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King Arthur and His Knights
Twenty-one stories from the Arthurian legends specially selected and adapted for children and told in simple well-written prose. The stirring tales of these chivalrous knights awaken the reader's admiration for courage and gentleness and high sense of honor essential in all ages. Suitable for ages 9 and up.
224 pages, Paperback
Published November 30, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
June 16, 2022
Maude Radford Warren's King Arthur and His Knights is actually very similar to The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by James Knowles (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...). Being that both books are retellings of the Arthurian Saga, that much is to be expected, of course, but if you choose to read only one, I highly recommend Maude Radford Warren's version.
Many of the stories of Arthur and his knights related by both authors are in fact strikingly similar, and so much so, that at times one may feel a serious case of déjà vu creeping in. Even the dialog seems to be suspiciously identical in some cases. Yet there are at least two very clear reasons why Warren tells these time honored tales somewhat better than Knowles.
For starters, Knowles' prose is written in a much older style, with grammar, syntax and even numerous old English spellings that are often closer to Shakespeare than to the much more easily decipherable late nineteenth century works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for example. Warren's King Arthur is much more palatable because her writing is not only the familiar early twentieth century variety of English, but the tales are told in a very simple, straightforward fashion that really makes the text genuinely accessible to modern audiences. To be sure, as a voracious reader of Grail Lore, I certainly can't complain about reading old English. It's all perfectly clear to me in most cases, but certainly does take a bit more time and effort to digest.
In fact, Knowles' book is probably more than twice as long as Warren's, and the former naturally includes more material, but what really impressed me most about the latter version was the way Ms. Warren managed to personalize the characters and situations - particularly in the ending, which is told in a much more evocative fashion than I recall having read in the Knowles book. Seriously! Not only were the dialog and story details more interesting than in Knowles' version, but in more than one instance, Maud Radford Warren's words even brought tears to my eyes - something that I do not recall experiencing when reading Knowles.
All in all, this is a great book. If you have even a passing interest in medieval folklore, or the King Arthur legend, I highly recommend this version of the saga. It's well written, easy to read and highly engaging. Although told in more or less modern prose, it should be noted that if you're used to reading stuff by George R. R. Martin or the like, you almost certainly will not have the same experience reading this book. King Arthur and His Knights is NOT a modern styled medieval soap opera full of sex, gore and twenty-first century style easy morality, with characters that are suddenly and unceremoniously offed for the sake of keeping the narrative interesting.
Rather, these are the time-honored tales of King Arthur and his knights of the legendary Round Table. No more, no less. Maude Radford Warren's skillful retelling of the Arthurian Saga is accessible to anyone, young or old, and that's a very, very good thing. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series is of course stellar stuff, written for a modern audience spoiled by blockbuster movies and big budget HBO series, with gratuitous nude scenes and all that, but I'll take a good retelling of the story that started it all any old day.
For without these wonderful tales, there might not even be a Martin, much less a Tolkien. And even the Star Wars saga might have turned out quite a bit differently. Naturally, I love all the assorted myths and legends of mankind, old or new, but this story of a good king, his magical sword and his legendary realm of a bygone era has certainly been around for a long, long time. And even if it doesn't take place in a galaxy far, far away, it will no doubt still be influencing writers for countless years to come. So, here's to the future as well as the past. Here's to King Arthur. And Maude Radford Warren too, of course. She did a better than average job of retelling these wonderful old stories.
Many of the stories of Arthur and his knights related by both authors are in fact strikingly similar, and so much so, that at times one may feel a serious case of déjà vu creeping in. Even the dialog seems to be suspiciously identical in some cases. Yet there are at least two very clear reasons why Warren tells these time honored tales somewhat better than Knowles.
For starters, Knowles' prose is written in a much older style, with grammar, syntax and even numerous old English spellings that are often closer to Shakespeare than to the much more easily decipherable late nineteenth century works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for example. Warren's King Arthur is much more palatable because her writing is not only the familiar early twentieth century variety of English, but the tales are told in a very simple, straightforward fashion that really makes the text genuinely accessible to modern audiences. To be sure, as a voracious reader of Grail Lore, I certainly can't complain about reading old English. It's all perfectly clear to me in most cases, but certainly does take a bit more time and effort to digest.
