Le Morte d'Arthur (originally written as le morte Darthur; Anglo-Norman French for "The Death of Arthur")[1] is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table, along with their respective folklore. In order to tell a "complete" story of Arthur from his conception to his death, Malory compiled, rearranged, interpreted and modified material from various French and English sources. Today, this is one of the best-known works of Arthurian literature. Many authors since the 19th-century revival of the legend have used Malory as their principal source.
Apparently written in prison at the end of the medieval English era, Le Morte d'Arthur was completed by Malory around 1470 and was first published in a printed edition in 1485 by William Caxton. Until the discovery of the Winchester Manuscript in 1934, the 1485 edition was considered the earliest known text of Le Morte d'Arthur and that closest to Malory's original version.[2] Modern editions under myriad titles are inevitably variable, changing spelling, grammar and pronouns for the convenience of readers of modern English, as well as often abridging or revising the material.
The exact identity of the author of Le Morte d'Arthur has long been the subject of speculation, as at least six historical figures bore the name of "Sir Thomas Malory" (in various spellings) during the late 15th century.[3] In the work, the author describes himself as "Knyght presoner Thomas Malleorre" ("Sir Thomas Maleore" according to the publisher William Caxton). Historically, this has been taken as supporting evidence for the identification most widely accepted by scholars: that the author was Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel, Warwickshire,[4][5] son of Sir John Malory.
According to the timeline proposed by P.J.C. Field, Sir Thomas of Newbold Revel inherited the family estate in 1434, but by 1450 he was fully engaged in a life of crime. As early as 1433, he had been accused of theft, but the more serious allegations against him included that of the attempted murder of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, an accusation of at least two rapes, and that he had attacked and robbed Coombe Abbey. Malory was first arrested and imprisoned in 1451 for the ambush of Buckingham, but was released early in 1452. By March, he was back in the Marshalsea prison and then in Colchester, escaping on multiple occasions. In 1461, he was granted a pardon by King Henry VI, returning to live at his estate. After 1461, however, few records survive which scholars agree refer to Malory of Newbold Revel. In 1468–1470, King Edward IV issued four more general pardons which specifically excluded a Thomas Malory. The first of these named Malory a knight and applied to participants in a campaign in Northumberland in the North of England by members of the Lancastrian faction. Field interprets these pardon-exclusions to refer to Malory of Newbold Revel, suggesting that Malory changed his allegiance from York to Lancaster, and that he was involved in a conspiracy with Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick to overthrow King Edward. William Matthews, having given evidence of this candidate's advanced age at the time of the Northumberland campaign and living much further to the South, interprets this record as referring to his own proposed candidate for authorship. Field proposed that it was during a final stint at Newgate Prison in London that he wrote Le Morte d'Arthur,[6] and that Malory was released in October 1470 when Henry VI returned to the throne, dying only five months later.[4] This Warwickshire knight was widely accepted as the author of the Morte until the publication of Matthews' research in 1966.
This identification was widely accepted through most of the 20th century based on the assumption that this candidate was born around 1416. The 1416 date was proposed by Field, contradicting the original record of this knight's military service record by Dugdale.[7] In 1966, Matthews published original research demonstrating that Malory of Newbold Revel had in fact been an officer under King Henry V in the famous Agincourt campaign by 1414 or 1415; confirming Dugdale's original record and placing this knight's birth around 1393. Some late 20th-century researchers cast a doubt that this would make the Newbold Revel knight far too old to have written Le Morte: in prison in his mid-70s to early 80s, when, in Matthews' words, "the medieval view was that by sixty a man was bean fodder and forage, ready for nothing but death's pit."[8] Because no other contemporary Thomas Malory had been shown to have been knighted, the question remained unresolved.
The second candidate to receive scholarly support as the possible author of Le Morte Darthur is Thomas Mallory of Papworth St Agnes in Huntingdonshire, whose will, written in Latin and dated 16 September 1469, was described in an article by T. A. Martin in the Athenaeum magazine in September 1897.[9] This Mallory was born in Shropshire in 1425, the son of Sir William Mallory, although there is no indication in the will that he was himself a knight; he died within six weeks of the will being made. It has been suggested that the fact that he appears to have been brought up in Lincolnshire may account for the traces of Lincolnshire dialect in Le Morte Darthur.[10] To date, this candidate has not commanded the attention of scholars as the Newbold-Revel knight has.
The most recent contender for authorship emerged in the mid-20th century: Thomas Malory of Hutton Conyers and Studley Royal in Yorkshire. This claim was put forward in 1966 in The Ill-Framed Knight: A Skeptical Inquiry into the Identity of Sir Thomas Malory by William Matthews.[11] Matthews' primary arguments in favor of the Yorkshire Malory were the northerly dialect of the Morte; the likelihood that this is the Malory who was excluded from the pardon by Edward IV in 1468; and the fact that the Newbold Revel knight was far too old to be writing the Morte in the late 1460s. Matthews' interpretation was not widely accepted, primarily because he could not find evidence that the Yorkshireman was a knight. Cecelia Lampp Linton, however, has provided extensive detail about the Malorys of Yorkshire and offered evidence that Thomas of Yorkshire was a Knight Hospitaller, a militant of the Catholic Church.[12] She has also examined the provenance of some of the known sources of the Morte and has demonstrated that this Malory would have had ready access to these documents. Accepting Linton's evidence would remove the primary objection to his authorship, making the contradictions presented by the Newbold Revel knight irrelevant. The Morte itself seems to be much more the work of a knight of the church than a secular repeat offender, as evidenced by Malory's own conclusion (rendered in Modern English): "... pray for me while I am in life that God send me good deliverance, and when I am dead I pray you all pray for my soul; for this book was ended the ninth year of the reign of King Edward the Fourth by Sir Thomas Maleore, knight, as Jesus help him by his great might, as he is the servant of Jesus both day and night."[13]
Sources
A 14th-century Polish fresco at Siedlęcin Tower depicting Lancelot fighting the evil knight Turquine in a scene from the French Lancelot-Grail.
