Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 5: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
History
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 5: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
Biography
The name of King Arthur was given during the Middle Ages to many places
and monuments supposed to have been in some way associated with his
exploits, such as "Arthur's Seat," near Edinburgh, "Arthur's Oven," on
the Carron, near Falkirk, etc. What was called the sepulchre of his
queen was shown at Meigle, in Strathmore, in the sixteenth century. Near
Boscastle, in Cornwall, is Pentargain, a headland called after him
"Arthur's Head." Other localities take his name in Brittany. In the
Middle Ages, in Germany, Arthur's Courts were buildings in which the
patricians assembled. One such still remains at Danzig. There was one
anciently at Thorn, about which a ballad and legend exist. Milton was
meditating an Arthurian epic in 1639; and in our own day the interest of
the legends about King Arthur and his knights has been revived by
Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" and some of Wagner's operas. We must not
omit to note the magnificent life-sized ideal bronze figure of Arthur,
cast for the monument of Maximilian I., now in the Franciscan church at
Innsbruck, and regarded as the finest among the series of heroes there
represented.
[Illustration: The Ruins of King Arthur's Castle.]
ROLAND
(740-778)
"O, for a blast of that dread horn,
On Fontarabian echoes borne
That to King Charles did come,
When Rowland brave, and Olivier,
And every paladin and peer
On Roncesvalles died!"--_Marmion._
"When Charlemain with all his peerage fell,
By Fontarabbia."--_Paradise Lost._
[Illustration: Roland.]
"A Roland for an Oliver!" Saving the passing reference by Scott and
Milton, quoted above, Roland and Olivier are almost unknown to English
readers, and yet their once familiar names, knit together for centuries,
have passed into a proverb, to be remembered as we remember the
friendship of David and Jonathan, or to be classed by the scholar with
Pylades, and Orestes of classic story, or with Amys and Amylion of
romance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account