Skip to main content

King Arthur: Medieval to Modern

King Arthur

This course will examine a selection of Arthurian texts, beginning with the earliest Welsh legends and then following the tradition into the present day. Works to be read include selections from major interpreters of the legend over a period of 900 years, including Geoffrey of Monmouth, Sir Thomas Malory, Alfred Lord Tennyson and T. H. White. Apart from these better-known writers, many other authors and poets have employed Arthurian themes and narratives in their work, and students will be asked to research some of these versions, and to present on the results of their research. We will thus be able to piece together a history of the tradition that includes a variety of high cultural and popular interpretations of the narrative over time. Throughout the course, we will return to the following central questions: What cultural purposes do myths of King Arthur serve? Whose values do they reflect? To what extent do they engage with the early medieval past, and to what extent with the concerns of their later interpreters? 

Assessment: 
Presentation, including written summary: 30%
Essay: 45%
Class Participation: 25%
 

Department of English, Queen's University

Watson Hall
49 Bader Lane
Kingston ON K7L 3N6
Canada

Telephone (613) 533-2153

Undergraduate

Telephone (613) 533-6000 ext. 74446 extension 74446

Graduate

Telephone (613) 533-6000 ext. 74447 extension 74447

Queen's University is situated on traditional Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory.