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The Boy's King Arthur
First published in 1880, The Boy's King Arthur was edited by the American poet Sidney Lanier from Sir Thomas Malory's history of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Lanier said of the Malory work, "I suspect there are few books in our language which lead a reader - whether young or old - on from one paragraph to another with such strong and yet quiet seduction as this."
321 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1880
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727 people want to read
About the author
Sidney Lanier
319 books16 followersSidney Clopton Lanier was an American musician, poet and author. As a poet he sometimes, though not exclusively, used dialects. Many of his poems are written in heightened, but often archaic, American English. He became a flutist and sold poems to publications. He eventually became a professor of literature at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and is known for his adaptation of musical meter to poetry. Many schools, other structures and two lakes are named for him.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
March 25, 2024
From Sir Thomas Mallory & retold by one of America's great poets, Sidney Lanier
This review is from: The Boy's King Arthur (Dover Children's Classics) (Kindle Edition)
Adapted from Sir Thomas Mallory and retold by one of America's great poets, Sidney Lanier. This retelling of the King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable stories has been one of my favorite books since high school, when I found it in our high school library. I was not impressed with the title but looking inside, I was quickly disabused of the notion that it was a children's book and immediately wondered what kind of boy could read this. I then remembered that the America of the 18th and mid 19th centuries was a highly literate country, particularly among the middle and upper economic classes. Families were responsible for the education of their own children, usually by way of community schools and tutors. Educated children, particularly the boys, were often expected to learn Latin, sometimes Greek and to read classical literature with which most modern adults would have trouble. In short, today, this is very much a book for adults. It retains much of the archaic language of Mallory with more detail as to the activities of the knights. When I read this in high school I had to have frequent recourse to a good dictionary even though I was accustomed to reading authors such as Sir Walter Scott.
This review is from: The Boy's King Arthur (Dover Children's Classics) (Kindle Edition)
Adapted from Sir Thomas Mallory and retold by one of America's great poets, Sidney Lanier. This retelling of the King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable stories has been one of my favorite books since high school, when I found it in our high school library. I was not impressed with the title but looking inside, I was quickly disabused of the notion that it was a children's book and immediately wondered what kind of boy could read this. I then remembered that the America of the 18th and mid 19th centuries was a highly literate country, particularly among the middle and upper economic classes. Families were responsible for the education of their own children, usually by way of community schools and tutors. Educated children, particularly the boys, were often expected to learn Latin, sometimes Greek and to read classical literature with which most modern adults would have trouble. In short, today, this is very much a book for adults. It retains much of the archaic language of Mallory with more detail as to the activities of the knights. When I read this in high school I had to have frequent recourse to a good dictionary even though I was accustomed to reading authors such as Sir Walter Scott.
July 16, 2017
This is a beautifully illustrated edition of one of our favorite legends .... it is a junior library classic, and I certainly wonder how any young person could possibly read it. I found it pretty cumbersome, as the language is not at all the way we speak English ... yet it's not like "old English" that I have previously read either. Some of the sentences don't even make sense to me ... like it's another language altogether. However, there are lovely black and white sketches, as well as many full color illustrations in this book, and it was quite a delight to share the stories. Thankfully, because they are familiar stories, I could sort of follow what was happening.
January 29, 2022
The ‘Boy’s’ King Arthur might have once been just for boys, but nowadays, I think anyone would find it enjoyable—anyone that is who likes a ripping tale full of honorable heroes and the values they fight for. Although it is true women do not feature prominently in most of the stories, for some reason this did not bother me as much as it did when I was younger*.
It is Sir Thomas Malory’s History of King Arthur and His Knight of the Round Table which has been edited by Sidney Lanier. The illustrations by N.C. Wyeth are stupendous and worth studying on their own quite apart from the text, though they also add greatly to the story.
The language is archaic and takes a bit of getting used to, but fortunately, Lanier puts the contemporary English in brackets [ ] after the Old English expression for comprehension. After a time, I began to get the hang of things and even began to see connections between long-lost words and words we still use. For example, ‘to wit’ meant ‘to know’ and if you look through all the definitions of ‘wit’ you discover:
The other thing which stood out was the kindness and honor shown by the knights to each other—something almost unknown anymore today! Yes, the knights did go around ‘battling’ each other but generally (although not always) for a purpose—to redress wrongs, to save someone in distress or to right some social ill—and they fought within clearly defined and followed parameters.
A book every young boy—and girl too—should read! And parents and grandparents, get on board and read this too!
