Arthuriana -- all things King Arthur ! discussion
New Member Introduction
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Michael
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Apr 12, 2011 02:42PM
Hi Cheryl :-D
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Hi I'm Flaxan retired from the Detroit board of Education. I just love anything that is about knights, ladies and king Arthur.
Flaxan wrote: "Hi I'm Flaxan retired from the Detroit board of Education. I just love anything that is about knights, ladies and king Arthur."Hi Flaxan - sounds like you've found the right Group :-)
Hi, my names Becca and I love all things King Arthur and co. I am currently reading A Brief History of King Arthur by Mike Ashley and have also read the Mary Stewart books which I enjoyed immensely and will read again. I also loved The Mists of Avalon, and having recently bought a new edition of it will be devouring it all again soon. I'm an english literature student in university and have recently studied Malory's Morte D'arthur and studied the welsh manuscripts of The Mabinogion during my A Levels (I'm from wales in the UK and speak the languagte fluently!) which features a tale called Culhwch ac Olwen were Arthur first appears in literature. I loved reading such ancient texts further reinforcing my love of King Arthur. Book suggestions would be great!!
Hi Becca! What university? I studied Le Morte Darthur in my first year, too, at Cardiff University. I envy you being able to speak Welsh -- I grew up in England, bah. The Mike Ashley book sounds interesting, and I'm trying to read The Mists of Avalon at the moment, too! (Life keeps getting in the way, but it's on my MA course next year, so I should hurry up.)
Hi Nikki, Swansea University so only down the road from Cardiff! Just finished my first year and really enjoyed studying Malory and I am so disappointed as my uni have cancelled a second year module called arthurian adaptations which I was looking forward to doing so much!! It is an interesting book so far, only a few pages in, finding it a bit slow as it is a factualy history book but I'm sure with a little more time I'll get into it. I really enjoyed The Mists of Avalon, a few years since I read it last so I will not to read it again soon!
Ahh, I'm doing a whole module on Arthurian myth my MA -- if you end up looking to do an MA, Cardiff's is awesome. And the lecturers are lovely.What edition of Malory did you read? I'm reading an unabridged one, and it's slow going, but somehow I really prefer it to the abridged version we read in first year.
I'm Tim and I'm an armchair Round Table admirer. I live in Southern New Jersey and I'm currently reading Tennyson's Idylls.
Hello, I'm a new member (obviously ;) I love King Arthur myths/legends. Just seeing you all here, well, all sound too academic. I've read Tennyson's Idylls, and it's one of my favourites. I guess this is the best place to find what to read.
Amalie wrote: "Hello, I'm a new member (obviously ;) I love King Arthur myths/legends. Just seeing you all here, well, all sound too academic. I've read Tennyson's Idylls, and it's one of my favourites. I guess t..."do you mean, you're too academic? or the page is too academic? I'm reading Idylls now ... very slowly
Timothy wrote: "Amalie wrote: "Hello, I'm a new member (obviously ;) I love King Arthur myths/legends. Just seeing you all here, well, all sound too academic. I've read Tennyson's Idylls, and it's one of my favou..."The group members, I mean. Which is a compliment! I love Idylls, it's one of my favourites. I'm not particularly a fan of Tennyson but I love this one. I teach O-level lit. and this year there's Tennyson and I take more time to teach "The Lady of Shalott". Enjoy your reading!
I read tons of Tennyson in undergrad Victorian Lit and think he's better than Whitman, maybe even Spencer, but that's an uninformed opinion. I love Ulysses and there are parts of In Memoriam that absolutely sing. The Lady of Shallott is also a favorite and I weep any time I read Crossing the Bar. Oddly enough Charge of the Light Brigade doesn't do it for me.
N.G. wrote: "Hello Arthuriana, my name is Rees. I am about to participate in a visiting student program at Regent's Park College, Oxford University with a focus on Arthurian literature. Seems fitting that I wou..."very fitting indeed
Well met folks.Hope you all had a good Yule and there weren't too many Green Knights at the feasts.
Wfft! I've been a member of this group since it began and have be woefully lax. Seems I haven't even intro'd myself. I'm Debra kemp and write Arthurian/historical fiction because King Arthur commanded me to when I was a teenager. Went to see the release of the movie CAMELOT in the 70's and I was hooked. I wondered what if Arthur had a daughter? What would she be like? And my character Lin ferch Arthur was conceived that night. Sedems my entire live revolves around Arthur and Camelot. That that out of my life and I would a hollow shell.
