Major Exhibition of Arthurian Tales

So France is about to become the centre of the Arthurian World when next month Rennes will be the home for a series of events on the legend of King Arthur. On July the 15th, A major exhibition on Arthurian tales will run for six months and will be called "King Arthur: A Legend in the Making".

"The earliest fragments of the tales can be traced back to Wales in the seventh century," Sarah Toulouse, one of the exhibitions curators, told AFP. "But by the 13th century stories based on the Arthurian legends were being told right across Europe."

However, I am not in agreement with everything Toulouse had to say on the subject of Arthur. "King Arthur is a mythical character who was invented at a certain point in history for essentially political reasons," she told AFP. "If he had really existed there would be more concrete historical traces of him."

On the Same day as the start of the Exhibition, the International Arthurian Society begins it's 22nd Annual Congress at Rennes University. The society brings together experts on Arthurian tales from across the world and is open to both Arthurian academics and amateur enthusiasts. Formed in the Breton city of Quimper in 1948, it meets every three years. For more info on the society's history go to http://www.uhb.fr/alc/ias/version_ang/ang_historic.htm.

The Congress was last held in Britain in 2002 when it visited Bangor. I am told that the Congress is well worth attending and runs from the 15th to the 20th of July. For more info go to http://www.uhb.fr/alc/ias/version_ang/ang_congresrennes.htm.

I am also going to try and keep up to date with the progress of Warner Bros. film production of 'The Once And Future King' but you can also visit our main page - http://www.thependragon.co.uk/OnceAndFutureKingFilm.htm.

Merlin on the BBC

I've decided to return to my blogging ways and although Alan will continue to provide all the latest news on the main website I intend to use this blog to simply write about areas of Arthuriana and History that interest me.

There is already a great deal of fascination in Arthurian circles regarding the Beeb's new series 'Merlin' which is set for release in September 2008. The series has been in production since April and will based around the legends of the wizard/Druid Merlin and his relationship with King Arthur. The series will be shown in the time slot that is often taken up by 'Doctor Who' and 'Robin Hood.'

Relative unknown Colin Morgan will star as Merlin, with Bradley James as Arthur, Richard Wilson as Gaius and Anthony Head as Uther. The opening series will have 13 episodes and has already gained a great deal of attention after it was purchased by the NBC network in the United States, one of the US's major television networks. It's actually some time since a British TV series was actually purchased by a major television network in the US. I hope to have more news about the series in the next couple of weeks.

For more on the upcoming series check out our new page http://www.thependragon.co.uk/MerlinBBC2008.htm