As Elizabeth Bryan wrote of Malory's contribution to Arthurian legend in her introduction to a modern edition of Le Morte d'Arthur, "Malory did not invent the stories in this collection; he translated and compiled them. Malory in fact translated Arthurian stories that already existed in 13th-century French prose (the so-called Old FrenchVulgate romances) and compiled them together with Middle English sources (the Alliterative Morte Arthure and the Stanzaic Morte Arthur) to create this text."[14]
Within his narration, Malory refers to drawing it from a singular "Freynshe booke", in addition to also unspecified "other bookis".[15] In addition to the vast Vulgate Cycle in its different variants, as well as the English poems Morte Arthur and Morte Arthure, Malory's other original source texts were identified as several French standalone chivalric romances, including Érec et Énide, L'âtre périlleux, Perlesvaus, and Yvain ou le Chevalier au Lion (or its English version, Ywain and Gawain), as well as John Hardyng's English Chronicle.[16] The English poem The Weddynge of Syr Gawen is uncertainly regarded as either just another of these or possibly actually Malory's own work.[17] His assorted other sources might have included a 5th-century Roman military manual, De re militari.[18]
Le Morte d'Arthur was completed in 1469 or 1470 ("the ninth year of the reign of King Edward IV"), according to a note at the end of the book.[19] It is believed that Malory's original title intended was to be The hoole booke of kyng Arthur & of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table, and only its final section to be named Le Morte Darthur.[20] At the end of the work, Caxton added: "Thus endeth this noble & joyous book entytled le morte Darthur, Notwythstondyng it treateth of the byrth, lyf, and actes of the sayd kynge Arthur; of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table, theyr meruayllous enquestes and aduentures, thachyeuyng of the sangreal, & in thende the dolorous deth & departynge out of this worlde of them al." Caxton separated Malory's eight books into 21 books, subdivided the books into a total of 506[21] chapters, and added a summary of each chapter as well as a colophon to the entire book.[22] In his preface, Caxton also discussed the subject of the historicity of King Arthur.[23]
The first printing of Malory's work was made by Caxton in 1485, becoming one of the first books to be ever printed in England.[24] Only two copies of this original printing are known to exist, in the collections of the Morgan Library & Museum in New York and the John Rylands Library in Manchester.[25] It proved popular and was reprinted in an illustrated form with some additions and changes in 1498 (The Boke of Kyng Arthur Somtyme Kynge of Englande and His Noble Actes and Feates of Armes of Chyvalrye) and 1529 (The Boke of the Moost Noble and Worthy Prince Kyng Arthur Somtyme Kyng of Grete Brytayne Now Called Englande) by Wynkyn de Worde who succeeded to Caxton's press. Three more editions were published before the English Civil War: William Copland's The Story of the Most Noble and Worthy Kynge Arthur (1557), Thomas East's The Story of Kynge Arthur, and also of his Knyghtes of the Rounde Table (1585), and William Stansby's The Most Ancient and Famous History of the Renowned Prince Arthur King of Britaine (1634), each of which contained additional changes and errors. Stansby's edition, based on East's, was also deliberately censored.[26] Thereafter, the book went out of fashion until the Romanticist revival of interest in all things medieval.
The British Library summarizes the importance of Malory's work thus: "It was probably always a popular work: it was first printed by William Caxton (...) and has been read by generations of readers ever since. In a literary sense, Malory's text is the most important of all the treatments of Arthurian legend in English language, influencing writers as diverse as Edmund Spenser, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Mark Twain and John Steinbeck."[20]
The Winchester Manuscript
A page from the Winchester Manuscript of the Morte d'Arthur, c.1471–1481.
An assistant headmaster at Winchester College, Walter Fraser Oakeshott discovered a previously unknown manuscript copy of the work in June 1934, during the cataloguing of the college's library. Newspaper accounts announced that what Caxton had published in 1485 was not exactly what Malory had written.[27] Oakeshott published "The Finding of the Manuscript" in 1963, chronicling the initial event and his realization that "this indeed was Malory," with "startling evidence of revision" in the Caxton edition.[28] This manuscript is now in the British Library's collection.[29]
Malory scholar Eugène Vinaver examined the manuscript shortly after its discovery. Oakeshott was encouraged to produce an edition himself, but he ceded the project to Vinaver.[28] Based on his initial study of the manuscript, Oakeshott concluded in 1935 that the copy from which Caxton printed his edition "was already subdivided into books and sections."[30] Vinaver made an exhaustive comparison of the manuscript with Caxton's edition and reached similar conclusions. Microscopic examination revealed that ink smudges on the Winchester manuscript are offsets of newly printed pages set in Caxton's own font, which indicates that the Winchester Manuscript was in Caxton's print shop. The manuscript is believed to be closer on the whole to Malory's original and does not have the book and chapter divisions for which Caxton takes credit in his preface. It has been digitised by a Japanese team, who note that "the text is imperfect, as the manuscript lacks the first and last quires and few leaves. The most striking feature of the manuscript is the extensive use of red ink."[31][32]
In his 1947 publication of The Works of Sir Thomas Malory, Vinaver argued that Malory wrote not a single book, but rather a series of Arthurian tales, each of which is an internally consistent and independent work. However, William Matthews pointed out that Malory's later tales make frequent references to the earlier events, suggesting that he had wanted the tales to cohere better but had not sufficiently revised the whole text to achieve this.[33] This was followed by much debate in the late 20th-century academia over which version is superior, Caxton's print or Malory's original vision.[34]
Caxton's edition differs from the Winchester manuscript in many places. As well as numerous small differences on every page, there is also a major difference both in style and content in Malory's Book II (Caxton's Book V), describing the war with the Emperor Lucius, where Caxton's version is much shorter. In addition, the Winchester manuscript has none of the customary marks indicating to the compositor where chapter headings and so on were to be added. It has therefore been argued that the Winchester manuscript was not the copy from which Caxton prepared his edition; rather it seems that Caxton either wrote out a different version himself for the use of his compositor, or used another version prepared by Malory.[35]
The Winchester manuscript does not appear to have been copied out by Malory himself; rather, it seems to have been a presentation copy made by two scribes who, judging from certain dialect forms which they introduced into the text, appear to have come from West Northamptonshire. Apart from these forms, both the Winchester manuscript and the Caxton edition show some more northerly dialect forms which, in the judgement of the Middle English dialect expert Angus McIntosh are closest to the dialect of Lincolnshire. McIntosh argues, however, that this does not necessarily rule out the Warwickshire Malory as the possible author; he points out that it could be that the Warwickshire Malory consciously imitated the style and vocabulary of romance literature typical of the period.[36]
Most of the events take place in a historical fantasy version of Britain and France at an unspecified time (on occasion, the plot ventures farther afield, to Rome and Sarras, and recalls Biblical tales from the ancient Near East). Arthurian myth is set during the 5th to 6th centuries; however, Malory's telling contains many anachronisms and makes no effort at historical accuracy–even more so than his sources. Earlier romance authors have already depicted the "Dark Ages" times of Arthur as a familiar, High-to-Late Medieval style world of armored knights and grand castles taking place of the Post-Roman warriors and forts. Malory further modernized the legend by conflating the Celtic Britain with his own contemporary Kingdom of England (for example explicitly identifying Logres as England, Camelot as Winchester, and Astolat as Guildford) and, completely ahistorically, replacing the legend's Saxon invaders with the Ottoman Turks in the role of King Arthur's foreign pagan enemies.[37][38] Malory hearkens back to an age of knighthood, with chivalric codes of honour and jousting tournaments, and as noted by Ian Scott-Kilvert, characters which "consist almost entirely of fighting men, their wives or mistresses, with an occasional clerk or an enchanter, a fairy or a fiend, a giant or a dwarf," and "time does not work on the heroes of Malory."[39]
According to Charles W. Moorman III, Malory intended "to set down in English a unified Arthuriad which should have as its great theme the birth, the flowering, and the decline of an almost perfect earthy civilization." Moorman identified three main motifs going through the work: Sir Lancelot's and Queen Guinevere's affair; the long blood feud between the families of King Lot and King Pellinore; and the mystical Grail Quest. Each of these plots would define one of the causes of the downfall of Arthur's kingdom, namely "the failures in love, in loyalty, in religion."[40] Beverly Kennedy opined that the central theme of the work is that of adultery, from the begetting of Arthur to the cause of his fall.[41] Much of the Malory scholarship is concerned specifically with the issues relating to the subject of Lancelot and Guinevere's adultery.[42]
Volumes and internal chronology
The holy island of Mont-Saint-Michel where Arthur slays an evil giant in one of the only few supernatural elements of the Roman War story.
