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El gran libro del Rey Arturo y los caballeros de la mesa redonda
Edición coleccionista de una de las leyendas más influyentes.
La primera autoridad del mundo en materia artúrica reimagina la historia del rey Arturo y sus caballeros, una de las leyendas más queridas e influyentes, para un nuevo siglo en esta bella edición para coleccionistas, acompañada de magníficas ilustraciones a todo color y dibujos de la mano de John Howe, el mundialmente aclamado artista de Tolkien.
Las historias del rey Arturo y Merlín, Lancelot y Ginebra, Galahad, Gawain, Tristán y el resto de los caballeros de la Mesa Redonda, así como de la búsqueda del Santo Grial, no han dejado de apreciarse a lo largo de los siglos y son la inspiración de muchas novelas de fantasía modernas, películas y series. Estas leyendas comenzaron cuando un misterioso héroe celta llamado Arturo entró en el escenario de la historia en algún momento del siglo VI, lo que generó una gran cantidad de relatos orales que unos 900 años más tarde Thomas Malory recogería en su obra clásica Le Morte d'Arthur (La muerte de Arturo).
El gran libro del rey Arturo nos trae esas leyendas a la época moderna, recurriendo por primera vez a una prosa accesible para lectores contemporáneos. Además de las historias incluidas en La muerte de Arturo, John Matthews incluye numerosos relatos de Arturo y sus caballeros que o bien Malory desconocía o bien estaban escritos en otros idiomas, como la historia de Avenable, la muchacha que se hizo pasar por hombre y se convirtió en un caballero famoso; Morien, cuyas aventuras son tan fantásticas y emocionantes como cualquiera de las que encontramos en la obra de Malory; y una versión de la vida de Gawain, el caballero favorito de la Mesa Redonda, desde su extraño nacimiento e infancia en la pobreza hasta su ascensión al cargo más importante de emperador de Roma.
Además, aquí encontramos también algunos de los relatos más tempranos sobre Arturo, derivados de la tradición céltica. El héroe épico aparece representado en historias tan poderosas como «Las aventuras del Niño Águila» y «La llegada de Merlín», basada en el texto medieval temprano La vida de Merlín, en la que se nos cuenta una versión totalmente nueva de la historia del gran hechicero.
«Casi seiscientos años después de Malory, parece que estos relatos existan aún en un presente glorioso, como si pudiéramos ir a pie a la corte del rey Arturo y encontrarnos en Camelot.»
Neil Gaiman
La primera autoridad del mundo en materia artúrica reimagina la historia del rey Arturo y sus caballeros, una de las leyendas más queridas e influyentes, para un nuevo siglo en esta bella edición para coleccionistas, acompañada de magníficas ilustraciones a todo color y dibujos de la mano de John Howe, el mundialmente aclamado artista de Tolkien.
Las historias del rey Arturo y Merlín, Lancelot y Ginebra, Galahad, Gawain, Tristán y el resto de los caballeros de la Mesa Redonda, así como de la búsqueda del Santo Grial, no han dejado de apreciarse a lo largo de los siglos y son la inspiración de muchas novelas de fantasía modernas, películas y series. Estas leyendas comenzaron cuando un misterioso héroe celta llamado Arturo entró en el escenario de la historia en algún momento del siglo VI, lo que generó una gran cantidad de relatos orales que unos 900 años más tarde Thomas Malory recogería en su obra clásica Le Morte d'Arthur (La muerte de Arturo).
El gran libro del rey Arturo nos trae esas leyendas a la época moderna, recurriendo por primera vez a una prosa accesible para lectores contemporáneos. Además de las historias incluidas en La muerte de Arturo, John Matthews incluye numerosos relatos de Arturo y sus caballeros que o bien Malory desconocía o bien estaban escritos en otros idiomas, como la historia de Avenable, la muchacha que se hizo pasar por hombre y se convirtió en un caballero famoso; Morien, cuyas aventuras son tan fantásticas y emocionantes como cualquiera de las que encontramos en la obra de Malory; y una versión de la vida de Gawain, el caballero favorito de la Mesa Redonda, desde su extraño nacimiento e infancia en la pobreza hasta su ascensión al cargo más importante de emperador de Roma.
