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Tales of Merlin and King Arthur Resurface After 750 Years, Hidden in a Bookbinding
Gizmodo ^ | March 30, 2025 | Margherita Bassi

Posted on 03/31/2025 6:39:24 PM PDT by BenLurkin

In 2019, scholars at Cambridge University Library discovered an extremely rare 750-year-old text on the legends of King Arthur hiding in plain sight. A fragment of the fragile manuscript had been repurposed in the binding of a 16th-century property record, making it almost impossible to study the medieval text without dismantling and certainly damaging the record’s cover. Almost impossible—but not completely.

An interdisciplinary team of scholars from the University of Cambridge used various advanced imaging techniques to create a virtual copy of the binding, allowing them to digitally unfold the rare text without having to damage it or the property record. This ground-breaking approach also preserves the artifact as an example of 16th-century archival binding practice, which is “a piece of history in its own right,” Irène Fabry-Tehranchi, a French Specialist in Collections and Academic Liaison at Cambridge University Library who was involved in the project, explained in a university statement.

Written in the first half of the 13th century, it recounts the Arthurian legends in a monumental five-part epic prose. The fragment found at Cambridge University Library is from the Suite Vulgate du Merlin, a part of the Vulgate Cycle that recounts events that take place after King Arthur’s coronation. One passage from the fragment tells of the Christian victory over the Saxons at the Battle of Cambénic involving the knight Gauvin (also Gawain) with his Excalibur sword. Another recounts when a disguised Merlin appears at King Arthur’s court during the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: battleofcambenic; book; britain; caliburn; cambridge; epigraphyandlanguage; excalibur; gauvin; gawain; gizmodo; godsgravesglyphs; irenefabrytehranchi; kingarthur; margheritabassi; merlin; middleages; saxons; suitevulgatedumerlin; vulgatecycle
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To: Magnum44
LOL, that is exactly the kind of thing that popped into my mind.

I can hardly see things now without thinking of Monty Python...everything from DEI in the military (with the Monty Python effeminate marchers) to April Fool's day...my wife told me to be careful of April Fool's Day things today, and I almost said:

They were so far ahead of their time.

41 posted on 04/01/2025 8:37:10 AM PDT by rlmorel ("A people that elect corrupt politicians are not victims...but accomplices." George Orwell)
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To: odawg

I included the “fair warning” at the start for anyone who might be interested. Or not.


42 posted on 04/01/2025 11:27:16 AM PDT by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". 🔴 Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with MARS ♂️, aka every man)
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To: left that other site
As long as you can still read it/it isn't falling apart at touch, it's just a much loved book. :-)

Not at all one of my favorite versions, but a fun read...enjoy it!

43 posted on 04/01/2025 11:29:59 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: nopardons

Not quite falling apart...yet. 😇


44 posted on 04/01/2025 11:31:29 AM PDT by left that other site (Ask Not What The Left is Doing. Ask What They Are Accusing YOU of Doing.)
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To: The Spirit Of Allegiance; rlmorel; null and void; monkeyshine; SunkenCiv

It’s like those Etsy ads that were running some months back..

I put my whole heart into my small business.

(Time will tell what seeming nonsense turns out to have intrinsic value. Epic!)


45 posted on 04/01/2025 11:32:33 AM PDT by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". 🔴 Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with MARS ♂️, aka every man)
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To: left that other site
Oh good! :-)

One of my favorite Arthurian films is EXCALIBUR. Have you ever seen it?

46 posted on 04/01/2025 11:35:53 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: Candor7

Thanks for the link-I’m going to Amazon and check it out. I’m always interested in historical info that sheds light on who the real Arthur might have been...


47 posted on 04/01/2025 1:38:12 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"... )
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To: nopardons

Oh yes...a long, long time ago.


48 posted on 04/01/2025 3:21:10 PM PDT by left that other site (Ask Not What The Left is Doing. Ask What They Are Accusing YOU of Doing.)
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To: Myrddin

Yes it is.But the scholars of Arthurian legends never leave their texts for empirical research. So they cry foul and stick tpo the dastardly false tale that Avalon was in the South of England.

