Dec
10
2009
Pic: Connexion |
Connexion reports that King Arthur and the Knights of the Round-Table have thrilled generations of British children with their exploits.
However, less well-known to Britons is the fact they play a starring role in French folklore and literature as well.
The first ever major French exhibition about Le Roi Arthur, classified by the Culture Ministry as “of national importance,” has opened in Rennes. |
It is designed to appeal to everyone from families to experts in the field.
Curator Sarah Toulouse said:
There are beautiful pieces like original illuminated manuscripts from the 13th to 15th Centuries and beautiful 19th Century English pre-Raphaelite paintings, embroidery and stained glass by Edward Burne-Jones.
There was a major revival of interest in King Arthur in Britain in Victorian times, in art and also by poets like Tennyson and in children’s literature. In France it was more the 20th Century, with films and books.
The show also features pop culture exhibits and two impressive parade giants from Ewell, in Surrey, of Morgan le Fay and the Green Knight – who has been decapitated and is carrying his head.
Children love it and they can try to pull Excalibur from the stone.
added Ms Toulouse.
She said that, while academics on both sides of the Channel placed Camelot in Britain, some Arthurian adventures took place not in La Grande Bretagne but in what was, in the Middle Ages, known as la Petite Bretagne – modern Brittany.
[source]
Originally posted 2008-09-15 09:35:56. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Dec
10
2008
 Butser Ancient Farm Pic: Butser Ancient Farm |
One of the most amazing sites along the South coast of the UK is Butser Ancient Farm. They have recreated a Celtic Farm and the picture to the left shows a roundhouse roof and the Apothecary’s Garden. The site has many features and attractions and we hope to bring you an in-depth feature at some time in the future. It’s always good to see Butser in the news and the news this time is astounding! Portsmouth newspaper, The News, reports that unsightly power lines that have been on the blot on the landscape of a beauty spot are to be removed. |
A total of £150,000 is to be spent removing overhead power lines from a vast area near Clanfield.
More than two miles of cable will be taken down in the area around Butser Ancient Farm, some of which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Continue Reading »
Nov
29
2008
 |
Forty years ago, archaeologist George Eogan became the first person in centuries to see the underground passage tomb at Knowth in Meath (Ireland), part of Brú na Bóinne (Bend of the Boyne), now a Unesco World Heritage site.
A year earlier, in 1967, the Knowth excavation had uncovered a smaller underground passage leading in from the western face of the megalithic mound, but this larger east-side tomb surpassed it, recalls Eogan, a professor of archaeology at University College Dublin.
“The western tomb was stunning but the east one was huge,”
he says. |
Pic: Spud Murphy
Knowth’s charms had lain undiscovered for hundreds of years before excavations started on the site 46 years ago, with Eogan present. The fourth volume in a series of books on the dig’s findings is published by the Royal Irish Academy later this month.
“We started at Knowth in 1962 and we have been there ever since,”
he says, detailing how the project has uncovered 18 satellite tombs around the great mound as well as unusual findings, such as a decorative flint macehead and a series of eight-century inscriptions within the passages and chambers.
But some of the findings pre-date all of that,
explains Eogan. Continue Reading »
Sep
11
2008
Pic: cadw |
Anglesey’s prehistoric heritage will be retold in a unique style this summer as part of an innovative interactive project taking place at medieval Beaumaris Castle. Artist and animator Sean Harris, along with a number of other prominent artists, musicians and authors, will work with the island’s community to create an animated film, Songs from Stones, inspired by Anglesey’s rich and varied prehistoric past. |
Continue Reading »
Sep
05
2008
Sabrina Trimble, 9, brushes wool during a wool-spinning demonstration
Pic: Rapid City |
At this time of year, we seem to be experiencing a flood of great family entertainment with Celtic Festivals celebrating Celtic heritage across the world.
At Rapid City in the Black Hills, the Rapid City Journal reports:
An inflatable Loch Ness monster lurked the waters of Memorial pond as Celtic enthusiasts donned tartan accessories amidst a backdrop of lilting bagpipes Saturday at the Black Hills Dakota Gathering of the Clans. |
Dave Evans, a Renaissance Scot with the Living Historical Association from the Denver area, said: Continue Reading »
Jun
15
2008
Pic: fjorukrain |
Our Viking cousins are holding an annual Viking festival in Hafnafjordur that kicked off on the 12th June with the opening of the Viking craft market at 5pm.The festival has been held since 1995 and is the oldest, largest and most important event of its kind in Iceland. Activities include battle demonstrations, storytelling, wrestling, archery, music, dancing and plenty of eating and drinking. |
The organisers behind the event, the Viking restaurant and hotel Fjorukrain, have arranged for almost two hundred Vikings to attend, both foreign and domestic, often arriving by boat with an exotic cargo of goods to sell. There are also troops of jesters and dancing girls, filling the centre of this normally quiet coastal town with music and merriment.
The event is not all peaceful, however, as the organisers promise a good Viking battle with mock deaths, just as visitors least expect it.
The Viking festival is held from 12th to 18th of June in Hafnafjordur, a town just outside Reykjavik.
Source
May
21
2008
Stu Bramley |
Easier Travel tells us that “the cultural hub of Rennes, the Champs Libres (the Musée de Bretagne, the Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole and the Espace des Sciences) launches the first ever major exhibition on the legend of King Arthur on 15 July 2008. The exhibition will stay open until 04 January 2009.
In partnership with The French National Library the exhibition traces the cultural history of the Arthurian myth and has been nominated as an “Exhibition of National Interest” by the Ministry of Culture. |
Continue Reading »
