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King of the Celts: Arthurian Legends and Celtic Tradition
In a masterful blend of history, geography, and literature, Jean Markale re-creates the true King Arthur, the real-life Celtic warrior-hero who organized the resistance to the Saxon onslaught in fifth-century England. Markale's unsurpassed knowledge of Celtic history has enabled him to reconstruct for us the actual world in which King Arthur lived--its heros, its values, and its vicissitudes--and to define the position that Arthur occupied within it.
• Explains how the Arthurian ideals of knightly virtue and chivalry are at the heart of Western literature and thought
• Shows how the Celtic heritage continues to exert a unique formative power on our personal and moral concepts
• Explains how the Arthurian ideals of knightly virtue and chivalry are at the heart of Western literature and thought
• Shows how the Celtic heritage continues to exert a unique formative power on our personal and moral concepts
320 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1993
3 people are currently reading
227 people want to read
About the author
Jean Markale
196 books42 followersJean Markale is the pen name of Jean Bertrand, a French writer, poet, radio show host, lecturer, and retired Paris high school French teacher.
He has published numerous books about Celtic civilisation and the Arthurian cycle. His particular specialties are the place of women in the Celtic world and the Grail cycle.
His many works have dealt with subjects as varied as summations of various myths, the relationships of same with occult subjects like the Templars, Cathars, the Rennes le Château mystery, Atlantis, the megalith building civilisations, druidism and so on, up to and including a biography of Saint Columba.
While Markale presents himself as being very widely read on the subjects about which he writes, he is nonetheless surrounded by controversy regarding the value of his work. Critics allege that his 'creative' use of scholarship and his tendency to make great leaps in reasoning cause those following the more normative (and hence more conservative) mode of scholars to balk. As well as this, his interest in subjects that his critics consider questionable, including various branches of the occult, have gained him at least as many opponents as supporters. His already weakened reputation was further tarnished in 1989, when he became involved in a plagiarism case, when he published under his own name a serious and well-documented guide to the oddities and antiquities of Brittany, the text of which had already been published twenty years before by a different writer through the very same publisher.
Also a source of controversy is his repeated use of the concept of "collective unconscious" as an explanatory tool. This concept was introduced by Carl Jung, but in modern psychology it's rejected by the vast majority of psychologists.
He has published numerous books about Celtic civilisation and the Arthurian cycle. His particular specialties are the place of women in the Celtic world and the Grail cycle.
His many works have dealt with subjects as varied as summations of various myths, the relationships of same with occult subjects like the Templars, Cathars, the Rennes le Château mystery, Atlantis, the megalith building civilisations, druidism and so on, up to and including a biography of Saint Columba.
While Markale presents himself as being very widely read on the subjects about which he writes, he is nonetheless surrounded by controversy regarding the value of his work. Critics allege that his 'creative' use of scholarship and his tendency to make great leaps in reasoning cause those following the more normative (and hence more conservative) mode of scholars to balk. As well as this, his interest in subjects that his critics consider questionable, including various branches of the occult, have gained him at least as many opponents as supporters. His already weakened reputation was further tarnished in 1989, when he became involved in a plagiarism case, when he published under his own name a serious and well-documented guide to the oddities and antiquities of Brittany, the text of which had already been published twenty years before by a different writer through the very same publisher.
Also a source of controversy is his repeated use of the concept of "collective unconscious" as an explanatory tool. This concept was introduced by Carl Jung, but in modern psychology it's rejected by the vast majority of psychologists.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 9, 2017
King of the Celts: Arthurian Legends and Celtic Tradition is a must read for anyone seeking the real Arthur and his ties to the Celtic people. Yes, I said the real Arthur. Jean Markale is the not only the leading author for all things Celtic, but also on Arthur. Markale re-creates the true King Arthur, a real-life Celtic warrior who organized the resistance to the Saxon onslaught in fifth-century England in his struggle for a unified, free, Celtic people.
He also explains how the Arthurian ideals of knightly virtue and chivalry are at the heart of Western literature today, reconstructing the actual world in which King Arthur lived. Once you read Markale's version of Arthur and the Celts your romantic images of this medieval period will never be the same. No longer do we see the flowery, idealized Arthur, but Arthur as he truly was, a man longing for a united peoples living in peace and harmony, the Warlord who was not afraid to gather a band of unique men to bring about this unity through strength of arms when necessary to achieve this dream. Markale shows us a different side of the women that surrounded Arthur as well; strong, intelligent, and sometimes ruthless women who played a larger part than what we are led to believe in the romanticized versions.