My list of "favorites' is way too long to list here. Once and Future King-, naturally because that's basically where I started. I just re-read that about a month ago. I'm currently re-reading Le Morte d'Arthur.
For info on my books about Arthur's daughter, check out my page here. Maybe it will get selected as a group read some day.
Happy new year and happy reading everyone!
Debra
Hi, I've have been involved with Arthuriana since the 60s when I got drawn in by Dark Age archaeology. Though I'm a voracious reader I tend not to read much Arthurian fiction these days, as the little I do pick up often seems to re-cycle old cliches with little new to say. But I'm willing to be dissuaded!
I'm Bryn. I worship The Once and Future King, and Malory (just got a new Malory, the Norton, so am stuck into him again). I like the old stuff: Chretien de Troyes, Gottfried's Tristan and Wolfram's Parsifal. I listen weekly to the Wagner operas on Tristan and Parsival. And Spenser's Faerie Queene, if that counts. Lately at last gave Tennyson's Idylls a go (after I discovered I like Tennyson): quick convert. More obscurely, Swinburne's poem Tristan and Isolde. As far as films go, it's Camelot for me.
Bryn wrote: "I'm Bryn. I worship The Once and Future King, and Malory (just got a new Malory, the Norton, so am stuck into him again). I like the old stuff: Chretien de Troyes, Gottfried's Tristan and Wolfram's..."A real Arthurphile!
Thanks guys. Happy to find this group, with its inclusive motto 'from Le Morte to the warpings and the twistings', because I like the barmy stuff too.
Hi everyone, my name is Seth, but most people just call me....Seth. I am an avid King Arthur fan. And I've even written my own book based on the legends of Camelot and the famous king. And I've been reading a fair amount of the poems/books/myths associated with Arthur and his 'peeps'. Nice to meet everyone.
Hi, Seth. I was commanded to write my own version of the legends by King Arthur. LOL.
Seth,I invite you to have a look at my novel Future King which brings to life the legend that when England needs him most Arthur will return from Avalon. :)
Larry
Cheers all!I am Jill; casual reader and native Californian. Frittering-away good time at a desk job for a great metropolitan newspaper. Plan to travel nearer to the Atlantic sometime in my future, and once I've gotten that far...a pop over the Pond is inevitable. After looking over some of the posts in the group, my collection of information on tales of Arthur likely pales to most. But here's a list I have compiled.
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item...
Well met Jill.Been a bit quiet here recently.
Everyone off chasing questing beasts...following the fewmets...
Thank you for the Welcome! I have experienced the dustiness of dry spells in on-line discussion groups -- no matter.
Hail, Jill. (Oh, I thought we had a fine day). Fascinatin' fewmets but we're here.
Hello, there!My name is A.J. Campbell, alias "Alanus" on the Roman Army Talk Form and the Armchair General Forum. I've been an Arthur buff for about a dozen years, and my reading is mostly non-fiction, all those crazed postulations as to WHO "King Arthur" may have been. I have started my own Arthurian fiction series with Forging the Blade, due out on Amazon and elsewhere in a few weeks.
Glad to join the discussion,
AJ
Well, my nose just gets longer. It's Gepetto's fault, not mine! But really, it fits the genre of "Arthurian experts." Some of these types, like Barber & Pykett, Littleton & Malcor, or Wilson & Blackett, have noses far longer than mine, and they claim it's all truth:)
Hi Everyone! I've been part of the group for some time, but rarely comment. Now with others mention new books, I'd like to invite folks to have a look at Future King which was published in August of 2011 and is available on Amazon in paperback and kindle. Set in the day after tomorrow, this novel brings to life the legend that when England needs him most Arthur will return from Avalon. Larry
Hello, LarryI'm going to check out "Future King" after leaving this pile of threads. And congratulations!
Likewise, I have a novel coming out this month-- "Forging the Blade"-- a pre-Arthurian tale set two generations before "Arthur" was born. But it's not Celtic, like everyone elses, and takes place in Rumania and Transylvania, introducing Merlin, the Fisher King, and the Wasteland.
Lets hope for something refreshing in this genre. If I read one more novel about druids, I'll toss my cookies!
Great! I'll look for "Forging the Blade" once it's out.Larry
Hi I am Gill, and live in Welsh Wales. I have always loved the Arthurian legends and anything about Merlin. I studied middle English at college back in the dark ages, and then changed career and spent most of my working life as a 'cello teacher having started life as a 'cellist too. I also read the Mary Stewart trilogy and have just finished The Wicked Day which imo is the best of the lot and no-one seems to know about. I'll write a review of that over the next few days.
