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.

Linked modules

This is a Level 6 version of Engl 2097. Students cannot take both modules.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

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

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
A range of Arthurian texts, including those produced in the Medieval period

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
Identify and research appropriate critical, theoretical, and/or historical reading for a research essay
Identify and plan a research essay on a topic of your own design
Read and analyse medieval texts, including in earlier forms of English where appropriate

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Articulate the results of your research in writing
Work with feedback to improve a plan

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

1 x lecture and 1 x 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
Lecture	10
Preparation for scheduled sessions	60
Seminar	10
Practical classes and workshops	10
Completion of assessment task	60
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Internet Resources

The Camelot Project.

Sources for the Study of the Arthurian Legends.

Textbooks

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

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

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

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

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

Assessment

Summative

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

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay proposal	10%
Essay	90%

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