Arthurian Legends

by Rosalind Kerven (Adapter)

The definitive book of stories from Arthurian legend.

Delve into the enchanted world of Arthurian legends where you will meet the Knights of the Round Table, Wizard Merlin, King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. With plots full of romance, adventure and enchantment, these fascinating ancient tales have been revived by the author to reflect their origins in oral history and will appeal to a whole new generation of readers.

Stories include Elaine Who Loved Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tristan and Isolde and The Enchantment of Merlin, many of which have recently been adapted in modern cinema and remain a fascination within contemporary culture.

The book also features detailed notes on each story and mentions specific places in Britain with Arthurian links, including properties such as Tintagel.

Beautifully illustrated with images inspired by Arthurian legend by Arthur Rackham and others.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Arthurian, Mythology, Short Stories

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

"Rosalind Kerven, connoisseur of myths and folktales" – THE INDEPENDENT (one of the UK's leading online news websites)

I'm the author of over 70 books published in 22 countries, with total world sales of nearly a million.
Specialising in myths, legends, folk tales and fairy tales from all over the world.

Follow me on Twitter @MythsandTales

Reviews

[Michael Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great primer for anyone unfamiliar with the literary King Arthur

This Arthurian retelling by folklorist Rosalind Kerven is a wonderful introduction to the world of Britain’s mythic king and his knights of the famed round table. This beautiful hardbound book published by the National Trust contained over fifty engravings and thirty color illustrations. The thick creme antique-style paper, decorative initial capital, and stylized clipart emulated a medieval codex without its brightly colored illuminations.

Although the historical Arthur archetype has its origins from the dissolution of the western Roman Empire during the 5th century AD, the literary Arthur evolved into a mix of Romanized Celts and middle age Britain. Kerven recounted eight stories related to King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Merlin, and his knights:
- The Coming of King Arthur
- The Enchantment of Merlin
- How Culhwch Won Olwen
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- Tristram and Isolde
- Elaine who Loved Sir Lancelot
- The End of the Golden Age

I found the best part of the book was the 75 page “extended notes” explaining each story. Although many Arthur books provide a general overview in the preface, Rosalind Kerven compared and contrasted the legends with various incarnations. The author utilized eight original medieval sources, ten anonymous texts, sixteen other sources/commentaries, and fix online websites.

[Alice Hanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arthurian Legends by Rosalind Kerven

🌟🌟🌟1/2

I picked this book up online for research for my mythology Mondays, but since I’ve always loved the story of Arthur and the Knights of the round table I read the whole book instead of just the parts I needed for references and I did learn a lot. For example, did you know that the table was a wedding gift from Guinevere’s father. Well it was.

But the book had a lot more talk and analysis of the stories than stories themselves, and while I appreciated the drawings and the chapter embellishments, the tales just didn’t get enough detail in the story itself I was hoping for.

So if you’re looking for a quick little read about a few of the Arthur tales with GORGEOUS art inside the book this one is what you are looking for.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction into the King Arthur world, with a range of fun and engaging tales that are easy to follow. Perfect for those beginning to get invested with Arthurian stories. The historical part of the book is very informative, and I will definitely be revisiting this section to further improve my knowledge.

[julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 Stars.

A good book to gain an overview over the most famous Arthurian legends and tales. I like the fact that Kerven retells the most widely popularised version of any one story, then in the appendix elaborates on the sources and variations of each story. Overall, this book only scratches the surface, which makes me want to read the medieval originals I have not gotten to yet.

[Oliver Maynard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought for me by my partner after I became intrigued by Arthurian legends via a history podcast, I will look back on the experience of reading this very fondly, as part of the joy of reading was in our many conversations surrounding the tales.

This edition is one part re-telling of a selection of classic Arthurian fables, and one part historical footnotes, which was a useful companion evaluating sources and elaborating on alternative plot points.

Particular favourites include ‘How Culwch won Olwen’ (in which a royal heir attempts to win the hand of a giant’s daughter through a series of elaborate quests) and ‘Tristan and Isolde, which chronicles the illicit love affair between a Cornish knight and an Irish princess. I was also pleasantly surprised by the comically lusty tales of Merlin, who in these historic texts appears much more driven by desire than reason, which differs from the sexless wizard like portrayal we often find in modern media.

As a classicist, I was also struck by the influence of Greek mythology and the oral tradition, and would love to dive much further into how Arthurian legend may or may not be inspired by the myths of antiquity.

[Alisha Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, the way it looks and the way it’s written. The artwork on the cover and throughout the book were all really lovely to look at and made the reading experience more enjoyable.

It’s also a very good overview of several stories and I really enjoyed how simple it was to follow along and how it was a modern interpretation of many old stories of the same thing - as explained in the book notes, there are many versions of the same tale.

