"The answers you get from literature depend upon the questions you pose." ~ Margaret Atwood
Welcome to Arbroch: Seat of Argyll
Since the vast body of materials, fact and fiction, that have been inspired over the centuries by the Matter of Britain is second only to the Bible itself, I have come to the conclusion that a "Dark Age" warlord named Arthur must have existed at some point in Britain's history. The theories about who this man might have been, in which century he flourished, and what "really" happened during the period of his military and political influence upon the British landscape are as numerous and varied as the stars.
The theory I have adopted for use in my novels is that Arthur was a Romano-Celt who, as Dux Britanniarum, commanded the forces defending the territory between the Antonine and Hadrianic walls. From everything I've been able to piece together through several decades of research, the period in which he lived was a chaos of conflicting military, political, religious, social, moral, and cultural agendas. Bringing the cultural clash to Arthur at the most personal level, in DAWNFLIGHT he meets and falls in love with the woman destined to become his soul-mate in the unification of Britain: a Pictish warrior-chieftainess named Gyanhumara of Clan Argyll.
The title of this web page, ARBROCH: Seat of Argyll, is Chieftainess Gyanhumara's home fortress, Arbroch -- which is in reality the Ardoch Roman fort in Perthshire, described in DAWNFLIGHT as having been captured by Gyanhumara's ancestors several generations prior to the opening of the story. Through a series of events to be related in a future novel, Gyanhumara and her clansmen will conquer the territory corresponding to modern-day Argyllshire.
The Pictish-style flying doves, original artwork created by myself, represent Clan Argyll's symbol as shown in the latest edition of DAWNFLIGHT. Other line art in Dawnflight include adaptations from photographs of Pictish standing stones found throughout Scotland, including of the stones on display at the Meigle Sculptured Stone Museum in Perthshire, Scotland.
Index
Click on one of the 
s for:
My favorite Arthurian and related reference sites, blogs, and online articles.
My review of Monty Python's SPAMALOT, Opening Weekend on Broadway with Original Cast, including Tim Curry as King Arthur, 19 March 2005.
Book Review: The Doom of Camelot anthology, edited by James Lowder
Book Review: The Hallowed Isle Books I & II by Diana Paxson
My review of Camelot, starring Robert Goulet, at Wolf Trap Park, Vienna, VA, on September 3, 1998.
My Favorite Arthurian Sites
Many folks around the world have poured a lot of effort into their Arthurian-related and other research sites & blogs. Here are a few of my favorites. If you have a favorite that's not listed here, find a broken link, or if you have any specific questions, please message me on Facebook!
- Ancient Scotland, a wealth of information for those wishing to puruse the Scottish Arthurian connection
- Arthur the God by author Karen Han
- Arthurian Graphics -- an extraordinary collection of Arthurian art
- Tom Green's Arthurian Resources is a good compendium—and still is after all these years. It's Dr. Thomas Green now, however!
- Arthuriana -- quarterly journal published by the North American Branch of the International Arthurian Society. You must belong to the Society to search the archives, but well worth the cost for the serious scholar.
- Arthurnet -- the premier Arthurian email list; the keyword-searchable page is here.
Arturiana blog en Español hosted by Morganu Whaley- The Camelot Project at the University of Rochester -- lots of great information, pictures, etc. Source of most of the Guinevere pictures I've used in the animated montages on this page.
- Camlann Medieval Village -- an annual renaissance faire, teaching resource, seasonal feasts, and more! I visited the faire in the late 80s and can definitely vouch for its authenticity. :)
- Children/Tweens/YA Author Cheryl Carpinello's sites for writers and educators seeking age-appropriate information for young readers of the Arthurian Legends. Current works by Cheryl Carpinello include Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend and Young Knights of the Round Table: The King's Ransom.
- Celtic Twilight -- online texts, book reviews, bulletin board, etc.
- Nonfiction author Tyler R. Tichelaar's Children of Arthur site, "A Home for All King Arthur's Descendants in Blood & in Spirit"
- Dark Isle Castles and other historic sites in Britain, Pictish stones, etc. A wealth of information and pictures here!
- David Nash Ford's Early British Kingdoms site contains dozens of articles relating to (what else) the early British (Celtic) kingdoms, their rulers, geneologies, contemporary saints and adversaries, archaeology, and, of course, King Arthur.
- Debra Kemp, Arthurian feminist fiction author, can be found on Facebook, Amazon.com, Blogspot, and Goodreads.
- Excalibur found in Scotland? An interpretation of the Pictish symbol commonly known as the "tongs."
- Guinever's Castles -- another great castles reference.
- Historic Scotland, the official government-run site, containing a tremendous trove of information about places, events, and more.
- Britannia Magazine's well presented King Arthur site
- The Labyrinth of medieval studies gets you virtually anywhere you wish to go in pursuit of medieval knowledge.
- My publisher, Lucky Bat Books. Click HERE to get a peek into the process of developing the cover art for the second edition of Dawnflight
- Meigle Pictish Stones page, hosted by Undiscovered Scotland, features a tantalizing snapshot of the largest collection of Pictish symbol-stones existing under one roof, which I was privileged to visit on July 4, 2002.
- The "Once and Future" Oxford Arthurian Society
- The Page o' Guinevere is also dated, but contains good basic info about Guinevere. I do not agree with all their statements, however!
- Pictavia picks up where the Pictish Arts Society, who used to run a fine web site, left off.
- Pictish Nation -- "the oldest Pictish site on the Internet" and source of a lot of great information and Pict-related links.
- Quest For Camelot movie, 1998 (Warner Brothers official site)
- A BBC News article about Stonehenge and plans to "naturalize" the site.
- Author T.A. Barron -- backlist, forcoming books, etc.
- The Pendragon Historical Society. I am honored to be in august company here!
- The Quest, sponsored by the University of Idaho, hasn't been updated since 1998, but it still offers a great art gallery, games, essays, etc.
- The Scottish Legend of King Arthur news article presented by the BBC.
- Three Geese in Flight Bookstore -- specializing in rare and out-of-print Arthurian and Celtic books and other materials
- Nicole Evelina's lovely blog, Through the Mists of Time. Click HERE to read the first interview about the second edition of Dawnflight.
- University of Virginia's online library of medieval texts
Revised 05 May 2013