Además, aquí encontramos también algunos de los relatos más tempranos sobre Arturo, derivados de la tradición céltica. El héroe épico aparece representado en historias tan poderosas como «Las aventuras del Niño Águila» y «La llegada de Merlín», basada en el texto medieval temprano La vida de Merlín, en la que se nos cuenta una versión totalmente nueva de la historia del gran hechicero.
«Casi seiscientos años después de Malory, parece que estos relatos existan aún en un presente glorioso, como si pudiéramos ir a pie a la corte del rey Arturo y encontrarnos en Camelot.»
Neil Gaiman
810 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2022
78 people are currently reading
2978 people want to read
About the author
John Matthews
425 books196 followersJohn Matthews is an historian, folklorist and author. He has been a full time writer since 1980 and has produced over ninety books on the Arthurian Legends and Grail Studies, as well as short stories and a volume of poetry. He has devoted much of the past thirty years to the study of Arthurian Traditions and myth in general. His best known and most widely read works are ‘Pirates’ (Carlton/Atheneum), No 1 children’s book on the New York Times Review best-seller list for 22 weeks in 2006, ‘The Grail, Quest for Eternal Life’ (Thames & Hudson, 1981) ‘The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom’ (Element, 1994) and ‘The Winter Solstice’ (Quest Books, 1999) which won the Benjamin Franklin Award for that year. His book ‘Celtic Warrior Chiefs’ was a New York Public Library recommended title for young people.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 21, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed all of the stories about King Arthur and the knights. This is the most in-depth book I have come across on this subject that I have been interested in since I was a teenager. Thank you for sharing all the research and background into the lives of the characters. The book and the binding are just beautiful and a collector's item.
November 18, 2022
This book has an audacious title, "The 'Great' Book of King Arthur...and it lives up to its tile. I received my copy as a birthday gift and am thankful for it.
John Matthews (along with his wife Caitlin) is a recognized authority on matters of Anglo-Celtic folklore and mythology; this book is a notable addition to the corpus of his Arthurian writings.
It is definitely a 'coffee table' volume, large, hardbound, with slip cover, high quality paper, and occasional drawings and paintings by John Howe (noted for his work on LOTR books). The physical qualities of the book--even apart from the text--announce "this is something substantial."
Matthews clearly states the nature of this work: it is a collection of Medieval Arthurian tales which were not incorporated by Thomas Mallory into his classic tour-de-force, La Morte De Arthur. Matthews set out to write a sort of parallel to Mallory's tome, grouping various Arthurian legends from different lands into a chronological order so as to form one grand tale, and editing them for continuity.
I chose four stars for the review due to a minor setback that is no discredit to the author: Medieval romances tend to be formula- written. Every castle is "the most magnificent ever seen," every maiden is "the most beautiful woman on earth, modest and politely spoken," and every good knight, "the noblest, most courageous ever known." This routine use of hyperbole becomes laughable after a while. Also part of the genre, every conflict between two males is settled by a joust, and the lengthier tales begin to feel like a replay of splintered lances and unhorsings. Again, this is not John Matthews' fault--he stays true to his source material. It would seem inauthentic if he cut out these Medieval conventions.
Fortunately, there is enough variety in these tales that the book transcends the limitations of its sources. Matthews has paid considerable attention to the Faerie realm, and the enchantments and tricks perpetrated by these denizens of the invisible world literally add charm to the stories. The faerie element is also a reminder that at the height of Christendom the more-ancient Pagan tales of the Sidhe were still a strong element of Europeans' world view. Celtic tales such as The Adventures of Meriadoc, The Visit of the Grey-Hammed Lady, and Sir Gawain and the Crop-Eared Dog, and Guingamor and Guerrehes ,read more like the serendipitous tales of the Mabinogeon than like standard courtly tales of chivalry.
John Matthews has also selected tales which remind us that the Medieval mentality was not limited to white male perspectives. The tale of Sir Lanvil is written by a twelth-century woman. The Adventures of Melora and Orlando is so good that this one story alone would merit purchasing the entire volume. King Arthur's daughter Melora is a warrior woman who outfights and outwits a succession of male opponents to rescue her lover Orlando. It's a fun tale with strong magical and Celtic elements. The Tale of Morien features a Black Muslim knight; although characters in the story are frightened by the color of his skin, he is a sympathetic hero.
