geoffrey ashe the discovery of king arthur

A former secretary of the Camelot Research Committee. In 2000, Sutton republished The Hell Fire Clubs: A History of Anti-Morality. About the Author: Geoffrey Ashe is widely regarded as one of the leading Arthurian specialists and is author of A Guide to Arthurian Britain, Avalonian Quest, The Quest for Arthur's Britain, and Camelot and the Vision of Albion. If we line up the legend side by side with the facts as we know them today, the problem of Arthur's identity can be solved. The right questions to ask are not the direct ones, 'Who was Arthur?' or 'Did he exist?', but 'Where did his legend come from?' and 'What facts is the legend rooted in?'. This books shows that the Arthurian legend itself needs to be taken seriously and sifted for clues. A convincing answer called for a different approach.

So historians who looked for Arthur swept the medieval matter aside and searched for him in the scanty older records. Not much of that history can stand up in the light of present day knowledge - it is mostly legend. Medieval authors who gave him his literary grandeur fitted him into what they claimed was Britain's history several centuries later. The delay in running him to earth was due to the nature of the problem he posed. It became possible to see better why he became the kind of figure he did. He was also more interesting - more like his legend - than once appeared likely. Arthur emerged from it with a firmer status in history. The Discovery of King Arthur presents an investigation that broke the deadlock. Then, by challenging scholars' previous assumptions about where Arthur could be found, Ashe identifies the real King Arthur, and show how his theory fits several. By the 1980s, the search was more or less abandoned, having reached a dead-end. Ashe traces the myth of King Arthur to its roots in the twelfth-century writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth and shows how much of Geoffrey's fifith-century history was based on fact. The search has revealed many interesting facts and it has also led to sharp disagreements. 'About this title' may belong to another edition of this title.Attempts to find the person (if any) behind the legend of King Arthur have been going on for a long time. for YA libraries with bright students who have an interest in King Arthur or this period.'-Dorothy Solomon, Voice of Youth Advocates So long as mankind does not vanquish the possibility of that occurrence, the once and future king will always be with us.'- Los Angeles Times The power of Arthurus Rex lies in humanity's need to believe in the possibility of such a figure's returning to lead the race into a redemptive golden era. the true importance of Arthur (and Camelot) does not reside in a possible fifth-century monarch. He makes a good case for his man, and his account of tracking the fellow down is as intriguing as a detective story.'- The Atlantic 'Ashe is not the first historian to conclude that a real British ruler lurks behind the fantastic extravagances of Arthurian legend, but he is the first to locate a plausible and historically recorded candidate for the honor.

Geoffrey ashe the discovery of king arthur