Prior to Caxton's reorganization, Malory's work originally consisted of eight volumes (one of them was also divided into two parts). The following list uses Winchester Manuscript (Malory's "Syr" is usually rendered "Sir" today) as well as William Caxton's print edition and modern titles by Arthurian scholars Eugène Vinaver and P. J. C. Field:
The birth and rise of Arthur: Fro the Maryage of Kynge Uther unto Kyng Arthure that Regned Aftir Hym and Ded Many Batayles (Caxton's Books I–IV, Vinaver's The Tale of King Arthur, Field's King Uther and King Arthur)
Arthur's war against the resurgent Western Romans: The Noble Tale betwyxt Kynge Arthure and Lucius the Emperour of Rome, alternatively The Tale of the Noble Kynge Arthure That Was Emperoure Hymself thorow Dygnyté of His Hondys (Caxton's Book V, Vinaver's The Tale of the Noble King Arthur That Was Emperor Himself through Dignity of His Hands, Field's King Arthur and the Emperor Lucius)
The early adventures of Lancelot: The Noble Tale of Syr Launcelot du Lake (Caxton's Book VI, Field's Sir Launcelot du Lake)
The story of Gareth: The Tale of Syr Gareth of Orkeney That Was Called Beaumayns by Syr Kay (Caxton's Book VII, Vinaver's The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney That Was Called Bewmaynes, Field's Sir Gareth of Orkney)
The legend of Tristan and Iseult: The Fyrste Boke of Syr Trystram de Lyones and The Secunde Boke of Syr Trystram de Lyones (Caxton's Books VIII–XII, Vinaver's The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones, Field's Sir Tristram de Lyones: The First Book and Sir Tristram de Lyones: The Second Book)
The quest for the Grail: The Tale of the Sankgreal (Caxton's Books XIII–XVII, Field's The Sankgreal)
The forbidden love between Lancelot and Guinevere: Syr Launcelot and Quene Gwenyvere (Caxton's Books XVIII–XIX, Vinaver's The Book of Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere, Field's Sir Launcelot and Queen Guenivere)
The breakup of the Knights of the Round Table and the last battle of Arthur: The Moste Pyteuous Tale of Le Morte d'Arthur Saunz Gwerdon [meaning Without Reward, usually corrected to saunz Guerdon] (Caxton's Books XX–XXI, Vinaver's The Death of King Arthur or The Most Piteous Tale of the Morte Arthur saunz Guerdon; also known as The Death of Arthur in modern scholarship)
Moorman attempted to put the books of the Winchester Manuscript in chronological order. In his analysis, Malory's intended chronology can be divided into three parts: Book I followed by a 20-year interval that includes some events of Book V (Lancelot and Elaine – from the meeting of the two to the madness of Lancelot); the 15-year-long period of Book V, also spanning Books IV (takes place after the adventure of the Cote de Mal Tale), II (takes place between King Mark and Alexander the Orphan), and III (takes place between Alexander the Orphan and the Tournament of Surluse); Lancelot meets Bliant after the Tournament of Lonezep towards the end of Lancelot and Elaine section; the section of Sir Palomides takes place after Lancelot returns to Arthur's court; and finally Books VI, VII, and VIII in a straightforward sequence beginning with the closing part of Book V (the conclusion section).[43]
Style
Like other English prose in the 15th century, Le Morte d'Arthur was highly influenced by French writings, but Malory blends these with other English verse and prose forms. The Middle English of Le Morte d'Arthur is much closer to Early Modern English than the Middle English of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (the publication of Chaucer's work by Caxton was a precursor to Caxton's publication of Malory); if the spelling is modernised, it reads almost like Elizabethan English. Where the Canterbury Tales are in Middle English, Malory extends "one hand to Chaucer, and one to Spenser,"[44] by constructing a manuscript that is hard to place in one category. His writing can be divisive today, often regarded by critics (including prominent scholars such as Vinaver, George Saintsbury, Robert Lumiansky, C.S Lewis, and E. K. Chambers) as simplistic and unsophisticated from an artistic viewpoint.[45] Conversely, there are also opposite opinions, even regarding it a "supreme aesthetic accomplishment" (William Carlin).[46] For a modern audience, his prose may feel better when modernised (and perhaps especially when also dramatically performed aloud) than as it reads in its original form.[47]
Other aspects of Malory's writing style include his abrupt abridging of much of the source material, especially in the early parts concerning Arthur's backstory and his rise to power (preferring the later adventures of the knights), apparently acting on an authorial assumption that the reader knows the story already and resulting in the problem of omitting important things "thereby often rendering his text obscure", and how he would sometimes turn descriptions of characters into proper names.[48][49] Because there is so much lengthy ground to cover, Malory uses "so—and—then", often to transition his retelling of the stories that become episodes instead of instances that can stand on their own.[50]
Synopsis and analysis
Book I (Caxton I–IV)
"How Arthur by the means of Merlin got the Excalibur, his sword by the Lady of the Lake", illustration for Le Morte Darthur, J. M. Dent & Co., London (1893–1894), by Aubrey Beardsley
Arthur is born to the High King of Britain (Malory's "England") Uther Pendragon and his new wife Igraine, and then taken by the wizard Merlin to be secretly fostered by Arthur's uncle Ector in the country in turmoil after the death of Uther. Years later, the now teenage Arthur suddenly becomes the ruler of the leaderless Britain when he removes the fated sword from the stone in the contest set up by Merlin, which proves his birthright that he himself had not been aware of. The newly crowned King Arthur and his followers including King Ban and King Bors go on to fight against rivals and rebels, ultimately winning the war in the great Battle of Bedegraine. Arthur prevails due to his military prowess and the prophetic and magical counsel of Merlin (later eliminated and replaced by the sorceress Nimue), further helped by the sword Excalibur that Arthur received from a Lady of the Lake. With the help of reconciled rebels, Arthur also crushes a foreign invasion in the Battle of Clarence. With his throne secure, Arthur marries the also young Princess Guinevere and inherits the Round Table from her father, King Leodegrance. He then gathers his chief knights, including some of his former enemies who now joined him, at his capital Camelot and establishes the Round Table fellowship as all swear to the Pentecostal Oath as a guide for knightly conduct.