Goodrich located Arthurs Castle, on an islet at the West of the ISle of Mann . Its called Peel Castle, and it was once joined to the mainland by only a stone bridge that had a drawbridge, under which was a set of pointed blades ready to impale those who fell....The Sword Bridge of Legend.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Peel+Castle/@54.2261442,-4.6993905,258m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x486392a6fc8ee6a3:0x20767b28cc9afd16!8m2!3d54.2261411!4d-4.698103!16zL20vMDMyd3Ay?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDMzMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

The ancient foundations of Arthur’s castle are still there under later constructions.


49 posted on 04/01/2025 3:46:55 PM PDT by Candor7 (Ask not for whom the Trump Trolls,He trolls for thee!<img src="" width=500</img><a href="">tag</a>)
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To: Texan5
If you read Goodrich's 4 books, they all make sense. : Merlin, King Arthur, Guinevere, and The Grail, the last being very technical research and very revealing reading.

Her foot notes are impeccable. I read them thoroughly along with the text. A grand classic accomplishment of both scholarly and empirical field work.Her critics detest her field work,because they do not recognize such work in the classic historical genre.

50 posted on 04/01/2025 3:52:49 PM PDT by Candor7 (Ask not for whom the Trump Trolls,He trolls for thee!<img src="" width=500</img><a href="">tag</a>)
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To: Candor7

From reading the info on Amazon, it appears that she is on the same historical page with Graham Phillips and Geoffrey Ashe-I have their books, and they make sense...


51 posted on 04/01/2025 4:01:59 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"... )
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To: Texan5
Goodrich's books are incredibly detailed, she spent the best part of her life in the field looking at sites dating back to Arthur's time in Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Mann, as well as France.

She gives a breathtaking , sweeping view of Arthur's time, but you need to red all 4 of those books to see it.She makes no outrageous claims, only humble assertions based on data. She found where Guinevere is buried. I read all four, because the Arthurian legends form the underpinnings of Western Society warriorship, and the books ring with clarity from that perspective.

52 posted on 04/01/2025 4:26:07 PM PDT by Candor7 (Ask not for whom the Trump Trolls,He trolls for thee!<img src="" width=500</img><a href="">tag</a>)
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To: Texan5
Goodrich's books are incredibly detailed, she spent the best part of her life in the field looking at sites dating back to Arthur's time in Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Mann, as well as France.

She gives a breathtaking , sweeping view of Arthur's time, but you need to red all 4 of those books to see it.She makes no outrageous claims, only humble assertions based on data. She found where Guinevere is buried. I read all four, because the Arthurian legends form the underpinnings of Western Society warriorship, and the books ring with clarity from that perspective. In some sense you could say that the Last Stand at the Alamo was an Arthurian event.

53 posted on 04/01/2025 4:27:24 PM PDT by Candor7 (Ask not for whom the Trump Trolls,He trolls for thee!<img src="" width=500</img><a href="">tag</a>)
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To: left that other site

I haven’t watched it a while either, but then, I know it bu heart! LOL


54 posted on 04/01/2025 5:38:57 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: nopardons

I have some movies like that! 🎬


55 posted on 04/01/2025 5:41:34 PM PDT by left that other site (Ask Not What The Left is Doing. Ask What They Are Accusing YOU of Doing.)
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To: Candor7
Great books all, amazing research, and all written very well! For anyone who loves the Arthurian Legends...they're a MUST read!

And for those only interested in reading the stories, the earliest English and French versions are also books that need to be read.

56 posted on 04/01/2025 5:46:04 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: left that other site

I have ALL movies, ever made, on this topic, on discs; even the not so good ones. Yes, I’m obsessed. LOL


57 posted on 04/01/2025 5:47:46 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: nopardons

You’ll never get bored! 😁


58 posted on 04/01/2025 5:49:51 PM PDT by left that other site (Ask Not What The Left is Doing. Ask What They Are Accusing YOU of Doing.)
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To: BenLurkin

Weird to see this thread. I’m watching “Camelot” right now. (Guenevere is a slut.)


59 posted on 04/01/2025 5:55:55 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam (It's hard not to celebrate the fall of bad people. - Bongino)
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To: left that other site
That's more true than you know! LOL

I have 1,000s of movies on discs, 3 libraries filled with books in this house, and I watch many different YouTube videographers; especially my Friday class by a Brit Uni prof, who gives an hour lecture on Brit history. She has a doctorate in the Tudor era, but also lectures about other/some earlier,some later eras.

60 posted on 04/01/2025 5:57:50 PM PDT by nopardons
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