Date Thesis Awarded
5-2015
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
English
Advisor
Monica Brzezinski Potkay
Committee Members
John W. Conlee
Erin Kathleen Minear
Frederick H. Smith
Abstract
This thesis centers on The Pendragon Cycle as a late-twentieth century retelling of the Arthurian legend by the American author Stephen Lawhead. Through The Pendragon Cycle, Lawhead emphasizes the historical foundation of Arthuriana in the setting of fifth-century Britain while simultaneously incorporating mythology from the Atlanteans, to the Celtic Otherworld, to the Holy Grail. Lawhead draws inspiration from medieval Welsh and Christian characterizations of the legend such as medieval historical chronicles like The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth; following in the footsteps of medieval historians, Lawhead uses the medium of the Arthurian legend to present a message of spiritual, evangelic Christianity in opposition to the neo-Pagan shift of Arthuriana in the late twentieth century, creating an argument for a “neo-Christianity” that is grounded in the spiritual and natural values of Celtic belief systems.
Recommended Citation
Heine, Rebecca L., "The Pendragon Cycle: Celtic Christianity in the Arthurian Legend through Bards, Prophets, and Historians" (2015). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 190.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/190
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
