DOCSLIB.ORG

Nationalism, Literature, and Arthurian ‘Things’ in Medieval and Early Modern Britain

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Nationalism, Literature, and Arthurian ‘Things’ in Medieval and Early Modern Britain ‘OF HIS BREAST NOBLE POETS SHALL EAT; OF HIS BLOOD SHALL MEN BE DRUNK’: NATIONALISM, LITERATURE, AND ARTHURIAN ‘THINGS’ IN MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN BRITAIN BY AMY ROWAN SACH DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Robert W. Barrett, Chair Professor Charles D. Wright Associate Professor Lori Humphrey Newcomb Professor Andrew Galloway, Cornell University ABSTRACT My dissertation examines the intersection of medieval and Early Modern Arthurian literature, English and British nationalism, and new materialism – specifically thing theory and object-oriented ontology. Arthur was not a true historical figure, yet throughout much of British history his cultural and propagandist value has been immeasurable both to the ruling class and those who would rebel against it. The end result is that Arthurian objects such as his alleged body, the Round Table, and seals and maps were constantly being produced. Because of the doubtful status of such objects, each new era had to come up with a new theoretical lens through which to discuss these ‘things’ in order to have them hold meaning or value in their current cultural climate. Through the course of this dissertation I follow this trend from the twelfth century to the sixteenth century, tracking these material signifiers as they change in dialogue with shifting cultural needs. While the focus on objects remains consistent throughout these eras, the meaning of the Arthurian objects is fluid and multitudinous, as are the types of lenses through which they are discussed. In some cases these objects show the failure of contemporary Britain in comparison to the golden age of Arthur; in other cases these objects demonstrate that the glorious Arthurian past should bolster support for the politics of the present; in others still these objects critique even Arthur himself. In some cases a true belief in a historical Arthur is actually necessary; in other cases he is merely used as a symbol for an emotional or political truth. ii To Margaret Weis and Maigrey Morianna for inspiring me to read Malory for the first time To Carol Kaske for inspiring me to read Malory every time since iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of a great many people, and I am thankful for their help and encouragement. The members of my dissertation committee have all stood by me despite a long distance move, and have all provided continuous advice and feedback. Rob Barrett has offered incalculable hours of comments and has never waivered in his support as my chair. His insights have saved whole chapters when I otherwise felt lost. He has also served as my cheerleader and shrink, always online to offer support, and when my laptop broke with less than a week before my defense, his unusual tactic for cheering me up and encouraging me to keep going worked when nothing else had. I could have never finished this without him, and am extremely grateful that he has never given up on me, even when I thought I might myself. The second chapter is a direct result of an early class taken with Charlie Wright. His insistence on (and enthusiasm for) exhaustive and detailed research methods transformed a vague idea into not just the start of a chapter, but also the genesis of the entire dissertation. Lori Newcomb rekindled my love of the Early Modern period, paleography, and book history, and inspired the wide breadth of this dissertation’s scope. Andrew Galloway was not just a committee member for this dissertation but, as an undergraduate professor from my time at Cornell University, was one of the reasons that I pursued a higher degree in English and specifically medieval literature. Taking my first paleography class from Andy was a turning point in my life in many ways, expanding the ways that I thought about English as a field. I am deeply grateful for his support over the last twelve years. iv I am also profoundly indebted to my other mentors from Cornell, Carol Kaske and Tom Hill. Carol introduced me to Spenser, reintroduced me to Malory, and invited me to travel with her to Oxford and Cambridge in pursuit of Simon Forman. Chapters Three and Five of this dissertation can be traced back to her course on Malory and Spenser and her love of mad alchemists. I would not be where I am today, or who I am today, without Carol’s inspiration and guidance. Similarly, Tom Hill rescued me from being an engineer in my very first semester at Cornell, and reminded me that I was an English nerd instead. I have since tried to base my teaching style on his, and if I am one day half the professor that he was for me, I will consider my future career a success. I would also like to thank my family and friends who have