When Catumandus' lost manuscript, now generally known as the Arthuriad, was discovered in 1969, there was widespread doubt over its authenticity. This attitude persisted even after the publication of the English version almost three decades later. That edition*, done by Frederick Lees, is now out of print but demands for it continue to come in from around the world from people wanting information about Arthur.
Lees was at first reluctant to represent the book other than as fiction as which it was highly praised by Anne Ross, D.J.Taylor, Gore Vidal and many others. But in recent years scholarly opinion has shifted and now the reliability of the Arthuriad as a valuable source of information on the heroic warrior the world has long known as Arthur is widely accepted. It has in consequence been considered desirable that the Arthuriad should now be made available.
This then is the Home Page of the Arthuriad. The epic work is prefaced by a scholary introduction while the text itself is divided into three parts, each under an appropriate title, even though the original Greek text is a continuum.
The full text in Part I deals with Catumandus’ youth in the barbarian infested Roman Empire before his life in Britain. He tells the story of Arthur’s greatest victory in Part II, and of the events leading to his tragic end in Part III. Prefacing these two Parts is a brief synopsis of their content and a textual extract.
*The Arthuriad of Catumandus
(ISBN 962-8110-02-0)
© Frederick Lees 1996
All Rights Reserved
