Warriors and Wilderness in Medieval Britain: From Arthur and Beowulf to Sir Gawain and Robin Hood

by Robin Melrose

Tracing the development of the King Arthur story in the late Middle Ages, this book explores Arthur's depiction as a wilderness figure, the descendant of the northern Romano-British hunter/warrior god. The earliest Arthur was a warrior but in the 11th century Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen, he is less a warrior and more a leader of a band of rogue heroes.

The story of Arthur was popularized by Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his Latin History of the Kings of Britain, and was translated into Middle English in Layamon's Brut and the later alliterative Alliterative Morte Arthure. Both owed much to the epic poem "Beowulf," which draws on the Anglo-Saxon fascination with the wilderness. The most famous Arthurian tale is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which the wilderness and themes from Beowulf play a leading role. Three Arthurian tales set in Inglewood Forest place Arthur and Gawain in a wilderness setting, and link Arthur to medieval Robin Hood tales.

Genres: History, Medieval

260 pages, Paperback

Published February 22, 2017

Reviews

[Jc · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intensely researched work weaving together the many defining legends of ancient and medieval Britain. Melrose compares Old English, Latin, Celtic, Welsh, and other sources to demonstrate how the various legends, myths and traditions influenced each other, and later developments in the British Isles.

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is a dry academic literature review with an occasional historic comments. it is definitely not the most exciting reading, bur it does it’s job