put up with me through this long and arduous process. I am who I am because my parents have surrounded me with more books than I can ever hope to read from before I knew how. To my father – thank you for long phone chats in the car about history, literature, and the state of academia. To my mother - thank you for reading to me from day one, knowing that I would catch up, and totally understanding my request to overnight me a copy of Malory as a college freshman. My thanks also go to Stefanie Engstrom who found it totally reasonable to fly across the country to help me copy edit, because commas are confusing. She continues to be the best roommate ever, even from a different time zone. Thanks also to all those in the fencing community for their friendship and support, and for allowing me to hit them with a blunt object multiple times a week throughout this whole process. It has been therapeutic. Finally, to my husband, David: I love you with all my heart. Thank you for always supporting me, but never actually caring if I finished this thing or not. That has v meant everything along the way, and always will. I could not do this without you. I’m sorry that Arthur (probably) was not actually real. But thank you for making me English and Welsh by marriage. Hopefully that will lend some credibility to everything else that is about to follow. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE.…………………..………………...………………………......viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION……..…………..………………………...1 CHAPTER 2: BODIES, RELICS, AND MIRACULOUS ARTHURIAN THINGS…....................................................................................................19 CHAPTER 3: THE FAILURE OF CHIVALRIC OBJECTS IN MALORY’S LE MORTE DARTHUR…….…….……………………………………….76 CHAPTER 4: ANTIQUARIAN REIMAGINING OF ARTHURIAN ARTIFACTS AND THE (NON-) SACRED ENGLISH LANDSCAPE…121 CHAPTER 5: DEE, SPENSER, AND THE LIMITS OF ARTHURIAN IMPERIALISM..………………………………………………………….170 BIBLIOGRAPHY……...…………………………………………………224 vii PREFACE In July 2010 newspapers across England and the world excitedly reported that King Arthur’s Round Table had been found and that it was actually a Roman amphitheater in Chester that was large enough to seat the entire Arthurian court. Historians, according to these newspapers, claimed that because there was a shrine dedicated to Christian martyrs within the amphitheater it matched Gildas’ description of Arthur’s location, a place that Gildas refers to as the “urbs legionum.”1 The newspapers ignored the fact that the city was merely one near which Arthur fought a single battle, rather than anything connected to Camelot itself, nor was there any mention that the Round Table did not come into the Arthurian legend until approximately six hundred years after Gildas wrote his De excidio Britanniae.2 Further P. J. C. Field has convincingly proven that this unnamed city that contained a martyr’s shrine was most likely York, rather than Chester.3 If this find was not already then clearly dubious at best, the fact that The History Channel was eagerly preparing a special on the discovery should 1 The Round Table first is mentioned by Wace in his mid-twelfth century “Roman de Brut.” See Wace, Le Roman de Brut, trans. Arthur Wayne Glowka (Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2005). 2 Gildas, De excidio Britanniae, in Arthurian Period Sources 7: Gildas: the Ruin of Britain and Other Documents, ed. and trans. Michael Winterbottom (Chichester: Phillimore, 1980). 3 P. J. C. Field, “Gildas and the City of Legions,” The Heroic Age 1 (Spring/Summer 1999). viii be enough to make most true historians doubt the claim. Yet dozens of newspapers and websites around the world reported on the find. 4 All of this probably made it even more shocking to the general public when just a year later in August of 2011 newspapers began reporting that King Arthur’s Round Table had been found again. This time the table was found in Stirling, Scotland, the newspapers claimed, and was really just a well known site called the King’s Knot, a “geographical earthwork in the former royal gardens below Stirling Castle.”5 In this case the historians from Glasgow University were prudently hesitant to connect the mound to an actual historical figure but instead said that the shape of the mound could “explain the stories and beliefs that people held.”6 However, their reasonable argument did nothing to dissuade the wider media from reporting as if the actual table had been found with links to a true historical person. A current online search still finds dozens of archived articles all describing the find itself but with most of these articles removing or downplaying any logical explanation from the archaeologists. While it would be easy to assume that either of these claims were then quickly forgotten, over the last five years it has struck me how often one or the other was mentioned to me as evidence of Arthur’s historical existence, primarily by those of English or Welsh nationality.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-16336-2 — Medieval Historical Writing Edited by Jennifer Jahner , Emily Steiner , Elizabeth M
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-16336-2 — Medieval Historical Writing Edited by Jennifer Jahner , Emily Steiner , Elizabeth M. Tyler Index More Information Index 1381 Rising. See Peasants’ Revolt Alcuin, 123, 159, 171 Alexander Minorita of Bremen, 66 Abbo of Fleury, 169 Alexander the Great (Alexander III), 123–4, Abbreviatio chronicarum (Matthew Paris), 230, 233 319, 324 Alfred of Beverley, Annales, 72, 73, 78 Abbreviationes chronicarum (Ralph de Alfred the Great, 105, 114, 151, 155, 159–60, 162–3, Diceto), 325 167, 171, 173, 174, 175, 176–7, 183, 190, 244, Abelard. See Peter Abelard 256, 307 Abingdon Apocalypse, 58 Allan, Alison, 98–9 Adam of Usk, 465, 467 Allen, Michael I., 56 Adam the Cellarer, 49 Alnwick, William, 205 Adomnán, Life of Columba, 301–2, 422 ‘Altitonantis’, 407–9 Ælfflæd, abbess of Whitby, 305 Ambrosius Aurelianus, 28, 33 Ælfric of Eynsham, 48, 152, 171, 180, 306, 423, Amis and Amiloun, 398 425, 426 Amphibalus, Saint, 325, 330 De oratione Moysi, 161 Amra Choluim Chille (Eulogy of St Lives of the Saints, 423 Columba), 287 Aelred of Rievaulx, 42–3, 47 An Dubhaltach Óg Mac Fhirbhisigh (Dudly De genealogia regum Anglorum, 325 Ferbisie or McCryushy), 291 Mirror of Charity, 42–3 anachronism, 418–19 Spiritual Friendship, 43 ancestral romances, 390, 391, 398 Aeneid (Virgil), 122 Andreas, 425 Æthelbald, 175, 178, 413 Andrew of Wyntoun, 230, 232, 237 Æthelred, 160, 163, 173, 182, 307, 311 Angevin England, 94, 390, 391, 392, 393 Æthelstan, 114, 148–9, 152, 162 Angles, 32, 103–4, 146, 304–5, 308, 315–16 Æthelthryth (Etheldrede),
    [Show full text]
  • Reader's Companion to John Cowper Powys's a Glastonbury Romance
    John Cowper Powys’s A Glastonbury Romance: A Reader’s Companion Updated and Expanded Edition W. J. Keith December 2010 . “Reader’s Companions” by Prof. W.J. Keith to other Powys works are available at: https://www.powys-society.org/Articles.html Preface The aim of this list is to provide background information that will enrich a reading of Powys’s novel/ romance. It glosses biblical, literary and other allusions, identifies quotations, explains geographical and historical references, and offers any commentary that may throw light on the more complex aspects of the text. Biblical citations are from the Authorized (King James) Version. (When any quotation is involved, the passage is listed under the first word even if it is “a” or “the”.) References are to the first edition of A Glastonbury Romance, but I follow G. Wilson Knight’s admirable example in including the equivalent page-numbers of the 1955 Macdonald edition (which are also those of the 1975 Picador edition), here in square brackets. Cuts were made in the latter edition, mainly in the “Wookey Hole” chapter as a result of the libel action of 1934. References to JCP’s works published in his lifetime are not listed in “Works Cited” but are also to first editions (see the Powys Society’s Checklist) or to reprints reproducing the original pagination, with the following exceptions: Wolf Solent (London: Macdonald, 1961), Weymouth Sands (London: Macdonald, 1963), Maiden Castle (ed. Ian Hughes. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1990), Psychoanalysis and Morality (London: Village Press, 1975), The Owl, the Duck and – Miss Rowe! Miss Rowe! (London: Village Press, 1975), and A Philosophy of Solitude, in which the first English edition is used.
    [Show full text]
  • The Northern Clergy and the Pilgrimage of Grace Keith Altazin Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected]
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2011 The northern clergy and the Pilgrimage of Grace Keith Altazin Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Altazin, Keith, "The northern clergy and the Pilgrimage of Grace" (2011). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 543. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/543 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. THE NORTHERN CLERGY AND THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Keith Altazin B.S., Louisiana State University, 1978 M.A., Southeastern Louisiana University, 2003 August 2011 Acknowledgments The completion of this dissertation would have not been possible without the support, assistance, and encouragement of a number of people. First, I would like to thank the members of my doctoral committee who offered me great encouragement and support throughout the six years I spent in the graduate program. I would especially like thank Dr. Victor Stater for his support throughout my journey in the PhD program at LSU. From the moment I approached him with my ideas on the Pilgrimage of Grace, he has offered extremely helpful advice and constructive criticism.