*I like to think this is because I now see how those who pull the strings behind the scenes can be more powerful than the ones prancing around on their stallions, killing and being killed, but who knows.
It is Sir Thomas Malory’s History of King Arthur and His Knight of the Round Table which has been edited by Sidney Lanier. The illustrations by N.C. Wyeth are stupendous and worth studying on their own quite apart from the text, though they also add greatly to the story.
The language is archaic and takes a bit of getting used to, but fortunately, Lanier puts the contemporary English in brackets [ ] after the Old English expression for comprehension. After a time, I began to get the hang of things and even began to see connections between long-lost words and words we still use. For example, ‘to wit’ meant ‘to know’ and if you look through all the definitions of ‘wit’ you discover:
1a: the ability to relate seemingly disparate things so as to illuminate or amuse; b(1): a talent for banter or persiflage; (2): a witty utterance or exchange; c: clever or apt humor; d: astuteness of perception or judgment : ACUMENAnd that was just one word; there were plenty of others!
2a: a person of superior intellect : THINKER; b: an imaginatively perceptive and articulate individual especially skilled in banter or persiflage
3a: reasoning power : INTELLIGENCE; b: MIND, MEMORY
The other thing which stood out was the kindness and honor shown by the knights to each other—something almost unknown anymore today! Yes, the knights did go around ‘battling’ each other but generally (although not always) for a purpose—to redress wrongs, to save someone in distress or to right some social ill—and they fought within clearly defined and followed parameters.
A book every young boy—and girl too—should read! And parents and grandparents, get on board and read this too!
*I like to think this is because I now see how those who pull the strings behind the scenes can be more powerful than the ones prancing around on their stallions, killing and being killed, but who knows.
February 2, 2008
This book is wonderful, because it is very slightly edited, not much, but just enough to help the reader better appreciate the stories. Next to the old English words that are no longer in use there are brackets with the modern equivalent. It says the Boys King Arthur, but girls can just ignore that and enjoy the romance. The gore is still there. The book is beautifully illustrated in color by N.C. Wyeth.
August 7, 2019
Most of this book consisted of knights heading out to find adventures. Adventures meant crossing paths with an unknown knight and fighting to the death unless someone yielded.
December 12, 2020
I got this as a birthday present the year I read Pyle's retelling. It mainly appealed to my parents because it is very old and has high quality woodcut prints. It's funny I mentioned the age of the Pyle book in my review of that just to follow it up with this ancient tome. Lanier largely sticks to abridging the original Malory; any edits he makes to the text itself he helpfully brackets out, and sometimes simply gives synonyms of archaisms in brackets. Since it sticks so largely to the Malory, it's much more extensive than the Pyle version, and goes into less detail about everything. It edits out references to the love affair between Guenevere and Launcelot (being the boy's King Arthur as it is), which I think made more sense with those two's established characters anyway. As I wrote of the last three romances in The Mabinogion I think the book's primary appeal to me was in it's creation of a dream romantic world wherein knights can ride out into the unnamed, unreal woods looking for adventure and inevitably find multiple wonders that would be interesting enough to describe, much less engage with.
May 12, 2007
Fun, but written by a criminal whose main objective was to make the Arthurian legends a decidedly french story. Lancelot was entirely fictional, a french knight whose stories were aimed at inflating the french ego, (how coulg Gawain, an englishman from the Orkneys, be the greatest knight in the world?) However, Mallory provided some of the earliest tales and has drawn the picture of what the Arthurian legends have become in modern culture. Despite the impossibilities of historical accuracy, (as far as we know, Arthur MAY have lived, just not like that) Mallory is always a good read.
September 20, 2024
Delightful and archaic in the best possible poetic sense.
Read
February 24, 2017 “King Arthur and Hi Knights of the Round Table” is a collection of stories about King Arthur and other knights such as Sir Launcelot. Most of the stories are about arguments and rivalries that end in jousts and someone dying.
I enjoyed the first few stories of the book. But after that, I found that the book was very repetitive. Each of the stories ended with some sort of conflict or fight and it got boring fast. This book is written in some sort of old english that is not extremely hard to understand but still requires you to think about what you are reading.
This book relates to the human experience during the middle ages. This is because the people at that time would usually resolve their conflicts with violence. This is what the in every story of the book.
I enjoyed the first few stories of the book. But after that, I found that the book was very repetitive. Each of the stories ended with some sort of conflict or fight and it got boring fast. This book is written in some sort of old english that is not extremely hard to understand but still requires you to think about what you are reading.