Counteracting the hyperbole and repetition of motifs in Medieval legends, the Medieval mind was full of whimsy, and this is evident in surprising elements throughout the tales. Who knew that King Arthur took counsel from a talking parrot? Or that a fair maiden, protecting her injured knight from a serpent, had her nipple bitten off and subsequently restored that with a replacement made of gold? In the best of these tales there are moments when one can imagine a bard telling the story whilst winking at his laughing audience.
After all these tales of combat, love, and some ribaldry, the book ends on a higher tone, with familiar but still powerful elements of the hero's journey at its conclusion. The Adventures of Sone de Nansay is a weighty retelling of the Grail Quest, and The Voyage to Avalon is a unique first-person recounting of Arthur's once-and-future continued existence.
Lovers of Medieval and Arthurian literature will want to have this book in their collection.
John Matthews (along with his wife Caitlin) is a recognized authority on matters of Anglo-Celtic folklore and mythology; this book is a notable addition to the corpus of his Arthurian writings.
It is definitely a 'coffee table' volume, large, hardbound, with slip cover, high quality paper, and occasional drawings and paintings by John Howe (noted for his work on LOTR books). The physical qualities of the book--even apart from the text--announce "this is something substantial."
Matthews clearly states the nature of this work: it is a collection of Medieval Arthurian tales which were not incorporated by Thomas Mallory into his classic tour-de-force, La Morte De Arthur. Matthews set out to write a sort of parallel to Mallory's tome, grouping various Arthurian legends from different lands into a chronological order so as to form one grand tale, and editing them for continuity.
I chose four stars for the review due to a minor setback that is no discredit to the author: Medieval romances tend to be formula- written. Every castle is "the most magnificent ever seen," every maiden is "the most beautiful woman on earth, modest and politely spoken," and every good knight, "the noblest, most courageous ever known." This routine use of hyperbole becomes laughable after a while. Also part of the genre, every conflict between two males is settled by a joust, and the lengthier tales begin to feel like a replay of splintered lances and unhorsings. Again, this is not John Matthews' fault--he stays true to his source material. It would seem inauthentic if he cut out these Medieval conventions.
Fortunately, there is enough variety in these tales that the book transcends the limitations of its sources. Matthews has paid considerable attention to the Faerie realm, and the enchantments and tricks perpetrated by these denizens of the invisible world literally add charm to the stories. The faerie element is also a reminder that at the height of Christendom the more-ancient Pagan tales of the Sidhe were still a strong element of Europeans' world view. Celtic tales such as The Adventures of Meriadoc, The Visit of the Grey-Hammed Lady, and Sir Gawain and the Crop-Eared Dog, and Guingamor and Guerrehes ,read more like the serendipitous tales of the Mabinogeon than like standard courtly tales of chivalry.
John Matthews has also selected tales which remind us that the Medieval mentality was not limited to white male perspectives. The tale of Sir Lanvil is written by a twelth-century woman. The Adventures of Melora and Orlando is so good that this one story alone would merit purchasing the entire volume. King Arthur's daughter Melora is a warrior woman who outfights and outwits a succession of male opponents to rescue her lover Orlando. It's a fun tale with strong magical and Celtic elements. The Tale of Morien features a Black Muslim knight; although characters in the story are frightened by the color of his skin, he is a sympathetic hero.
Counteracting the hyperbole and repetition of motifs in Medieval legends, the Medieval mind was full of whimsy, and this is evident in surprising elements throughout the tales. Who knew that King Arthur took counsel from a talking parrot? Or that a fair maiden, protecting her injured knight from a serpent, had her nipple bitten off and subsequently restored that with a replacement made of gold? In the best of these tales there are moments when one can imagine a bard telling the story whilst winking at his laughing audience.
After all these tales of combat, love, and some ribaldry, the book ends on a higher tone, with familiar but still powerful elements of the hero's journey at its conclusion. The Adventures of Sone de Nansay is a weighty retelling of the Grail Quest, and The Voyage to Avalon is a unique first-person recounting of Arthur's once-and-future continued existence.
Lovers of Medieval and Arthurian literature will want to have this book in their collection.
August 29, 2025
This is a very well written, very well researched book that strives to shed light on stories of King Arthur often forgotten by history. It also tries to rehabilitate Sir Gawain - it did not succeed for me, I ended up wishing someone would stab him through his perfect face. Also not a book for Sir Kay lovers - hint for the future I should not be cringing in dread everytime I hear my favourite character’s name.