In fact, Knowles' book is probably more than twice as long as Warren's, and the former naturally includes more material, but what really impressed me most about the latter version was the way Ms. Warren managed to personalize the characters and situations - particularly in the ending, which is told in a much more evocative fashion than I recall having read in the Knowles book. Seriously! Not only were the dialog and story details more interesting than in Knowles' version, but in more than one instance, Maud Radford Warren's words even brought tears to my eyes - something that I do not recall experiencing when reading Knowles.
All in all, this is a great book. If you have even a passing interest in medieval folklore, or the King Arthur legend, I highly recommend this version of the saga. It's well written, easy to read and highly engaging. Although told in more or less modern prose, it should be noted that if you're used to reading stuff by George R. R. Martin or the like, you almost certainly will not have the same experience reading this book. King Arthur and His Knights is NOT a modern styled medieval soap opera full of sex, gore and twenty-first century style easy morality, with characters that are suddenly and unceremoniously offed for the sake of keeping the narrative interesting.
Rather, these are the time-honored tales of King Arthur and his knights of the legendary Round Table. No more, no less. Maude Radford Warren's skillful retelling of the Arthurian Saga is accessible to anyone, young or old, and that's a very, very good thing. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series is of course stellar stuff, written for a modern audience spoiled by blockbuster movies and big budget HBO series, with gratuitous nude scenes and all that, but I'll take a good retelling of the story that started it all any old day.
For without these wonderful tales, there might not even be a Martin, much less a Tolkien. And even the Star Wars saga might have turned out quite a bit differently. Naturally, I love all the assorted myths and legends of mankind, old or new, but this story of a good king, his magical sword and his legendary realm of a bygone era has certainly been around for a long, long time. And even if it doesn't take place in a galaxy far, far away, it will no doubt still be influencing writers for countless years to come. So, here's to the future as well as the past. Here's to King Arthur. And Maude Radford Warren too, of course. She did a better than average job of retelling these wonderful old stories.
September 17, 2025
Great stories inspiring courage! One theme remained with me through it all: when a good king reigns all his people truly live.
October 26, 2015
Amazing!!!
Thought it would be boring, but it was incredible!!! Simply the best school book ever,and will read it again.
Lainey
Thought it would be boring, but it was incredible!!! Simply the best school book ever,and will read it again.
Lainey
January 15, 2018
King Arthur and His Knights
Warren might have intended this simplified version of the Arthurian legend for children but I enjoyed her retelling as well. I don’t know how this 1903 version differs from Sir Thomas Malory’s, Le Morte D’Arthur (Death of Arthur) from 1485, but this one includes all the familiar characters and stories. The sword is drawn from the stone. Arthur is proclaimed King. The Lady of Lake grants him the sword Excalibur. He establishes the Knights of the Round Table at his castle Camelot. He marries the beautiful princess Guinevere and there are many adventures.
I downloaded this from the Project Gutenberg.
Warren might have intended this simplified version of the Arthurian legend for children but I enjoyed her retelling as well. I don’t know how this 1903 version differs from Sir Thomas Malory’s, Le Morte D’Arthur (Death of Arthur) from 1485, but this one includes all the familiar characters and stories. The sword is drawn from the stone. Arthur is proclaimed King. The Lady of Lake grants him the sword Excalibur. He establishes the Knights of the Round Table at his castle Camelot. He marries the beautiful princess Guinevere and there are many adventures.
I downloaded this from the Project Gutenberg.
January 23, 2011
This book was pretty amusing, as it managed to tell the story of Camelot selectively leaving out that Morgan Le Fay was Athur's sister, Mordred was his illegitimate child (as well as his nephew), and Sir Lancelot had the more-than-appropriate hots for the queen and an illegitimate son with Elaine to boot- I am sure this had a lot to do with the time in which it was written. However, to its credit, it's one of the few King Arthur pieces that doesn't focus near obsessively on Lancelot and lets Arthur and his other knights have their due.
July 2, 2016
This proved to be both light hearted and informative for me - and I liked that. It was written in a language suitable for children, with more narration than present dialogue, telling great adventures of King Arthur and his great knights. The stories were really interesting, and the descriptions were great. The action and battles thrilled me, and the touch of was fantasy really hooked me.
It was really interesting learning about the great knights, I liked King Arthur immensely. This book motivated me to read more about King Arthur.
It was really interesting learning about the great knights, I liked King Arthur immensely. This book motivated me to read more about King Arthur.
November 17, 2010
I enjoyed reading this book, especially the story about Sir Ivaine. I would've given it 5 stars if there weren't so many typos.
July 27, 2011
I can't wait to share these stories with my children!