This book relates to the human experience during the middle ages. This is because the people at that time would usually resolve their conflicts with violence. This is what the in every story of the book.
September 30, 2014
This book was the source of the bulk of the fines incurred early on in my career as a library patron. I am reviewing not the book itself, but my childhood memories of it.
Valor! At an age when I thought courage was all it took to solve problems, this book totally backed me up.
Honor! Strength without honor tends toward evil. Defend the weak. (Or in my case, stick up for the geeks smaller than you by getting your butt kicked by bullies larger than you.)
Tragedy! They don't have to live happily ever after to make it a good story. A child of divorce can really take that to heart. "And Lancelot wept not, but sighed greatly."
Valor! At an age when I thought courage was all it took to solve problems, this book totally backed me up.
Honor! Strength without honor tends toward evil. Defend the weak. (Or in my case, stick up for the geeks smaller than you by getting your butt kicked by bullies larger than you.)
Tragedy! They don't have to live happily ever after to make it a good story. A child of divorce can really take that to heart. "And Lancelot wept not, but sighed greatly."
September 30, 2019
This book was my introduction to fables and archaic english. I remember going to the base library as a 9-10 year old and methodically searching the childrens section book shelves for science fiction titles. It was a small section and it turned out that I had already read all the science fiction there so I expanded my search and found this book along with another big book called 'Lord of the Rings'.
I chose 'The Boy's King Arthur' over LOTR even though the book was pretty beat up because the N.C. Wyeth illustrations were so stirring, and never regretted. Knights of old and the days of chivalry !!
Imma try and find me a used copy soon.
I chose 'The Boy's King Arthur' over LOTR even though the book was pretty beat up because the N.C. Wyeth illustrations were so stirring, and never regretted. Knights of old and the days of chivalry !!
Imma try and find me a used copy soon.
March 16, 2018
I read this one when I was 11 or so, and I thought I'd give it a spin as a series of bedtime stories for my 9-yr-old.
They worked as bedtime stories; he couldn't quite hang on to the archaic language and went fast to sleep. Still, I enjoyed going through this book again. I'm going to search out a more contemporary, yet child-friendly, retelling of these tales. I really want my son to be familiar with Arthurian legend.
They worked as bedtime stories; he couldn't quite hang on to the archaic language and went fast to sleep. Still, I enjoyed going through this book again. I'm going to search out a more contemporary, yet child-friendly, retelling of these tales. I really want my son to be familiar with Arthurian legend.
November 19, 2013
GOOD!!!!!!!!
April 26, 2021
Bought this for the stupendous illustrations by N. C. Wyeth, one of my all-time favourite illustrators. Gorgeous style!
December 19, 2024
This is a fun book reviewing many of the stories of the Knights of King Arthur. The storytelling style and language are old so it can be a bit difficult to get used to, but the tales are uplifting and exciting.
I found that it had many passages almost word-for-word in common with King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James Knowles. (However, both books contain significant parts of stories that are not in the other.) Based on some of the notes in this book, many of the tales are also in common with La Morte D'Arthur, but here they are edited down to avoid adult themes such as sex and adultery.
The one difficulty I had with this book was its lack of continuity. Part of that might come from the editor removing the inappropriate parts, part of it might just be the storytelling style. But nonetheless sometimes I would read the book and be like "okay wait when was that established" or "oh an unknown amount of time has passed" or "that was completely unexpected and had no lead up." Still a good book, I would read a chapter or so in between when I would finish other books, so it can serve as a nice coffee table book to pick up every once in a while.
I found that it had many passages almost word-for-word in common with King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James Knowles. (However, both books contain significant parts of stories that are not in the other.) Based on some of the notes in this book, many of the tales are also in common with La Morte D'Arthur, but here they are edited down to avoid adult themes such as sex and adultery.
The one difficulty I had with this book was its lack of continuity. Part of that might come from the editor removing the inappropriate parts, part of it might just be the storytelling style. But nonetheless sometimes I would read the book and be like "okay wait when was that established" or "oh an unknown amount of time has passed" or "that was completely unexpected and had no lead up." Still a good book, I would read a chapter or so in between when I would finish other books, so it can serve as a nice coffee table book to pick up every once in a while.
