Illustration from The Boy's King Arthur, by Sidney Lanier, published by Scribner's, 1922. Illustration by N.C.Wyeth. Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons
To see a summary version of many of the Arthurian tales, click the link below.
The Gumberg Library provides access to two suites of electronic reference works geared to literature. Using both will provide your with a great amount of introductory information on your chosen literary topic.
Both of these collections of resources can be accessed off-campus, but you will have to enter your Multipass username and password word in order to use them.
Gale Literature Resource Center
This database provides information on thousands of authors and literary works. It includes biographies, reviews and news, literary criticism, and topic and work overviews.
Along with the full text of of 350,000 English and American works of literature, this database provides articles from 200 full-text literary journals and other key critical and reference resources.
For literature scholars who need an exhaustive set of scholarly resources around a literary topic for research and course planning. 500,000 primary works and millions of records from journals, monographs, and dissertations.
The tales regarding King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table have been immensely popular for centuries. Poets have told and retold the stories and the tales have supplied subjects for visual artists as well. In modern times they have been the subject of operas and big budget movies. Novelists have continued to retell the tales for both adults and children. Arthur's story has even been adapted for newspaper comics and comic books. The stories of Arthur and his knights have also also been, and continue to be, the subject of scholarly inquiry.
This guide is designed to assist students in researching the (possibly) historical figure of Arthur, the literary and other kinds of artistic works created about him and his knights, and the times in which Arthur (might have) lived. It will point the researcher to many types of information sources available through the Gumberg Library and beyond.
Use the tabs that run across the top of the page to see the different sorts of resources available.
Help is Available!
If at any time in your research your need help, Ask Gumberg. Or you can contact me, Ted Bergfelt, the creator of this page. Click to Send Email, or phone me at 412.396.5351.
Celtic Myth and Legend: An A-Z of People and Places by 
Dictionary of Celtic Mythology by 
Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore by 
The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend by 
The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Literature, 1100-1500 by 
A Companion to Medieval English Literature and Culture, C. 1350 - C. 1500 by 
Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood and Chivalry by 
Oxford Handbook of Medieval Literature in English by 
