An unforgettable and illuminating exploration of the legends of the British Isles.From the misty centuries of British and Irish prehistory to the height of the dark age, comes tales of giants and fairy-folk, druids and saints. From King Lear and King Arthur, to Fingal, Beowulf, Gwendolen and Guinevere these are the legendary characters who shaped the nation. But who were they? In Mythology of the British Isles, Geoffrey Ashe explores these compelling and ancient stories, seeing how they have taken on fresh significance as historical and archaeological research has uncovered the truth behind each legend.

Everything you ever wanted to know about King Arthur and his knights is covered in this fascinating volume: the origins of the Grail legend, the Tristan and Isolde love story in opera and literature, Spielberg's use of Arthurian motifs in "Star Wars," the depiction of Arthur in paintings, the presentation of Camelot on the Broadway stage, the twitting of the legend in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and much more.
This critical survey of Arthurian history and legend, archaeology, literature, and the arts from the fifth century to the present provides an introduction for the general reader and a useful summary for the specialist. It offers both historical facts and key discussions on Arthurian subjects, from post-Roman Britain to the most recent novels and films. There is a lengthy glossary of Arthurian characters, motifs, and places, a chronology of major historical and literary items, a guide to pronunciation, and a full bibliography.
What's new in the Second Edition: All the material has been revised and updated to 1996 since the original 1988 edition; The chapter on modern literature has been thoroughly revised, with new material on writings from France, Germany, England, and America; The coverage of King Arthur in the arts has entirely rewritten by one of the premier authorities in Arthurian studies. Brand-new geneological charts of the ancestry of Arthur and his family and the Grail kings and knights.; A fully up-to-date chronology; Many new illustrations.

Written by an international team of over 130 authorities, no other work approaches this A-Z guide to the legends of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table for breadth and depth of coverage. It is the ultimate resource for reliable information on topics as diverse as the Grail, Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guenevere, Arthurian operas, the historicity of Arthur and much more.

Attempts to find the person (if any) behind the legend of King Arthur have been going on for a long time. The search has revealed many interesting facts and it has also led to sharp disagreements. By the 1980s, the search was more or less abandoned, having reached a dead-end. The Discovery of King Arthur presents an investigation that broke the deadlock. Arthur emerged from it with a firmer status in history. He was also more interesting - more like his legend - than once appeared likely. It became possible to see better why he became the kind of figure he did. The delay in running him to earth was due to the nature of the problem he posed. Medieval authors who gave him his literary grandeur fitted him into what they claimed was Britain's history several centuries later. Not much of that history can stand up in the light of present day knowledge - it is mostly legend. So historians who looked for Arthur swept the medieval matter aside and searched for him in the scanty older records. But the search was inconclusive. A convincing answer called for a different approach. This books shows that the Arthurian legend itself needs to be taken seriously and sifted for clues. The right questions to ask are not the direct ones, 'Who was Arthur?' or 'Did he exist?', but 'Where did his legend come from?' and 'What facts is the legend rooted in?'. If we line up the legend side by side with the facts as we know them today, the problem of Arthur's identity can be solved.

Everything you ever wanted to know about King Arthur and his knights is covered in this fascinating volume: the origins of the Grail ;legend, the Tristan and Isolde love story in opera and literature, the depiction of Arthur in paintings, the presentation of Camelot on the Broadway stage, the twitting of the legend in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and much more.

Merlin, seer and wonder-worker at King Arthur's court, makes his debut in the highly inventive "History of the Kings of Britain," written during the 1130s by an author known to posterity as Geoffrey of Monmouth. One of the most influential books of the Middle Ages, it planted Arthur himself in European minds. As for Merlin, he seems to be wholly a creation of Geoffrey's active brain. Or was he? This new book by the leading Arthurian scholar of today offers a succession of surprises. The Merlin of legend was born to be a magician. He was "immaculately" conceived and was able to interpret dreams and utter prophecies. Even his fate was imbued with magic. Like Arthur, he acquired immortality and sleeps on Bardsey Island, in a subterranean chamber with nine companions. Geoffrey Ashe reveals the man behind the myth, establishing beyond doubt the historicity of a Welsh prophet called Myrddin Emrys. Despite his "supernatural" status it is Merlin, of all the great characters of the Arthurian world, who has the strongest claims to having existed.

