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Arthur et la Table ronde: La force d'une légende
Les origines historiques de la légende arthurienne se perdent dans la nuit des temps : empire romain de Grande-Bretagne, Sarmates ou Pictes, rois saxons ? Qui étaient les contemporains d'Arthur ? L'archéologie situe les faits au Pays de Galles, en Cornouailles ou encore en Ecosse... Fondatrice de toute la culture anglo-saxonne, la légende arthurienne doit son existence dans la littérature à une rivalité anglo-française : Henri II Plantagenêt, pour asseoir sa légitimité, fit rédiger l'histoire d'un héros anglo-saxon destiné à faire pendant à Charlemagne, le héros français. Ainsi naquit Arthur. Au cours du Moyen Age, il devint le modèle absolu du chevalier, héraut des valeurs courtoises, défenseur de la chrétienté. Entre mythe et histoire, Anne Berthelot conduit le lecteur, tel un chevalier errant, au cœur d'une forêt touffue dans la profondeur de laquelle il parviendra à démêler les fils d'une des plus grandes légendes de tous les temps.
144 pages, Paperback
First published November 18, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 20, 2015
What a wonderful little (160 pages) book. Anne Berthelot presents one of the most comprehensive works on the Arthurian Legend I have read. Chapters 1-3 cover the history and creation of the Legend. Chapter 4 discusses the societal impact. Chapter 5 introduces its literary flourish. These are followed by a section entitled "Documents" which contains excerpts from poems, narratives, and even the cinema. The book's highlight is its copious illustrations of paintings, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, and sculptures. A must read for any Arthurian fan.
May 31, 2025
This is a really great little book. I’m pleasantly surprised. Arthur is in an odd position: part history but mostly literature. As someone who’s read a solid chunk of the core Arthurian literary canon, I think this has about the right ratio. I could not recall a major source not at least mentioned somewhere here, and it even brought a few to my attention that, while perhaps I’d seen mentioned in passing, I never looked into (e.g. the German romance Parzival). There are tons of pictures including a number of well-selected two-page spreads. They’re delightful! My only complaints are minor. I’d suggest this book to anyone who’s found themselves inspired to learn more about Arthurian legend.
The writing style is relatively conversational, giving the feeling that you’re sitting back while listening to a well-prepared expert orating the very long tale of their area in a public lecture; this is mostly a strength but sometimes it introduces perspective without demarcation and, for the serious reader, it’ll lead you hunting for sources. The latter point is OK, a matter of compromise that is required to produce a short, fun volume and not a lengthier tome, although others might be less forgiving of forgoing detailed references. There are times, however, when the reader could be mislead, at least insofar as the curation culls a lot and hence lends to the author’s interpretation, or rather that interpretation they wish to convey to this audience, as I have no doubt their actual positions are more sagacious and robust than my own.
The presentation of courtly love is the most contentious area for me, being too short to capture any of the nuisance, any of the historical development that covaries with Arthuriana and including some black-and-white statements that stray beyond even Lewis-style classification.
The book ends with a chronological collation of excerpts from some of the major literary entries to the Arthurian cycle. This is a great idea. There are many brilliant writings of all sorts in the Matters of Britain and after, and the selection itself was sensible, but I wish some of the chosen translations were different. This was no doubt a matter of rights to a degree, but, for example, Geoffrey of Monmouth writing originally in Latin does not mean the translation has to feel a thousand years old too! A brief note about the language and style of the original would have sufficed.
I also wish there were a bit about Arthur since its heyday. If there were more fleshed out literary criticism as well, that’d have been welcomed, but I won’t fault that because of intended audience and aforementioned compromise. But anyone—from the little kid who just read the Morte like I was when I got this book more than a decade ago, to the expert—would surely welcome a little section at the end to more seriously engage with looking back on Arthur as we understand it and adapt it today.
These complaints are relatively minor. In truth, I had a great time in the about two hours I spent with this this afternoon. It’s a great read, but it is one that is probably best after you have read at least one of the canonical texts between the time of Geoffrey and Malory or thereabouts.
The writing style is relatively conversational, giving the feeling that you’re sitting back while listening to a well-prepared expert orating the very long tale of their area in a public lecture; this is mostly a strength but sometimes it introduces perspective without demarcation and, for the serious reader, it’ll lead you hunting for sources. The latter point is OK, a matter of compromise that is required to produce a short, fun volume and not a lengthier tome, although others might be less forgiving of forgoing detailed references. There are times, however, when the reader could be mislead, at least insofar as the curation culls a lot and hence lends to the author’s interpretation, or rather that interpretation they wish to convey to this audience, as I have no doubt their actual positions are more sagacious and robust than my own.