March 23, 2025
I borrowed this book and skimmed most of it that was not Gawain but it is seriously really good. These stories contain themes that have always been present in Arthur stories but are magnified here. I especially enjoy the way violence is portrayed as a futile, wasteful solution to problems. When knights fight they do not save the day with heroic blows; they spend hours and sometimes days swinging away at each other expending energy but hardly making progress as their strikes are blocked by armor.
The real valor is displayed in acts of hospitality, of generosity, in the decisions to refrain from a fight rather than starting one. In the greatest example of this is when Gawain fights with a middle eastern lord and effectively bests him. Gawain commands his enemy to yield so that he may spare his life and that the fighting may cease. The bested enemy refuses, he will fight to his death so that he will have honor. Gawain then proposes a new solution. He will allow his enemy to get back on his feet and pretend to tire so that the duel reaches a stalemate — there will be peace and his enemy can leave with his honor intact.
I have to leave a whole paragraph for a story that is mostly hilarious. Like a lot of these stories this one comes across as a variant of what has become a definitive beat in the “canonical” Gawain myth in which he is offered shelter on a journey by a king with a beautiful daughter. She comes onto him in his bedchamber just as before but in this one right as they’re ramping up to have sex she goes “hey by the way there’s a sword hanging on the wall that will come off the wall and kill you if you try to have sex with me.”
Gawain thinks she’s joking so he goes for it anyway and the sword jumps off the wall and like slices him on the ass! So he’s like whoa that’s crazy, better chill. But then he’s just laying there with her and he’s like “dammit, I’m gonna look like such a bitch if I lay in bed with this beautiful maiden all night and can’t even satisfy her” so he tries again and the sword cuts him on the neck. At this point he’s like “OK THATS IT WERE JUST NOT GONNA HAVE SEX OKAY?!?”
This brings me to the last detail that I find really interesting. In these stories, familiar motifs are not presented as variations or alternate histories, but instead as things that just keep happening to our heroes over and over. So Gawain here is just a guy who always has beautiful women testing his honor by coming into his bedchamber lol. There’s another part where a guy tells him to cut his head off and Gawain like “here we go again, I’m gonna cut his head off and he’s just gonna stand up and pick it up again” and sure enough he does.
Good book
The real valor is displayed in acts of hospitality, of generosity, in the decisions to refrain from a fight rather than starting one. In the greatest example of this is when Gawain fights with a middle eastern lord and effectively bests him. Gawain commands his enemy to yield so that he may spare his life and that the fighting may cease. The bested enemy refuses, he will fight to his death so that he will have honor. Gawain then proposes a new solution. He will allow his enemy to get back on his feet and pretend to tire so that the duel reaches a stalemate — there will be peace and his enemy can leave with his honor intact.
I have to leave a whole paragraph for a story that is mostly hilarious. Like a lot of these stories this one comes across as a variant of what has become a definitive beat in the “canonical” Gawain myth in which he is offered shelter on a journey by a king with a beautiful daughter. She comes onto him in his bedchamber just as before but in this one right as they’re ramping up to have sex she goes “hey by the way there’s a sword hanging on the wall that will come off the wall and kill you if you try to have sex with me.”
Gawain thinks she’s joking so he goes for it anyway and the sword jumps off the wall and like slices him on the ass! So he’s like whoa that’s crazy, better chill. But then he’s just laying there with her and he’s like “dammit, I’m gonna look like such a bitch if I lay in bed with this beautiful maiden all night and can’t even satisfy her” so he tries again and the sword cuts him on the neck. At this point he’s like “OK THATS IT WERE JUST NOT GONNA HAVE SEX OKAY?!?”
This brings me to the last detail that I find really interesting. In these stories, familiar motifs are not presented as variations or alternate histories, but instead as things that just keep happening to our heroes over and over. So Gawain here is just a guy who always has beautiful women testing his honor by coming into his bedchamber lol. There’s another part where a guy tells him to cut his head off and Gawain like “here we go again, I’m gonna cut his head off and he’s just gonna stand up and pick it up again” and sure enough he does.
Good book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2024
The Great Book of King Arthur collects the Arthurian tales that Mallory left out of Le Morte d’Arthur. Many are legends from the pre-Lancelot era when Gawain was Arthur’s premier knight.
For anyone in love with the Matter of Britain, Matthews has put together a thoroughly enjoyable collection, and Gareth Anderson does a fine job narrating it in the audiobook version. Recommended.
