The Matter of Britain Podcast: history and legend of King Arthur and his knights
Zach Hudson·11 episodes
This podcast explores the legends of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table from their origins to the modern day. We'll discuss Welsh legends, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes, the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles, Malory's Morte d'Arthur, the Victorian revival and modern adaptations, as well as many lesser-known works.https://www.matterofbritainpodcast.comhttps://www.patreon.com/thematterofbritainpodcastMusic is from "Hevene Quene" by Ensemble Belladonna, courtesy of Raumklang music. Available at Spotify, Apple Music and asinamusic.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Why listen
The Matter of Britain Podcast is a guided tour through Arthurian legend as it changes across centuries, from early Welsh material to Chretien de Troyes, Malory, Victorian revival, and modern adaptations. Zach Hudson explains the texts in plain language while still taking the literary history seriously, so listeners get both the stories and the cultural context behind them. It is especially good for people who love King Arthur, medieval literature, folklore, or the way myths evolve over time.
Episodes
The Welsh version of Chretien's story of Yvain, found in the Red Book of Hergest.http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The fourth of Chretien de Troyes' romances, Yvain, or the Knight with the Lion, continues the exploration how to balance love and adventure, as Yvain tries to win his way back into his wife's favor after coming home late. Like, a whole year late.http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Alongside Perceval, Chretien's story of Lancelot was the most influential of his romances on later Arthurian lore. This narrative introduces Lancelot and the adulterous relationship with Queen Guinevere that will eventually undo Arthur's kingdom. The story itself, however, is simply a knightly adventure of romance, enchantment, and impractical bridge design.http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Marie de France was one of the most popular writers of Breton lais in the 12th century, and some of these mention King Arthur or Arthurian characters. Like romances, Marie's lais are written in rhyming octosyllabic meter, but they are shorter, more like short stories than novels. This episode looks at the lais of "Lanval", "Chevrefoil", "La Fresne", "Equitan", "Guigemar", "Eliduc" and "Yonec", and considers what they say about love and relationships.http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chrétien de Troyes' romance Cligès follows two stories: the story of the Greek knight Alexander and his love Soredamors, and then the story of their son Cligès, who falls in love with his uncle the Emperor's wife. With more internal monologue than just about any other romance, Cligès acts as a kind of discourse on love.http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Geraint and Enid is a Welsh version of Erec and Enide. This episode takes a look at how the story changed between the two versions.http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Erec and Enide is the first of Chrétien de Troyes' romances, and we see the focus shift away from Arthur himself to the brave deeds and relationship drama of his knights and their ladies.http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode looks at the Roman de Brut by Norman poet Wace and the English poem Brut by Layamon. Both follow from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. We also take a look at Gerald of Wales, and his account of the discovery of the Arthur and Guinevere's tomb at Glastonbury Abbey.http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode looks at the Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 1136 text on the history of the kings of Britain, the first work to describe Arthur’s life in detail. We also take a quick look at Caradoc’s The Life of Gildas.http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The story of Culhwch and Olwen comes from the Welsh tradition, and it a great example of the kinds of legends and folktales that grew up around Arthur as a Celtic culture hero.https://www.matterofbritainpodcast.comhttps://www.patreon.com/thematterofbritainpodcasthttp://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode examines the earliest mentions of Arthur, Merlin, Guenevere and other figures. We discuss Gildas's De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Nennius's Historia Brittonum, the Annales Cambriae, the Welsh Triads and "Pa Gŵr yw y Porthor?"http://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon.com/thematterofbritainpodcasthttp://www.matterofbritianpodcast.comhttp://www.patreon/com/thematterofbritainpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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