1.
Orkney
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Orkney /ˈɔːrkni/, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of Great Britain. Orkney is 16 kilometres north of the coast of Caithness and comprises approximately 70 islands, the largest island Mainland is often referred to as the Mainland. It has an area of 523 square kilometres, making it the sixth-largest Scottish island, the largest settlement and administrative centre is Kirkwall. A form of the dates to the pre-Roman era and the islands have been inhabited for at least 8500 years, originally occupied by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes. Orkney was invaded and forcibly annexed by Norway in 875 and settled by the Norse, the Scottish Parliament then re-annexed the earldom to the Scottish Crown in 1472, following the failed payment of a dowry for James IIIs bride Margaret of Denmark. Orkney contains some of the oldest and best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe, Orkney is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, a constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a lieutenancy area, and a historic county. The local council is Orkney Islands Council, one of only three Councils in Scotland with a majority of elected members who are independents. In addition to the Mainland, most of the islands are in two groups, the North and South Isles, all of which have a geological base of Old Red Sandstone. The climate is mild and the soils are fertile, most of the land being farmed. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, the significant wind and marine energy resources are of growing importance, and the island generates more than its total yearly electricity demand using renewables. The local people are known as Orcadians and have a distinctive Orcadian dialect of Scots, there is an abundance of marine and avian wildlife. Pytheas of Massilia visited Britain – probably sometime between 322 and 285 BC – and described it as triangular in shape, with a northern tip called Orcas and this may have referred to Dunnet Head, from which Orkney is visible. Speakers of Old Irish referred to the islands as Insi Orc island of the pigs, the archipelago is known as Ynysoedd Erch in modern Welsh and Arcaibh in modern Scottish Gaelic, the -aibh representing a fossilized prepositional case ending. The Anglo-Saxon monk Bede refers to the islands as Orcades insulae in his seminal work Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Norwegian settlers arriving from the ninth century reinterpreted orc as the Old Norse orkn seal. The plural suffix -jar was later removed in English leaving the modern name Orkney, according to the Historia Norwegiæ, Orkney was named after an earl called Orkan. The Norse knew Mainland Orkney as Megenland Mainland or as Hrossey Horse Island, the island is sometimes referred to as Pomona, a name that stems from a sixteenth-century mistranslation by George Buchanan, which has rarely been used locally. A charred hazelnut shell, recovered in 2007 during excavations in Tankerness on the Mainland has been dated to 6820–6660 BC indicating the presence of Mesolithic nomadic tribes
2.
Guinevere
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Guinevere, often written as Guenevere or Gwenevere, was the wife of legendary King Arthur. In medieval romances, one of the most prominent story arcs is Queen Guineveres love affair with her husbands chief knight, Guinevere and Lancelots betrayal of Arthur preceded his eventual defeat at the Battle of Camlann by Mordred. Geoffrey of Monmouth rendered her name as Guanhumara in Latin, the name is given as Guennuuar in Caradocs Vita Gildae, while Gerald of Wales refers to her as Wenneuereia. In the 15th century Middle Cornish play Bewnans Ke, she was called Gwynnever, a cognate name in Modern English is Jennifer, from Cornish. In one of the Welsh Triads, there are three Gwenhwyfars married to King Arthur, the first is the daughter of Cywryd of Gwent, the second of Gwythyr ap Greidawl, in a variant of another Welsh Triad, only the daughter of Gogfran Gawr is mentioned. Two other Triads mention Gwenhwyfars contention with her sister Gwenhwyfach, which was believed to be the cause of the Battle of Camlann, in the Welsh folktale Culhwch and Olwen, she is mentioned alongside her sister, Gwenhwyfach. In Geoffrey of Monmouths Historia Regum Britanniae, she is described as one of the beauties