For anyone in love with the Matter of Britain, Matthews has put together a thoroughly enjoyable collection, and Gareth Anderson does a fine job narrating it in the audiobook version. Recommended.
May 21, 2023
In college (a long time ago) I took a course on Arthurian literature which compared how the King Arthur story was interpreted in different historical periods. This reminded me of that discussion. This book contains a number of short stories from the medieval period with commentary at the end by the author/editor about where they came from and how he chose or re-wrote them.
It is a beautiful hardcover book with several color illustrations and would make a great addition to a library of Arthuriana.
Unfortunately, I found the main section which tells various stories of different knights to be rather repetitive and not all that interesting after a while. This is more due to my comfort level as a reader of novels written in the 20th and 21st century, and not because of issues of how these stories were written for their audiences.
The bulk of the stories follow different knights who all seek adventures, find beautiful women, fight other knights, make friends with the knights that they have defeated, retrieve stolen treasures, and return to King Arthur's court to tell their stories.
The adventures and quests are much of a muchness. There is no character development and, except for Sir Kay who is rude, there is little to distinguish the different knights. Guinevere is mentioned as Arthur's wife but plays no real role in the stories.
Because of John Matthews' intent to use stories that were not already used in Malory's "Morte D'Arthur" the book does not include the Lancelot/Guinevere story and only touches on Mordred in passing, despite a brief section on Arthur's death/return to Avalon.
I would recommend this for completists, but not as a good starting place for reading about King Arthur and the Round Table.
3.5 stars, rounded down.
It is a beautiful hardcover book with several color illustrations and would make a great addition to a library of Arthuriana.
Unfortunately, I found the main section which tells various stories of different knights to be rather repetitive and not all that interesting after a while. This is more due to my comfort level as a reader of novels written in the 20th and 21st century, and not because of issues of how these stories were written for their audiences.
The bulk of the stories follow different knights who all seek adventures, find beautiful women, fight other knights, make friends with the knights that they have defeated, retrieve stolen treasures, and return to King Arthur's court to tell their stories.
The adventures and quests are much of a muchness. There is no character development and, except for Sir Kay who is rude, there is little to distinguish the different knights. Guinevere is mentioned as Arthur's wife but plays no real role in the stories.
Because of John Matthews' intent to use stories that were not already used in Malory's "Morte D'Arthur" the book does not include the Lancelot/Guinevere story and only touches on Mordred in passing, despite a brief section on Arthur's death/return to Avalon.
I would recommend this for completists, but not as a good starting place for reading about King Arthur and the Round Table.
3.5 stars, rounded down.
October 20, 2023
A great admirer of Sir Thomas Mallory's Morte de Arthur, John Matthews has done vast research into the legends and tales of King Arthur. This book presents tales not told by Mallory but in a style that is both similar to Mallory and references the previous author frequently. These "new" tales tell various adventures and histories of Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. One section focuses on the famous Grail Quest and the book ends with Arthur's death and what happened to him when he departed for Avalon.
The stories have a medieval tone that's fun to read (it doesn't have medieval spelling or grammatical usage, so it is readable). The sense of wonder is complemented by the frankness of the text. For every reference to Camelot the Golden (King Arthur's court), there's plenty of very human behavior by the knights. They live by the code of chivalry but sometimes are bewitched by beguiling women or, more often, get into fights with any wandering knight who happens to look tough enough to present a worthy challenge. Some battles are with mythic beasts like dragons or shape-shifted people whose outer appearance does not match their inner disposition. The adventures are a lot of fun, though the knights often get overly friendly with the ladies they meet.
The illustrations by John Howe (who worked with Alan Lee on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies) are delightful but not too frequent. The average is one or two illustrations per story. With thirty-two stories, that's plenty to enjoy along with the text.
Recommended, highly for King Arthur fans, though its not for the youngest fans.
The stories have a medieval tone that's fun to read (it doesn't have medieval spelling or grammatical usage, so it is readable). The sense of wonder is complemented by the frankness of the text. For every reference to Camelot the Golden (King Arthur's court), there's plenty of very human behavior by the knights. They live by the code of chivalry but sometimes are bewitched by beguiling women or, more often, get into fights with any wandering knight who happens to look tough enough to present a worthy challenge. Some battles are with mythic beasts like dragons or shape-shifted people whose outer appearance does not match their inner disposition. The adventures are a lot of fun, though the knights often get overly friendly with the ladies they meet.
