Hardcover | Cloth. Brown cloth with black titles to spine. Contents: I ) Introductory, II) The Task of the Hero, III) The Freeing of the Waters, IV) Tammuz & Adonis, V )Medieval & Modern Forms of Nature Ritual, VI) The Symbols, VII) The Sword Dance, VIII) The Medicine Man, IX) The Fisher King, X) The Secret of the Grail (1) The Mysteries, XI) The Secret of the Grail 2) The Naassene Document, XII) Mithra & Attis, XIII) The Perilous Chapel, XIV) The Author. Language: English. Size: 21 cm by 14 cm. Pages: 202.
Book Condition
Very Good
Light wear to sharp corners and edges with lightly bruised spine ends. Minor faint marks to cloth. Tightly bound with clean intact endpapers and strong hinges. Clean unmarked pages. Toned and finely spotted text block edges. Annotated numbers to margins of pages 109-111.
Dust Jacket Condition
No DJ
Notes
Publishing Details
First published in 1920
Resume
Originally published in 1920 the book's written current fame partly rests on it being mentioned by T.S. Eliot in the notes to his poem, The Waste Land. From Ritual to Romance remains a landmark of anthropological and mythological scholarship where she explores the origins of the Grail legend, arguing that it dates back to a primitive vegetation cult and only later was shaped by Celtic and Christian lore. To prove her thesis, Weston unites folkloric and Christian elements by using printed texts to prove the parallels existing between each and every feature of the legend of the Holy Grail and the recorded symbolism of the ancient mystery cults. Specifically, she finds the origin of the Grail legend in a Gnostic text that served as a link between such cults and later Celtic and Christian elaborations of the myth. With erudition and critical acumen, the author provides illuminating insights into diverse aspects of the task of the hero; the freeing of the waters; medieval and modern forms of nature ritual; the symbols of the cult (cup, lance, sword, stone, etc. ); the symbolism of the fisher king; the significance of such deities as Tammuz, Adonis, Mithra, and Attis; the meaning of the adventure of the Perilous Chapel in Grail romances; and much more. Awarded the Crawshay Prize in 1920, this scholarly yet highly readable study will interest any student of the Arthurian legends, mythology, ancient religion, and Eliot's poetry.
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