Thread by @0starkafterdark

Revisiting my #top10 #mythology
@Paracelsus1092
@ViciousRicardan

(4) CELTIC MYTHOLOGY - ARTHURIAN LEGEND

For mine is the grail quest -
round table & siege perilous
fisher king & waste land
bleeding lance & dolorous stroke
adventurous bed & questing beast

This entry is essentially for the whole of Celtic mythology in all its diversity, reflecting the Celts themselves - who extended through time, from at least the sixth century BCE through various survivals to the present day

And even more substantially through geographical space - from their original homeland in central Europe throughout Europe (and Turkey), most notably to the British isles, perhaps most famously as the Gauls threatening Rome in its infancy (before being conquered by Rome in turn)

And I find all Celtic mythology fascinating. The mythology of Gaul - which I particularly know from the gods invoked in Asterix comics by Toutatis! - mostly from surviving names and images, notably those cited by Roman writers to "transmit any bizarre and negative" information

The Wicker Man. Druids. The mysterious horned god Cernunnos and other Gallic gods or goddesses

The Celtic mythology that survived most in literary form (often recorded by Christian monks) were for those Celts who maintained their identities - in Brittany or coastal France, in Britain and above all in Ireland with its various mythological cycles

The Tuatha de Danann or the gods of Ireland. The Ulster Cycle and its great hero Cu Chulainn. The Fenian Cycle as well as its great hero Fionn Mac Cumhaill (sometimes awesomely translated as Finn McCool) and his Fianna warrior band. And the Cycle of Kings of historical legend

Much of this mythology in Ireland, Britain and elsewhere was recycled into the fairy folklore of Europe

However, if I'm to pick the one strand of Celtic mythology that is foremost in familiarity and fascination for me, it's that which moved through to folklore and above all historical legend - the legend of King Arthur, the Matter of Britain or history of the Kings of Britain

Arthur Pendragon himself, the once and future king. His father Uther. The wizard Merlin. The Lady in the Lake. The sword in the stone or Excalibur. Guinevere. The enchantress Morgan Le Fay (often conflated with another character, Morgause, as the mother of usurper Mordred)

The knights of the Round Table - most famously Lancelot but also Gawain, Galahad, Perceval and Bedivere. The Holy Grail. Avalon - and so on

And of course its ongoing adaptations - which essentially started from its very inception with medieval literature

Including its cinematic adaptations, of which two films remain my favorite, Excalibur, and Monty Python and The Holy Grail (which funnily enough still remains one of the most faithful adaptations to Arthurian legend)