Unicorns   In mythology the appearance of a white animal to the hero frequently signifies the commencement of an Otherworldly journey.....read more

Vespasian - The future Emperor Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus was born near Rome in 9 AD. He was the commander of the Second Augusta Legion during their victorious advance across Southern Britain from Kent to Exeter. After leading the Second Augusta Legion during the conquest of Britain he was made consul in 51 AD.......Read More

Geoffrey of Monmouth - The Vita Merlini - Life of Merlin.....download in pdf eBook format

The old name for Lundy - 'Ynys Wair' - Gwair's Island.  Gwair is a Celtic - Sun God. 'The noted 19th century authority, Professor Rhys, was among the first to identify the imprisonment of Gwair on the Isle of Lundy, with the Paphlagonian (Greek) myth of the binding of Chronus on a western isle. He also points out that Classical legend is the original source of the basic myth of the god imprisoned on a western isle traceable through the Arthurian Romances....read more

T.S.Eliot - The Wasteland   APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

...read the full poem here

The Wasteland  After the defeat of the invading Anglo-Saxons by Arthur at the Battle of Mount Badon the Celtic kingdoms in the west maintained independence and maintained their Romano Celtic traditions for at least another hundred years. But when the Anglo-Saxons finally conquered Devon almost all traces of the existing Celtic society were obliterated, a situation strongly paralleled in the wasteland of the grail legends ....read more

Welsh Triads   'The Triads are a peculiar species of poetical composition, of which the Welsh bards have left numerous examples. They are enumerations of a triad of persons, or events, or observations, strung together in one short sentence. This form of composition, originally invented, in all likelihood, to assist the memory, has been raised by the Welsh to a degree of elegance of which it hardly at first sight appears susceptible..... read more

Sir Gawain and the Green knight - Jesse Weston  Brave, chivalrous, loyally faithful to his plighted word, scrupulously heedful of his own and others' honour, Gawain stands before us in this poem. We take up Malory or Tennyson, and in spite of their charm of style, in spite of the halo of religious mysticism in which they have striven to enwrap their characters, we lay them down with a feeling of dissatisfaction. How did the Gawain of their imagination, this empty-headed, empty-hearted worldling, cruel murderer, and treacherous friend, ever come to be the typical English hero? ....read the full text here .....download in pdf eBook format

Robert Graves  - The White Goddess    Robert Graves, the late British poet and novelist, was also known for his studies of the mythological and psychological sources of poetry. With The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, Graves was able to combine many of his passions into one work. While the book is so poetically written that many of the passages amount to prose poems, it is also frequently plot driven enough to feel like a novel, and it is rich with scholarly insight into the deep wells of poetry.... read more

The White Isle "Joseph and his company prepared their fleet and entered without delay, and did not end their voyage till they reached the land which God had promised to Joseph. The name of the country was the White Isle;....read more

Ynys Witrin  In mediaeval times the monasteries discovered the benefits of pilgrims as a source of income and many old tales and legends were bent to fit various locations, a practice still followed today in many places to attract tourists. Much of the writing which has come down to us as histories of the time were originally prepared, and later amended, under the auspices of the establishments concerned. William of Malmesbury and John of Glastonbury both wrote under commission of the abbey of Glastonbury, the claim that Glastonbury was once known as Ynys Witrin is at best nebulous....... read more

Wolfram von Eschenbach - Parzival    Wolfram von Eschenbach wrote the poem "Parzival" sometime between 1200 and 1210. Wolfram was a Bavarian, knighted by one of the Counts von Henneberg at Massfeld near Meiningen. He was a legendary figure even in his own time. Well known from his lyrics, he is supposed to have been one of the founders of the mastersingers. Wolfram von Eschenbach was present with the German contingent at the siege of Damietta in Egypt during the fifth crusade where he may have been impressed by the actions of the military orders, esp. the Templars ...read more