It also includes the tale of Balyn and Balan (a lengthy section which Malory called a "booke" in itself), as well as some other episodes, such as King Pellinore's hunt for the Questing Beast and the treason of Arthur's sorceress half-sister Queen Morgan le Fay in the plot involving her lover Accolon. Furthermore, it tells of begetting of Arthur's incestuous son Mordred by one of his other royal half-sisters, Morgause (though Arthur did not know her as his sister). On Merlin's advice, Arthur then takes away every newborn boy in his kingdom and all of them but Mordred (who miraculously survives and eventually indeed will kill his father in the end) perish at sea; this is mentioned matter-of-factly, with no apparent moral overtone.
The narrative of the first book is mainly based on the Prose Merlin in its version from the Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin (possibly the manuscript Cambridge University Library, Additional 7071[51]).[16] Malory addresses his contemporary preoccupations with legitimacy and societal unrest, which will appear throughout the rest of Le Morte d'Arthur.[52] His concern reflects the 15th-century England, where many were claiming their rights to power through violence and bloodshed. According to Helen Cooper in Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte D'arthur – The Winchester Manuscript, the prose style, which mimics historical documents of the time, lends an air of authority to the whole work. This allowed contemporaries to read the book as a history rather than as a work of fiction, therefore making it a model of order for Malory's violent and chaotic times during the Wars of the Roses, arguably resembling his contemporary John Vale's Book.[53]
Book II (Caxton V)
The opening of the second volume finds Arthur and his kingdom without an enemy. His throne is secure, and his knights including Griflet and Tor as well as Arthur's own nephews Gawain and Ywain (sons of Morgause and Morgan, respectively) have proven themselves in various battles and fantastic quests as told in the first volume. Seeking more glory, Arthur and his knights then go to the war against (fictitious) Emperor Lucius who has just demanded Britain to resume paying tribute. Departing from Geoffrey of Monmouth's literary tradition in which Mordred is left in charge (as this happens there near the end of the story), Malory's Arthur leaves his court in the hands of Constantine of Cornwall and sails to Normandy to meet his cousin Hoel. After that, the story details Arthur's march on Rome through Almaine (Germany) and Italy. Following a series of battles resulting in the great victory over Lucius and his allies, and the Roman Senate's surrender, Arthur is crowned a Western Emperor but instead arranges a proxy government and returns to Britain.
This book is based mostly on the first half of the Middle English heroic poem Alliterative Morte Arthure (itself heavily based on Geoffrey's pseudo-chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae). Caxton's print version is abridged by more than half compared to Malory's manuscript.[54] Vinaver theorized that Malory originally wrote this part first as a standalone work, while without knowledge of French romances.[55] In effect, there is a time lapse that includes Arthur's war against King Claudas in France.
Book III (Caxton VI)
"How Sir Launcelot slew the knight Sir Peris de Forest Savage that did distress ladies, damosels, and gentlewomen." The Romance of King Arthur (1917), abridged from Malory's Morte d'Arthur by Alfred W. Pollard and illustrated by Arthur Rackham
Going back to a time before Book II, Malory establishes Lancelot, a young French orphan prince, as King Arthur's most revered knight through numerous episodic adventures, some of which he presented in comedic manner.[56] Lancelot always adheres to the Pentecostal Oath, assisting ladies in distress and giving mercy for honourable enemies he has defeated in combat. However, the world Lancelot lives in is too complicated for simple mandates and, although Lancelot aspires to live by an ethical code, the actions of others make it difficult.
Lancelot's character had previously appeared in the chronologically later Book II, fighting for Arthur against the Romans. In Book III, based on parts of the French Prose Lancelot (mostly its 'Agravain' section, along with the chapel perilous episode taken from Perlesvaus),[16][57][58] His character is widely regarded as of central importance to the entire work, representing "the very paradigm of Malorian knighthood".[59] Malory attempts to turn the focus of courtly love from adultery to service by having Lancelot dedicate doing everything he does for Queen Guinevere, the wife of his lord and friend Arthur, but avoid (for a time being) to committing to an adulterous relationship with her. Nevertheless, it is still her love that is the ultimate source of Lancelot's supreme knightly qualities, something that Malory himself did not appear to be fully comfortable with as it seems to have clashed with his personal ideal of knighthood.[60] Although a catalyst of the fall of Camelot, as it was in the French romantic prose cycle tradition, the moral handling of the adultery between Lancelot and Guinevere in Le Morte implies their relationship is true and pure, as Malory focused on the ennobling aspects of courtly love. Other issues are demonstrated when Morgan enchants Lancelot, which reflects a feminization of magic, and in how the prominence of jousting tournament fighting in this tale indicates a shift away from battlefield warfare towards a more mediated and virtuous form of violence.
"'Lady,' replied Sir Beaumains, 'a knight is little worth who may not bear with a damsel.'" Lancelot Speed's illustration for James Thomas Knowles' The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights (1912)
The fourth volume primarily deals with the adventures of the young Gareth ("Beaumains") in his long quest for the sibling ladies Lynette and Lioness. The youngest of Arthur's nephews by Morgause and King Lot, Gareth hides his identity as a nameless squire at Camelot as to achieve his knighthood in the most honest and honourable way.[61] While this particular story is not directly based on any existing text unlike most of the content of previous volumes, it resembles various Arthurian romances of the Fair Unknown type.[62]
Book V (Caxton VIII–XII)
A long collection of the tales about Tristan of Lyonesse as well as a variety of other knights such as Dinadan, Lamorak, Palamedes, Alexander the Orphan (Tristan's young relative abducted by Morgan), and "La Cote de Male Tayle". After telling of Tristan's birth and childhood, its primary focus is on the doomed adulterous relationship between Tristan and the Belle Isolde, wife of his villainous uncle King Mark. It also includes the retrospective story of how Galahad was fathered by Lancelot to Princess Elaine of Corbenic, followed by Lancelot's years of madness.
Based mainly on the French vast Prose Tristan, or its lost English adaptation (and possibly also the Middle English verse romance Sir Tristrem[63]), Malory's treatment of the legend of the young Cornish prince Tristan is the centerpiece of Le Morte d'Arthur as well as the longest of his eight books, constituting a third of the entire work. The variety of episodes, and the alleged lack of structural coherence in the Tristan narrative,[64] raised questions about its role in Malory's text. Vinaver condemned it as "long and monotonous" and suggested it to be left for the last, his view shared by much of classic scholarship.[65] Others, conversely, have since praised or at very least partially approved of the book, arguably an essential reading due to how Malory foreshadows and prepares for the rest of his work by developing or forecasting a variety of characters, themes, and tales found in the later books.[66] It can be seen as an exploration of secular chivalry and a discussion of earthly "worship" (in the meaning of glory and reputation) when it is founded in a sense of shame and honor.[67][68] If Le Morte is viewed as a text in which Malory is attempting to define the concept of knighthood, then the tale of Tristan becomes its critique, rather than Malory attempting to create an ideal knight as he does in some of the other books.