The presentation of courtly love is the most contentious area for me, being too short to capture any of the nuisance, any of the historical development that covaries with Arthuriana and including some black-and-white statements that stray beyond even Lewis-style classification.
The book ends with a chronological collation of excerpts from some of the major literary entries to the Arthurian cycle. This is a great idea. There are many brilliant writings of all sorts in the Matters of Britain and after, and the selection itself was sensible, but I wish some of the chosen translations were different. This was no doubt a matter of rights to a degree, but, for example, Geoffrey of Monmouth writing originally in Latin does not mean the translation has to feel a thousand years old too! A brief note about the language and style of the original would have sufficed.
I also wish there were a bit about Arthur since its heyday. If there were more fleshed out literary criticism as well, that’d have been welcomed, but I won’t fault that because of intended audience and aforementioned compromise. But anyone—from the little kid who just read the Morte like I was when I got this book more than a decade ago, to the expert—would surely welcome a little section at the end to more seriously engage with looking back on Arthur as we understand it and adapt it today.
These complaints are relatively minor. In truth, I had a great time in the about two hours I spent with this this afternoon. It’s a great read, but it is one that is probably best after you have read at least one of the canonical texts between the time of Geoffrey and Malory or thereabouts.
August 11, 2023
This was a very well done overview of the King Arthur legend. It explains the roots of the legend in detail accompanied by some great visuals throughout the book. A great foundational guide for anyone looking to have a general working knowledge of the famous figure and legend and how it weaves into historical timelines. A fun and quick read!
October 18, 2020
Très bien expliqué et complet
June 4, 2022
For what it aims to be, it delivers. A quick, complete, and interesting read.
December 4, 2025
Had Professor Berthelot in undergrad. Somehow, her writing is even more fascinating than her class was, which seemed an impossible feat until devouring this title.
September 23, 2014
First published by Gallimard in 1996 as Arthur et la Table ronde: La force d’une legend, this English version by Ruth Sharman is part of Thames and Hudson’s New Horizons series and follows a similar format: a well-illustrated chronological survey of the chosen subject, followed by extracts from select documents, bibliography, credits and index. The author was Professor of Medieval French Literature — and now of French & Medieval Studies — at the University of Connecticut (does that make her a Connecticut Frank at the court of King Arthur, perhaps?) and so her discussion of developments in Arthurian literature, from Wace and Layamon up to 20th-century cinema, is authoritative and thought-provoking. For instance, she clearly charts how the Matter of Britain moved from chronicle format to poetry(eg Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace’s Brut) and then back to chronicle style, and how this reflected shifts in taste from pseudohistory to the flowering of chivalry and courtly love and then returning to the burgeoning nationalistic stance in England, as evidenced by Malory.
It is when she deals with the historical context of the legend, however, that we get some curious interpretations. For example, did you know the inhabitants of Pictland during the Roman occupation were called Scots? Even though ‘Scot’ was a derogatory term for 4th-century Irish adventurers on the west coast? That there were Sarmatian legions in Britain and that this irrefutably accounts for similarities between Arthurian legend and Sarmatian myths, even if the evidence is questionable? That the Picts were apparently of Germanic origin? Were you aware of an ancient region called West Anglia? Of a Badon Hill (sic) north of Salisbury (this is actually Baydon, the ‘ay’ pronounced differently from the short ‘a’ in Badon)? Of Dorset’s Maiden Castle as an ancient castle in Logres (this Iron Age hillfort is unconnected with the Castle of Maidens of medieval literature)? Or of Old Sarum as “one of the oldest Christian sites in southern Britain” when it is very, very low down a very, very long — and growing — list?
Which edition of the Welsh Annals was Professor Berthelot looking at when she declares that Arthur’s victory at Mount Badon was due to a twenty-four hour penance “reproducing the stages of Christ’s Passion”? Certainly not an early one: the so-called Sawley Glosses attached to one version of the Historia Brittonum, which date not from the Dark Ages but from the late 12th or early 13th century, propose that it was actually for “three continuous days” and not just 24 hours that Arthur “fasted and kept vigil and prayed in the presence of the Lord’s cross”. And which edition of the Historia Brittonum concentrates in particular on the battle of Camlann? (Answer: none. Though the battle is mentioned in the 10th-century Welsh Annals.) Are these erroneous assertions to be laid at the door of the translator? No, because a comparison with the original Gallimard edition Arthur et la Table ronde confirms the English translation’s accuracy.