If you are a lover of all things Arthurian and Celtic I suggest you read King of the Celts or any book by Markale. His extensive research shows us the heart and soul of the Celts, one of the most misunderstood and under-rated people in history.
He also explains how the Arthurian ideals of knightly virtue and chivalry are at the heart of Western literature today, reconstructing the actual world in which King Arthur lived. Once you read Markale's version of Arthur and the Celts your romantic images of this medieval period will never be the same. No longer do we see the flowery, idealized Arthur, but Arthur as he truly was, a man longing for a united peoples living in peace and harmony, the Warlord who was not afraid to gather a band of unique men to bring about this unity through strength of arms when necessary to achieve this dream. Markale shows us a different side of the women that surrounded Arthur as well; strong, intelligent, and sometimes ruthless women who played a larger part than what we are led to believe in the romanticized versions.
If you are a lover of all things Arthurian and Celtic I suggest you read King of the Celts or any book by Markale. His extensive research shows us the heart and soul of the Celts, one of the most misunderstood and under-rated people in history.
February 19, 2019
This is a difficult book to review, for it starts off promisingly with an insightful "cultural studies" angle about the impossibility of objectivity, the fluidity of language, and historical prejudices. Just the introduction alone preps the reader for what promises to be detailed romp through the cultural imprint of the Arthurian legends. Markale maintains that "history is epic presented in a supposedly objective way, while epic is history presented in a subjective way." With succinct lines like this, I was fully onboard, except that Markale will soon overstep responsible scholarship with wistful conclusions, some of it not grounded on anything more than the author's preference to see it so. This is why the humanities are in such trouble.
One notable example is Markale's assumption that Arthur must be the original hero to the story of the loathly lady, because it is Arthur who first undertakes the adventure. What? Where are the sources to indicate such an assumption. Based on such an assumption, I could equally surmise a myriad of substitutions in other tales, and Markale doesn't stop there as Arthur is also substituted as the hero in the tale of the Green Knight. Sidestepping altogether some associations between Gawain=Cuchulain, Arthur is inserted and even the loathly lady who gains her sovereignty becomes Guinevere, and it is here where I feel that Markale is pulling rabbits out of his own imagined Celtic hat. He goes on to strip medieval embellishments by adding his own.
Such wishful and lazy scholarship puts the rest of the book in doubt for me; it is almost as if the brilliant author had been suddenly possessed with the irresponsible syncretism that we often find in New Age books, and suddenly cut loose. This is a real pity since the book does explore some interesting terrain of Celtic conflicts, inner and outer, as well as provide a wonderful summa of the French Vulgate.
I will add this to my Arthurian bookshelf, not without some hesitation.
One notable example is Markale's assumption that Arthur must be the original hero to the story of the loathly lady, because it is Arthur who first undertakes the adventure. What? Where are the sources to indicate such an assumption. Based on such an assumption, I could equally surmise a myriad of substitutions in other tales, and Markale doesn't stop there as Arthur is also substituted as the hero in the tale of the Green Knight. Sidestepping altogether some associations between Gawain=Cuchulain, Arthur is inserted and even the loathly lady who gains her sovereignty becomes Guinevere, and it is here where I feel that Markale is pulling rabbits out of his own imagined Celtic hat. He goes on to strip medieval embellishments by adding his own.
Such wishful and lazy scholarship puts the rest of the book in doubt for me; it is almost as if the brilliant author had been suddenly possessed with the irresponsible syncretism that we often find in New Age books, and suddenly cut loose. This is a real pity since the book does explore some interesting terrain of Celtic conflicts, inner and outer, as well as provide a wonderful summa of the French Vulgate.
I will add this to my Arthurian bookshelf, not without some hesitation.
November 28, 2012
This book had fascinating chapters and mind numbingly dull ones. I really enjoyed the section entitle: "Early Arthurian Saga" which basically complies many separate stories into a more or less complete narrative of events in the life of the real historical Arthur, that is Briton war leader of the 5th and 6th century A.D. This book also provided some interesting (and much less interesting) background in Celtic philosophy and history and epics, including some excellent bits on Irish mythology and how later Arthurian legends were influenced by the earlier Welsh, Irish, and generally Celtic traditions.
4/10. Some good information, felt like I was slogging through thousands of words to find it.
4/10. Some good information, felt like I was slogging through thousands of words to find it.
September 10, 2017
This book was painful to get through. I feel like this was someones dissertation that they made into a book. I'm proud of myself for powering through.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews