Bøger af Geoffrey Monmouth

A brother and sister from the Rhondda Valley in Wales turn to crime to pay their father's debts and release him from prison. They encounter a beautiful but infuriating widow who persuades them to help recover some stolen letters. This leads them into a murder investigation. The trail lead from Cardiff to Scotland via London and Lancashire.This is a tale of mystery, danger, injustice and romance set against the background of the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.

Vita Merlini, or The Life of Merlin, is a work by the Norman-Welsh author Geoffrey of Monmouth, composed in Latin around AD 1150. It retells incidents from the life of the Brythonic seer Merlin, and is based on traditional material about him. Merlin is described as a prophet in the text. There are a number of episodes in which he loses his mind and lives in the wilderness like a wild animal, like Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel. It is also the first work to describe the Arthurian sorceress Morgan le Fay, as Morgen. Geoffrey had written of Merlin in his two previous works, the Prophetiae Merlini, purported to be a series of prophecies from the sage, and the Historia Regum Britanniae, which is the first work presenting a link between Merlin and King Arthur. The Vita Merlini presents an account of Merlin much more faithful to the Welsh traditions about Myrddin Wyllt, the archetype behind Geoffrey's composite figure of Merlin. Whereas the Historia had Merlin associating with Arthur, his father Uther Pendragon, and his uncle Ambrosius in the 5th century, the Vita's timeframe is during the late 6th century, and includes references to various figures from that period, including Gwenddoleu and Taliesin. Geoffrey attempts to synchronize the Vita with his earlier work by having Merlin mention he had been with Arthur long before.

"Jack the Giant Killer" is a Cornish/British fairy tale and legends about a plucky lad who slays a number of giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterised by violence, gore and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore, Breton mythology and Welsh Bardic lore. Some parallels to elements and incidents in Norse mythology have been detected in the tale, and the trappings of Jack's last adventure with the giant Galigantus suggest parallels with French and Breton fairy tales such as Bluebeard. Jack's belt is similar to the belt in "The Valiant Little Tailor", and his magical sword, shoes, cap, and cloak are similar to those owned by Tom Thumb or those found in Welsh and Norse mythology.

A young man with divided loyalties at the outbreak of the English Civil War sets out to solve a murder. Along the way, he has to question his own identity and that of his eldest brother. He is also drawn to two very different women. His quest takes him from an Oxford college to Caerphilly Castle, to London's least respectable quarter and then to the battlefields of Edgehill and Newbury, with an excursion into Gloucestershire, where he is in more danger than ever. With friends, foes and family on both sides, will his quest for a middle way help or hinder his search for answers? He encounters extremists and peacemakers, idealists and self-seekers, people who will make history and many who will merely struggle to survive. Can he stay alive long enough to find the answers to his questions and to overcome the obstacles to true love?Here is a murder mystery, a swashbuckling adventure and a romance, all woven into the story of the English Civil War.

In 1719 London is awash with rumours of another Jacobite rebellion, but in Wales and Scotland all seems so peaceful that Captain Billy Rhys and his men are bored, as is the beautiful but tempestuous widow, Helen de Clare, who accepts an invitation to visit the Highlands, where she meets new friends and old enemies. Both she and Billy are frustrated that her husband's killer has not been caught.In response to concerns about a potential uprising, Billy is sent to investigate, again using the guise of being the groom to a stallion. When Billy and Helen separately discover the Jacobites' plans for an imminent rebellion, backed by Spain, they both fall into the hands of the enemy. They also find evidence of the murderer's identity. Can either of them inform the British Army in time to prevent its forces marching into an ambush? Can they prevent the killer's escape?This is a swashbuckling adventure, a whodunnit and a romance set against a little known but dramatic incident in British history.

1716. A brother and sister set out to find her husband who went missing in battle in 1709, while they continue to rob their father's creditors to pay his debts and get him released from gaol. Their quest is complicated by the need to find a friend's killer. As well as holding up coaches, they carry out an elaborate scam. Travelling from Cardiff to London to Cardigan and to the Hague, helped and hindered by the beautiful aristocratic widow, Helen, and her feisty rival, the common whore, Megan, they encounter a Jacobite spy plotting to overthrow the Government, have their eyes opened about the slave trade, and discover the meaning of The King's Justice.Here is a murder mystery, a swashbuckling adventure and a romance set against a genuine historical background.

This is both a western and a murder mystery. In 1870 Deputy US Marshal Davy Reece postpones plans to return to his former life as a scout in order to investigate the murder of his friend and colleague, Marshal McLuhan. He has to deal with two equally eccentric but very different sheriffs and with the madame of the brothel where the marshal was killed. He learns the killer was a woman, probably a cowgirl, who may be among a largely female crew on a cattle-drive across the western plains from Wyoming to Kansas. Davy joins the drive as a scout, while his Shoshone wife and their two teenage children join as drovers, along with the marshal's widow, the Irish-American Cathy, who is determined to find her husband's killer.Was the marshal killed because he was close to uncovering a large criminal organisation or a plot to revive the Confederacy? There are former soldiers from both sides of the Civil War as well as a few former slaves driving this herd across the prairie. Can Davy trust information he gains from captured suspects and from certain Native Americans of the Lacota tribe?Apart from all the hazards of the trail, someone is trying to kill Davy and Cathy.Davy fears for his family's safety, but could they play a big part in solving the murder? Will Cathy prove to be an asset or a liability?This lighthearted book contains action, adventure, suspense, humour and surprises.

For the first time in English, Mark Walker presents a verse translation of the twelfth-century epic poem by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the originator of many of the Arthurian legends familiar to us today. Here is the original Merlin - a mysterious and mad character inspired by ancient Welsh legends. But he is also a king, a prophet, and a modern Renaissance man. This brand-new translation casts Geoffrey's Latin into accessible English hexameter verse, giving readers a feel for the rhythms of the original. The extensive introduction sets the poem in the context of Geoffrey's life and writings, while each chapter opens with helpful background material. Turn back the pages of time and discover the mythical, magical world of the original Merlin.