Arthur's Miscellany Aspects of King Arthur, From Shields of Power to the Questing Beast

‘In the tenth-century Annales Cambriae, which possibly goes back to contemporary sources, the entry about the Battle of Badon Hill mentions that Arthur “carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on his shoulders for three days and three nights”. It is likely that this Latin quote is based upon a Welsh source, in which the words for “shoulder” (ysqwyd) and “shield” (ysqwyt) were close enough in spelling to get mixed up quite easily.’ Arthur’s Miscellany is full of such insights, based upon a lifetime study of heraldry and armor. These essays were written over a period of more than 30 years, some never published before now. Chapters include: ‘The Arms of Lancelot du Lac’; ‘Why Was the Green Knight Green?’; and ‘Merlin, Magic, and Swords of Power’. Alongside his career as an historian and museum curator, Helmut Nickel was a famous illustrator. Few historians would be confident enough to interpret the symbology of the mid-15th century armorial, Les Noms, Armes, et Blazons des Chevalliers et Compaignons de la Table Ronde ‒ all 175 of them! Many of the illustrations within are by the author. This is an important contribution to the Arthurian canon ‒ and a tribute to a great scholar and artist from his friends and fellow researchers.

Helmut Nickel's doctoral thesis was about the development of the knightly shield in Western Europe. He joined the department of arms and armor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1960. Alongside his work as an art historian, Helmut became a famous illustrator of classic adventure stories, such as The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Robinson Crusoe. Helmut died in 2019 aged 95. These essays on Arthurian themes were written by him over more than 30 years.