The saga of King Arthur and his court is the most enduringly popular mythic tradition of Western civilization. For over 1,500 years, the Arthurian narrative has enthralled writers, artists, and a limitless audience spanning the Western world and beyond - and its appeal continues unabated in our time. No other heroic figure in literature compares with King Arthur in terms of global popularity and longevity; now, each year sees literally thousands of new versions of the story appear across diverse media, from fiction writing and visual arts to film and popular culture. Delve into the historical mystery behind the figure of Arthur, and discover the magnificent breadth of these epic tales.

These 24 spellbinding lectures reveal the full scope of the Arthurian tradition, from its beginnings in post-Roman Britain to its extraordinary trajectory across the centuries and its latest incarnations in modern times. Your pathfinder in this world of mythic adventure and romance, Professor Armstrong, is one of the world's leading Arthurian scholars and the current editor-in-chief of the academic journal Arthuriana. Demonstrating both encyclopedic knowledge and an infectious passion for the subject, she leads you in tracing how the myth developed across time, clarifying many misunderstood aspects of the narrative, such as the origins of the Round Table and the figure of Merlin, the illicit love between Lancelot and Guenevere, and the varied manifestations of the magical Holy Grail. You'll discover how the legend was appropriated and assimilated by differing cultures, and how each writer and artist in the tradition reflected and commented, through the Arthurian narrative, on the concerns of their own time and place. The result is an illuminating look at one of the most engaging, entertaining, and influential legendary traditions the world has ever known.

Lectures

1. The Origins of King Arthur
2. An Arthur-Like Figure in Cornwall
3. King Arthur in the Latin Chronicles
4. King Arthur in Wales—The Mabinogion
5. Monmouth, Merlin, and Courtly Love
6. The Round Table—Arthur in Wace and Layamon
7. Chrétien de Troyes and Sir Lancelot
8. Arthurian Tales in Brittany and Burgundy
9. The Lancelot-Grail Cycle
10. The Early German Arthurian Tradition
11. King Arthur’s Other German Adaptations
12. The Arthurian Sagas of Scandinavia
13. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
14. The Alliterative Morte Arthure
15. Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur
16. Enriching the Legend—Tristan and Isolde
17. The Holy Grail from Chrétien to Dan Brown
18. Arthuriana in Medieval Art
19. Spenser, Milton, and the Renaissance Arthur
20. Idylls of the King—The Victorian Arthur
21. Wagner and Twain—King Arthur in the Late 1800s
22. Once and Future—The 20th-Century Arthur
23. Camelot Comes to Hollywood
24. King Arthur in the 21st Century and Beyond