Book VI (Caxton XIII–XVII)
"The Holy Grail, covered with white silk, came into the hall." The Grail's miraculous sighting at the Round Table in William Henry Margetson's illustration for Legends of King Arthur and His Knights (1914)
Malory's primary source for this long part was the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal, chronicling the adventures of many Knights of the Round Table in their mostly separate, pilgrimage-like journeys to find the Holy Grail. Gawain is the first to embark on the search for the Grail, followed by others including Lancelot who likewise undergo the quest, traveling either in small groups of changing composition or alone. Their martial and spiritual exploits are intermingled with encounters with maidens and hermits who offer advice and interpret dreams along the way. It is ultimately achieved by Galahad and his final companions, Percival and Bors the Younger.
After the confusion of the secular moral code he manifested within the previous book, Malory attempts to construct a new mode of chivalry by placing an emphasis on religion, albeit somewhat less than his French sources did, the degree of difference depending on an interpretation.[69] As in the Queste, the framework for the interactions between the Grail knights (Galahad, Percival, and Bors) is based on Saint Aelred's ideas from his book Spiritual Friendship.[70] Christianity and the Church offer a venue through which the Pentecostal Oath can be upheld, whereas the strict moral code imposed by religion foreshadows almost certain failure on the part of the knights. For instance, Gawain refuses to do penance for his sins, claiming the tribulations that coexist with knighthood as a sort of secular penance. Likewise, the flawed Lancelot, for all his sincerity, is unable to completely escape his adulterous love of Guinevere, and is thus destined to fail where Galahad will succeed. This coincides with the personification of perfection in the form of Galahad, a virgin wielding the power of God. Galahad's life, uniquely entirely without sin, makes him a model of a holy knight that cannot be emulated through secular chivalry. Nevertheless, in contrast to the striking condemnation and humiliation of Lancelot's character in the Queste, Malory's version of the Knight of the Lake continues to be the paragon of, at least, earthly honor.[71]
Book VII (Caxton XVIII–XIX)
Following the quest for the Holy Grail, Lancelot tries to maintain his knightly virtues but finds himself drawn back into his illicit romance with Guinevere. He stays true to her, tragically rejecting the desperate love of Elaine of Ascolat, and completes a series of trials that culminates in his rescue of the Queen from the abduction by the renegade knight Maleagant (this is also the first time the work explicitly mentions the couple's sexual adultery).
Writing it, Malory combined the established material from the Vulgate Cycle's early Prose Lancelot (including its abridged retelling of Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart), and the early parts of the Vulgate Mort Artu, with his own creations (the episodes "The Great Tournament" and "The Healing of Sir Urry").[72][73] A key theme emphasised at the end of each of the book's five tales is forgiveness.[74]
Book VIII (Caxton XX–XXI)
Arthur's final voyage to Avalon in a 1912 illustration by Florence Harrison
A disaster strikes when King Arthur's bastard son Mordred and his half-brother Agravain succeed in revealing Queen Guinevere's adultery and Arthur sentences her to burn. Lancelot's rescue party raids the execution, killing several loyal knights of the Round Table, including, unwittingly, Gawain's younger brothers Gareth and Gaheris. Gawain, bent on revenge, prompts Arthur into a long and bitter civil war with Lancelot. After they leave to pursue Lancelot in France, where Gawain is mortally injured in a duel with Lancelot (and later finally reconciles with him on his death bed), Mordred seizes the throne and takes control of Arthur's kingdom. At the bloody final battle between Mordred's followers and Arthur's remaining loyalists in England, Arthur kills Mordred but is himself gravely wounded. As Arthur is dying, the lone survivor Bedivere casts Excalibur away, and Morgan and Nimue come together to take Arthur to Avalon. Following the disappearance and presumed passing of King Arthur, who is succeeded by Constantine, Malory provides a short epilogue about the later lives and deaths of Bedivere, Guinevere, and Lancelot and his kinsmen.
Writing the eponymous final book, Malory used the version of Arthur's death derived primarily from parts of the Vulgate Mort Artu and, as a secondary source,[75] from the English Stanzaic Morte Arthur (or, in another possibility, a hypothetical now-lost French modification of the Mort Artu was a common source of both of these texts[76]). In the words of George Brown, the book "celebrates the greatness of the Arthurian world on the eve of its ruin. As the magnificent fellowship turns violently upon itself, death and destruction also produce repentance, forgiveness, and salvation."[77]
Following the lapse of 182 years since the last printing, the year 1816 saw a new edition by Alexander Chalmers, illustrated by Thomas Uwins (The History of the Renowned Prince Arthur, King of Britain; with His Life and Death, and All His Glorious Battles. Likewise, the Noble Acts and Heroic Deeds of His Valiant Knights of the Round Table), as well as another one by Joseph Haslewood (La Mort D'Arthur: The Most Ancient and Famous History of the Renowned Prince Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table); both of these were based on the 1634 Stansby's version. Several other modern editions, including these by Thomas Wright (La Morte D'Arthure: The History of King Arthur and of the Knights of the Round Table, 1858) and Ernest Rhys (Malory's History of King Arthur and the Quest of The Holy Grail: From The Morte D'Arthur, 1886), were also based on that by Stansby.[78][79]
William Upcott's edition directly based on then-newly rediscovered Morgan copy of the first print Caxton version was published as Malory's Morte d'Arthur with Robert Southey's introduction and notes including summaries of the original French material from the Vulgate tradition in 1817. Afterwards, Caxton became the basis for many subsequent editions until the 1934 discovery of the Winchester Manuscript.
The first mass-printed modern edition of Caxton was published in 1868 by Edward Strachey as a book for boys titled Le Morte Darthur: Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur and His Noble Knights of the Round Table, highly censored in accordance to Victorian morals. Many other 19th-century editors, abridgers and retellers such as Henry Frith (King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, 1884) would also censor their versions for the same reason.[80] The first "standard" popular edition, based on Caxton was Heinrich Oskar Sommer's Le Morte Darthur by Syr Thomas Malory published in 1890 with an introduction and glossary as well as an essay on Malory's prose style, followed by these by John Rhys in 1893 (Everyman's Library) and Israel Gollancz in 1897 (Temple Classics).[78][79]
Modernized editions update the late Middle English spelling, update some pronouns, and re-punctuate and re-paragraph the text. Others furthermore update the phrasing and vocabulary to contemporary Modern English. The following sentence (from Caxton's preface, addressed to the reader) is an example written in Middle English and then in Modern English:
Doo after the good and leve the evyl, and it shal brynge you to good fame and renomme.[81] (Do after the good and leave the evil, and it shall bring you to good fame and renown.[82])
Since the 19th-century Arthurian revival, there have been numerous modern republications, retellings and adaptations of Le Morte d'Arthur. A few of them are listed below (see also the following Bibliography section):
Malory's book inspired Reginald Heber's unfinished poem Morte D'Arthur. A fragment of it was published by Heber's widow in 1830.[83]
Victorian poet Alfred Tennyson retold the legends in the poetry volume Idylls of the King (1859 and 1885). His work focuses on Le Morte d'Arthur and the Mabinogion, with many expansions, additions and several adaptations, such as the fate of Guinevere (in Malory, she is sentenced to be burnt at the stake but is rescued by Lancelot; in the Idylls, Guinevere flees to a convent, is forgiven by Arthur, repents and serves in the convent until her death).