The illustrations by John Howe (who worked with Alan Lee on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies) are delightful but not too frequent. The average is one or two illustrations per story. With thirty-two stories, that's plenty to enjoy along with the text.
Recommended, highly for King Arthur fans, though its not for the youngest fans.
September 7, 2023
Some of the stories seem more "miss" than "hit" for me, and though they are here to fill in some gaps to Malory's book, there are only a few that are worthy, starting with the whole coming of Merlin and the dragons. I always thought Le Morte D'Arthur could have benefitted from such a tale told retrospectively like many of the Grail narratives. Another notable narrative is that of Sir Palomides, the Saracen knight, and that of Marrock, cursed to be a werewolf (which is mentioned in passing in Malory in the Tale of the Healing of Urge). I found the story about Melora, a daughter of Arthur, drawn from Irish sources to be intriguing at first, but like most tales they meander almost pointlessly into magical realms and more often than not, I found myself looking to see how much further I had to go (not a good sign).
Having said this, the whole Gawain section is cohesive and the best part of the entire volume. I believe the author should do an entire Gawain compendium, for he gives far more justice than Malory does, and this only heightens his duel with Lancelot later on.
I might have given this a higher rating, but the new-age illustrations and glossy pages do little justice to the Arthurian legend. I think ia ctaully prefer the Pre-Raphaelite embellishments over this by far.
Tastes changes, and horses for courses. Some may have enjoyed this far more than did I. So be it.
Having said this, the whole Gawain section is cohesive and the best part of the entire volume. I believe the author should do an entire Gawain compendium, for he gives far more justice than Malory does, and this only heightens his duel with Lancelot later on.
I might have given this a higher rating, but the new-age illustrations and glossy pages do little justice to the Arthurian legend. I think ia ctaully prefer the Pre-Raphaelite embellishments over this by far.
Tastes changes, and horses for courses. Some may have enjoyed this far more than did I. So be it.
November 8, 2022
An interesting collection of lesser known Arthurian legends and stories. The book is conceived as a kind of spiritual sequel to Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur. Unfortunately, I have not yet read Mallory so some of the references in this book were lost on me. If I had read Mallory's book first, this probably would have been 5 stars.
The book is illustrated wonderfully by John Howe, who I know as an illustrator of Tolkien's work. I also enjoyed the very detailed bibliographical section at the end (20+ pages of notes). The author has provided a detailed description of where he drew inspiration from every tale. For example, the concluding story of the book is drawn from a Catalan source!
Best understood as an anthology of stories, this book is best read slowly over time. Reading a story or two a day is likely the best approach. Some of the stories - especially those involving Merlin, magic and the mystical - were among my favorite. I loved the 'book of Merlin' opening stories. I also quite enjoyed the Grail quest stories (though I felt this section was rather too short).
I'm already looking forward to reading my next Arthurian inspired work - book 2 of the Warlord Chronicles.
The book is illustrated wonderfully by John Howe, who I know as an illustrator of Tolkien's work. I also enjoyed the very detailed bibliographical section at the end (20+ pages of notes). The author has provided a detailed description of where he drew inspiration from every tale. For example, the concluding story of the book is drawn from a Catalan source!
Best understood as an anthology of stories, this book is best read slowly over time. Reading a story or two a day is likely the best approach. Some of the stories - especially those involving Merlin, magic and the mystical - were among my favorite. I loved the 'book of Merlin' opening stories. I also quite enjoyed the Grail quest stories (though I felt this section was rather too short).
I'm already looking forward to reading my next Arthurian inspired work - book 2 of the Warlord Chronicles.
December 19, 2024
Beautiful, wonderful. I held it tight when I closed it.
The combination of writing style, love for the myth and legend in the text, John Howe's illustrations, made for a wonderful experience where I looked forward to reading a bit of it every day.
Obviously, as with all legends, some I liked far less than others.
Credit to the other John, the author, for making even the stories I didn't like very readable and enjoyable.
I hope he does more of this, or writes up another collection. This is now my precious book, and I love it so much. I have a small collection of texts on Arthur, but this is the most beautiful and pleasant to read of them all.
