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The Celtic Head Cult in Arthurian Literature (8 X 10 Oversized soft cover)

Author: 
Year:
Pages:348
ISBN:1-4955-1011-5
978-1-4955-1011-3
Price:$249.95
This is an oversized (8x10), softcover book. The author: "The development of the churlish headless challenger and his variations does ...seem indeed to be a process about which we have quite clear indications due to the literary evidences. Headless figures which retain their conscience post-decapitation are not exclusive to the beheading-game narratives or other medieval narratives involving some form of decapitation, however. Even in hagiographic tradition we have a similar figure in the form of the cephalophore, a headless saint, and to this day there are creatures sound in Irish folk traditions such as the Dullahan: a headless horseman sharing many characteristics with the churlish challengers we have focused on."

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter I: Background of the Irish-Arthurian Studies
Chapter II: The Beheading-Game Narratives
Chapter III: Mythological Considerations
Chapter IV: The Celtic Head Cult
Chapter V: The Headless Challenger
Chapter VI: Medieval Perceptions of the Severed Head
Conclusion
Bibliography