From the Editor

Welcome to the fourth and final issue of Arthuriana’s ‘Best of Bristol’ series—articles produced from the very many fine papers presented at the XIII^rd Triennial International Arthurian Society Conference in Bristol, UK, in July 2011. This has been joint endeavor with the editors of Arthurian Literature—Elizabeth Archibald and David Johnson—and I’d like to thank them for the good cheer and hard work that made this effort possible. I look forward to many more collaborations in the future!

I am also pleased to announce that we are bringing back Arthuriana’s semi-regular column, ‘Eminent Arthurians’ in this current issue. I am delighted that we are honoring Geoffrey Ashe to mark the occasion of his 90^th birthday. I know I am not alone when I say that Ashe’s book The Discovery of King Arthur was the work that took me from being a curious consumer of Arthurian literature to becoming, eventually, a dedicated scholar of the legend. Ashe’s great gift has been to offer original and rigorous scholarship in an accessible and engaging form; even better, it has always been clear in his many pieces of writing, his lectures, and his film and television appearances, that he deeply enjoys his work and derives great satisfaction and pleasure from it. His collegiality enthusiasm, and tenacity as a scholar should be an example to all. Those of us who work on the story of Arthur owe Geoffrey Ashe a large debt of gratitude. Norris Lacy’s tribute on the next page goes some way toward thanking this great Arthurian scholar for all his contributions to the field.