Description
Book SynopsisThe idea of the quest, crucial to Arthurian literature, investigated in texts, manuscripts, and film. The theme of the quest in Arthurian literature - mainly but not exclusively the Grail quest - is explored in the essays presented here, covering French, Dutch, Norse, German, and English texts. A number of the essays trace the relationship, often negative, between Arthurian chivalry and the Grail ethos. Whereas most of the contributors reflect on the popularity of the Grail quest, several examine the comparative rarity of the Grail in certain literatures and define the elaboration of quest motifs severed from the Grail material. An appendix to the volume offers a filmography that includes all the cinematic treatments of the Grail, either as central theme or minor motif. This book will appeal to students, scholars, and general readers fascinated by the Arthurian and Grail legends. CONTRIBUTORS: NORRIS J. LACY, ANTONIO FURTADO, WILL HASTY, RICHARD TRACHSLER, MARIANNE E. KALINKE, MARTINE MEUWESE, DAVID F. JOHNSON, PHILLIP BOARDMAN, CAROLINE D. ECKHARDT, P.J.C. FIELD, JAMES P. CARLEY, RICHARD BARBER, KEVIN J. HARTY
Trade ReviewThis collection has much to commend it [and is] beautifully and extensively illustrated. [It] is a welcome contribution to Arthurian studies. * ENGLISH *
This is an elegant, gracious and necessary compendium of contemporary Grail scholarship. * ARTHURIANA *
This volume is essential for Arthurian scholars, but will also be of interest to anyone who teaches Arthurian material on any level. * CAHIERS DE RECHERCHES MEDIEVALES *
Readers will find in this collection a good number of compelling, original perspectives on a broad range of topic areas. * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *
12 exciting and well-written essays. [...] Written by highly respected Arthurian scholars, all the essays offer new contributions to the representations of the Grail, the Grail quest, and questing in general. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *
While The Grail, the Quest, and the World of Arthur will have unquestioned value for scholars working in Arthurian studies, it has much to say to the non-specialist, particularly as it traces some of the contemporary contours of a busy and broadly fascinating field. * STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TEACHING *
Table of ContentsForeword - Norris J. Lacy Introduction: Arthur and/or the Grail - Norris J. Lacy The Shape of the Grail in Medieval Art - Martine Meuwese The Crusaders' Grail - Antonio L. Furtado Bounds of Imagination: Grail Questing and Chivalric Colonizing in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival - Will Hasty The Land Without the Grail: A Note on Occitania, Rigaut de Barbezieux and Literary History - Richard Trachsler Female Desire and the Quest in the Icelandic Legend of Tristram and Ísodd - Marianne Kalinke Questing in the Middle Dutch Lancelot Compilation - David F. Johnson Keeping Company: Manuscript Contexts for Reading Arthurian Quest Narratives - Caroline Eckhardt Grail and Quest in the Medieval English World of Arthur - Phillip C Boardman Malory and the Grail: The Importance of Detail - Peter J.C. Field Glastonbury, the Grail-Bearer and the Sixteenth-Century Antiquaries - James Carley The Grail Quest: Where Next? - Richard Barber Appendix: The Grail on Film - Kevin J Harty
