian enthusiasts. It's excellent at starting one's journey in researching a character, per se. While each addition isn't especially extensive (except for major players such as Merlin or the Grail), one that had pages for each addition would be huge. (I mean, I'd buy it, but that's because I'm in this Arthurian journey for the long haul; as a means of dipping one's toes or needing a fleeting refresher, a catalogue this size does the trick.)
And that's all to say nothing of the illustrations by Courtney Davis, which are just gorgeous. I particularly love her take on Merlin's Madness.
In all, I would definitely recommend this title if you're into Arthurian lore, be it newly so or an old friend of the mythology. 3/5.
April 2, 2018
While it gives you a good overview of the contents of the Arthurian Legend, and includes pretty much all the persons and many places, I feel like it could have been more detailed.
But if you want to look up quickly who's who, it's a good choice.
But if you want to look up quickly who's who, it's a good choice.
January 31, 2022
excellent reference guide with many tidbits even seasoned Arthurian legend readers may not know! considered & thorough without being so dense it becomes difficult to wade through. a lovely book!
January 24, 2024
Tqm Sir Gawain.
September 6, 2024
This was a very interesting read and very informative of all the players of Arthurian legends. However it was literally an encyclopedia so it took a little bit to read.
August 31, 2011
Formatted for people who love all things Arthurian, nice pictures, some good information. A reference for the pop culture of symbolism. If you want to know where the Lady of the Lake really came from, see my blog at www.whiteknightstudio.com. Read "The Lady of the Iron Sword". But all in all a nice book.
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January 26, 2015This is a gorgeous book, offering an alphabetically-organized journey through the matter of Arthur from the fifth century to the nineteenth. As an adolescent besotted with the legends, I adored this volume. It is both more scholarly and more beautifully produced than some similar works, and it still holds a place on my shelves.
November 2, 2011
Great resource for keeping track of all the characters. And explanations of how the same story can differ so much. On a personal note: reading a quote from a historian that a leader of my church is "Merlin reincarnated" was truly priceless and, I thought, the best part of the book;)
June 20, 2013
I'm not a huge fan of medieval literature or the Arthurian legend (I enjoy military and US history more than anything). This still an interesting book to read through and learn about the numerous tales and characters.
February 6, 2014
Quite boring of a read--though I guess it is an encyclopedia! Informative IF you have context. I feel you'd get more out of this if you were very familiar with the source materials. If you haven't read the sources, you may find yourself a bit confused.
May 7, 2008
I can't tell you how many times I have used this book as a reference. I only wish there were more information on some on the entries. Gret resource.
August 27, 2008
It includes some good discussion of the more obscure knights and their adventures; but it was lacking in references and other sources. The audience clearly is not academic or college-level.
September 6, 2008
A great reference source!
January 4, 2012
Gorgeous illustration, but the content would probably only interest an arthur fanatic or a scholar of medieval literature.
May 26, 2015
perhaps not the most scholerly of books but i do love it. perhaps because it was a gift from my father when I was a girl.
April 14, 2018
A good and solid Encyclopaedic reference with a varied asortment of paintings and illustrations. One of my favourite Arthurian books.
October 4, 2013
Excellent.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews