King Arthur: Hero and Legend

by Richard Barber

The whole subject is brought up to date - Arthurian buffs will want this book. DAILY TELEGRAPHWho was the real Arthur? Why were his knights so famous? Was he buried at Glastonbury? RichardBarber takes the story from the anonymous 8th century chronicler who first listed his battles to the novelists of the 20th century. A clear and readable account of the development of the stories about Arthur and his court from the earliest times to the present day.

Genres: Arthurian, History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Biography, Mythology

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Richard William Barber is a prominent British historian who has been writing and publishing in the field of medieval history and literature ever since his student days. He has specialised in the Arthurian legend, beginning with a general survey, Arthur of Albion, in 1961, which is still in print in a revised edition. His other major interest is historical biography; he has published on Henry Plantagenet (1964) and among his other books is the standard biography of Edward the Black Prince, Edward Prince of Wales and Aquitaine. The interplay between history and literature was the theme of The Knight and Chivalry, for which he won the Somerset Maugham Prize in 1971 and he returned to this in The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief (2004); this was widely praised in the UK press, and had major reviews in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

His other career has been as a publisher. In 1969 he helped to found The Boydell Press, which later became Boydell & Brewer Ltd, one of the leading publishers in medieval studies, and he is currently group managing director. In 1989, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, in association with the University of Rochester, started the University of Rochester Press in upstate New York. The group currently publishes over 200 titles a year.

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty useful overview of the Arthurian tradition -- more of a description of what people have done with it over the years, and where things have come from, than an analysis of why. Some illuminating comments, though. I found the reproductions of Arthurian artwork most fascinating, really, particularly the full colour ones -- it's amazing to see how different people have pictured Arthur and his court over the centuries.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good introduction to the links between the real Arthur and the potental links to and development of the legend.

[Michael D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great literary and media survey of Arthurian lore accessible to any English reader. You don't have to be a hard-core scholar to follow Richard Barber's brief explications of theme.

[Brian Koser]

Overview of Arthur from a scholar who read everything Arthur.

Great example of how history and legend were not distinct categories for pre-moderns. And how legend moves history: Edward III was inspired by the tales to found The Order of the Garter and build a round table. Elizabeth I had a genealogy tracing her lineage back to Arthur.

Most generations have their own Arthur retellings: I'm pumped for Malcolm Guite's upcoming "Merlin’s Isle: An Arthuriad".

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well it wasn’t at all I expected. It talks about Arthur, his origins and how he’s been represented throughout the years. France put more emphasis on his romance with Guinevere. The British and Germany both talked more about his military experience. There was no clear decision of whether this was a real person - there was an actual King Arthur, but no decision about how much was a story and how much was true.
Anyway, he’s been entertaining people since the late 800’s. Amazing, huh?

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I am not use to reading this type of work, but it did not seem like it was written for a very general audience. Especially in the first few chapters I did not feel that I know enough about early English history and the various telling of Arthur story to really appreciate what was being said. Overall I enjoyed this book though and it has spurred me to read some other things.

[A. I.]

Good dive into the history of King Arthur and the textual evidence that we can utilize today

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like most interpretations of these legends

[Thom Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tolkien once complained that the British had "no mythology" (Silmarillion), thereby skipping over Arthur and enraging lovers of Robert Goulet and Richard Harris. Leeds Barroll would have dismissed this by saying, "Adds nothing new". But as good a place to start for the undergraduate as any other and better than most. Some few color plates, mostly black and white. Question: What do American students need with King Arthur ? In my classes, a Question Not to Be Asked.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not what I was expecting. I thought this would be a collection of legends and stories about Arthur. It is actually a study of the creation of Arthur mythology and an attempt to trace the actual historical figure of Arthur, which could also be interesting, but in this case it was very dry and drawn out.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice overview of Arthurian legends from the origins to about the mid-20th century. I was familiar with much of the material, but I did learn a bit and got some ideas for new texts to look into.