Adventure novel ties together myths
from King David, Excalibur, American Indian lore

The cornfields of Northern Indiana seem a somewhat unusual setting for a story about two boys embarking on an epic adventure involving the Bronze Age blade used by King David and Excalibur, the sword belonging to King Arthur.

But that's exactly where Richard Gwyn Davies, who teaches humanities, myth, literature and popular culture at Culver Academies in Culver, Ind., set his book "Swords at Culver" (Unlimited Publishing 2006).

"I have a fascination with how mythological systems can be imposed upon us," says Davies who cites Stephen King, J.K. Rowling and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as his literary inspirations.

"I wanted to pull together Native American lore and Arthurian legend with another strand -- that of King David. It was fun doing all the research."

The result is a rousing story of an American, Tim Marks, and Welshman, Merthyn Jones, who become targets of a Native American cult that worships an evil goddess. The boys' adventures range from the library at Culver Academies to other familiar Indiana landmarks including Lake Maxinkuckee (swimmers there might want to beware as Davies's book features Keganzi, a water monster who lives at the bottom of the lake, rising up to imperil our heroes).

Davies, who grew up on a farm in Northern Indiana near Valparaiso, graduated from Valparaiso High School in 1959 before earning his undergraduate degree from DePauw University.  After a stint in the Peace Corps, Davies taught at Culver and then earned his Master's at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

The son of a Welshman (he credits his father with encouraging his imagination by reading stories to him when he was young), he taught in south Wales and spent two years at Oxford before returning to Culver in 1974. He's also earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University.  He started writing "Swords at Culver" in 1998 as part of a project.

"I initially began writing it in Spanish," he says.

He now is working on a book about the Star Wars movies as modern myth.  And there's always the chance of writing a sequel.  After all, even though Tim and Merthyn are victorious, the evil forces lie in wait, ready to do battle another time.