March 27, 2013
Short stories about King Arthur and his famous knights. Fun to read.
December 27, 2013
This was a fun light read that was different from my usual books.
December 24, 2015
A nice introduction to Arthurian legend. Definitely aimed towards a younger audience, but still enjoyable.
January 26, 2016
Nice read into folklore
January 28, 2016
Great tales
This book basically has all of the best King Arthur tales. It was fun, sad at times, but overall It was a good book.
This book basically has all of the best King Arthur tales. It was fun, sad at times, but overall It was a good book.
April 22, 2019
This was just me killing the time I don't actually have but anyway. It was an alright read.
April 23, 2020
Britanya mitolojisinin, Camelot’un ideal kralı Arthur ve Yuvarlak masa şövalyelerinin sürükleyici hikayesi.
December 28, 2020
Of course it's great! It's about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as well as all of Camelot. Magical times everyone knows. If not then you should definitely read this one.
June 9, 2022
A collection of stories of King Arthur and the knights of the round table, simply written.
March 16, 2025
We all fell in love with King Arthur! Left us wanting to be part of his round table 💕
June 21, 2026
The version where Mordred is merely a nephew, and the traditional stories. Of Astolat etc
The stories we all know.
3 stars
The stories we all know.
3 stars
May 31, 2011
Well, what did I expect? It was edited for kids. I expected a lot more detail, but it read like a summary, or maybe parables. All of the knights were good or bad, and were in search of A Great Adventure. All of the ladies were beautiful damsels in distress. Everyone fell in love at first sight, except the one knight who didn't fall in love at all. Of course, King Arthur was the best of the best, the greatest and most respected king ever in all history!
I think I would enjoy the stories more if there had been more description and more prose. I could seek out one of the many other books on the subject, but I after reading the summaries, I'm not interested anymore. At least I know enough about the stories to follow conversations and understand references, and that's really the main reason I looked at the book in the first place.
I think I would enjoy the stories more if there had been more description and more prose. I could seek out one of the many other books on the subject, but I after reading the summaries, I'm not interested anymore. At least I know enough about the stories to follow conversations and understand references, and that's really the main reason I looked at the book in the first place.
January 18, 2015
banyak typo-nya :( di halaman 35 paragraf 2, ada kalimat yang sangat aneh:
"Sebulan sebelum Istana Arthur rampung akan selesai dalam waktu sebulan lagi." apa maksudnya? kesalahan penerjemahkan? atau editor yang tidak teliti? sayang sekali novel klasik terbitan Elex selalu banyak typo atau terjemahan yang menganggu padahal ceritanya menarik :(
Really really terrible typo >.< >.< >.<
terjemahan yang parah & typo yang sangat amat menganggu.. hello Elex...sebagai penerbit yang cukup punya nama besar, please pay attention untuk novel-novel terjemahan (khususnya novel klasik) yang seharusnya berpontensi menjadi bacaan yang sangat menarik namun malah menjadi "mengerikan" karena terjemahan & typo yang amat sangat buruk. Sangat disayangkan sekali, jadi trauma beli novel terjemahan Elex!!!
"Sebulan sebelum Istana Arthur rampung akan selesai dalam waktu sebulan lagi." apa maksudnya? kesalahan penerjemahkan? atau editor yang tidak teliti? sayang sekali novel klasik terbitan Elex selalu banyak typo atau terjemahan yang menganggu padahal ceritanya menarik :(
Really really terrible typo >.< >.< >.<
terjemahan yang parah & typo yang sangat amat menganggu.. hello Elex...sebagai penerbit yang cukup punya nama besar, please pay attention untuk novel-novel terjemahan (khususnya novel klasik) yang seharusnya berpontensi menjadi bacaan yang sangat menarik namun malah menjadi "mengerikan" karena terjemahan & typo yang amat sangat buruk. Sangat disayangkan sekali, jadi trauma beli novel terjemahan Elex!!!
April 15, 2015
Nice short stories about the legend of The King Arther and Merlin the magician .. I would have liked them too much if I hadn't watched the British series "Merlin" which has a better version of the stories and this is a rare thing to find a movie or a series that is better than the book so I must say that I'm really amused and impressed with the series.
One other thing that bothered me about the book is that it's not a children's book still it was awfully childish in many ways that even children will be bothered with it specially in the way of ending most of the stories: the good king or the good knights must save the day and every body has his own happily ever after which made me lose the desire to finish it and God knows how much effort I did to force myself to finish it.
