Book Review: Myths & Legends: King Arthur by Daniel Mersey

Pros: summarizes several medieval and celtic myths, theories of who Arthur may have been historically, lots of illustrations

Cons: focus is squarely on Arthur, which leaves out some of the stories

Part of Osprey Adventure’s Myths and Legends series, this book chronicles the best known stories of King Arthur, including the various theories regarding the historical personage the tales are based on.

The book is split into three parts: the Medieval Arthur, the Celtic Arthur and the Historical Arthur.  The first two sections include an overview and then detailed summaries of the most important of the stories from those storytelling traditions.  They are well told and include numerous stories I’ve never heard of (and I had to read a number of Arthurian romances in University).  The historical segment is equally interesting, and includes the argument that Arthur was merely an invention and not based on a historical figure (or an amalgamation of historical figures) at all.  There’s also a list of further reading and watching for those who want more, though their fiction list is somewhat limited.

The book has lots of colour illustrations, including several two-page spreads.  Some of the artwork was produced for this book and illustrated by Alan Lathwell.  

There’s such a large amount of material on Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table that it’s impossible to cover it all.  The summarized works were ones that focused on Arthur.  Many stories that focused on other knights were mentioned in passing while others weren’t mentioned at all.  

Ultimately it’s a very readable book for those interested in learning more about King Arthur.  If you want a comprehensive listing of all the works King Arthur and/or his knights appear in this is a good starting point but isn’t going to give you everything.  It is however, interesting and able to point you in directions you may not have been aware of.

Book Review: Myths and Legends: Jason and the Argonauts by Neil Smith

Pros: faithful retelling of the story using several sources, decent introduction, good artwork

Cons: story is told in lifeless prose

Jason, raised by the centaur Cheiron, returns to the kingdom unjustly stolen from him.  The usurper promises that if Jason can return with the fabled Golden Fleece, he can have his kingdom back.  Jason gathers together a crew of heroes and sails with the blessings of the gods to fulfill this quest. 

While I've long been a fan of Greek mythology I have to admit that Jason and the Argonauts isn't a story I particularly like.  The heroes are all kind of whiny and depend on the gods too much to solve their problems.

So while I can appreciate the artwork that peppers this retelling, both that by Jose Daniel Cabrera for this edition and older works, the story itself didn't impress me.  The story was told as a narration, with no emotion and little tension, despite the fact that the crew face innumerable crises.  At no point did I feel the crew might fail in their quest (though they too often did) and I felt no sorrow for any deaths or betrayals along the way, nor any happiness or relief for their successes.

There is a decent introduction explaining the sources for the story and modern adaptations, but there was nothing on how this story would have been told by the Greeks, which I would have appreciated.  The story originated in an oral culture.  Was it told like medieval ballads, with different poets adding and changing verses to adapt it to the current audience?  Is that why some of the written versions contradict each other on some points, like the inclusion of Atlanta?

It's a thorough, if bare bones retelling of the story.  I'm still looking forward to other editions in this series, even though this particular one wasn't entirely to my liking.

Myths and Legends: Dragonslayers, From Beowulf to St. George by Joseph McCullough

Pros: interesting stories, historical grounding and commentary, gorgeous illustrations, necessary warnings with regards to reading historical documents and dealing with non-European stories about dragons

Cons: too short!

Myths and Legends is a new series by Osprey Publishing.  If you've never heard of them, they publish a lot of short, detailed military history series: Men at Arms, Fortress, Campaigns, etc.  Each volume is a crash course in a very specific aspect of history: Byzantine Imperial Guardsmen 925-1025, The Fall of English France 1449-53, M103 Heavy Tank 1950-74.  The Myths and Legends series is part of their Osprey Adventures books, 'where fact and fiction meet'.  The three volumes currently in print are: Jason and the Argonauts, Dragonslayers, and The War of Horus and Set.

Dragonslayers is specifically about the European tradition of serpentine monsters, how their legends evolved and who killed them.  The book starts with an explanation of what a dragon is, historically speaking, and how the image of the dragon evolved into the creature we think of today.  There are a lot of gorgeous illustrations throughout the book, both historical and ones commissioned for this book by Peter Dennis.  Unlike the older images, Dennis places his subjects in period appropriate clothing.  For example, Sigfried/Sigurd is often depicted in barbarian skins.  In this case, Dennis paints him in the armour of a 6th C. Germanic warrior.  Dennis also uses the actual descriptions of the dragons given by the texts for his images, rather than making up his own, as a lot of older artists did (so there are several sea serpents and crocodile-like creatures here).

I loved how McCullough placed each story in its historical context, explaining who the dragonslayers might have been and how each story has been modified and expanded upon.  He also cautions against using a European lens when dealing with 'dragons' from other cultures.  There are a few non-European stories mentioned at the end of the collection, but he emphasizes the fact that the dragonslayer is a European construct, though other cultures have similar creatures and heros (at least, when their stories are told by Europeans).

The stories are summarized concisely, which makes this a great introduction to European myths, even if it's not an in depth study.  Each chapter only shares a few stories - the most famous - out of the numerous available.  Some of the other stories are given boxed summaries, which helps flesh out the chapters.

Covered in the book are: Ancient, Norse, Holy, Medieval and Dragonslayers From Around the World.  It's a great jumping off point for reading the stories themselves, though historians like me might prefer longer synopses here.  My only real complaint with the book was its length.  It's much too short. :)  I was also surprised that the final chapter didn't mention Chinese dragons, which are famous.  The author has a brief explanation for this, wherein he states that Asian dragons are generally gods or benign creatures, and so don't need slaying that often, which I was unaware of.

If you're interested in old stories about dragons and dragonslayers then pick this up.  It's a fantastic introduction.