Prospectus

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Philology: Arthur of Britain

Course
2009-2010

Description

Study of chronicles and romances featuring King Arthur, legendary king throughout Western Europe from Aneirin’s first mention of him (c.600) up to today (Marion Bradley, films: Excalibur, First Knight). The course will be limited to texts from the British Isles: chronicle, Welsh tales, English redactions of French courtly romances, original English popular and bourgeois and courtly romances, and will end with two Victorian reconstructions. A further restriction is that there will be no space for the larger complexes of the Tristan- and the Holy Grail texts, nor for the lays and the ballads. Special attention will be paid to Arthur’s role in the development of British national identity, and to the courtly, bourgeois and popular ideals reflected in the various texts. An extensive list of bibliographical suggestions will enable you to plan your own background and critical reading.

Teaching method

Two-hour seminar per week

Admission requirements

Reading skill in Middle English is required, as well as elementary knowledge of medieval history and culture.

Course objectives

Reading of Middle English in various dialects. Interpretation of texts and generic conventions. Study and application of secondary sources. Oral and written reporting on all these.

Required reading

  • Layamon’s Arthur: the Arthurian Section of Layamon’s Brut, eds & trsl. W.r.J. Barron & S.C. Weinberg,University of Exeter Press, 2001 (revised edition).

  • The Mabinogion, trsl. Gwyn Jones & Thomas Jones, Everyman’s Library, London: Dent, 1989 (revised edition).

  • Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte D’Arthur, Vol. I, ed. Janet Cowen, Penguin, 1969, (Vol. II only for the Extension).

  • Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Idylls of the King, ed. J.M. Gray, Penguin, 1983.

Test method

Final essay at the end of the course. Extension will be assessed by written examination.

Time table

The timetable will be available from June 1st on the Internet.

Information

English Department, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102c. Phone: 071 527 2144, or by mail: English@hum.leidenuniv.nl

Registration

Students can register through U-twist before 15 July, After 15 July students can only register through the Departmental Office.

Blackboard

No