I saw Nikki was in this group, which I did not know existed before.
Hello all, I'm Lyz, and I've been a fan of King Arthur retellings ever since I watched the movie First Knight as a young girl (who wouldn't be after seeing Richard Gere and Sean Connery?!). Now that I'm a stay at home mother I've decided to embark on an ambitious project to hit up used bookstores and collect as many retellings as I can, so I look forward to discussing all the books with everyone!
So far my two favorite retellings are The Mists of Avalon, and The Queen of Camelot (by Nancy McKenzie). Currently working my way through Mary Stewart's series.
Larry wrote: "Great! I'll look for "Forging the Blade" once it's out.Larry"
I'll have the proof copy at the end of the week, so it won't be long after.
Curious how I'm getting a big bashing on the historical Arthurian threads, all by overly-sensitive pro-Cymeric readers, most of whom appear to be Welsh. The idea that the probable historical Arthur-prototype's father was a Goth is not acceptable to them, just not a "good" Briton.
A.j. wrote: "The idea that the probable historical Arthur-prototype's father was a Goth is not acceptable to them, just not a "good" Briton..."Defend your ideas then sir.
A little bit of sensitivity in your wording may be rewarded by less angry responses.
A.J., don't exaggerate. You are not being bashed: I am just not convinced by your theory, and people are taking offence at your tone, which reads as dismissive and condescending whether you intend it or not. I am indeed one of the Cymry, and I haven't hidden that in any way. I've actually mostly disagreed with you in terms of my academic background: you claim interpolations where I have never heard of any theories of interpolations before, and dismiss material that is accepted as valuable in my academic circles and by respected researchers.It's spelt "Cymric", incidentally. And, point of interest, "Welsh" derives from "wealas", an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "foreigners" -- hence me using Cymru, Cymric and Cymry rather than that word. Knowing Anglo-Saxon spoils everything...
Talk about dismissive and condescending, you have that down pat. I think everyone should relax a bit. After all, this is just a website, not a battle field.Larry
Man the shield wall!Pass the mead!
Kiss my axe!
Many a mother with tears in her eyes...
Certainly a bit more traffic on the site than usual.
Goodreads is indeed just a website, but I don't leave my degree or race behind when I open my browser... I've been attempting to remain polite despite being offended; I apologise that it comes across as condescending to you.
More traffic on the site than usual -- that's a good thing.
Larry wrote: "More traffic on the site than usual -- that's a good thing."With couched lances at times though...
To Nikki and all,I'm not trying to be condescending either; sorry if it looked that way. Nor am I the "dismissive" type, nor did I use the word... which was advanced when someone misquoted me. NOR am I in any way or fashion trying to insult anyone's ethnicity.
I'm just a historical novel writer who believes in a new and hopefully-realistic Arthur who may have been half Gothic. We'll not talk about how the Goths have been insulted with 1500 years-worth of slurs:)
Old-Barbarossa wrote: "Certainly a bit more traffic on the site than usual."It's what we were after.
Hey, I joined a few days ago but forgot to introduce myself. I'm Louise.I'm from England and have just finished my BA degree in History from Cardiff uni. Unlike almost everyone else apparently, I don't have an accademic background in King Arthur or a novel written about him. However I have been a big fan of the mythology since pretty much the moment I read my first childrens illustrated adaptation of Malory (I was so obsessed as a kid I even did my year 4 school project on Arthur when I was given the brief 'any period in British history').
Currently reading Simon Armitage's translation of the Alliterative Morte Arthure and sometime this summer I hope to get on further with Malory and get through The Crystal Cave, which I can't remember if I've read before but is sitting on my shelf looking like it needs to be read.
Hi Louise - welcome aboard. I'm also from the UK, don't have a degree in anything and haven't written a book! I have, however, had an interest in KA since I played Sir Kay in a play at infant school when I was 5 or 6 years old.My last Arthurian read was French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France. I've had The Crystal Cave sat on my shelf unread since 1981, so give us a shout when you start on it and if I can work it into my packed reading schedule :-) I'll read along with you.
Oh, and congratulations on completing your BA.
Welcome, Louise! Good taste in university (I'm an English lit graduate and postgrad student at Cardiff).
Arthuriana -- all things King Arthur !
Books mentioned in this topic
Return From Avalon (other topics)Finding Camlann (other topics)
The Never King (other topics)
The Quest for Arthur's Britain (other topics)
The Never King (other topics)
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