SOURCE: Slover, Clark Harris. “William of Malmesbury and the Irish.” Speculum: A Journal of Mediaeval Studies 11, no. 3 (1927): 268-83.

In the following essay, Slover argues that William brought elements of Irish literature, which are the basis of Arthurian romance, into several of his works.

In the imaginative literature of mediaeval England, especially in the material dealing with King Arthur and his knights, there are numerous stories and motifs which find close parallels in the Celtic literature of Wales and Ireland. How far we are justified in accepting such parallels as evidence of Celtic origin, however, is a matter of controversy. As the controversy proceeds, it becomes increasingly apparent that the attempt to make a just estimate of the influence of Celtic literature on the literature of mediaeval England is seriously hampered by lack of information about the channels available for the transmission of Celtic culture to English literary consciousness...