Arthurian Worlds

Module overview

The figures of King Arthur, Guinevere, his knights and court have exercised a powerful hold over the minds of readers for many centuries. But have you ever wondered about where this legend came from, how it developed, and about the enduring nature of its appeal? On this module, we will examine a range of Arthurian stories from medieval, renaissance and later periods. Our focus will be on the physical and social worlds created by these texts, and their relationship to the worlds in which these stories were enjoyed. We will consider how writers in different periods and genres used Arthurian stories, environments, motifs, and a mythologised past world to explore and critique the political, social and gender relations of their own societies; to forge and contest identities; and to figure new relationships between past and present worlds.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Analytically compare the way the Arthurian legend has been deployed in different contexts and periods
Read and analyse medieval texts, including in earlier forms of English where appropriate
Identify and make use of appropriate historical, literary, or theoretical secondary reading in academic writing

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

A range of Arthurian texts, including those produced in the Medieval period
The relationships between these texts and the cultures that produced and read them
Key themes in Arthurian texts, such as their role in the formation of gendered roles and expectations and national and religious identities

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Plan and carry out different assessment tasks to deadlines
Carry out research and analysis on a range of source types from different periods

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

1 lecture and 1 seminar per week Group work Informal individual and group presentations Individual study This module includes a Learning Support Hour. This is a flexible weekly contact hour, designed to support and respond to the particular cohort taking the module from year to year. This hour will include (but not be limited to) activities such as language, theory and research skills classes; group work supervisions; assignment preparation and essay writing guidance; assignment consultations; feedback and feed-forward sessions.

Study time
Type	Hours
Seminar	10
Teaching	12
Wider reading or practice	10
Completion of assessment task	50
Preparation for scheduled sessions	50
Follow-up work	8
Lecture	10
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Internet Resources

Sources for the Study of the Arthurian Legends.

The Camelot Project.

Journal Articles

Arthuriana.

Textbooks

William W. Kibler and R. Barton Palmer (2014). Medieval Arthurian Epic and Romance : Eight New Translations. Jefferson NC: McFarland.

Roger Sherman Loomis (1959). Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages : A Collaborative History. Oxford: Clarendon.

Michelle R. Warren (2000). History on the edge : Excalibur and the borders of Britain, 1100-1300. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Rachel Bromwich, A.O.H. Jarman, Brynley F. Roberts (1991). The Arthur of the Welsh : The Arthurian Legend in Medieval Welsh Literature. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.

Daniel P. Nastali and Phillip C. Boardman (2004). The Arthurian Annals : The Tradition in English from 1250 to 2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Alan Lupack (2005). The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Derek Pearsall (2003). Arthurian Romance: A Short Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.

Dixon, Jeffrey John (2014). The Glory of Arthur: The Legendary King in Epic Poems of Layamon, Spenser and Blake. Jefferson NC: McFarland.

Elizabeth Archibald and Ad Putter (2009). The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Patricia Clare Ingham (2001). Sovereign Fantasies: Arthurian Romance and the Making of Britain. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Critical Analysis	30%
Essay	70%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External