Blackwell Reference Online

This Companion offers a chronological sweep of the canon of Arthurian literature – from its earliest beginnings to the contemporary manifestations of Arthur in film and electronic media. Leading scholars review Arthurian legends and their transformations, language-to-language, text-to-film, and medieval-to-modern adaptations are analyzed, and key concepts such as ‘empire’, ‘romance’ and ‘chivalry’ are explored.

Beginning with the historical Arthur and his Celtic origins, this Companion chronicles the transmission of the legend throughout Britain and Europe. Arthurian legends within the medieval and Victorian literary movements and the iconography of Arthurian themes in art are surveyed, and the symbolic role of Arthur in modernist literature ushers in the twentieth century, while the feminist approach of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon initiates a genre of fantasy fiction based on a richly conceived Arthurian world. Finally, the Companion highlights the rebirth and legacy of the Arthurian legend in contemporary films and computer games.