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The Concise Oxford Dictionary : quest n.2. Seeking or search, esp. object of medieval knight’s pursuit (OF. queste). v. search for, seek out (OF, quester).
Between June and September 1969 the British Library held an Exhibition at the British Museum, it was named ‘The Mythical Quest: In Search of Adventure, Romance and Enlightenment’. A beautifully illustrated book was published to accompany the Exhibition, with an introduction by Penelope Lively. In it she expresses the importance of what may seem to many to be derring-do adventure stories and little else:
‘...the narrative drive of the quest form can be seen as a metaphor for the journey through life, with its attendant challenges and reversals…the triumph of courage and virtue over adversity and evil...the message is always one of the triumph of hope, courage and stoicism, laced with a belief that human frailty will be reinforced by divine support… mythology has - and always had – resonance for everyone’.
This mythical resonance was explored and taught during his whole lifetime by Joseph Campbell, the world’s foremost authority, his The Hero with a Thousand Faces, has been reviewed as:
‘a brilliant examination, through ancient hero myths, of man’s eternal struggle for identity. From behind a thousand faces the single hero emerges, archetype of all myth’.
To Campbell mythology was “the song of the universe, the music of the spheres.” This may be your starting point in your own quest for Arthur.
Our one-time Chairman and later President, Geoffrey Ashe, has written books of great scope and wisdom about all aspects of the Arthurian phenomenon. Several interviews and articles by him are available on the web. This may well be the starting point for another person’s quest.
In this section of the website we go on our own Quest on the world wide web to choose, from the huge number of Arthurian-related sites, some that we consider particularly useful, especially for those just falling under the spell of Merlin and the wonderful world of the Once and Future King.
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