of Britain, descended from a noble Roman family and educated under Cador. In French chivalric romances, Guinevere is the daughter of King Leodegrance, in these histories, Leodegrances kingdom lies near the Breton city of Carhaise. In the fields to the south and east of Carhaise, Arthur defends Leodegrance by defeating Rience and this version of the legend has Guinevere betrothed to Arthur early in his career, while he was garnering support. When Lancelot arrives later, she is smitten, and they have an affair that eventually leads to Arthurs fall. Their affair is exposed by two of King Lots sons, Agravain and Mordred, and Lancelot flees for his life while Arthur reluctantly sentences his wife to be burned at the stake. Knowing Lancelot and his family would try to stop the execution, Arthur sends many of his knights to defend the pyre, Lancelot arrives and rescues the queen. Gawains brothers Gaheris and Gareth are killed in the battle, sending Gawain into a rage so great that he pressures Arthur into a confrontation with Lancelot. When Arthur goes to France to fight Lancelot, he leaves Guinevere in the care of Mordred, in some versions of the tale, Guinevere assents to Mordreds proposal, in others, she hides in the Tower of London and later takes refuge in a convent. Hearing of the treachery, Arthur returns to Britain and slays Mordred at Camlann, Guinevere meets Lancelot one last time, then returns to the convent where she spends the remainder of her life. Guinevere is childless in most stories, two exceptions being the Perlesvaus and the Alliterative Morte Arthure, in Alliterative Morte Arthure, Guinevere willingly becomes Mordreds consort and bears him two sons, though this is implied rather than stated in the text. There were mentions of Arthurs sons in the Welsh Triads, though their exact parentage is not clear, other family relations are equally obscure. A half-sister and a play the antagonists in the Lancelot–Grail and the German romance Diu Crône respectively
3.
King Arthur
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King Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. The details of Arthurs story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, the sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthurs name also occurs in early sources such as Y Gododdin. Arthur is a figure in the legends making up the so-called Matter of Britain. The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouths fanciful, how much of Geoffreys Historia was adapted from such earlier sources, rather than invented by Geoffrey himself, is unknown. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Gaul. The 12th-century French writer Chrétien de Troyes, who added Lancelot, in these French stories, the narrative focus often shifts from King Arthur himself to other characters, such as various Knights of the Round Table. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed until it experienced a resurgence in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the lives on, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics. The historical basis for the King Arthur legend has long debated by scholars. These culminate in the Battle of Badon, where he is said to have single-handedly killed 960 men, recent studies, however, question the reliability of the Historia Brittonum. The other text that seems to support the case for Arthurs historical existence is the 10th-century Annales Cambriae, the Annales date this battle to 516–518, and also mention the Battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut were both killed, dated to 537–539. These details have often used to bolster confidence in the Historias account. Problems have been identified, however, with using this source to support the Historia Brittonums account, the latest research shows that the Annales Cambriae was based on a chronicle begun in the late 8th century in Wales. Additionally, the textual history of the Annales Cambriae precludes any certainty that the Arthurian annals were added to it even that early. They were more likely added at point in the 10th century. The Badon entry probably derived from the Historia Brittonum and this lack of convincing early evidence is the reason many recent historians exclude Arthur from their accounts of sub-Roman Britain. These modern admissions of ignorance are a recent trend, earlier generations of historians were less sceptical
4.