First published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Reveals how humanity's first advanced culture originated in the Altai-Baikal region of southern Siberia Myths of a Golden Age, a paradise at the beginning of human existence, are nearly universal in all cultures. But where was this "Eden" located? Refuting the traditional assumption that the cultures of the Middle East and Mycenae filtered northward into Europe and North Asia, noted historian Geoffrey Ashe instead identifies the northern Altai mountain range and Lake Baikal region of southern Siberia as the true cultural home of humanity and the source of the widespread myths of a prehistoric Golden Age. With evidence dating back as far as 24,000 BC, Ashe shows how the culture of prehistoric southern Siberia was matrifocal, Goddess-worshiping, and heavily shamanic and served as the progenitor of advanced ancient culture in the Western world, the missing link that later influenced Indian, Middle Eastern, Native American, and European society, culture, and religion. He reveals how ancient Altaic culture was the source of the pervasive mythic symbolism of the number 7, found in cosmologies and mythological traditions around the world, as well as reverence for the seven stars of Ursa Major, the Big Dipper, and the idea of a "sacred mountain to the North." Ashe reveals how this transmission of beliefs had a profound influence on the seven-note musical scale, the seven astrological planets, and the seven vowels of the Greek alphabet, as well as the development of seven as a sacred number in Judaism. Offering proof that advanced cultures existed in Europe before the immigration of Eastern peoples, Ashe shows that early societies did not look into the future for perfection but to the past, to the Golden Age of peace in the sacred northern mountains.

An exploration of the origins, influences, and legacy of the scandalous Hell-Fire Clubs of the 18th century and beyond * Reveals the club's origins in the work of Rabelais and the magical practices of John Dee and how their motto, "Do What You Will," deeply influenced Aleister Crowley * Explores the cross-fertilization of liberty and libertinage within these clubs that influenced both U.S. and French Revolutions * Examines the debaucherous activities and famous members of many Hell-Fire Clubs, including Sir Francis Dashwood's Monks of Medmenham Mention the Hell-Fire Clubs and you conjure up an image of aristocratic rakes cutting a swath through the village maidens. Which is true, but not the whole truth. The activities of these clubs of upper-class Englishmen revolved around not only debauchery but also blasphemy, ritual, quasi-magical pursuits, and political intrigue. Providing a history of these infamous clubs, Geoffrey Ashe reveals their origins in the work of Francois Rabelais and the activities of John Dee. He shows how the Hell-Fire Clubs' anything-goes philosophy of "Do what you will"--also Aleister Crowley's famous motto--and community template were drawn directly from Rabelais. The author looks at the very first Hell-Fire Club, founded by Philip, Duke of Wharton, in 1720 and then at the Society of the Dilettanti, a fraternity formed in 1732. Ashe examines the life, travels, and influences of Sir Francis Dashwood, founding member of the Society of the Dilettanti and the scandalous Permissive Society at Medmenham, also known as the Monks of Medmenham. He also explores other Hell-Fire clubs the movement inspired throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland, including the violence-prone Mohocks and the Appalling Club. He shows how many illustrious figures of the day were members of these societies, such as Lord Byron. He also examines the rumors that Benjamin Franklin was a member, an allegation that can be neither confirmed nor denied. Exploring the political and magical ideas that fueled this movement, the author shows how the cross-fertilization of liberty and libertinage within the Hell-Fire Clubs went on to influence both the U.S. and French revolutions, as well as the hippie movement of the 1960s, the Church of Satan founded by Anton LaVey, and the motorcycle club known as the Hell's Angels. The legacy of the Hell-Fire Clubs continues to impact society, beckoning both elite and outsider to cast aside social norms and "do what you will."

DISCOVERING THE GODDESS

A personal account of the new movement of the Goddess by one of the most highly repested authors on religion and paganism in Britain, Geoffrey Ashe.

EXTRACT FROM THE BOOK:

At Portland State University, Oregon, I give a summer course as a visiting professor, on Goddess myth and history and its implications. When I launched it in 1990 it was, to the best of my knowledge, the only course of its kind at any such institution. Possibly it still is. Looking back over the involvement that has led me to it, I realize that this has been very long and rather curious, and that it sheds light on one or two little-publicized factors in the Goddess movement. Since the movement seems to have to stay, I think the story worth telling. I have never told it in print before.

It begins in the 1940s when I was an incipient writer, hardly beyond the stage of doing the odd book-review. My first original piece with any substance was an article on Robert Graves s historical novels, which enthralled me, especially I, Claudius and Claudius the God. My article was published in Tribune, then a serious weekly of which Orwell had lately been literary editor.

