Persia Woolley

Welcome to my world – a  patchwork realm where King Arthur and Guinevere, Merlin and Nimue, Lancelot and Morgan le Fey all rise in a blend of folklore and history, legend and archaeology, arcane research, dusty manuscripts and soaring lyrics.

Although I did not take early to reading, I was telling myself stories by the age of four and have been involved in word-slinging in one way or another ever since.

The result has been books and articles on all sorts of subjects, though these pages focus on Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot and the whole gaggle of Dark Age warriors the Bards sang of as the Knights of the Round Table.

Were the people of Camelot real?  The story of King Arthur and Camelot grew out of folktales long told by those doughty Celts who the Saxons chased into the Welsh mountains midway through the 6th Century A.D.  They might have been beaten by the barbarians, but they kept alive the stories of their last great leader who whupped ‘em good and proper until dissention in Camelot brought down the last remnants of civilized rule.

Was there a place known as Camelot?  Well, it depends on when you look for it.  During the Middle Ages everyone throughout Europe was sure it was real, though they hadn’t the faintest idea of when it would have existed.  The Age of Reason saw it fall out of favor, only to be revived by the Romantics of the 19th Century. By the 20th Century fantasy reigned supreme (with some fine results) until the later decades when people like myself began to search for the origin of the story–and archaeological proof.

After spending eleven years in research and writing, my Guinevere Trilogy has returned Gwen and the whole wonderful, awe-full cast to their rightful time of origin–roughly the beginning of the 6th Century.

Clearly it was a remarkable coming together of people, time and circumstances which spawned a legend that has lasted for well-nigh 1400 years. Whether they actually lived or not, the stories have given us hope and mystery, tenderness and misunderstandings, tragedy and triumph aplenty and I’m delighted to tell the tales through Guinevere’s eyes. I hope you enjoy exploring it as much as I enjoyed writing it.