James Thomas Knowles published Le Morte d'Arthur as The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights in 1860. Knowles described it as "an abridgment of Sir Thomas Malory's version ... with a few additions from Geoffrey of Monmouth and other sources—and an endeavor to arrange the many tales into a more or less consecutive story."[84] Originally illustrated by George Housman Thomas, it has been subsequently illustrated by various other artists, including William Henry Margetson and Louis Rhead. The 1912 edition was illustrated by Lancelot Speed, who later also illustrated Rupert S. Holland's 1919 King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table that was based on Knowles with addition of some material from the 12th-century Perceval, the Story of the Grail.
In 1892, London publisher J. M. Dent produced an illustrated edition of Le Morte Darthur in modern spelling, with illustrations by 20-year-old insurance office clerk and art student Aubrey Beardsley. It was issued in 12 volumes between June 1893 and mid-1894, and met with only modest success, but was later described as Beardsley's first masterpiece, launching what has come to be known as the "Beardsley look".[87] It was Beardsley's first major commission, and included nearly 585 chapter openings, borders, initials, ornaments and full- or double-page illustrations. The majority of the Dent edition illustrations were reprinted by Dover Publications in 1972 under the title Beardsley's Illustrations for Le Morte Darthur. A facsimile of the Beardsley edition, complete with Malory's unabridged text, was published in the 1990s.
Mary MacLeod's popular children's adaptation King Arthur and His Noble Knights: Stories From Sir Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur was first published with illustrations by Arthur George Walker in 1900 and subsequently reprinted in various editions and in extracts in children's magazines.
Beatrice Clay wrote a retelling first included in her Stories from Le Morte Darthur and the Mabinogion (1901). A retitled version, Stories of King Arthur and the Round Table (1905), features illustrations by Dora Curtis.[88]
In 1902, Andrew Lang published The Book of Romance, a retelling of Malory illustrated by Henry Justice Ford. It was retitled as Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table in the 1909 edition.
Another children's adaptation, Henry Gilbert's King Arthur's Knights: The Tales Retold for Boys and Girls, was first published in 1911, originally illustrated by Walter Crane. Highly popular, it was reprinted many times until 1940, featuring also illustrations from other artists such as Frances Brundage and Thomas Heath Robinson.
Alfred W. Pollard published an abridged edition of Malory in 1917, illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Pollard later also published a complete version in four volumes during 1910–1911 and in two volumes in 1920, with illustrations by William Russell Flint.
T. H. White's The Once and Future King (1938–1977) is a famous and influential retelling of Malory's work. White rewrote the story in his own fashion. His rendition contains intentional and obvious anachronisms and social-political commentary on contemporary matters. White made Malory himself a character and bestowed upon him the highest praise.[89]
Pollard's 1910–1911 abridged edition of Malory provided basis for John W. Donaldson's 1943 book Arthur Pendragon of Britain. It was illustrated by N. C. Wyeth son, Andrew Wyeth.
Alice Mary Hadfield retold the stories as King Arthur and the Round Table (1953), with illustrations by Donald Seton Cammell, in the series "The Children's Illustrated Classics," published by Dent /Dutton.
Alex Blum's comic book retelling Knights of the Round Table was published in the Classics Illustrated series in 1953.
John Steinbeck utilized the Winchester Manuscripts of Thomas Malory and other sources as the original text for his The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights. This retelling was intended for young people but was never completed. It was published posthumously in 1976 as The Book of King Arthur and His Noble Knights of the Round Table.
Walker Percy credited his childhood reading of The Boy's King Arthur for his own novel Lancelot (1977).
Thomas Berger described his 1978 novel Arthur Rex as his memory of the "childish version" by Elizabeth Lodor Merchant that began his fascination in the Arthurian legend in 1931.[90]
Excalibur, a 1981 British film directed, produced, and co-written by John Boorman, retells Le Morte d'Arthur, with some changes to the plot and fate of certain characters (such as merging Morgause with Morgan, who dies in this version).
In 1984, the ending of Malory's story was turned by John Barton and Gillian Lynne into a BBC2 non-speaking (that is featuring only Malory's narration and silent actors) television drama, titled simply Le Morte d'Arthur.
Jeff Limke's and Tom Yeates' comic book adaptation of a part of Malory's Book I was published as King Arthur: Excalibur Unsheathed in 2006, followed by Arthur & Lancelot: The Fight for Camelot in 2007.
Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte Darthur: The Definitive Original Text Edition (D. S. Brewer) Ed. Field, Rev. P.J.C. (19 May 2017). ISBN978-1-843-84460-0
Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte Darthur (2 volume set) (Arthurian Studies) (D. S. Brewer) Ed. Field, Rev. P.J.C. Illustrated ed., (2015). ISBN978-1-843-84314-6
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. (A Norton Critical Edition). Ed. Shepherd, Stephen H.A. (2004). New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN0-393-97464-2
_________. The Works of Sir Thomas Malory. Ed. Vinaver, Eugène. 3rd ed. Field, Rev. P.J.C. (1990). 3 vol. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-812344-2, 0-19-812345-0, 0-19-812346-9.
_________. Malory: Complete Works. Ed. Vinaver, Eugène (1977). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-281217-3. (Revision and retitling of Malory: Works of 1971).
_________. The Works of Sir Thomas Malory. Ed. Vinaver, Eugène (1967). 2nd ed. 3 vol. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN0-19-811838-4.
_________. Malory: Works. Ed. Vinaver, Eugène (1954). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-254163-3. (Malory's text from Vinaver's The Works of Sir Thomas Malory (1947), in a single volume dropping most of Vinaver's notes and commentary.)
_________. The Works of Sir Thomas Malory. Ed. Vinaver, Eugène (1947). 3 vol. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Modernised spelling:
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur: The Winchester Manuscript. Ed. Cooper, Helen (1998). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-282420-1 (Abridged text.)
Brewer, D.S. Malory: The Morte Darthur.York Medieval Texts, Elizabeth Salter and Derek Pearsall, Gen. Eds. (1968) London: Edward Arnold. Reissued 1993. ISBN0-7131-5326-1. (Modernised spelling version of Books 7 (except The Poisoned Apple) and 8 as a complete story in its own right. Based on Winchester MS but with changes taken from Caxton and some emendations by Brewer.)
The Winchester Manuscript Edition has not been modernised fully yet but there are some partial and abridged modernisations of the text.
Translation/paraphrase into contemporary English:
Armstrong, Dorsey. Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur: A New Modern English Translation Based on the Winchester Manuscript (Renaissance and Medieval Studies) Anderson, SC: Parlor Press, 2009. ISBN1-60235-103-1.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur: King Arthur and Legends of the Round Table. Trans. and abridged by Baines, Keith (1983). New York: Bramhall House. ISBN0-517-02060-2. Reissued by Signet (2001). ISBN0-451-52816-6.
