Arthurian Legends
Hannah Oliver Depp
Six Mondays (every other week):
March 4, March 18, April 1, April 15, April 29, May 13, 1 - 3 p.m.
Price: $130 ($120 members)
Books:
Arthurian Romances, Chretien de Troyes
The Once and Future King, TH White
The King, Donald Barthelme
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl Poet
Packet Selections (These will be available for pick up from P&P at the registers in February):
A History of the Kings of Britain, Sir Geoffrey of Monmouth; Cuchulain and Olwen from Of Gods and Fighting Men, Lady Gregory; Parzival, Wolfram von Eschenbach; Le Morte de Arthur, Sir Thomas Mallory; Idylls of the King, Alfred Lord Tennyson
REFUND POLICY: Please note that we can issue class refunds up until seven (7) days before the first class session.
The legend of King Arthur has survived shifts in religion, language, and monarchies. It has gone from oral Welsh poetry to French Chivalry to the post-modern novel. Camelot is used to argue for colonization and disarmament alike while King Arthur is continually called to stand in for whatever is just and good. But what is it about the Arthurian myth that makes it both timeless and open to modern interpretations? How can Arthur’s essentially pagan magician advisor Merlin exist alongside the domineering Christianity of Camelot? Does Arthur represent the mythological heart of England before England even existed as a language? In this class, we will explore all these questions and more. We will read several works from various time periods and consider the core Arthurian tradition that unites them. Our goal is to discover what makes King Arthur as essential to the western identity as the rolling green hills of the north and the busy streets of London.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Hannah Oliver Depp is a bookseller at Politics & Prose. She received her M.A. in Literature from American University. She has presented on detective fiction as it relates to existentialism at the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association Conference, and on mystery authors at the National Popular Culture Association. She has also presented on modern medievalism and King Arthur, which was the subject of her graduate research, at the International Medieval Conference. She has taught two women’s history seminars at Carson-Newman College as well as served as a T.A. & research assistant at American University. Her passion is to foster discussion of classic literature in light of their societal settings and the impact they have had upon the popular imagination.
