Merlin : knowledge and power through the ages / Stephen Knight.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Knight, Stephen, 1940-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Merlin (Legendary character)--In literature.

Merlin.

Merlin (Legendary character).

Knowledge, Theory of, in literature.

Power (Social sciences) in literature.

Physical Description:

xvii, 275 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2009.

Contents:

Chapter 1 British Myrddin-Merlin: Wisdom 1

Myrddin-Merlin 1

The Earliest Materials 4

Natural Wisdom: Myrddin of Cumbria 7

Prophetic Wisdom: Myrddin of Wales 13

Wisdom at Court: Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae 20

Twelfth-Century Natural Wisdom: Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini 31

Chapter 2 Medieval Merlin: Advice 43

From Prophecy to Advice: Wace 43

Christian Advice: Robert de Boron 46

Grand Vizier: The Vulgate Merlin 58

Darkening Advice: The Post-Vulgate Merlin 74

Advising a Nation: from Layamon to Malory 81

Chapter 3 English Merlin: Cleverness 97

Prophecy and Advice in Decline 97

Renaissance Cleverness 103

Cleverness High and Low: The Seventeenth Century 108

Cleverness High and Low: The Eighteenth Century 123

The Dangers of Cleverness: The Romantics 129

The Dangers of Cleverness: The Victorians 142

Chapter 4 International Merlin: Education 161

Continental Merlin: From Cleverness Back to Wisdom 161

Toward Education: America 170

Toward Education: Britain 180

Education and the Novel: White, Lewis, and Cooper 192

Education and the Novel: Historicism, Juveniles, and Fantasy 201

Merlin on Screen 216

International Merlin 218.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780801443657

0801443652

OCLC:

319691085