King Arthur and the Languages of Britain by Bernard Mees

 The legacy of the arthurian legends are perhaps more consequential than the actual figure himself.  From the anglo-centric consensus, King Arthur became the flag bear of British patriotism, military might, romanticism as well as a cornerstone for British literature itself. It is safe to say King Arthur has with time, become an indispensable part of the British tradition, even in the modern age. 

One thing that has remained unclear through the ages is whether King Arthur existed in any shape or form in reality.  Increasingly, as the 20th century progressed belief in his existence has wained and fallen to the wayside, somewhat dampening the strength of his influence in the process.  King Arthur and the Languages of Britain aims to revitalise the legend of King Arthur by revisiting the question of his historicity, through fresh and innovative analysis.

The text begins by providing an excellent introduction and review of the current historical consensus surrounding the legend of Arthur; before delving into their weaknesses and challenging the claims they make directly.  The uniqueness of this text follows from its linguistic viewpoint. It is indeed rare (as the book so wonderfully illustrates) for current scholarship to explore historical settings through a purely linguistics analysis of the primary and secondary sources. Thus, this text provides a modern audiences an interesting example of how linguistics can be of direct use in the modern historian's toolkit. 

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this text is its direct challenge to the nature of King Arthur's home. Whether you believed in the historicity of Arthur or not, his origins have always been accepted as being from the rather idilic West Country, the Cornish hero. It is now argued by this text, that King Arthur himself was a hero of northern England, rather than its west. This revolutionary idea is well argued and evidenced through out.

This text proves an enjoyable read both for those within academic circles (historical or not) but also for the general reader who is somewhat interested in the Arthurian legend. A great strength of this text is how it delves into seldom talked about subjects in modern historical analysis, providing lots of primary and secondary sources for the reader to explore. 




King Arthur and the Languages of Britain
Examining the Linguistic Evidence
By Bernard Mees
ISBN: 9781350443129

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