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While many readers of medieval literature are likely to be familiar with the narrative motif of the snake pit, and even associate it with the legend of Gunnarr Gjúkason, there are probably not many, apart from Old Norse specialists, who would know the rest of his story. According to the heroic poems of the Edda, and the derived Völsunga saga, Gunnarr is the brother-in-law of Sigurður Fáfnisbani and plays a large part in his saga, Völsunga saga. But as Völsunga saga is first and foremost the story of the Völsungs, including Sigurðr, Gunnarr naturally plays something of a minor role there, being overshadowed by the magnificent and renowned slayer of the dragon Fáfnir. And so, while some people may know who Gunnarr is, they do not necessarily know much about him in his own right. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses Arthurian manuscripts and Grail legends from the time of King Edward III of England. The author discusses medieval Grail stories written by authors including Chrétien de Troyes and Robert de Boron and medieval art depicting the Grail story. Other topics include references to the Grail story in literature by Geoffrey Chaucer, the Blood of Hales relic and Biblical figure Joseph of Arimathea in the Grail legend, and manuscripts of the Grail legend owned by Edward III.

An essay is presented on the "Elucidation" prologue of the "Conte del Graall" Cycle of Arthurian legends pertaining to the Holy Grail. According to the author, scholars can learn much about the aesthetics of medieval narrative and French Arthurian romance from this text. Topics discussed include intertextuality, marginality, and contradiction.

The study explores the context and the reception of Pilate's personage from a variety of cultural perspectives (historical, religious, folkloric and literary), expanding our understanding of the cultural conventions, in which the personage was created and received, and including the relationship between legendary plots and 'literary' texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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An essay is presented on the story of the Holy Grail and the Crusades and the association of the two aspects. The author points out that features of Grail stories during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries repeatedly recall dimensions of the Crusading world. Specifically, he cites the Grail story in "Joseph of Arimathea," which exposes ecclesiastical and practical agenda.

The purpose of present article is to offer a relatively comprehensive overview of contemporary study of typological classification of folk narrative. As a predecessor served the article by Dagmar Klímová Preparatory Work on a Catalogue of Czech Folk Legend. Types from the year 1963. The attention was therefore focused on international study of folk tale classification of the last more than forty years. The work is divided into four parts. The introductory chapter brings several brief remarks about the first attempts of folktale cataloguing and notes extensive catalogues of Czech (V. Tille) and Slovak (J. Polívka) fairy tales. The next part traces development of an international catalogue of folk tales, started in 1910 by A. Aarne, translated and enlarged by S. Thompson in 1928 and 1961 and critically revised and extended by H.-J. Uther in 2004. The major part is dedicated to the classification of folk legends, where no international catalogue has been achieved. The attention is focused mainly on two important works. R. Th. Christiansen intended to prepare foundation for catalogue of internationally spread „migratory legends" but his effort suffered from regional limitation, exclusion of some tale types and disproportional representation of sorts of folk legends. L. Simonsuuri's work from 1961 was thoroughly revised by M. Jauhiainen in 1998 and became a profound catalogue classifying all material of Finnish folk belief-based narrative and featuring detailed system of cross references. Other various national catalogues are briefly described as well as catalogues dealing with specific topics. The last part deals with contributions to the classification of Czech folk tales from 1960. The principal scholar who has written the most important works on belief legends is Dagmar Klímová, the author of two regional catalogues and preparatory studies, e. g. studies about some supernatural beings such as water sprite, snake and household spirit. There are two minor regional catalogues of folk legends and another one focused on a certain topic, all of them originated as theses. Nowadays there is neither general catalogue of Czech folk legends nor contemporary catalogue of Czech fairy tales, however preparatory work to achieve these goals has been started recently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a film criticism, exploring the use of Near Eastern fertility myths and the medieval Holy Grail romance story in Israeli political films in the 1980s which critique the Arab-Israeli conflict and the narrative of Zionism. The article looks at the influence of the documentary film "Khirbet Khiz'ah," by Ram Loevy, the film "Unsettled Land," and the influence of Israeli films of the 1930s on Israeli conflict films in the 1980s.

The article presents information about the publication "The Terrors of the Night" by Thomas Nashe. It discusses a passage about the nobleman Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester and his death. The legends about Dudley are examined and the historical accuracy of the passage on his death is explored. Other references to Dudley in Nashe's writing are also noted.