_________. Le Morte D'Arthur. (London Medieval & Renaissance Ser.) Trans. Lumiansky, Robert M. (1982). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN0-684-17673-4.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte d'Arthur, printed by William Caxton, 1485. Ed. Needham, Paul (1976). London.
Original spelling:
Malory, Sir Thomas. Caxton's Malory. Ed. Spisak, James. W. (1983). 2 vol. boxed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN0-520-03825-8.
_________. Le Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory. Ed. Sommer, H. Oskar (1889–91). 3 vol. London: David Nutt. The text of Malory from this edition without Sommer's annotation and commentary and selected texts of Malory's sources.
_________. Tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Caxton's text, with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley and a foreword by Sarah Peverley (2017). Flame Tree Publishing. ISBN978-1786645517.
–––. Le Morte Darthur, Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse: University of Michigan.
Modernised spelling:
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte d'Arthur. Ed. Matthews, John (2000). Illustrated by Ferguson, Anna-Marie. London: Cassell. ISBN0-304-35367-1. (The introduction by John Matthews praises the Winchester text but then states this edition is based on the Pollard version of the Caxton text, with eight additions from the Winchester manuscript.)
_________. Le Morte Darthur. Introduction by Moore, Helen (1996). Herefordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd. ISBN1-85326-463-6. (Seemingly based on the Pollard text.)
_________. Le morte d'Arthur. Introduction by Bryan, Elizabeth J. (1994). New York: Modern Library. ISBN0-679-60099-X. (Pollard text.)
_________. Le Morte d'Arthur. Ed. Cowen, Janet (1970). Introduction by Lawlor, John. 2 vols. London: Penguin. ISBN0-14-043043-1, 0-14-043044-X.
_________. Le Morte d'Arthur. Ed. Rhys, John (1906). (Everyman's Library 45 & 46.) London: Dent; London: J. M. Dent; New York: E. P. Dutton. Released in paperback format in 1976: ISBN0-460-01045-X, 0-460-01046-8. (Text based on an earlier modernised Dent edition of 1897.)
_________. Le Morte Darthur: Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table,. Ed. Pollard, A.W. (1903). 2 vol. New York: Macmillan. (Text corrected from the bowdlerised 1868 Macmillan edition edited by Sir Edward Strachey.)
_________. Le Morte Darthur. Ed. Simmon, F.J. (1893–94). Illustrated by Beardsley, Aubrey. 2 vol. London: Dent.
Linton, Cecelia Lampp. The Knight Who Gave Us King Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory, Knight Hospitaller. Front Royal, VA: Christendom College Press. 2023. ISBN979-8-9868157-2-5
Illegitimacy in fiction – In Le Morte d'Arthur, King Arthur is conceived illegitimately when his father Uther Pendragon utilizes Merlin's magic to seduce Igraine
James Archer – one of 19th-century British artists inspired by Malory's book
Notes and references
↑ The article le would be ungrammatical in modern French since morte (or mort) is a feminine noun, for which French requires the article la (i.e., "la mort d'Arthur"). According to Stephen Shepherd, "Malory frequently misapplies le in titular compounds, perhaps on a simple sonic and gender-neutral analogy with 'the'." Stephen H. A. Shepherd, ed., Le Morte Darthur, by Sir Thomas Malory (New York: Norton, 2004), 1n. However, in Anglo-Norman, "the feminine la was often reduced to le, especially in the later period" (thirteenth century and later), Mildred K. Pope, From Latin to Modern French with Especial Consideration of Anglo-Norman: Phonology and Morphology (Manchester UK: University Press, 1934), para. 1252.iii (p. 30).
↑ Bryan, Elizabeth J. (1994–1999). Introduction. Le morte d'Arthur. By Malory, Thomas. New York: Modern Library. p.vii. ISBN0-679-60099-X.
↑ Dugdale, Sir Thomas. The Antiquities of Warwickshire Illustrated: From Records, Lieger-Books, Manuscripts, Charters, Evidences, Tombes, and Armes, Beautified with Maps, Prospects, and Portraitures. London: Thomas Warren, 1656.
↑ Matthews, William (1960). The Ill-Framed Knight: A Skeptical Inquiry into the Identity of Sir Thomas Malory. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
↑ Linton, Cecelia Lampp (2023). The Knight Who Gave Us King Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory, Knight Hospitaller. Front Royal, VA: Christendom College Press. ISBN979-8-9868157-2-5.
↑ Bornstein, Diane D. (1972). "Military Strategy in Malory and Vegetius' 'De re militari'". Comparative Literature Studies. 9 (2): 123–129. JSTOR40245989.
↑ Lumiansky (1987), p. 878. This note is available only in the Morgan Library & Museum version of the book, since in the Winchester manuscript and the John Rylands Library copy the final pages are missing.
↑ Whetter, K. S. (2017). The Manuscript and Meaning of Malory's Morte Darthur. D. S. Brewer.
↑ William Matthews, The Ill-Framed Knight: A Skeptical Inquiry into the Identity of Sir Thomas Malory (Berkeley: University of California, 1966).
↑ Salda, Michael N. (1995). "Caxton's Print vs. the Winchester Manuscript: An Introduction to the Debate on Editing Malory's Morte Darthur". Arthuriana. 5 (2): 1–4. doi:10.1353/art.1995.0026. JSTOR27869113. S2CID161529058.
↑ Lumiansky (1987), pp. 887–896; Lumiansky favours the view that Malory himself revised the text.
↑ E. F. Jacob, Angus McIntosh (1968) JSTOR43627483 Review of The Ill-framed Knight. A Skeptical Inquiry into the identity of Sir Thomas Malory by William Matthews]. Medium Aevum Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 347–348.
↑ Moorman, Charles (1961). "Internal Chronology in Malory's 'Morte Darthur'". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 60 (2): 240–249. JSTOR27713803.
↑ Tucker, P. E. (1953). "The Place of the 'Quest of the Holy Grail' in the 'Morte Darthur'". The Modern Language Review. 48 (4): 391–397. doi:10.2307/3718652. JSTOR3718652.
↑ Naughton, Ryan. "Peace, Justice and Retinue-building in Malory's 'The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney'". Arthurian Literature. Vol.XXIX. pp.143–160.[full citation needed]
↑ Hardman, P. (2004) "Malory and middle English verse romance: the case of 'Sir Tristrem'". In: Wheeler, B. (ed.) Arthurian Studies in Honour of P.J.C. Field. Arthurian Studies (57). D.S. Brewer, Cambridge, pp. 217–222. ISBN9781843840138.
↑ Malory, Thomas; Lanier, Sidney; Kappes, Alfred (1880). The Boy's King Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory's History of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, Edited for Boys. Charles Scribner's Sons. OCLC653360.
↑ Lanier, Sidney (1950). King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. Grosset & Dunlap. ISBN0448060167.