The first chapter, then, should carry a health warning for those Arthurians who are liable to suffer apoplectic fits. Nevertheless, these and a few other reservations aside (the short list for further reading is a curious concoction) this title is good value for the colour illustrations alone. When we come to the remaining four chapters Berthelot comes into her own and we are on much firmer ground with the medieval heyday of the legends up to and including Spencer’s The Fairie Queene and Purcell’s “dramatick opera” King Arthur. Nearly a third of this small format 160-page title is taken up with documentary evidence; there are translated quotes from medieval texts, Victorian poems and 20th-century novels, and two sections respectively on sites to visit and films to see (just four short representative topics each). As a pictorial introduction to the Arthurian legend this book then is as good as any; but just don’t rely on it for authoritative statements on the historical context of the origins of the legends.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-curious
It is when she deals with the historical context of the legend, however, that we get some curious interpretations. For example, did you know the inhabitants of Pictland during the Roman occupation were called Scots? Even though ‘Scot’ was a derogatory term for 4th-century Irish adventurers on the west coast? That there were Sarmatian legions in Britain and that this irrefutably accounts for similarities between Arthurian legend and Sarmatian myths, even if the evidence is questionable? That the Picts were apparently of Germanic origin? Were you aware of an ancient region called West Anglia? Of a Badon Hill (sic) north of Salisbury (this is actually Baydon, the ‘ay’ pronounced differently from the short ‘a’ in Badon)? Of Dorset’s Maiden Castle as an ancient castle in Logres (this Iron Age hillfort is unconnected with the Castle of Maidens of medieval literature)? Or of Old Sarum as “one of the oldest Christian sites in southern Britain” when it is very, very low down a very, very long — and growing — list?
Which edition of the Welsh Annals was Professor Berthelot looking at when she declares that Arthur’s victory at Mount Badon was due to a twenty-four hour penance “reproducing the stages of Christ’s Passion”? Certainly not an early one: the so-called Sawley Glosses attached to one version of the Historia Brittonum, which date not from the Dark Ages but from the late 12th or early 13th century, propose that it was actually for “three continuous days” and not just 24 hours that Arthur “fasted and kept vigil and prayed in the presence of the Lord’s cross”. And which edition of the Historia Brittonum concentrates in particular on the battle of Camlann? (Answer: none. Though the battle is mentioned in the 10th-century Welsh Annals.) Are these erroneous assertions to be laid at the door of the translator? No, because a comparison with the original Gallimard edition Arthur et la Table ronde confirms the English translation’s accuracy.
The first chapter, then, should carry a health warning for those Arthurians who are liable to suffer apoplectic fits. Nevertheless, these and a few other reservations aside (the short list for further reading is a curious concoction) this title is good value for the colour illustrations alone. When we come to the remaining four chapters Berthelot comes into her own and we are on much firmer ground with the medieval heyday of the legends up to and including Spencer’s The Fairie Queene and Purcell’s “dramatick opera” King Arthur. Nearly a third of this small format 160-page title is taken up with documentary evidence; there are translated quotes from medieval texts, Victorian poems and 20th-century novels, and two sections respectively on sites to visit and films to see (just four short representative topics each). As a pictorial introduction to the Arthurian legend this book then is as good as any; but just don’t rely on it for authoritative statements on the historical context of the origins of the legends.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-curious
March 27, 2014
This small book, originally written in French, is packed with beautiful and interesting illustrations concerning the legend of Arthur, while the text is very informative and adresses the possible historical basis for the character of Arthur, the celtic and christian influences of the legend and how it became a literary phenomena.
Besides, the last 30 pages are added documents: excerpts of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Robert de Boron, or more recent authors like T.H White. It was a great idea to add these, as it gives a rapid overview of the original texts themselves instead of just seeing them being commented.
A nice way to discover the development of the legend, but if you already know it it's still a greatly illustrated book anyone interested in the Arthurian legend would like to have.
Besides, the last 30 pages are added documents: excerpts of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Robert de Boron, or more recent authors like T.H White. It was a great idea to add these, as it gives a rapid overview of the original texts themselves instead of just seeing them being commented.
A nice way to discover the development of the legend, but if you already know it it's still a greatly illustrated book anyone interested in the Arthurian legend would like to have.
August 16, 2013
This book summarizes everything under its purview. This includes the evidence for a historical Arthur, round table myths and legends including alternate versions, and the Arthur cult that lingers today. There is a lot of good information here, but I did not find the book engaging.
July 4, 2015
Great little book giving a solid historical overview of King Arthur. Loads of information about the development of the myths and legends throughout the last thousand years.
June 6, 2016
Brief and condensed introduction to the history of the myth King Arthur.
September 19, 2016
a very diverse way of looking at a very well known legend.
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December 27, 2017Arthurian myths post-Christianization: Ah, the Grail is too great and powerful to describe in words. Many have perished on the quest for it or spent their whole lives fruitlessly searching for its glory.
Arthurian myths pre-Christianization: Ay, lads, call up the Grail, we need our magical catering service!
Arthurian myths pre-Christianization: Ay, lads, call up the Grail, we need our magical catering service!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews