Legend and Landscape of Wales: Tales of Arthur - Tapa dura

Tales of Arthur have been told and read for over a thousand years. No other literary character or historical figure has sustained such widespread popularity for so long a time, and for someone whose very existence is in doubt, Arthur has had a remarkable influence over the course of Welsh, English, and indeed European history, literature, and culture. In his new translation of the medieval Welsh tales of Peredur, Owain and Geraint, John K. Bollard vividly evokes a world in which Arthur, the pre-eminent warrior and statesman inspires the heroes gathered around him to strive for the highest ideals. Anthony Griffiths's photographs remind us that it was the literal Welsh landscape that inspired the more generalized Arthurian realm of romance, taking us to stunning and stark locations that are forever linked with the characters that inhabit that realm. This is the third in Bollard and Griffiths's popular Legend and Landscape of Wales series, following The Mabinogi and Companion Tales to the Mabinogi

John K. Bollard received a BA from the University of Rochester in New York, after which an interest in medieval literature, especially early Arthurian literature, enticed him to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he took an MA in Medieval Welsh Language, Literature, and History. Moving then to the University of Leeds, he received a PhD for his comparative study of Middle English and Welsh Arthurian narrative. His published articles on the structure of The Mabinogi are recognized as seminal studies that broke new ground in our understanding of this Welsh classic. While pursuing a career as a lexicographer and editor in western Massachusetts, Dr. Bollard has taught courses in Medieval Welsh literature at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Connecticut, and Yale University, as well as courses in English at Smith College and Mount Holyoke College, and he has lectured widely on Medieval Welsh Literature and History. He has also published translations of early Welsh Arthurian poetry, the romance of Peredur, the prophetic poetry of Myrddin (Merlin), and Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale. He recently served as Executive Editor of the African American National Biography at Harvard University, and is currently Editorial Director of the Native American Biography Project.