↑ Dover Publications (1972). Beardsley's Illustrations for Le Morte Darthur, Publisher's note & back cover.
Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Traditionally, the sword in the stone is the proof of Arthur's lineage. The sword given to him by the Lady of the Lake is not the same weapon, even though in some versions of the legend both of them share the name of Excalibur. Several similar swords and other weapons also appear within Arthurian texts, as well as in other legends.
Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author of Le Morte d'Arthur, the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, compiled and in most cases translated from French sources. The most popular version of Le Morte d'Arthur was published by the famed London printer William Caxton in 1485. Much of Malory's life history is obscure, but he identified himself as a "knight prisoner", apparently reflecting that he was either a criminal, a prisoner-of-war, or suffering some other type of confinement. Malory's identity has never been confirmed. Since modern scholars began researching his identity the most widely accepted candidate has been Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel in Warwickshire, who was imprisoned at various times for criminal acts and possibly also for political reasons during the Wars of the Roses. Recent work by Cecelia Lampp Linton, however, presents new evidence in support of Thomas Malory of Hutton Conyers, Yorkshire.
Guinevere, also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First mentioned in popular literature in the early 12th century, nearly 700 years after the purported times of Arthur, Guinevere has since been portrayed as everything from a fatally flawed, villainous, and opportunistic traitor to a noble and virtuous lady. Many records of the legend also feature the variably recounted story of her abduction and rescue as a major part of the tale.
Lancelot du Lac, alternatively written as Launcelot and other variants, is a popular character in Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition. He is typically depicted as King Arthur's close companion and one of the greatest Knights of the Round Table, as well as a secret lover of Arthur's wife, Guinevere.
Galahad, sometimes referred to as Galeas or Galath, among other versions of his name, is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Sir Lancelot du Lac and Lady Elaine of Corbenic and is renowned for his gallantry and purity as the most perfect of all knights. Emerging quite late in the medieval Arthurian tradition, Sir Galahad first appears in the Lancelot–Grail cycle, and his story is taken up in later works, such as the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. In Arthurian literature, he replaced Percival as the hero in the quest for the Holy Grail.
The Lady of the Lake is a title used by multiple characters in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. As either actually fairy or fairy-like yet human enchantresses, they play important roles in various stories, notably by providing Arthur with the sword Excalibur, eliminating the wizard Merlin, raising the knight Lancelot after the death of his father, and helping to take the dying Arthur to Avalon after his final battle. Different Ladies of the Lake appear concurrently as separate characters in some versions of the legend since at least the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently the seminal Le Morte d'Arthur, with the latter describing them as members of a hierarchical group, while some texts also give this title to either Morgan or her sister.
The Knights of the Round Table are the legendary knights of the fellowship of King Arthur that first appeared in the Matter of Britain literature in the mid-12th century. The Knights are an order dedicated to ensuring the peace of Arthur's kingdom following an early warring period, entrusted in later years to undergo a mystical quest for the Holy Grail. The Round Table at which they meet is a symbol of the equality of its members, who range from sovereign royals to minor nobles.
Gareth is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the youngest son of King Lot and Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain and Gaheris, and either a brother or half-brother of Mordred. Gareth is particularly notable in Le Morte d'Arthur, where one of its eight books is named after and largely dedicated to him, and in which he is also known by his nickname Beaumains.
Elaine of Astolat, also known as Elayne of Ascolat and other variants of the name, is a figure in Arthurian legend. She is a lady from the castle of Astolat who dies of her unrequited love for Sir Lancelot. Well-known versions of her story appear in Sir Thomas Malory's 1485 book Le Morte d'Arthur, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's mid-19th-century Idylls of the King, and Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott". She should not be confused with Elaine of Corbenic, the mother of Galahad by Lancelot.
Dinadan is a Cornish knight of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition of the Prose Tristan and its adaptations, including a part of Le Morte d'Arthur. Best known for his humor and pragmatism, he is a close friend of the protagonist Tristan. Dinadan is the subject of several often comedic episodes until his murder by Mordred and Agravain.
Joyous Gard is a castle featured in the Matter of Britain literature of the legend of King Arthur. It was introduced in the 13th-century French Prose Lancelot as the home and formidable fortress of the hero Lancelot after his conquest of it from the forces of evil. Le Morte d'Arthur identified it with Bamburgh Castle.
Galehaut is a half-giant knight and sovereign prince in Arthurian legend. He is most prominent within the Lancelot-Grail prose cycle where he is a noble enemy turned an ally of King Arthur as well as an inseparable friend of Arthur's champion Lancelot. The figure of Galehaut should not be mistaken with Lancelot's son, Galahad, and some other similarly named characters.
Eugène Vinaver was a Russian-born British literary scholar who is best known today for his edition of the works of Sir Thomas Malory.
Sir Walter Fraser Oakeshott was a Transvaal-born British schoolmaster and academic, who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He is best known for discovering the Winchester Manuscript of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur in 1934.
Elaine or Elizabeth, also known as Amite, and identified as the "Grail Maiden" or the "Grail Bearer", is a character from Arthurian legend. In the Arthurian chivalric romance tradition from the Vulgate Cycle, she is the daughter of the Fisher King, King Pelles of Corbenic, and the mother of Galahad by Lancelot, whose repeated rape by her results in his descent into madness. She should not be confused with Elaine of Astolat, a different woman who too fell in love with Lancelot.
The Pentecostal Oath was an oath which the Knights of King Arthur's Round Table swore, according to Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. It embodied the code of chivalry. In William Caxton's printed edition, this appears at the end of book three, chapter fifteen.
The Boy's King Arthur was an abridged version of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur edited by Sidney Lanier and published in 1880. It was intended as a children's edition, alongside Lanier's other "Boy's" works. The original title, including its subtitle, was The Boy's King Arthur being Sir Thomas Malory's History of King Arther and his Knights of the Round Table. It was republished in 1950 under the title King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.
Ector, sometimes Hector, Antor, or Ectorius, is the father of Kay and the adoptive father of King Arthur in the Matter of Britain. Sometimes portrayed as a king instead of merely a lord, he has an estate in the country as well as properties in London.
S. Dorsey "Dorrie" Armstrong is an American Arthurian scholar who is a Professor of English and Medieval Literature at Purdue University. Before joining the English department at Purdue in 2002, she taught at Centenary College of Louisiana and California State University, Long Beach. Her research interests include medieval women writers; late medieval print culture; and the Arthurian legend.
The StanzaicMorte Arthur is an anonymous 14th-century Middle English poem in 3,969 lines, about the adulterous affair between Lancelot and Guinevere, and Lancelot's tragic dissension with King Arthur. The poem is usually called the Stanzaic Morte Arthur or Stanzaic Morte to distinguish it from another Middle English poem, the Alliterative Morte Arthure. It exercised enough influence on Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur to have, in the words of one recent scholar, "played a decisive though largely unacknowledged role in the way succeeding generations have read the Arthurian legend".
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