The Quest for Arthur's Britain edited by Geoffrey Ashe

The Quest for Arthur’s Britain gives us not only an overview of the development of Arthurian legend but a description of the search through history for documentary and archeological evidence of a real king Arthur. There are chapters telling us why we would bother even digging anything up to search for buried facts and there are chapters on those digs. Since I like reading history, folklore and about archeology, I really enjoyed this book.

I first attempted to read The Quest for Arthur’s Britain when I was still living in the town in which I grew up and frequenting the small but really rather nice library there.  I can’t remember whether I was in high school or in college, because I can’t quite remember when my fascination with Arthurian legend developed. I do remember that the physical volume on the library shelf was compelling to me. It was a bit beaten up with a re-taped binding and pages separating in packets. It seemed as though many, many interested readers had perused this book and I wanted to be one of them.

I was even more distractible then than I am now, so I didn’t actually read The Quest for Arthur’s Britain all the way through until several years later when I acquired my own, much newer copy (which is also a new edition.) I appreciated it more this time around for the simple reason that I appreciate the minute victories in archeology more now than I once did. The descriptions of the investigations conducted to find some trace of King Arthur mostly involve some small detail suggesting that someone lived in an area associated with Arthur at the around the same time that Arthur supposedly did.

 

So, this book doesn’t have the sweeping scope or the treasure-hunting adventure of C.W. Ceram’s Gods, Graves, and Scholars. What it does have, however, is a whole-hearted attempt to justify “the chief myth of the island of Britain.” Everybody (everybody!) has heard of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. While the charismatic military leader of Dark Age Britain who appears to have some roots in fact is a far cry from the Arthur of popular legend and literature, the evolution of the gigantic folk hero and the characters and stories that surround him is fascinating.

 

Coming soon: Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende 

 

A Year of Books I’ve Read Before