Gawain
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Gawain is King Arthurs nephew and a Knight of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. Under the name Gwalchmei, he very early in the legends development. He is one of a number of Round Table members to be referred to as one of the greatest knights, most notably in Sir Gawain. He is almost always portrayed as the son of Arthurs sister Morgause and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian, and his brothers are Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth and he was well known to be the most trustworthy friend of Sir Lancelot. In some works, Sir Gawain has sisters as well, according to some legends, he would have been the true and rightful heir to the throne of Camelot, after the reign of King Arthur. Gawain is often portrayed as a formidable, courteous, and also a warrior, fiercely loyal to his king. He is a friend to young knights, a defender of the poor, and as the Maidens Knight, a defender of women as well. In some works, his strength waxes and wanes with the sun, in the most common form of this motif, his might triples by noon, but fades as the sun sets. Gawain appears in English, French and Celtic literature as well as in Italy where he appears in the architecture of the portal in the cathedral of Modena. Gawain is known by different names and variants in different languages, the character corresponds to the Welsh Gwalchmei ap Gwyar, and is known in Latin as Walwen, Gualguanus, Waluanus, etc. in French as Gauvain, and in English as Gawain. The later forms are generally assumed to derive from the Welsh Gwalchmei, the element Gwalch means hawk, and is a typical epithet in medieval Welsh poetry. The meaning of mei is uncertain and it has been suggested that it refers to the month of May, rendering Hawk of May, though scholar Rachel Bromwich considers this unlikely. Kenneth Jackson suggests the name evolved from an early Common Brittonic name *Ualcos Magesos, not all scholars accept the gwalch derivation. Celticist John Koch suggests the name could be derived from a Brythonic original *Wolcos Magesos, others argue that the continental forms do not ultimately derive from Gwalchmei. Medievalist Roger Sherman Loomis suggests a derivation from the epithet Gwallt Avwyn, found in the list of heroes in Culhwch and Olwen, which he translates as hair like reins or bright hair. Dutch scholar Lauran Toorians proposes that the Dutch name Walewein was earliest, however, most scholarship supports a derivation from Gwalchmei, variants of which are well attested in Wales and Brittany. Scholars such as Bromwich, Joseph Loth, and Heinrich Zimmer trace the etymology of the versions to a corruption of the Breton form of the name. Unlike the other helpers he takes no part in the action, suggesting he was added to the romance later
5.
N. C. Wyeth
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Newell Convers Wyeth, known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American artist and illustrator and he was the pupil of artist Howard Pyle and became one of Americas greatest illustrators. During his lifetime, Wyeth created over 3,000 paintings and illustrated 112 books,25 of them for Scribners, the Scribner Classics, the first of these, Treasure Island, was one of his masterpieces and the proceeds paid for his studio. Wyeth was a realist painter just as the camera and photography began to compete with his craft, sometimes seen as melodramatic, his illustrations were designed to be understood quickly. Wyeth, who was both a painter and an illustrator, understood the difference, and said in 1908, Painting and he is notably the father of painter Andrew Wyeth and the grandfather of Jamie Wyeth, both celebrated American painters. Wyeth was born in Needham, Massachusetts, an ancestor, Nicholas Wyeth, a stonemason, came to Massachusetts from England in 1645. His maternal ancestors came from Switzerland, and during his childhood, his mother was acquainted with literary giants Henry David Thoreau and his literary appreciation and artistic talents appear to have come from her. He was the oldest of four brothers who spent much time hunting, fishing, and enjoying outdoor pursuits. His mother encouraged his early inclination toward art, Wyeth was doing excellent watercolor paintings by the age of twelve. When two of his friends were accepted to Howard Pyles School of Art in Wilmington, Delaware and Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Pyle was the father of American illustration, and Wyeth immediately meshed with his methods and ideals. Pyle stressed historical accuracy and tinged it with a romantic aura, but where Pyle painted in exquisite detail, Wyeth veered toward looser, quicker strokes and relied on ominous shadows and moody backgrounds. He probably picked up his technique from Pyle. Wyeths exuberant personality and talent made him a standout student, a robust, powerfully built young man with strangely delicate hands, he ate a lot less than his size implied. He admired great literature, music, and drama, and he enjoyed spirited conversation, a bucking bronco for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on February 21,1903 was Wyeths first commission as an illustrator. That year he described his work as true, solid American subjects—nothing foreign about them and it was a spectacular accomplishment for the 20-year-old Wyeth, after just a few months under Pyles tutelage. In 1904, the magazine commissioned him to illustrate a Western story. In Colorado, he worked as a cowboy alongside the professional punchers, moving cattle and he visited the Navajo in Arizona and gained an understanding of Native American culture. When his money was stolen, he worked as a mail carrier and he wrote home, The life is wonderful, strange—the fascination of it clutches me like some unseen animal—it seems to whisper, Come back, you belong here, this is your real home
6.
