I began my quest for Arthurian legends on the World Wide Web, via my four major search engines. The four major search engines are Yahoo, Excite, Infoseek, and Lycos. Each of the searches brought up many listings, but since this paper is due before I die, I don't have time to go through the over 200,000 sites that Infoseek found alone. I sifted through the top 10 sites on each search, which in turn led me to other links as well. I encountered many "error" or "not found" messages, which is one of the downfalls of the web. I have tried to find web sites that offer a variety of things that would be useful to someone interested in the web for fun or as a resource. The following are web sites I found which meet those requirements.

Infoseek's first hit was English 226: Arthurian Legends Related Links. The web site offers links to other Arthurian web sites as well as an illustration of the Round Table. I found this site to be mostly helpful in regards to its web links. The other main thing it did provide me with was information on how to subscribe to the "Arthurnet" list server.

"Arthurnet" is an email system that provides a forum for scholars and students to share information related to King Arthur. Subscribing to the "Arthurnet" is fairly simple, and only requires an email account. You send an email message to listserv@morgan.ucs.mun.ca stating "Subscribe Arthurnet Your Name", and then you start receiving about 10 to 14 emails per day. The great thing about "Arthurnet" is that you are able to ask questions, and people respond directly to you. I asked for opinions about favorite web sites, and I received answers right in my inbox. The one thing you have to make sure before subscribing to any list is whether you will have to pay for it. "Arthunet" is free and it discusses a variety of topics useful to both students and teachers. I would recommend subscribing to it, especially if you are doing research.

The next web site I came across on Infoseek was The Camelot Project at the University of Rochester. The Camelot Project lists that it provides "Arthurian texts, images, bibliographies, and basic information"(pg1).

The main menu allows you to chose from many figures in Arthurian Legend, and provides you with their stories. I found the stories of Balin and Balan, Gareth and Lynette, Gawain, and many others. There is also an author menu that allows you to find writings on Arthurian Legend. A few of the listings such as "The Awyntyrs off Arthur" and "The Carle of Carlisle", I haven't heard of before. The listing was very extensive, and a majority of them have the full text in electronic form. The artist menu was also very extensive in offering different pictures depicting Arthur and others. It is very easy to incorporate pictures off the web into reports, and this site offers several. The following picture by Aubrey Beardsley, depicts how "Sir Bedivere Cast the Sword of Excalibur into the Water"(pg.2).

The Camelot Project also had a link to the Arthuriana Webpage. Arthuriana is the online homepage of the Scholarly Journal about King Arthur. The homepage describes Arthuriana as" the quarterly of the International Arthurian Society-North American Branch". It states that it is "dedicated to all aspects of the Arthurian story from its inception in the Middle Ages to its enactment in the present moment"(pg.1).

The web site offers products you can purchase, such as T-shirts depicting King Arthur. The web site also offers email subscriptions but unlike Arthurnet, it's not free. The cost is $25.00 for the year, and this allows you to access online hard copies of the journal. You can also join "The International Arthurian Society" which does provide a discount to students and emeritus. If you subscribe you get Volume 49 of the Bibliographical Bulletin and four issues of Arthuriana. The Arthuriana web site also endorsed "Arthurnet", which I have mentioned previously.

The Yahoo Search engine provided me with three good web sites out of the top ten sites it found.

Arthurian Sites provided a lengthy list of web sites, newsgroups, and links to Arthur's Ring. Arthur's Ring is a series of web sites dedicated to King Arthur. Arthurian Sites seems to be updated regularly which is a plus. A few of the new web sites listed are Allegories of the Holy Grail,Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse: Le Morte d' Arthur, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

The next web site that Yahoo listed was Arthur's Grave. The web site's homepage shows an actual picture of King Arthur's gravesite.

Unfortunately, when one clicks on the picture, they do not get further pictures but the web site creator's personal portfolio. The site does provide a link to The Charrette Project a web site, focused on Chretien de Troye's Le Chevalier de la Charrette.

I clicked on the last web site, in search of more in depth information than just links to other sites. I found the Mystical World Wide Web. The subtitle of this webpage is Arthurian A2Z Knowledge Bank, and it is very extensive. I started with the A's, and each letter provides a list of anything related to Arthurian legend. The web site also provides a very thorough essay entitled "Arthur: Fact, Semi-legend or Myth?". I also discovered information on the Holy Grail, Merlin, and Arthurian Places. I found a great picture of Glastonbury Tor on this site. The picture was a virtual tour of the area, and allowed you to view Glastonbury Tor as if you were standing on a hill overlooking it.

