Illustrated Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends

Ronan Coghlan has done a who's who on Grail Lore, with wonderful illustrations by Courtney Davis. Very readable, it lists all the characters surrounding Arthur and the myths and legends legends of the Knight of the Round Table. Coghlan is the Author of other useful books, Dictionary of Irish Myths and Legends and Irish Christian Names. Just not a list of people with a footnote of who they were, he fully references the listing with other writers of fiction and history.So not only is this a super reference to Grail lore is a good interface in history as well.It also covers places as well as people. Highly recommended for all Grail Library.

Ah, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends: I was practically raised on this book! I have learned everything I know about Arthurian Legend with it. I have always loved it not only because I was able to study the literary aspects of Arthurian Legend, but also the historic background of the legends themselves. I understand it may seem a bit over people's heads at times (mainly because of its lack of detail on certain topics). Although, I am not sure it had much to do with the author. (Sometimes it is brief because there is not a lot of information available to us in some cases). I would agree that it is apparent in this book that his knowledge is extensive, and perhaps he does take some of it for granted. Personally, the only thing I can really complain about are his brief descriptions of some the alternate legends, as there was little mentioned as to WHY there were differing versions. I would have liked to have seen more on each subject in general in the book. However, so far I have not come across such a balanced book on Arthurian Legend: (not too hard a read, but yet not too basic). I would recommend this book to one who is getting started in the legends, as it is arranged in an easy elementary storybook fashion. I would also recommend, however, reading "La Morte D'Arthur" by Sir Thomas Mallory concurrently. "The Encyclopaedia" would be a great addition to any library of Arthurian Legends, and I think it's shame it is out of print.

King Arthur has always been of interest to me, and I happened upon this book on sales table and just had to buy it. Little did I know that for hours I'd have my face stuck in it...this book is no less than excellent, a great collection of Arthurian stories from different points of view in alphabetical order. A great reference and an awesome book for people interested in learning more about Arthur ;)

If you or someone you know is a student of Arthurian Legend, this makes a beautiful gift. It is a rich "Who's Who" of the various strains of the tales copiously illustrated by the appropriate family trees, facsimiles of medieval illumination, photographs of the historical sites and Pre-Raphaelite reproductions. Lovers of the legend will treasure this book!

If this system allowed me to give 4-1/2 stars, that's probably where I would actually have come down. This reference source is magnificent. Coghlan includes names from often obscure and/or hard to find Arthurian legends, and he notes his sources. My only complaints is that he does not say where in his sources he found the name (so sometimes you have to go on a bit of a scavenger hunt), he's missed a couple of rare sources I wish he'd included, and he does not cite instances of the names outside Arthurian material (which is sometimes important). Other than that, this is a reference work of the highest quality.