    [Show full text]
  • Graham Dzons.Indd
    Ni{ i Vizantija V 513 Graham Jones PROCLAIMED AT YORK: THE IMPACT OF CONSTANTINE, SAINT AND EMPEROR, ON COLLECTIVE BRITISH MEMORIES Constantine, raised to Augustan rank by the acclaim of the Roman sol- diers at York in 306, was not the only emperor whose reign began in Britain. As one of Rome’s most distant territories, and of course an island (Fig. 1), Britain seems always to have been vunerable to revolt, as indeed were all the west- ernmost provinces to greater or lesser degree.1 As early as 197, Albinus seized power in the West. Two generations later came the so-called Gallic Empire of Gallienus and his successors, in which Britain was involved together with Gaul, Spain and the Low Countries. It lasted for about twenty years in the middle of the third century. A series of usurpers – most famously Magnus Maximus, proclaimed emperor in Britain in 383, but continuing with Marcus in 406/7, Gratian in the latter year, and Constantine III from 408 to 411 – led the British monk Gildas, writing around 500, to describe his country as a ‘thicket of ty- rants’, echoing Jerome’s phrase that Britain was ‘fertile in usurpers’. Indeed, Constantine’s proclamation might not have happened at York were it not for the involvement of his father in pacifying Britain. Constantius crossed to Britain in 296 to end a ten-year revolt by a Belgian commander Carausius and his succes- sor Allectus. Constantius’ action in preventing the sack of London by part of the defeated army was commemorated by a famous gold medallion on which he is shown receiving the thanks of the city’s inhabitants as Redditor Lucis Aeternam (Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • The Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn Sources of the Love That Changed England Forever
    Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze del Linguaggio [LM5-08] Tesi di Laurea The Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn Sources of the Love that changed England Forever Relatore Prof.ssa Marina Buzzoni Correlatore Prof. Marco Infurna Laureando Susi Bellinello Matricola 829025 Anno Accademico 2016 / 2017 Ai miei genitori: senza di loro tutto ciò non sarebbe stato possibile. A Denis, che continua ad essere il raggio di sole che in mezzo alla pioggia crea l’arcobaleno. A Valentina che, nonostante la distanza, mi è sempre stata vicina. A tutti quelli che non hanno mai creduto che questo giorno arrivasse. Questa è la mia vittoria. 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER I: HENRY AND ANNE: THE MOST HAPPY LOVE STORY THAT CHANGED HISTORY ............................................................................................................................... 12 I.1 Anne Boleyn: the woman who bewitched the heart of Henry VIII .............................. 12 I.1.2 Return to the English Court .................................................................................... 14 I.2 1527 - 1528: The Love Letters and the Great Matter .................................................... 17 I.3 1529: Two Queens for a Throne ................................................................................... 21 I.4 1530: Ainsi Sera, Groigne qui Groigne ........................................................................ 23 I.5
    [Show full text]
  • A Welsh Classical Dictionary
    A WELSH CLASSICAL DICTIONARY DACHUN, saint of Bodmin. See s.n. Credan. He has been wrongly identified with an Irish saint Dagan in LBS II.281, 285. G.H.Doble seems to have been misled in the same way (The Saints of Cornwall, IV. 156). DAGAN or DANOG, abbot of Llancarfan. He appears as Danoc in one of the ‘Llancarfan Charters’ appended to the Life of St.Cadog (§62 in VSB p.130). Here he is a clerical witness with Sulien (presumably abbot) and king Morgan [ab Athrwys]. He appears as abbot of Llancarfan in five charters in the Book of Llandaf, where he is called Danoc abbas Carbani Uallis (BLD 179c), and Dagan(us) abbas Carbani Uallis (BLD 158, 175, 186b, 195). In these five charters he is contemporary with bishop Berthwyn and Ithel ap Morgan, king of Glywysing. He succeeded Sulien as abbot and was succeeded by Paul. See Trans.Cym., 1948 pp.291-2, (but ignore the dates), and compare Wendy Davies, LlCh p.55 where Danog and Dagan are distinguished. Wendy Davies dates the BLD charters c.A.D.722 to 740 (ibid., pp.102 - 114). DALLDAF ail CUNIN COF. (Legendary). He is included in the tale of ‘Culhwch and Olwen’ as one of the warriors of Arthur's Court: Dalldaf eil Kimin Cof (WM 460, RM 106). In a triad (TYP no.73) he is called Dalldaf eil Cunyn Cof, one of the ‘Three Peers’ of Arthur's Court. In another triad (TYP no.41) we are told that Fferlas (Grey Fetlock), the horse of Dalldaf eil Cunin Cof, was one of the ‘Three Lovers' Horses’ (or perhaps ‘Beloved Horses’).
