----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Lubke" <peterlubke@OPTUSNET.COM.AU>
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 3:03 AM


> no such paladin-like characters were present in true
> Arthurian times.

This presumes a "true Arthurian times". The literary desriptions of
Chretien de Troyes or Thomas Mallory don`t reflect their times, but are a
blend of their views on their society and some fantasy elements. I just
finished reading Tristan. The geography alone of Gottfried is interesting.
There is no Wales, but there is a Swales and a Gales, which are both
neighboring England.

Quests for a historical Arthur generally make him an immeditaly post Roman
figure, usually, but there are narrative elements in these stories which
harken back as far as the bronze age. The Green Knight for example is just
a slighty re-worked nature figure (a Ranger model) of a nature spirit from a
more druidical time interacting with a mortal.

Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com

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