The other web site Yahoo listed was yet another one providing links for Arthurian web sites. The only web site link worth looking into is Arthurian Legends: A Web-based Interdisciplinary Approach for Educators. The web site includes lesson plans for secondary educators, something I hadn't found thus far on any of the Arthurian sites. The web site also provides a list of resources from which you can get the information you need. The web site did mention a mailing list, which unfortunately has expired.

I then proceeded to do a Lycos Search, and came up with 3 sites that were worth looking at.

The first site was The Quest. The Quest provides a condensed version of Arthurian legend with link capabilities to more extensive explanations. The webpage has everything from information about the court, ladies, knights, to an Arthurian Art gallery. I even found this great picture of the mythical Camelot on it.

The Quest also has some music on it, which it allows you to hear through your computer. A few Scottish, Welsh and English songs were available for listening. I listened to a few selections, in addition to reading about "Bards, Music, and Arthurian Legend". The web site also had a game you could download, but it's rather primitive. I enjoyed The Quest as a whole, and would definitely recommend it as one of the web sites to visit.

The next web site is Camelot and Arthurian legend. The web site contains some great research into Arthur, Gunievere, Lancelot, Merlin and Morgan Le Fay. I also tried to investigate an electronic library through the Camelot and Arthurian Legend web site, but was unable to find the price of the subscription. The electronic library does offer a free 30-day trial, but neglects to show a price in plain view. I did a search for Arthurian legend in the electric library, and judging from the results it would be worth investigating.

The best Arthurian web site I discovered at the end of my quest. The Britannia site is so extensive and the graphics are great. The site deals with the "Historical Arthur, Arthur in Literature, the Arthurian Traveler, Glastonbury, and other resources"(pg.1). The Historical Arthur section has a wonderful new article entitled Origins of the Arthurian Legend by Geoffrey Ashe. Arthur in Literature has everything from The Ballad of Elaine by Sydney Fowler Wright to Welsh Arthurian Literature. The "Arthurian Traveler" section provides a listing of Arthurian places and where they are located. The "Glastonbury" section contains information on the Abbotts of Glastonbury, Glastonbury Abbey, a reading list, King Arthur's Burial cross and much more. The site also contains several links to historical information related to Arthurian legend. The one feature I thought was interesting was the "Arthurian Timeline", which was very detailed. I was disappointed that there weren't any pictures available on this site, but the detailed information provided more than made up for it.

I have received a few web site locations via my "Arthurnet" subscription and on the most part found them to be rather scholarly.

The first web site is Llys Arthur/Arthur's Court, which is very extensive. The site contains more information, than graphics. The site provides a look at "The Age of Arthur, Timelines, Ruin and Conquest, The Saxon Shore, Arthur and History, The Historians and much more"(pg.1). The web site creator promises an addition of 14th century poetry to the site as well.

The second site is Arthurian Resources. The web site provides a variety of Arthurian resources. The most interesting part is the section entitled "The Historicity and Historicisation of Arthur", which deals with the different theories concerning Arthur's identity.

The third site is the Early British Kingdom's Web Site. The expansive amount of information given here makes it a web site worth book marking. I was particularly amazed at the amount of resources listed in the bibliography.

In searching the web, one comes across many links to web sites and a majority of them aren't there. I researched over 50 web sites, which takes time considering the wait for downloads. I would recommend joining "Arthurnet" or connecting to the Arthur Ring to sift out the dead web sites, and to save time.

The Arthurian web sites I found while researching this paper impressed me, and there are many more I would like to investigate. A majority of the web sites were well put together, thoroughly researched, and just all-around nice to look at. I loved being able to download pictures and put them in my paper. I found so many beautiful pictures it was hard not to incorporate them.

I hope my paper has provided some good places for you to start your own quest for Arthur on the World Wide Web. The journey promises peril and travel to many lands; however, I cannot promise damsels in distress.

Order Mists of Avalon Today!!

Order The Nature and Influence of Celtic Myth from Druidism to Arthurian LegendToday!!

Order Le Morte D'ArthurToday!!

Order Arthurian Romances by Chretien de troyes et al Today!!

Order Idylls of the King Today!!

My Homepage

If you find any errors in this page or the links please let me know via email at jlhansonus@hotmail.com. Thank You.