Sidney Lanier
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Sidney Clopton Lanier was an American musician, poet and author. As a poet he sometimes, though not exclusively, used dialects, many of his poems are written in heightened, but often, archaic American English. He became a flautist and sold poems to publications and he eventually became a professor of literature at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and is known for his adaptation of musical meter to poetry. Many schools, other structures and two lakes are named for him, Sidney Clopton Lanier was born February 3,1842, in Macon, Georgia, to parents Robert Sampson Lanier and Mary Jane Anderson, he was mostly of English ancestry. His distant French Huguenot ancestors immigrated to England in the 16th century and he began playing the flute at an early age, and his love of that musical instrument continued throughout his life. He attended Oglethorpe University, which at the time was near Milledgeville, Georgia and he graduated first in his class shortly before the outbreak of the American Civil War. He fought in the American Civil War, primarily in the region of Virginia. Later, he and his brother Clifford served as pilots aboard English blockade runners, on one of these voyages, his ship was boarded. Refusing to take the advice of the British officers on board to don one of their uniforms and pretend to be one of them and he was incarcerated in a military prison at Point Lookout in Maryland, where he contracted tuberculosis. He suffered greatly from disease, then incurable and usually fatal. Shortly after the war, he taught briefly, then moved to Montgomery, Alabama. He was the regular organist at The First Presbyterian Church in nearby Prattville and he wrote his only novel, Tiger Lilies while in Alabama. This novel was partly autobiographical, describing a stay in 1860 at his grandfathers Montvale Springs resort hotel near Knoxville, in 1867, he moved to Prattville, at that time a small town just north of Montgomery, where he taught and served as principal of a school. He married Mary Day of Macon in 1867 and moved back to his hometown, after passing the Georgia bar, Lanier practiced as a lawyer for several years. During this period he wrote a number of poems, using the cracker and negro dialects of his day, about poor white. He traveled extensively through southern and eastern portions of the United States in search of a cure for his tuberculosis. While on one journey in Texas, he rediscovered his native and untutored talent for the flute. Unable to find work in New York City, Philadelphia, or Boston, he signed on to play flute for the Peabody Orchestra in Baltimore, Maryland and he taught himself musical notation and quickly rose to the position of first flautist
7.
English Channel
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The English Channel, also called simply the Channel, is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 560 km long and varies in width from 240 km at its widest to 33.3 km in the Strait of Dover and it is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km2. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the English Channel as follows, a line joining Isle Vierge to Lands End. The southwestern limit of the North Sea, the IHO defines the southwestern limit of the North Sea as a line joining the Walde Lighthouse and Leathercoat Point. The Walde Lighthouse is 6 km east of Calais, and Leathercoat Point is at the end of St Margarets Bay. The Strait of Dover, at the Channels eastern end, is its narrowest point and it is relatively shallow, with an average depth of about 120 m at its widest part, reducing to a depth of about 45 m between Dover and Calais. Eastwards from there the adjoining North Sea reduces to about 26 m in the Broad Fourteens where it lies over the watershed of the land bridge between East Anglia and the Low Countries. It reaches a depth of 180 m in the submerged valley of Hurds Deep,48 km west-northwest of Guernsey. The eastern region along the French coast between Cherbourg and the mouth of the Seine river at Le Havre is frequently referred to as the Bay of the Seine. There are several islands in the Channel, the most notable being the Isle of Wight off the English coast. The coastline, particularly on the French shore, is indented, several small islands close to the coastline, including Chausey. The Cotentin Peninsula in France juts out into the Channel, whilst on the English side there is a parallel channel known as the Solent between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. The Celtic Sea is to the west of the Channel, the time difference of about six hours between high water at the eastern and western limits of the Channel is indicative of the tidal range being amplified further by resonance. It was never defined as a border and the names were more or less descriptive. It was not considered as the property of a nation, strangely, before the development of the modern nations, British scholars very often referred to it as Gaulish and the French one as British or English. The name English Channel has been used since the early 18th century. In modern Dutch, however, it is known as Het Kanaal, later, it has also been known as the British Channel or the British Sea having been called the Oceanus Britannicus by the 2nd-century geographer Ptolemy. The same name is used on an Italian map of about 1450, the Anglo-Saxon texts often call it Sūð-sǣ as opposed to Norð-sǣ
8.