My favourite tales:
The Book of Merlin
The adventures of Melora and Orlando♡
The Visit of the Grey Hammed Lady
The tale of Sir Marrok and the Wolf
Sir Gawain and the Crop Eared Dog
The Mule without a Bridle
Wedding of Sir Gawain and Lady Ragnall♡
The Elucidation of the Grail and the Story of Sir Perceval♡
The Tale of Morien
The Ending of the Round table
The combination of writing style, love for the myth and legend in the text, John Howe's illustrations, made for a wonderful experience where I looked forward to reading a bit of it every day.
Obviously, as with all legends, some I liked far less than others.
Credit to the other John, the author, for making even the stories I didn't like very readable and enjoyable.
I hope he does more of this, or writes up another collection. This is now my precious book, and I love it so much. I have a small collection of texts on Arthur, but this is the most beautiful and pleasant to read of them all.
My favourite tales:
The Book of Merlin
The adventures of Melora and Orlando♡
The Visit of the Grey Hammed Lady
The tale of Sir Marrok and the Wolf
Sir Gawain and the Crop Eared Dog
The Mule without a Bridle
Wedding of Sir Gawain and Lady Ragnall♡
The Elucidation of the Grail and the Story of Sir Perceval♡
The Tale of Morien
The Ending of the Round table
dnf-pick-up-again-later
December 21, 2022Okay, so this is delightful. The illustrations by John Howe (famous for his illustrations for LOTR) are gorgeous, and I enjoy that this is a collection of stories out of the real Arthur canon, that haven't been put together in a book yet before. This book is intended to be a companion to the Thomas Mallory Mort d'Arthur, and I think it does a great job.
That said, there are two reasons why I'm DNF'ing this book. One is the size-the thing is physically massive, making it heavy to hold and weighty to carry around; this is definitely coffee-table-book sized. The other is that it is a little repetitive and archaic-there's nothing wrong with that! It is just that I am not quite in the mood for that kind of reading right now. I'm not good at DNF'ing books, so it kind of pains me to do so with this one, but I do plan on coming back to it in the future, when maybe I'll be more in the mood for these stories of chivalry and adventure.
That said, there are two reasons why I'm DNF'ing this book. One is the size-the thing is physically massive, making it heavy to hold and weighty to carry around; this is definitely coffee-table-book sized. The other is that it is a little repetitive and archaic-there's nothing wrong with that! It is just that I am not quite in the mood for that kind of reading right now. I'm not good at DNF'ing books, so it kind of pains me to do so with this one, but I do plan on coming back to it in the future, when maybe I'll be more in the mood for these stories of chivalry and adventure.
March 5, 2025
Lo abandono a la mitad, porque se me hace tedioso y repetitivo. La edición es preciosa y se nota que el autor ha hecho una gran labor de investigación. El problema es que lo vendían como si fuese un acercamiento al ciclo artúrico para lectores actuales. En cambio, recoge las historias menos conocidas y hace referencia a las conocidas que ya habían sido recogidas por Malory. Lo que hace que este libro sea literatura que solo va a disfrutar un amante de la época medieval. No es mal libro, pero sí mala campaña de marketing.
December 16, 2022
I love this book! The stories are engrossing and well written. This was my first exposure to King Arthur type literature. Inspired me to get a copy of Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. I especially appreciated the synopsis of each story in the back explaining where the author found the original story and how it fits into the Arthurian tradition. Well done!!
April 19, 2024
A gorgeous edition of the lesser known tales of Malory. Texts included stories of Arthur's daughter, female knights, and the story of Merrick, whose name I have always loved!
Beautiful illustrations to accompany the prose! A must-have for any Arthurian shelf!
Beautiful illustrations to accompany the prose! A must-have for any Arthurian shelf!
August 22, 2022
What a wonderfully written book! It rivals Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur! This book is simply a delight to read and re-read!
October 13, 2022
Wonderful telling of tales we might not be as familiar with and the plates are awesome.
June 11, 2024
I got about 40% through the book. It was good but I lost internet for some reason. The narrative just didn't capture my imagination as I expected. Perhaps I'll go back to it at some point.
August 1, 2024
Great anthology, built to be read at your own pace.
November 13, 2025
There were tales included in this book of which I was not aware, and I am a former English Lit teacher. Good to learn something new.
September 14, 2023
Most of these tales were just a bit weird for my liking. I finally decided that I'd read enough of them at a bit more than half way through. I did not finish.
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