    [Show full text]
  • Creating Great Ebooks Using Jutoh
    CREATING GREAT EBOOKS USING JUTOH A complete guide to making ebooks for Kindle, iPad, Nook, Kobo and more, from new project to publication by Julian Smart Published by Anthemion © Julian Smart 2011 Edition 2.22 All rights reserved. You are welcome to redistribute this book in its original form. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work. This book was created using Jutoh. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. Table of Contents From the Horse’s Mouth........................................................................................................................xi Preface...................................................................................................................................................xiii Bring on the revolution.....................................................................................................................xiii About the author..........................................................................................................................xiv How this book is structured...............................................................................................................xiv Conventions and terms used in this book..........................................................................................xvi
    [Show full text]
  • The Pershore Flores Historiarum: an Unrecognised Chronicle from the Period of Reform and Rebellion in England, 1258–65*
    English Historical Review Vol. CXXVII No. 529 doi:10.1093/ehr/ces311 © The Author [2012]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. The Pershore Flores Historiarum: An Unrecognised Chronicle from the Period of Reform and Rebellion in England, 1258–65* Historians of the period of reform and rebellion in England between 1258 and 1265 make extensive use of a chronicle called the Flores Historiarum.1 This is not surprising, because the Flores covers the revolution of 1258, the baronial regime of 1258–60, the king’s recovery of power in 1261, the civil war of 1263, the battle of Lewes in 1264, and the rule of Simon de Montfort down to his defeat and death at the battle of Evesham in 1265. In the earliest surviving text of the Flores, Downloaded from which belongs to Chetham’s Library in Manchester, the account of these revolutionary years is part of a longer section of the chronicle which begins in the year 1249. From that point, until the battle of Evesham in 1265, the text is unified, and distinguished from what comes before and after, by the way in which capital letters at the beginning of sections are http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/ decorated and, in particular, by the decoration given to the letter ‘A’ in the ‘Anno’ at the beginning of each year.2 The text is also unified, and set apart, by being written, save for a short section at the start, in the same thirteenth-century hand and having very much the appearance of a fair copy.3 Historians who have studied the chronicle have nearly all assumed that this part of the Flores was copied at St Albans Abbey from 4 the work of Matthew Paris and his continuator.
    [Show full text]
  • The Grove. Working Papers on English Studies 27 (2020): 71-82. DOI: 10.17561/Grove.V27.A5
    The Grove. Working Papers on English Studies 27 (2020): 71-82. DOI: 10.17561/grove.v27.a5 CHARLES V’S ‘ENCOMIUM MORI’AS REPORTED BY AMBASSADOR ELYOT1 EL ELOGIO DE CARLOS V A MORO SEGÚN EL EMBAJADOR ELYOT Eugenio Manuel Olivares Merino Universidad de Jaén [email protected] Abstract William Roper is the author of the first and most influential biography of Sir Thomas More, his father-in-law, finished in 1557. As stated in this source, shortly after More’s execution for high treason at the Tower of London (1535), the Emperor Charles V met Thomas Elyot then serving as ambassador at the imperial court. The content of this meeting was later on disclosed by Elyot himself to some members of More’s closest circle, among them Roper himself, whose testimony has remained the ultimate source of the episode. As soon as Charles had come to know about More’s execution, he communicated the news to Elyot and shared with him his admiration for the ex-Chancellor. Several scholars, however, have questioned the reliability of Roper’s memory in the light of historical evidence for Elyot’s whereabouts at the time of More’s death. This paper revises the main stances in the discussion of this episode, and brings into consideration other issues that might cast some light, not only on the details of this story, but also on the relationship between these two Thomases (More and Elyot) and Charles, the most powerful ruler in Europe at the time. Keywords: Thomas More; Thomas Elyot; Charles V; the King’s Matter.