Avalon
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Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. Avalon was associated from a date with mystical practices and people such as Morgan le Fay. Geoffrey of Monmouth referred to it in Latin as Insula Avallonis in the Historia, in the later Vita Merlini he called it Insula Pomorum the isle of fruit trees. The name is considered to be of Welsh origin, derived from Old Welsh, Old Cornish, or Old Breton aball or avallen, apple tree. Welsh, Cornish and Breton tradition claimed that Arthur had never really died, the Historia also states that Avalon is where his sword Excalibur was forged. Geoffrey dealt with Avalon in more detail in Vita Merlini, in which he describes for the first time in Arthurian legend the enchantress Morgan le Fay as the chief of nine sisters who live on Avalon. Geoffreys description of the island indicates a sea voyage was needed to get there, of its own accord it produces grain and grapes, and apple trees grow in its woods from the close-clipped grass. The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, there nine sisters rule by a pleasing set of laws those who come to them from our country. Hence the mistake of pagans and the poems by worldly poets and they are situated in the Ocean, against the left side of Mauretania, closest to where the sun sets, and they are separated from each other by the intervening sea. In medieval geographies, Isidores Fortunate Islands were identified with the Canaries, around 1190, Avalon became associated with Glastonbury, when monks at Glastonbury Abbey claimed to have discovered the bones of Arthur and his queen. The works of Gerald of Wales make the first known connection, What is now known as Glastonbury was, in ancient times and it is virtually an island, for it is completely surrounded by marshlands. In Welsh it is called Ynys Afallach, which means the Island of Apples, years ago the district had also been called Ynys Gutrin in Welsh, that is the Island of Glass, and from these words the invading Saxons later coined the place-name Glastingebury. Though no longer an island in the century, the high conical bulk of Glastonbury Tor had been surrounded by marsh before the surrounding fenland in the Somerset Levels was drained. In ancient times, Ponters Ball Dyke would have guarded the entrance to the island. The Romans eventually built another road to the island, Gerald wrote that Glastonburys earliest name in Welsh was Ineswitrin, the Isle of glass, a name noted by earlier historians which suggests that the location was at one point seen as an island. At a depth of 5 m the monks were said to have discovered a massive treetrunk coffin, accounts of the exact inscription vary, with five different versions existing. The earliest is by Gerald in Liber de Principis instructione c,1193, who wrote that he viewed the cross in person and traced the lettering. His transcript reads, Here lies buried the famous King Arthur with Guinevere his second wife in the isle of Avalon, inside the coffin were two bodies, who Giraldus refers to as Arthur and his queen, the bones of the male body were described as being gigantic
9.
