University Park, PA -- "The Many Realms of King Arthur," an exhibit based on the world-renowned Arthuriana collections of the Newberry Library in Chicago, and the New York Public Library, will be on display March 14 to May 10, in the Pattee Library exhibit area, on Penn State's University Park campus.

The traveling exhibit explores the Arthurian legends from their origins in the folktales, romances, and troubadours' songs of the Middle Ages to their latest adaptations in twentieth-century novels, films, and even video games.

Stories about King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and the knights and the ladies of the Round Table have been told for nearly 1,500 years in many countries and languages. They have endured for so long because they concern timeless human issues and powerful emotions. The Arthurian legends involve love, loyalty, duty, jealousy, evil, and family conflict. They raise questions about just warfare, codes of morality, spiritual life, and idealism—issues that are as important today as they were many centuries ago.

The exhibition was organized by the American Library Association and the Newberry Library, Chicago, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Local sponsorship includes Penn State's French, Comparative Literature, and Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures Departments in the College of the Liberal Arts; the University Libraries; the Center for Medieval Studies; and the Art History Department in the College of Arts and Architecture as well as individual contributions from members of the Friends of the Center for Medieval Studies.

In addition to the exhibit, the public is invited to a talk and slide presentation, "Images of King Arthur," by Norris J. Lacy, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of French at Penn State, on Monday, March 25, at 7:00 p.m. in the Foster Auditorium, 101 Pattee Library. Lacy has served as both international president and North American president of the International Arthurian Society and is currently Honorary President of that organization. He has also been knighted by the French government, in the Order of Academic Palms, for service to French Culture and Education. Lacy is author or editor of more than twenty-five books (more than half of them are on Arthurian legend).

The exhibit is open to the public during Libraries' operating hours. Call 814-865-3063 for hours' information. For more information, contact the University Libraries' Office of Public Relations and Marketing at public_relations@psulias.psu.edu or 814-865-0401.