The real Camelot : paganism and the Arthurian romances. [Sacred kings in the Arthurian romances -- THe challenge -- Annual kings -- The Dolorous stroke -- The historical background of the Arthurian savred kings -- Pagan dieties in the romances -- TImes-scale -- Camelot and Sarras -- The pagan framework underlying the Arthurian legend -- The birth of Arthur -- The sword in the stone -- The round table -- Merlin -- Arthur]

London : Thames and Hudson, 1981, 1981. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 160 p : ill ; 22 cm. ; ISBN: 0500012504; 9780500012505; 0880290277; 9780880290272 ; LC: PN57.A6; Dewey: 942.01/4; 809/.93382 ; OCLC: 7829170 ; Contents : Sacred kings in the Arthurian romances -- THe challenge -- Annual kings -- The Dolorous stroke -- The historical background of the Arthurian savred kings -- Pagan dieties in the romances -- TImes-scale -- Camelot and Sarras -- The pagan framework underlying the Arthurian legend -- The birth of Arthur -- The sword in the stone -- The round table -- Merlin -- Arthur ; "His most original contribution to an unravelling of a pagan Arthurian past lies in his appropriation of the fascinating evidence of standing stones and pagan cultic sites. The magical attributes of stones are exemplified in prehistoric standing stones, the real counterparts of the perrons of the French romances. This is dark and difficult territory, but certain events in the Arthurian cycle, which take place on and around Salisbury Plain, have correspondences with known prehistoric events. Building on these elusive clues, and tracing a range of sites around the river Severn and south Wales, John Darrah has added a significant new dimension tothe search for the sources of England's great epic, the legends of Arthur and his court. ; foxing ; VG/G.