May 2, 2022
This was a special edition for me when mom gave it to me for Christmas when I was 10. I was fascinated by the color illustrations, and don't remember much about the tales except general King Arthur legend stuff. Upon rereading - with a view to passing this to a child of my acquaintance, I now have to say that the language is so old-fashioned that it probably would not be enjoyable to her. Oh well, it is still a pretty book :-)
November 1, 2024
This was difficult to get through. It's written in an older English so if you're not familiar with that then it takes some work. It was a bunch of short stories that all felt like the same thing. This knight fights that knight and so on. Each chapter had a brief summary of the chapter almost making it pointless to even read the chapter. There are a lot of good classics out there this is unfortunately not one of them...
December 13, 2023
Is this the book so many people loved? It is incoherent, nonsensical, and *barely* readable. The only redeeming qualities are a few beautiful paintings by NC Wyeth, the pleasure of trying to read Old English, and the mythic charm of having something to do with King Arthur.
If you want to read King Arthur, try the version by Roger Lancelyn Green.
If you want to read King Arthur, try the version by Roger Lancelyn Green.
October 22, 2018
Some really "bully" stories, suitable for children to read and acquaint themselves with. I never was too much of a fan of Lancelot, and nowadays I can only think about how stinky and hairy they must have been, but that doesn't stop me from swooning on a rose-bedecked bower now and then ;)
January 4, 2022
Lanier’s version of Malory’s King Arthur stories for children is a condensed version of a selection of the classic tales. It focuses on about four main knights along with King Arthur. Although written for boys, the language can be difficult to understand.
Want to read
August 5, 2024Qur’an: Chapter 48, Verse 25—
If it had not been for some men who believed and some women who believed whom you did not recognize and would have trampled down, an outrage would have afflicted you because of them without your even knowing it.
If it had not been for some men who believed and some women who believed whom you did not recognize and would have trampled down, an outrage would have afflicted you because of them without your even knowing it.
September 28, 2025
Beautiful pictures, okay translation/edition. According to dad the best/original edition is in French, which is just the sort of untrustworthy thing a French person would say. Maybe I’ll check one day.
Bloody stories and sad ending, but such a strong intro to Arthurian England!
Bloody stories and sad ending, but such a strong intro to Arthurian England!
January 17, 2018
A bit cumbersome to read a-loud for me, but we enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading Howard Pyle’s book for language comparison. We love King Arthur stories.
June 4, 2018
Great stories of King Arthur and his knights that is amazing for young adults but great for all ages who love grand tales.
November 12, 2018
Man this book was a hard read! It was more akin to reading something by Shakespeare.
Beautiful artwork however so...
Beautiful artwork however so...
April 16, 2021
This story of King Arthur was pared down for children, but it was still complicated and, frankly, boring, plus riddled with typos that could have easily been fixed with a good proofing.
December 13, 2021
Love this
Book it was the first book I ever read and I bust it from time to time
Book it was the first book I ever read and I bust it from time to time
April 25, 2021
Beautifull pictues terrible scripting
Please do not make the same mistake I did by buying this book. Every line's last word only finished in the next line which made easy reading impossible. Be forewarned!
Please do not make the same mistake I did by buying this book. Every line's last word only finished in the next line which made easy reading impossible. Be forewarned!
April 22, 2018
I read this at about age 12, but it was not the edition shown. Re-reading now 60 years later, with Malory and T.H. White in between, I still like Lanier's version a lot. It's sanitized of all the gore in Malory, where brain-pans are brast on every page and lacks the human warmth of White's marvelous book, yet it is a fine introduction to the Arthuriad. I like the high archaic language Lanier has left in, which is glossed in brackets e.g. "maugre" [in spite of] or "an" [if]. Of course the illustrations by N.C. Wyeth add immensely.
Now an ancient, I wit that today's girls and boys are more drawn to Harry Potter than to books like this one, though it is full of magic.
Now an ancient, I wit that today's girls and boys are more drawn to Harry Potter than to books like this one, though it is full of magic.
August 24, 2019
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Sidney Lanier
This book is very difficult to read so I am not going to finish this. it is in the Authoritarian Language so therefore it is so hard to read.
I have another Version of King Arthur so I will just read my other version. It is so much simpler to read too. It is not in their language like this one is.
I like this book but the wording is not for me.
Happy Reading
This book is very difficult to read so I am not going to finish this. it is in the Authoritarian Language so therefore it is so hard to read.
I have another Version of King Arthur so I will just read my other version. It is so much simpler to read too. It is not in their language like this one is.
I like this book but the wording is not for me.
Happy Reading
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews