Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen and Legend
Eleanor has remained a staple of storytellers for 800 years, yet according to Owen (Univ. of St. Andrews), too often the legends that grew up around her name were taken as history. This is true even of modern histories such as Amy Kelly's Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings (1950). Part biography and part literary study, Owen's book attempts to separate the historical personage from the figure of legend and romance. It argues that Eleanor was the model for Guenevere in the great Arthurian romances of her time. While insisting on treating as history only those facts supported by the historical record, Owen's work does speculate on what the courtly romances tell us of Eleanor's character. Though not a full biography, this is a fascinating and scholarly examination of how history and romance have become interwoven in Eleanor of Aquitaine. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.- Bruce R. Schueneman, Texas A&I; Univ. Lib., KingsvilleCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.