Help?

[brigdh]

Okay. So let's imagine, for a moment, that I somehow managed to grow up and become a fairly well-read adult, and yet I have no knowledge of the King Arthur legends. At all. Aside from vague memories of a TV miniseries from about five years ago and the kinds of tiny details scattered throughout English literature (there's a sword in a stone? Or possibly a sword in a lake? They go looking for the Grail? Stay and found Camelot? There's an island with apples on it? Merlin wears Bermuda shorts? Knights who say ni?), I have no idea about any of the people, events, or places. But I want to know. Recommend me some things- what do you suggest as good starting points? What are some nice, thorough versions that require no foreknowledge? Or alternatively, what are some cool retellings?

And hey, since we're on the topic, recommend me any book, King Arthur or no. I'm thinking of what to ask for for Christmas, and things to read are always good.

Comments

[b-hallward.livejournal.com]

I'd have to say that one of the classic sources of Arthurian legend is Malory's Morte D'Arthur, which is quite long but easily available in selected tales from if you just want the highlights. (Interestingly, it -- and almost everything else by Malory -- was written during the almost twenty years he spent in prison.) It's a 15th-century compilation that draws on both French and English sources, and is one of the greatest attempts to take the thousands of stories (or at least versions of stories) in the Arthurian cycle and create a single, fairly coherent narrative.

But if you want something a little more eclectic, one of my favorite Arthurian authors is Chretien de Troyes (late twelfth century) -- a great poet, but unless you really feel like learning a bit of old french, Penguin Classics has a very serviceable prose translation. Chretien doesn't have the same sweeping breadth of coverage as Malory (only 5 tales, I think), but he wrote a very interesting version of the Lancelot/Guinevere affair (The Knight of the Cart) and a fascinating, incomplete account of the grail quest.

Lastly, if you'd like a Arthurian story written by an actual Brit (and which draws on the older, un-frenchified native & germanic traditions) there's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an unknown approximate contemporary of Chaucer often called the Pearl poet. The poetry itself is of significant interest (Middle English alliterative lines, distinctive bob-and-wheel stanza pattern) but the obscure dialect makes a translation necessary -- Tolkien's is probably the best known, but new ones are made every decade or so by professors of Middle English lit with too little to do.

Hmm, I got a bit carried away, huh? oh well. To wit: Malory is a good place to get an idea of the main stories and how they fit together into a larger framework.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Carried away? Sheh, I asked for recs, didn't I? And though I hadn't managed to get around to replying till now, all the responses made me very happy- I have the smartest friend's list ever!

Interestingly, it -- and almost everything else by Malory -- was written during the almost twenty years he spent in prison

You know, so was Marco Polo's book. Strange. Perhaps I should do something to go to jail and see if it doesn't help my writing. ;)

Thank you, though. I think I'm going to start off with Malory and then see what catches my interest next.