The BBC made use of it. I sent a copy to Graves in Majorca. He replied with an extraordinary letter, running back and forth and up and down on one flimsy sheet of paper. The article, he said, was the first study of his novels that anybody had written. Among several abrupt questions and unconnected remarks, he mentioned an impending new book of his, based, he told me, on a complicated Welsh riddle. I could make nothing of his account of this. When it appeared, it turned out to be The White Goddess. It was ahead of its time. As is well known, Graves s usual publishers turned it down. But the book came into its own in the Goddess revival, which it helped to inspire.

The Finger and the Moon, by Geoffrey Ashe ISBN 0-9649553-2-6 304pp, 5.5 x 8.5 in, softcover Fiction: Fantasy, Magic, Arthurian legend SRP: UK #12.99, US $19.95, CAN $26.50 "Do what you will - but be very sure you will it" ''is the motto over the entrance to Allhallows, ''a college of magic and mystery set deep in the English countryside, in the shadow of legendary Glastonbury Tor. Here, under the guidance of former psychologist Martin Ellis, people come from all walks of life to study - what, exactly? - and leave with their lives deeply changed. Freelance journalist Geoffrey is determined to find out what is going on at Allhallows, and what makes Ellis - and his graduates - tick. But from his first moments in the timeless atmosphere of the Georgian mansion, the garden with its strange sculptures, the mysterious temple and the enigmatic maze, he feels sure that the answers to his questions will not come easily. To reach his goal, he will need a great deal more than theories on magic and mysticism: ''he will need to experience these ancient forces and traditions himself - a process that will lay bare his soul, culminating in a mind-expanding vision from the very heart of the legend of King Arthur and the Matter of Britain. It's an experience not to be missed. Unavailable for a quarter of a century and long sought-after by the author's many enthusiastic readers, 'The Finger and the Moon' was originally conceived as non-fiction, and is the only novel to date written by leading Arthurian scholar and Glastonbury resident Geoffrey Ashe. This new edition includes a specially-written introduction and extensive annotations by the author - unusual in a work of fiction. These new elements answermany questions and bring a new perspective to the book's powerful themes of magic and the nature of humanity, placing them in context with the author's other works.

A definitive, factual, A-Z reference guide offering a global perspective on the role of prophecy in world history, religion, folklore, and literature. From at least 1200 B.C. and probably long before, prophets have attempted to see into the future. Most-from ancient oracles to modern astrologers, from doomsday sects to telephone psychics-have been wrong the majority of the time, says British researcher Geoffrey Ashe. True foreknowledge is rare, but those rare occurrences are impressive. In this fascinating reference work, the first to encompass the entire 3,000 year span of recorded prophecy, Ashe examines the predictions of both good prophets and bad, including seers like Jacques Cazotte, who forecast the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, and Morgan Robertson, who described the Titanic disaster 14 years before it happened. He refutes many of the far-fetched claims of Nostradamus, and highlights those that foreshadow events after his lifetime. He also examines failed prophecies that have been influential, including the many end-of-the-world forecasts, along with the surprisingly accurate visions of some science-fiction authors. More than 100 entries on prophets and prophecies from the Antichrist to Yevgeny Zamyatin, the Russian author whose writings influenced Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984 Extensive illustrations with drawings and diagrams including engravings from William Blake's so-called prophetic books and depictions of the ten incarnations of Vishnu Numerous photographs of writers such as D. H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, and E. M. Forster; spiritual leaders such as Madame Blavatsky, founder of Theosophy; and Theodor Herzl, founder of Zionism A bibliography as a guide for extended research

Leading authority Geoffrey Ashe establishes the real identity of Merlin--King Arthur's mighty wizard and famous figure of medieval British legend. Ashe investigates the long legacy Merlin has left in literature and shows that, of all the characters in the Arthurian world it is Merlin, the magician, who has the strongest claims to having actually existed. This new book by the leading Arthurian scholar of today presents the strongest case yet for Merlin the man.

The mother of Christ has taken various forms throughout the centuries--among them are the Blessed Virgin, the Queen of Heaven, the Madonna, and the spiritual mother of all the faithful. Yet despite her high enthronement in the Catholic Church, Mary, as both chaste goddess and earth mother, has her origins in pre-Christian religions, of which the chief deities were female. In this masterly exploration of the cult of Mary, Geoffrey Ashe examines ancinet myths, theology, history, literature, and feminine spirituality to throw new light on the role of Mary in today's Church. Tracing the cult from its origins to the present day with the resubordination of Mary to Christ, this remarkable book also illuminates the spiritual battle of the sexes, a conflict that remains unresolved to this day.