The first collection of Joseph Campbell's writings and lectures on the
Arthurian romances of the Middle Ages, a central focus of his celebrated
scholarship, edited and introduced by Arthurian scholar Evans Lansing
Smith, PhD, the chair of Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate
Institute.
Throughout his life, Joseph Campbell was deeply engaged in the study of
the Grail Quests and Arthurian legends of the European Middle Ages. In
this new volume of the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, editor Evans
Lansing Smith collects Campbell's writings and lectures on Arthurian
legends, including his never-before-published master's thesis on
Arthurian myth, "A Study of the Dolorous Stroke." Campbell's writing
captures the incredible stories of such figures as Merlin, Gawain, and
Guinevere as well as the larger patterns and meanings revealed in these
myths. Merlin's death and Arthur receiving Excalibur from the Lady of
the Lake, for example, are not just vibrant stories but also central to
the mythologist's thinking.
The Arthurian myths opened the world of comparative mythology to
Campbell, turning his attention to the Near and Far Eastern roots of
myth. Calling the Arthurian romances the world's first "secular
mythology," Campbell found metaphors in them for human stages of growth,
development, and psychology. The myths exemplify the kind of love
Campbell called amor, in which individuals become more fully themselves
through connection. Campbell's infectious delight in his discoveries
makes this volume essential for anyone intrigued by the stories we
tell--and the stories behind them.
