Post by CaroleThe names of King Arthur's weapons would be a great help to me - I'm doing
an essay for school.
Carole
There are various older sources.
The first (and best?) is in The Mabinogion [originally issued by Lady
Guest] - but you should find this in the Everyman paperback series
translated by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones. There is also a Penguin
paperback edition, (same title) but I do not have the transaltors names to
hand. You will find Arthur's weapons named in the tale of Culhwch &
Olwen.
You will find his ship named in Spoils of Annfwn (Preideu Annwfn), a poem
that you will find easily enough on the net, and also later in Culhwch &
Olwen, as you will two of his horses. (For a mounted warrior, a trained
war-horse is as much a weapon as a sword).
His dog is around somewhere, with the name being of some importance if I
remember correctly, - speaking from memory, somewhere in Historia Brittonum
(the History of the Britons) by Nennius, and his mantle of invisibility
(attested elsewhere as one of the Thirteen Treasures of Britain) is named
in the Dream of Rhonabwy.
All the above are from the Early British (now known as Welsh) sources.
There is also his helmet, described in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of
the Kings of Britain and named in Layamon's Brut. You will also find in
Geoffrey's account - the arming of Arthur just before one of his battles -
various other names which correspond (more or less) to the earlier names in
the Welsh literature.
Finally, do be careful about the name of his sword - In Malory, he has two
with the second being provided by the Lady of the Lake after the first (the
one drawn from the stone) breaks in combat. But there is also the name
from the Welsh tradition, and that from Geoffrey of Monmouth. One name
here really will not do!!
Hope you enjoy it all, and that the essay goes really well.
Kind regards
Malcolm Martin
London, UK