One other thing that bothered me about the book is that it's not a children's book still it was awfully childish in many ways that even children will be bothered with it specially in the way of ending most of the stories: the good king or the good knights must save the day and every body has his own happily ever after which made me lose the desire to finish it and God knows how much effort I did to force myself to finish it.
June 2, 2010
This is the first book I've read that is about the Arthurian Legend. I've got a long list of other books on this topic, but I thought it was a good idea to start with some of the older novels.
There was a bunch of short stories about the king himself, and many of his knights. It was entertaining, but I'm not sure how much history there is. It has actually just peeked my curiosity to learn more and try to go back even further and find out where Radford got her stories from.
I enjoyed it, but if someone is REALLY interested in this topic, they might want look for something a little bit more indepth.
There was a bunch of short stories about the king himself, and many of his knights. It was entertaining, but I'm not sure how much history there is. It has actually just peeked my curiosity to learn more and try to go back even further and find out where Radford got her stories from.
I enjoyed it, but if someone is REALLY interested in this topic, they might want look for something a little bit more indepth.
January 19, 2021
A good collection of stories
Recently, I've fallen for folktales and legends. While many seem to be contradicting themselves, the stories within this collection are relevant, well-mixed together and follow a broken-up but otherwise good line of thought.
King Arthur, although not directly being a protagonist in the book, is like a very strong adhesive - uniting and taming the knights. The collection has short stories with a unique main character in each of them. I really appreciate the fact that the ending, although we didn't really focus that much on the King himself, worked. The build-up was well-manufactured.
Recently, I've fallen for folktales and legends. While many seem to be contradicting themselves, the stories within this collection are relevant, well-mixed together and follow a broken-up but otherwise good line of thought.
King Arthur, although not directly being a protagonist in the book, is like a very strong adhesive - uniting and taming the knights. The collection has short stories with a unique main character in each of them. I really appreciate the fact that the ending, although we didn't really focus that much on the King himself, worked. The build-up was well-manufactured.
April 8, 2016
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table... a series of short-stories of the adventures of King Arthur's rule over Britain. It was a very quick read with a very quick train of thought and little detail put into the book.. Any one of these adventures could have been spun off into a novel on it's own or a part thereof.. Overall, an "entertaining" read which explains all the stories you may have heard of... Excalibur, Lady of the Lake, Queen Guinevere, Sir Lancelot, etc etc.. This book is more of a distraction from the usual reads.. it came free with my e-reader too.... :)
June 26, 2017
Certainly not the most spectacular collection of Arthurian myths I've read, but certainly a nice short summary of some of the big ones. I'd say this is a great book to do read aloud with children, as it has a sort of fairy tale flow to it, or maybe good for getting some basic Arthurian myths under your belt. It has lovely illustrations, and it is a beautiful book. In some ways I think this book just works better on a shelf than in actually being read.
October 27, 2021
*I don’t know when I read this. But it was probably around 2015, BEFORE I turned 13 and read The Dark is Rising.*
This book introduced me to King Arthur and the stories of the Knights of the Round Table. It was an excellent book for a girl of 11 or 12 to read. It had no questionable content whatsoever, to my remembrance. It may have been a bit slow, but I’m pretty sure I finished it, and enjoyed it. I don’t remember much about it now!
This book introduced me to King Arthur and the stories of the Knights of the Round Table. It was an excellent book for a girl of 11 or 12 to read. It had no questionable content whatsoever, to my remembrance. It may have been a bit slow, but I’m pretty sure I finished it, and enjoyed it. I don’t remember much about it now!
December 5, 2016
A serviceable rendition of Arthurian legend, translated for young adults (which is about the level at which I'm interested in Arthurian legend, so that worked out nicely.)
If you're interested in knowing some of the tales from the round table, but not interested in deciphering olde English, I'd recommend this.
If you're interested in knowing some of the tales from the round table, but not interested in deciphering olde English, I'd recommend this.
March 12, 2021
A familiar tale written in a simple style
A traditional telling of the familiar tale ranging from the sword in the stone to the lady of the lake and the legend of Excalibur. Only passing mention of the legend of the Grail and no digression into fables of Lancelot and Guinevere. An enjoyable read.
A traditional telling of the familiar tale ranging from the sword in the stone to the lady of the lake and the legend of Excalibur. Only passing mention of the legend of the Grail and no digression into fables of Lancelot and Guinevere. An enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews