This module aims to introduce students to some of the major Arthurian texts written in the medieval period: including historical annals, Latin histories, Vita Sancti (Saints’ Lives) and French verse and prose romance. In particular, it will concentrate on the first ‘flowering’ of Arthurian literature produced in Europe during the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, with an emphasis on the works of Chrétien de Troyes, the first of the romance writers, and the later fifteenth-century English tradition. The course will pay particular attention to the contexts in which these texts appeared and the ways in which the many variations in the tradition respond to and realise issues relevant to their culture and period.

demonstrate a critical understanding of the history, range and shifting nature of the Arthurian legend in the medieval period. Students will be able to write a lucid account of selected material and analyse it with an awareness of its historical and cultural context and significance.

There will be 2 lectures per week, which will provide information on context, critical perspectives, and textual interpretations; there will also be a weekly seminar for all students, which will be include a substantial portion of student-led discussion, directed by a number of discussion topics which will be provided on Blackboard and in print the week before each seminar.

The particular skills of the module bear upon reading and understanding how national, historical, and cultural changes inform the major shifts of Arthurian literary production in the medieval period. This course requires the cultivation of scholarly and contextualist research, the development of language skills, in respect of Middle English romance, and the ability to consider a wide range of texts when producing a critical argument.  Employability skills include the ability to synthesise information, operating in group-based discussion involving negotiating ideas and producing clear, informed arguments in a professional manner.

The module is assessed one single 3200-word essay to be submitted at the end of the course. Sample essay questions are provided in the module guide. 

The module is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the English Literature Course Guide.There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

Week One       * Introduction and Early Works          

Week Two       * Anon., Culhwch and Olwen (c. 1100)         

Week Three    * Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1138)  

Week Four      Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain

Week Five       Chrétien, Lancelot

Week Six        Chrétien, Perceval

Week Seven   Robert de Boron, Prose Trilogy

Week Eight     Robert de Boron, Prose Trilogy

Week Nine      * English Gawain Romances

Week Ten       Malory, Le Morte Darthur

Texts

Texts marked with an asterisk are included in the Course Reader, available from Blackwell. In addition, students will also need to buy copies of:

William Kibler (trans.), Chrétien’s Arthurian Romances (Harmondsworth: Penguin)

Nigel Bryant (trans.), Merlin and the Grail: Joseph of Arimathea, Merlin, Perceval: The Trilogy of Arthurian Prose Romances Attributed to Robert de Boron, (Cambridge: Boydell and Brewer)

Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, ed. Helen Cooper (Oxford: Oxford U.P.) or Le Morte Darthur, ed. Stephen H.A. Shepherd (New York: Norton)

Secondary reading(indicative; other material will be listed in module guide):

Richard Barber King Arthur: hero and legend (Boydell)

W.R.J. Barron (ed.), The Arthur of the English (University of Wales Press)

Bromwich, Jarman, Roberts (eds), The Arthur of the Welsh (University of Wales Press)

Burgess and Pratt (eds), The Arthur of the French (University of Wales Press)

N.J. Higham, King Arthur: mythmaking and history (Routledge)

Norris Lacy (ed.), The New Arthurian Encyclopedia (Garland)

Stephen Knight, Arthurian Literature and Society (Macmillan)