late Arthurian tales in the Mabinogion: “The Lady of the Fountain,” “Peredur, Son of Eefrawg,” and “Geraint, Son of Erbin.” Arthur also appears in “The Spoils of Annwn,” which is a tenth century poem and clearly a prototype for the “Holy Grail” quest.

Interestingly, because of the similarities of Arthur and his “knights” to Fionn Mac Cumhail and the Fianna, Arthur appears in Irish myth as the son of the king of Britain and steals the hounds of Fionn, Bran, and Sceolan. The Fianna pursue Arthur to Britain and recover the hounds and Arthur swears fealty to Fionn. However, in medieval times, Arthurian tales became highly popular in Irish literature and the use of Arthurian characters in Irish narratives and tales was a frequent device. In Eachtra an Mhadra Mhaoil (Adventures of the Crop-Eared Dog), Sir Gawain (in Irish, Sir Bhalbhuaidh) helps the dog, in reality the son of the king of India, recover his human shape. This is an Arthurian story composed in Ireland in the fifteenth century. Another Irish addition to the saga, dated from the fifteenth century, is entitled Céilidhe Iosgaide Léithe (Visit of the Grey-Hammed Lady). There are references to the story from other sources that suggest it was a highly popular tale of the time. As well as numerous “home grown” Arthurian tales in Ireland, there were direct translations such as the fifteenth century Lorgaireacht an tSoidhigh Naomhtha (Quest for the Holy Grail), edited by S. Falconer, 1953.

There are are least 25 identified Arthurian tales in Irish from the medieval period. However, the Arthurian saga, while popular, never assumed the importance in Irish literature as did the Fenian sagas, the tales of Fionn Mac Cumhail and his Fianna, in which many of the motifs of the Arthurian cycle are preserved in forms closer to the original Celtic.

Arthur has become popular in world literature but not through Celtic eyes. From Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia, whether based on a translation from a Celtic language or not, the Norman poet Wace conceived and wrote his Roman de Brut, in which a more medieval and knightly setting was introduced and in which the “Round Table” appears for the first time. Then innovations to the story and its collation into a new narrative form were produced by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes (fl. a.d. 1160–1190), who added the idea of courtly love and produced the earliest literary version of the “Holy Grail” legend. Then came the English poet