Cornwall
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Cornwall is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, Cornwall has a population of 551,700 and covers an area of 3,563 km2. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the south-west peninsula of the island of Great Britain, and this area was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. It continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age peoples, there is little evidence that Roman rule was effective west of Exeter and few Roman remains have been found. In the mid-19th century, however, the tin and copper mines entered a period of decline, subsequently, china clay extraction became more important and metal mining had virtually ended by the 1990s. Traditionally, fishing and agriculture were the important sectors of the economy. Railways led to a growth of tourism in the 20th century, however, the area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its long and varied coastline, its attractive villages, its many place-names derived from the Cornish language, and its very mild climate. Extensive stretches of Cornwalls coastline, and Bodmin Moor, are protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, retaining a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history. Some people question the present constitutional status of Cornwall, and a nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom in the form of a devolved legislative Cornish Assembly. On 24 April 2014 it was announced that Cornish people will be granted minority status under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The modern English name Cornwall derives from the concatenation of two ancient demonyms from different linguistic traditions, Corn- records the native Brythonic tribe, the Cornovii. The Celtic word kernou is cognate with the English word horn. -wall derives from the Old English exonym walh, the Ravenna Cosmography first mentions a city named Purocoronavis in the locality. This is thought to be a rendering of Duro-cornov-ium, meaning fort of the Cornovii. The exact location of Durocornovium is disputed, with Tintagel and Carn Brea suggested as possible sites, in later times, Cornwall was known to the Anglo-Saxons as West Wales to distinguish it from North Wales. The name appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 891 as On Corn walum, in the Domesday Book it was referred to as Cornualia and in c.1198 as Cornwal. Other names for the county include a latinisation of the name as Cornubia, the present human history of Cornwall begins with the reoccupation of Britain after the last Ice Age. The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods and it continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age people. The Common Brittonic spoken at the time developed into several distinct tongues
10.
Merlin
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Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in Arthurian legend and medieval Welsh poetry. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouths Historia Regum Britanniae,1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures. He is allegedly buried in the Broceliande forest, near Paimpont in Brittany, Geoffreys rendering of the character was immediately popular, especially in Wales. Later writers expanded the account to produce an image of the wizard. Merlins traditional biography casts him as a cambion, born of a woman, sired by an incubus. The name of Merlins mother is not usually stated, but is given as Adhan in the oldest version of the Prose Brut, Merlin matures to an ascendant sagehood and engineers the birth of Arthur through magic and intrigue. Later authors have Merlin serve as the kings advisor until he is bewitched and imprisoned by the Lady of the Lake, the name Merlin is derived from the Welsh Myrddin, the name of the bard Myrddin Wyllt, one of the chief sources for the later legendary figure. Geoffrey of Monmouth Latinised the name to Merlinus in his works, medievalist Gaston Paris suggests that Geoffrey chose the form Merlinus rather than the regular Merdinus to avoid a resemblance to the Anglo-Norman word merde for feces. Clas Myrddin or Merlins Enclosure is a name for Great Britain stated in the Third Series of Welsh Triads. Celticist A. O. H. Jarman suggests that the Welsh name Myrddin was derived from the toponym Caerfyrddin and this contrasts with the popular folk etymology that the town was named for the bard. The name Carmarthen is derived from the towns previous Roman name Moridunum, itself derived from Celtic Brittonic *moridunon, sea fortress. The former had nothing to do with Arthur, in British poetry he was a bard driven mad after witnessing the horrors of war, who fled civilization to become a wild man of the wood in the 6th century. Geoffrey had this individual in mind when he wrote his earliest surviving work, the Prophetiae Merlini, Geoffreys Prophetiae do not reveal much about Merlins background. He included the prophet in his next work Historia Regum Britanniae, supplementing the characterisation by attributing to him stories about Aurelius Ambrosius, according to Nennius, Ambrosius was discovered when the British king Vortigern was trying to erect a tower. The tower always collapsed before completion, and his men told him that the only solution was to sprinkle the foundation with the blood of a child born without a father. Geoffrey retells this story in Historia Regum Britanniæ with some embellishments and he goes on to add new episodes that tie Merlin into the story of King Arthur and his predecessors, such as bringing the stones for Stonehenge from Preseli Hills in south-west Wales and Ireland. Geoffrey dealt with Merlin again in his third work Vita Merlini and he based the Vita on stories of the original 6th-century Myrddin, set long after his time frame for the life of Merlin Ambrosius. He tries to assert that the characters are the same references to King Arthur and his death
11.