    [Show full text]
  • A Feminist Reinterpretation of Queen Katherine Howard Holly K
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, History, Department of Department of History Summer 7-30-2014 Jewel of Womanhood: A Feminist Reinterpretation of Queen Katherine Howard Holly K. Kizewski University of Nebraska-Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss Part of the European History Commons, History of Gender Commons, Medieval History Commons, Social History Commons, and the Women's History Commons Kizewski, Holly K., "Jewel of Womanhood: A Feminist Reinterpretation of Queen Katherine Howard" (2014). Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History. 73. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss/73 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. JEWEL OF WOMANHOOD: A FEMINIST REINTERPRETATION OF QUEEN KATHERINE HOWARD by Holly K. Kizewski A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Major: History Under the Supervision of Professor Carole Levin Lincoln, Nebraska June, 2014 JEWEL OF WOMANHOOD: A FEMINIST REINTERPRETATION OF QUEEN KATHERINE HOWARD Holly Kathryn Kizewski, M.A. University of Nebraska, 2014 Adviser: Carole Levin In 1540, King Henry VIII married his fifth wife, Katherine Howard. Less than two years later, the young queen was executed on charges of adultery. Katherine Howard has been much maligned by history, often depicted as foolish, vain, and outrageously promiscuous.
    [Show full text]
  • In Translation
    May 2010 In Translation It is surely not too early in the year to start predicting the crime writing Oscars for 2010, by which of course I mean my Shots of the Year awards (which come with no trophy, no prize-money, very little publicity and minimal prestige). I raise the matter now because I have just finished the best ensemble police crime novel I have read this year, and it is eligible for both Crime Shot of the Year and the Shot in Translation titles. Translated from Afrikaans, Deon Meyer’s Thirteen Hours (Hodder) is simply brilliant and puts the South African author up there with Michael Connelly and Ian Rankin – yes, it’s that good. Meyer has created a great cast of policemen and women with the alcoholic Inspector Benny Griessel taking the lead and, in Thirteen Hours, acting as a mentor to junior officers working two seemingly unconnected cold- blooded murders, wrapping them both up in thirteen breathless hours of one chaotic Cape Town day, complete with horrendous traffic jams, power cuts and casual violence. The twin strands of the plot dig into a resurgent South African music scene and a particularly unsavoury form of human trafficking which is almost as sleazy and corrupt. And readers of a delicate persuasion should be warned there is one particularly gruesome (though not gratuitous) piece of violence. Benny Griessel as an alcoholic cop with marital problems hardly sounds a unique creation, but unusually for crime fiction he manages his guilt humanely and without resorting to preachiness. But it is the ensemble cast of cops under Griessel’s reluctant command which really impress – whether white, black or ‘coloured’ - especially the overweight Zulu woman detective Mbali Kaleni.
    [Show full text]
  • Geoffrey of Monmouth and Medieval Welsh Historical Writing
    Chapter 9 The Most Excellent Princes: Geoffrey of Monmouth and Medieval Welsh Historical Writing Owain Wyn Jones A late 14th-century manuscript of Brut y Brenhinedd (“History of the Kings”), the Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s De gestis Britonum, closes with a colophon by the scribe, Hywel Fychan, Hywel Fychan ap Hywel Goch of Buellt wrote this entire manuscript lest word or letter be forgotten, on the request and command of his master, none other than Hopcyn son of Tomos son of Einion … And in their opinion, the least praiseworthy of those princes who ruled above are Gwrtheyrn and Medrawd [Vortigern and Mordred]. Since because of their treachery and deceit and counsel the most excellent princes were ruined, men whose descendants have lamented after them from that day until this. Those who suffer pain and subjection and exile in their native land.1 These words indicate the central role Geoffrey’s narrative had by this point as- sumed not only in vernacular historical writing, but also in the way the Welsh conceived of their past and explained their present. Hywel was writing around the time of the outbreak of Owain Glyn Dŵr’s revolt, and the ethnic and co- lonial grievances which led to that war are here articulated with reference to the coming of the Saxons and the fall of Arthur.2 During the revolt itself, Glyn Dŵr’s supporters justified his cause with reference to the Galfridian past, for 1 Philadelphia, Library Company of Philadelphia, 8680.O, at fol. 68v: “Y llyuyr h6nn a yscri- uenn6ys Howel Vychan uab Howel Goch o Uuellt yn ll6yr onys g6naeth agkof a da6 geir neu lythyren, o arch a gorchymun y vaester, nyt amgen Hopkyn uab Thomas uab Eina6n … Ac o’e barn 6ynt, anuolyannussaf o’r ty6yssogyon uchot y llywyassant, G6rtheyrn a Medra6t.
    [Show full text]