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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
I'm sorry but I have to give up. I really tried. I hate to leave a book unfinished, but there's just too much wrong with this one. Clearly the author has a lot of personal feeling invested in her theory and it's resulted in some terribly sloppy arguments. It's always "we know Lancelot went here", "we know Arthur was raised in this castle"... Except no, we don't know any of that. She argues that Geoffrey of Monmouth left the abduction of Guinevere out of his otherwise historical account because he just had too much reverence for ancient British queens and couldn't handle including a sad story about one?? That's quite an assumption to make. And if it were true, wouldn't it call into question the integrity of everything else he wrote on the subject? Too many unanswered questions, too many wild assumptions.... I'm out.
I love the subject matter; the idea of Arthur as a real king is fascinating. However, I couldn't give this book more than three stars because of how much supposing goes on. The author clearly knows what she is talking about - almost too much. I understand that all the characters go together to make the whole story, but I cared far less about Lancelot and Perceval than Arthur. I skimmed some if those passages honestly, as they were not nearly as interesting to me. Even so, this topic will still hold my attention, though we will likely never really know the truth.
One of the worst pieces of arthuriana I've ever read, a a hodgepodge of poorly constructed sentences, bad etymology and erratic reasoning. Her theory in the end is based on a totally idiosyncratic reading of Geoffrey of Monmouth and those texts that she can force to fit with her theories, ignoring or despising or ignoring as "wrong" those that do not . When she wants, she eliminates an element of a tale because it is "pure folkloric non sense" but when he is interested she uses those clearly folkloric elements, out of context, as an argument for her theory.
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
I have no prior experience of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin or the Round Table. Truly there is a part that still seems so far away, fairy tale in a way which I know is the wrong word for it, as truly gruesome things happened.
King Arthur came from mixed blood, being royal or noble Roman on his father's side and royal of noble of British on his mother's side. King Arthur married Queen Guinevere and they had one known son Lohot, possible another son named Amhar and a third although little information is given. King Arthur died at the Battle of Camlan along with his elite guards and members of the round table. He died alone with no one to safeguard him, everything was destroyed. When he died, he basically vanished from the face of the Earth. He owned no land, in ancient days Kings were to remain without land to not be tempted by greed. No member of his retinue would have survived his death, that being the natural law and established custom of the day. His death is still felt in the land today that folklore and local history attest to a site where his body was once laid.
There was a mention of the famous round table, per Queen Morgan who is King Arthur's sister said there were 12 spots at the round table. The table was round so no person took precedence over the other - which didn't quite work out. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding this table and probably could have its own book, which I'm sure it does.
Queen Guineve' name had many different spellings to it, and most likely for the longest time passed down by word of mouth. Her name when translated into Welsh means "white goddess." She was a dangerous woman who had large territories of her very own. Queen Guineve had a hobby of collecting human heads, whose in life were her bitter enemies. She had them embalmed and would gaze on them often. Queen Guineve died before both King Arthur and Lancelot. She was buried in Avalon, for Lancelot visited.
Lancelot is descended from Saint Joseph of Arimathea. He grew up not knowing his name, as the names of the Kings were tabooed until the third generation. The saint is said to have lived in Britain in the first century. He was a fury in combat, taking unnerving aim, often leaping from horseback onto his intended targets crushing their helmets and skulls.
King Arthur relied on Lancelot, he was seen as his right hand man and was equal to elevation to the King. He clearly had kingly duties, he fought judiciary conducts, settled open issues of land and rule, buried the dead and honored their graves. He led armies and fought wars and was admired for his physical beauty. Lancelot was into painting, and would paint murals of his life. King Arthur admired his paintings.
(The name Arthur became popular after the year of 542, among youths of nobles and young royals. The name Arthur is most likely derived from the lost king of the Dark Ages (Interesting because my Grandpa's name is Arthur and thats my son's middle name))
King Arthur came from mixed blood, being royal or noble Roman on his father's side and royal of noble of British on his mother's side. King Arthur married Queen Guinevere and they had one known son Lohot, possible another son named Amhar and a third although little information is given. King Arthur died at the Battle of Camlan along with his elite guards and members of the round table. He died alone with no one to safeguard him, everything was destroyed. When he died, he basically vanished from the face of the Earth. He owned no land, in ancient days Kings were to remain without land to not be tempted by greed. No member of his retinue would have survived his death, that being the natural law and established custom of the day. His death is still felt in the land today that folklore and local history attest to a site where his body was once laid.
There was a mention of the famous round table, per Queen Morgan who is King Arthur's sister said there were 12 spots at the round table. The table was round so no person took precedence over the other - which didn't quite work out. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding this table and probably could have its own book, which I'm sure it does.
Queen Guineve' name had many different spellings to it, and most likely for the longest time passed down by word of mouth. Her name when translated into Welsh means "white goddess." She was a dangerous woman who had large territories of her very own. Queen Guineve had a hobby of collecting human heads, whose in life were her bitter enemies. She had them embalmed and would gaze on them often. Queen Guineve died before both King Arthur and Lancelot. She was buried in Avalon, for Lancelot visited.
Lancelot is descended from Saint Joseph of Arimathea. He grew up not knowing his name, as the names of the Kings were tabooed until the third generation. The saint is said to have lived in Britain in the first century. He was a fury in combat, taking unnerving aim, often leaping from horseback onto his intended targets crushing their helmets and skulls.
King Arthur relied on Lancelot, he was seen as his right hand man and was equal to elevation to the King. He clearly had kingly duties, he fought judiciary conducts, settled open issues of land and rule, buried the dead and honored their graves. He led armies and fought wars and was admired for his physical beauty. Lancelot was into painting, and would paint murals of his life. King Arthur admired his paintings.
(The name Arthur became popular after the year of 542, among youths of nobles and young royals. The name Arthur is most likely derived from the lost king of the Dark Ages (Interesting because my Grandpa's name is Arthur and thats my son's middle name))