Walter Map and the Matter of Britain (The Middle Ages Series)
Smith, Joshua Byron
Sold by PAPER CAVALIER UK, London, United Kingdom
AbeBooks Seller since January 10, 2017
Used - Hardcover
Condition: Used - As new
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketSold by PAPER CAVALIER UK, London, United Kingdom
AbeBooks Seller since January 10, 2017
Condition: Used - As new
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketAppears unread. May have a retail sticker on back cover or remainder mark on the text block.
Seller Inventory # 9780812249323-2
Why would the sprawling thirteenth-century French prose Lancelot-Grail Cycle have been attributed to Walter Map, a twelfth-century writer from the Anglo-Welsh borderlands known for his stinging satire, religious skepticism, ghost stories, and irrepressible wit? And why, though the attribution is spurious, is it not, in some ways, implausible?
Joshua Byron Smith sets out to answer these and other questions in the first English-language monograph on Walter Map—and in so doing, he offers a new explanation for how narratives about the pre-Saxon inhabitants of Britain, including King Arthur and his knights, first circulated in England. Smith contends that it was inventive clerics like Walter, and not traveling minstrels or professional translators, who popularized these stories. Smith examines Walter's only surviving work, the De nugis curialium, to demonstrate that it is not the disheveled text that scholars have imagined but rather five separate works in various stages of completion. This in turn provides new evidence to support his larger contention, that ecclesiastical networks of textual exchange played a major role in exporting Welsh literary material into England.
Medieval readers incorrectly envisioned Walter withdrawing ancient Latin documents about the Holy Grail from a monastery and compiling them in order to compose the Lancelot-Grail Cycle. In this detail they were wrong, Smith acknowledges, but a model of literary transmission that is not vernacular and popular but Latinate and ecclesiastical demands our serious consideration.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
We guarantee the condition of every book as it is described on the Abebooks web sites. If you are dissatisfied with your purchase (Incorrect Book/Not as Described/Damaged) or if the order has not arrived, you are eligible for a refund within 30 days of the estimated delivery date. If you have changed your mind about a book that you have ordered, please use the Ask bookseller a question link to contact us and we will respond within 2 business days.
Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.
| Order quantity | 7 to 21 business days | 5 to 20 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | US$ 7.89 | US$ 13.15 |
Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.