The Matter of Britain Podcast: history and legend of King Arthur and his knights

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/thematterofbritainpodcast

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/thematterofbritainpodcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.