I loved the Legends mostly, but I am grateful for the extra information in the second half of the book too. I will definitely be reading more books by Rosalind Kerven, as she makes a great overview of many details and does it in a very logical and easy to follow way - I also have a long list of other books I want to read for even more detail now.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the title suggests, arthurian legends. Mostly of the people surrounding Arthur (knights of the round table). Every chapter is formatted like a short story, but it has plenty of details within the story. At the end of the book is a bit of a disclaimer chapter about names, where the stories are from, and more about who Arthur (probably) was and where Camelot (probably) is.

[eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! The tales were told in an engaging way, and the illustrations were beautiful. I also liked the commentary in the tales in the books latter half, I think it provided further insight and detail regarding the settings in which these tales took place.

[Jackie Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

only criticism of this book i might have is that there’s not more of it lol

[sarah brontë · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was so good i wish there was more

[JD · Rating 1 out of 5]

This so-called "definitive" retelling, as my bookseller put it, condenses many of the later stories to a single page (not a single page each) called the "End of the Golden Era". The last battle and the grail stories are only included in the appendix notes. A poor effort

[the_abinator · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really more of a book to collect than a reading book. Nevertheless it says something that I abandoned 'The once and Future King', 'The Crystal Cave' and 'Mists of Avalon'. This gives a very generic, bare bones version of some legends...mostly where Arthur does not feature as the main character. I didn't know about the one with the Green Knight. It is a bit of a random collection but the paintings, illustrations and notes make up for it, making it a good book to collect, especially since it was relatively cheap.

[Donna Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely collection of retellings: I learned a lot of myths and legends I hadn't heard of before. Mind you, given that all I knew of him beforehand was that he went on a quest for the Holy Grail and that his father smelled of elderberries (Monty Python reference), the bar wasn't very high - but the easy reading experience and interesting notes at the back made me very interested in learning more about Welsh myths and how the English - mostly my several-great-grandaddy Edward I 😂 - changed them and claimed them for their own.

Also the interior illustrations are just *chef's kiss*

[Theodoor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het boek heeft een leuke opzet met verhalen over koning Arthur en een kwart van de pagina's is gewijd aan noten die ingaan op de verschillende bronnen en verhalen. De grote hoeveelheid tekeningen uit vooral de victoriaanse tijd zijn ook een mooie aanvulling. de selectie van de verhalen is echter bevreemdend omdat je juist de beroemde mist en dat verwacht je niet als je een boek leest dat heet de 'Arthurian legends'. het zijn legendes uit die tijd maar niet 'de' legendes. ook zijn ze wat kort en direct herverteld en mis je geregeld een logische spannings opbouw.

[Kat Turella · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very interesting book, definitely satiated my Interest for arthurian legends. The first part is a collection of stories, which at first I found to be lacking the context of Arthur, only hearing of him as the stories weren't about him. It felt like reading fairy tales. The latter part, explaining the legends was very interesting and gave some insights to the stories and historical context. Also very easy and quick to read.

[Nora Røssland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It included well known Arthurian legends written in a wonderful and entertaining manner. In the end the author discussed the origins and sources of each tale, and that part was equally fascinating to the legends! I loved the magic, the drama, the adventure, the humour and the chivalry, and I will definitely reread this in the future!

[aether · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good introduction to arthurian myths/legends!! the way it was written is easy to understand and the notes at the end were really informational! def recommend if you’re looking to get into this sort of stuff

[Dustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I admit that I didn’t manage to finish this book. It was just very much not for me. The legends themselves were just too short and not really coherently told. They were more stating facts. Just like the historic source material that was described at the end. All a bit too academic.

[Emma Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good, but I wonder what made Kerven choose those particular tales. They seemed kind of slapdash and sometimes her language was a bit silly

[Jim Dudley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable version of the stories which have been well researched and appear true to what the author feels are the original oral traditions.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book by Rosalind Kerven. The pictures were splendid.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is exactly what you think it would be; a sample of Arthurian Legends with an easy to read reference to the origins of the stories.

[LudmilaM · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars. Very little about the quest for Holy Grail, unfortunately.

[Jaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful edition, full of historic art work, which made studying the Arthurian Legends a pleasure.

[Rosanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice volume with illustrations and notes for each of the included legends

[Alexander Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIREEEE

[Tanya Shliahov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories right out of medieval England about King Arthur. Mentions wizards, demons, God, Satan and divination. Contains very unhappy endings. An interesting read!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable. Took me back to my childhood reading the stories of the legendary king & his knights.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I sometimes found myself wanting more detail, this book is a really great general overview of the Arthurian legends. My absolute favorite part is the Notes on the Stories section at the end in which Kerven goes into more detail about the stories and characters, and offers a fairly comprehensive breakdown of the original sources and alternate versions. Overall this is a great intro text if you want to know more about the Arthurian Legends but aren't quite sure where to begin.

[Amanda Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know the story of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but have you ever actually read the source material? If not, this short tome with stunning plates is a great starting point. The legends selected for inclusion in range from the expected rise of King Arthur to power to the tale of Merlin trying to win Nimue's heart to tales of less popular knights and romantic heroes.