Goddess and Grail - The Battle for King Arthur's Promised Land

The early chroniclers of Britain presented the island as the promised land of the Roman goddess Diana. Later, when the story of Arthur was transformed by Christian mythology, a new literary concept of the island was promoted: the promised land of the Holy Grail. As the feminine enchantment of the Goddess gave way to the masculine crusade of the Grail Quest, the otherworld realms of the fays or fairy women were denigrated in favor of the heavenly afterlife.
The dualism of the medieval authors was challenged by modern writers such as Blake and Tolkien, as well as by the scholars of the Eranos conferences. This book explores the conflict between Goddess and Grail--a rift less about paganism versus Christianity than about religious literalism versus spiritual imagination--which is resolved in the figure of Sophia (Divine Wisdom).

List of contents

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction-The Other World of the Gods

Prologue-From Eden to Albion

Part 1. Mythological Roots

One: A Mighty Goddess

Two: The Lady of the Rings

Three: The Otherworld Bride

Four: Fate and Faerie

Five: A Woman's Wiles

Six: The View from Fortune's Wheel

Interlude¿¿¿The Deceitful Savior

Part 2. Realms of Symbolism

Seven: By This Sign, Conquer

Eight: The Prophet of the Grail

Nine: Moon Magic

Ten: The Marvels of the Holy Grail

Eleven: Mountains of Heresy

Twelve: An End to Adventures?

Epilogue-From Albion to Avalon

Appendix-Tolkien's Lonely Isle

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Jeffrey John Dixon, after studying English literature at Sussex University, travelled widely and now lives and writes in Powys, United Kingdom.

Product details

• Authors: Jeffrey John Dixon, Dixon Jeffrey John
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 18.10.2017
• EAN: 9781476668666
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-6866-6
• No. of pages: 272
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 14 mm
• Weight: 358 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > History; Europe, RELIGION / General, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology, History of Religion, Medieval History, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Religion and beliefs, Biography: historical, political and military, European history: medieval period, middle ages, HISTORY / Europe / Medieval, Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology)