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- What is now known as Glastonbury was, in ancient times, called the Isle of Avalon. It is virtually an island, for it is completely surrounded by marshlands. In Welsh it is called Ynys Afallach, which means the Island of Apples and this fruit once grew in great abundance. After the Battle of Camlann, a noblewoman called Morgan, later the ruler and patroness of these parts as well as being a close blood-relation of King Arthur, carried him off to the island, now known as Glastonbury, so that his wounds could be cared for. Years ago the district had also been called Ynys Gutrin in Welsh, that is the Island of Glass, and from these words the invading Saxons later coined the place-name "Glastingebury". (en)
- Many tales are told and many legends have been invented about King Arthur and his mysterious ending. In their stupidity the British [i.e. Welsh, Cornish and Breton] people maintain that he is still alive. Now that the truth is known, I have taken the trouble to add a few more details in this present chapter. The fairy-tales have been snuffed out, and the true and indubitable facts are made known, so that what really happened must be made crystal clear to all and separated from the myths which have accumulated on the subject. (en)
- The Isle of Fruit Trees which men call the Fortunate Isle gets its name from the fact that it produces all things of itself; the fields there have no need of the ploughs of the farmers and all cultivation is lacking except what nature provides. Of its own accord it produces grain and grapes, and apple trees grow in its woods from the close-clipped grass. The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, and people live there a hundred years or more. There nine sisters rule by a pleasing set of laws those who come to them from our country.ref|By comparison, Isidore's description of the Fortunate Isles reads: "The Fortunate Isles (Fortunatarum insulae) signify by their name that they produce all kinds of good things, as if they were happy and blessed with an abundance of fruit. Indeed, well-suited by their nature, they produce fruit from very precious trees [Sua enim aptae natura pretiosarum poma silvarum parturiunt]; the ridges of their hills are spontaneously covered with grapevines; instead of weeds, harvest crops, and garden herbs are common there. Hence the mistake of pagans and the poems by worldly poets, who believed that these isles were Paradise because of the fertility of their soil. They are situated in the Ocean, against the left side of Mauretania, closest to where the sun sets, and they are separated from each other by the intervening sea." In ancient and medieval geographies and maps, the Fortunate Isles were typically identified with the Canary Islands.|group="note" (en)
- In the wake of Huon de Bordeaux, the hero's adventure in fairyland became practically de rigueur in the later chansons de geste. These adventures are all cut from the same mould and serve a common purpose: as qualifying experiences for the hero. They allow the author to confirm in the Other World what is already manifest in this one, and often to relaunch the hero on his quest. The Arthurian world evoked is that of Avalon after Arthur's disappearance, whether or not it is explicitly named. Except in Lion de Bourges it is located vaguely in the east and sometimes upon an island. The characters are invariably Arthur and his sister Morgan, with accompanying fairies, but, except in La Bataille Loquifer and Ogier, no other Knights of the Round Table. Arthur himself assumes magical powers in these works, replacing in this sense Merlin, who is never explicitly evoked. Arthur is no longer the head of the Round Table, but the master of an ethereal kingdom populated with fairies and spirits. (en)
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