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The sacred allure of the Holy Grail has fascinated writers and
ensnared knights for over a thousand years. From Malory to Monty
Python, the eternal chalice--said to be the very cup from which
Christ drank at the Last Supper--has the richest associations of
any icon in British myth. Many different meanings have been devised
for the Grail, which has been linked to the Celts and King Arthur,
the eucharistic rites of Eastern Christianity, ancient mystery
religions, Jungian archetypes, dualist heresies, Templar treasure
and even the alleged descendants of Christ himself and Mary
Magdalene. The common thread running through all these stories is
the assumption that the Grail legend has a single source with a
meaning that--if only we could decode it--is concealed in the
romances themselves. That meaning has become the subject of coded,
secret documents and is the central feature of a vast conspiracy
supposedly stretching back to the dawn of western civilization.
Juliette Wood here reveals the elusive and embedded significance of
the Grail story in popular consciousness--as myth, medieval
romance, tangible holy relic and finally as the centre of an
esoteric theory of global conspiracy. The author shows how various
interpretations of the Grail, over the centuries, reflect changing
cultural needs and desires. Her book will enthral those who, like
Sir Perceval, seek to unlock the mysterious secrets of western
mythology's most extraordinary and tantalising enigma, and will
delight students of history, myth and religion alike.
Drawing on historical sources, myth and folklore, Fantastic
Creatures in Mythology and Folklore explores the roles of
fantastical beasts - particularly the unicorn, the mermaid, and the
dragon - in a series of thematic chapters organised according to
their legendary dwelling place, be this land, sea, or air. Through
this original approach, Juliette Wood provides the first study of
mythical beasts in history from the medieval period to the present
day, providing new insights into the ways these creatures continue
to define our constantly changing relationship to both real and
imagined worlds. It places particular emphasis on the role of the
internet, computer games, and the cyberspace community, and in
doing so, demonstrates that the core medieval myth surrounding
these creatures remains static within the ever-increasing arena of
mass marketing and the internet. This is a vital resource for
undergraduates studying fantastic creatures in history, literature
and media studies.
'Here be dragons' was the traditional warning used by ancient
mapmakers to indicate dangerous, or simply unknown, lands. These
were the dwelling places of fantastical beasts, creatures such as
dragons, sea serpents, unicorns, griffins and mermaids. Throughout
the ages, such beasts have been viewed in complex and contradictory
ways because they embody both our fear and our fascination of the
unpredictable natural world around us. They appear in the earliest
myths and accompany the heroes of medieval romance and folktales.
Whether as the symbolic creatures of myth, or as the marvellous
beasts of medieval legend and travellers' tales, fantastic animals
have always inspired art and literature. Today they feature among
the many marvels that populate the alternative worlds of fantasy
and the outer reaches of cyberspace. Drawing on sources as diverse
as myth, history and folklore, this book explores the ways in which
mythical beasts continue to inhabit our fantasies and to define our
constantly changing relationship to both real and imagined worlds.
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Catan
(16)
R1,150
R889
Discovery Miles 8 890
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