May Day
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May Day is a public holiday usually celebrated on May 1. It is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. Dances, singing, and cake are usually part of the celebrations that the day includes, in the late 19th century, May Day was chosen as the date for International Workers Day by the Socialists and Communists of the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago. International Workers Day may also be referred to as May Day and it is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane, most commonly held on April 30. The day was a summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of spring, May 1 was the first day of summer, hence, as Europe became Christianised, the pagan holidays lost their religious character and May Day changed into a popular secular celebration. A significant celebration of May Day occurs in Germany where it is one of days on which St. Walburga. The secular versions of May Day, observed in Europe and America, may be best known for their traditions of dancing around the maypole and crowning the Queen of May. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of May baskets, small baskets of sweets or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours doorsteps. May 1 is also one of two feast days of the Catholic patron saint of workers St Joseph the Worker, a carpenter, husband to Mother Mary, and surrogate father of Jesus. Replacing another feast to St. Joseph, this date was chosen by Pope Pius XII in 1955 as a counterpoint to the communist International Workers Day celebrations on May Day. In the late 20th century, many neopagans began reconstructing traditions, traditional English May Day rites and celebrations include crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a maypole. Historically, Morris dancing has been linked to May Day celebrations, much of this tradition derives from the pagan Anglo-Saxon customs held during Þrimilci-mōnaþ along with many Celtic traditions. May Day has been a day of festivities throughout the centuries. May Day is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes, seeding has been completed by this date and it was convenient to give farm labourers a day off. Perhaps the most significant of the traditions is the maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons, the spring bank holiday on the first Monday in May was created in 1978, May Day itself – May 1 – is not a public holiday in England. Unlike the other Bank Holidays and common law holidays, the first Monday in May is taken off from schools by itself and this is because it has no Christian significance and does not otherwise fit into the usual school holiday pattern. May Day was abolished and its celebration banned by Puritan parliaments during the Interregnum, may 1,1707, was the day the Act of Union came into effect, joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain
12.
Lancelot
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Sir Lancelot du Lac was one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. Traditional scholars thought that they are the same due to the fact that their names are similar. One suggestion has been that the name may have been an invention by Chretien de Troyes, given the evidence of LAncelot. Another suggestion is that the name may have derived from Geoffrey of Monmouths Anguselaus. However, one scholar has suggested that Lancelot may be a variant of the name Lancelin, Lancelot or Lancelin may have instead been the hero of an independent folk-tale which had contact with and was ultimately absorbed into the Arthurian tradition. F. Campbell in his Tales of the West Highlands, the character Lancelot is first introduced by writer Chrétien de Troyes in the 12th century. In Chrétiens earliest known work Erec and Enide, the name Lancelot appears as third on a list of knights at King Arthurs court. The fact that Lancelots name follows Gawain and Erec indicates the importance of the knight at court. Here, Lancelot takes an important role as one of the knights that Cligès must overcome in his quest. It is not until Chrétiens Le Chevalier de la Charrette, however, in this text, he is presented as the most formidable knight at King Arthurs court. His adulterous relationship with the Queen is also introduced in this text, according to Pamela Raabe, Lancelot is portrayed in Chrétien de Troyes’ work as the bravest of knights and one whom everyone is forced to describe as uniquely perfect. His deeds are recounted for their uniqueness, not only among living knights, the problem is that critics have been unable to agree on how to reconcile his perfect “saintliness” with his obvious adultery with King Arthur’s Guinevere. How can the lovers’ consummation be considered a “saintly affair” when it is also adultery, and that adultery is against King Arthur, to whom all knights owe selfless respect, according to Arthurian politics and William Bowman Piper. It is also Chrétien who first gives Lancelot the name Lancelot du Lac which was picked up by the Anglo-French Lancelot-Grail. Lancelot is constantly tied to the Christianity associated with Arthurian Legend, Raabe compares Lancelot’s quest for Guinevere in “Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart” to Everyman’s quest for salvation and Christ’s quest for the human soul. This becomes intensified when he becomes the saviour of the captives of Logres. Danielle MacBain’s study of Thomas Malory’s Le Morte dArthur claims that Lancelot’s affair with Guinevere is often seen as parallel to that of Tristram and Iseult. MacBain suggests that it is Lancelot who is identified with the tragedy of chance
