Legends of Valor

by Brendan Lehane

An illustrated retelling of the exploits of such famous legendary heroes as Cuchulain, Finn Mac Cumal, Sigurd, and the knights of King Arthur's Round Table.

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Reference, Fiction, Folklore, Art, Short Stories

143 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1984

Reviews

[Julicke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the idea of taking myths and legends from different traditions and searching for common themes and tropes a lot. And the illustrations are beautiful. Looking forward to reading more of this series!

[Katrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this one in the series the least stars so far. The book includes basically only two epic legends, those of Ireland and of king Arthur, with a small chapter on the Nibelungen. This is not much compared to other time life books where we hear about many countries, sagas and epic legends. Also the first part about Irish folklore was very confusing with jumps back and forth in time. Lots of cross-references that were tiring and sometimes senseless, too. Apart from these flaws the stories are of course brilliant. How I love these myths and everything about them!! It was a joy to read them and I'm very glad I could once again delve into this kind of magical world.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and well written accounting of the tales of Cuchulain of Ireland and King Arthur’s court from England

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

While legends of old had no end of stories from every culture, obviously a decent sampling of them all would require more pages than this series allows, and often would be quite repetitive - as one story pops up in another culture with a similar theme but a different protagonist. To prevent that the authors of this book decided to limit it to tales of the Ulster Cycle, which take up the first two chapters. While chapters three and four take on the Matter of Britain and the legends of King Arthur.

Chapter 1 - “Lords of the Chariot and the Spear” - While this chapter sounds as if it limits itself to Greek and Roman heroes, we must remember that the chariot was almost a universal travel device in the ancient world - until the development of the saddle. Here we learn of Cuchulain and the Red Branch Knights out of Ireland. Many stories of his bravery and skill are presented here, which inevitably leads to Chapter 2 - “The Cruel Demands of Honor” which tells of his death and the betrayal of all the Red Branch Knights and their eventual fading from the world. For every good collection of stories needs a tragic ending - or perhaps any ending in and of itself is by nature tragic.

Chapter 3 - “Brotherhood of the Round Table” begins the Matter of Britain and the foundation of the Knights of the Round Table. It discusses, mostly in general terms the beginnings of Arthur’s reign and the reformation of what makes a knight, especially the chivalric ideas prevalent in Camelot. The knight is meant to be fair and true, help those in distress, and always offer mercy when it is requested.

Chapter 4 - “The Noblest Quest of All” - deals exclusively with the story of the Grail. Described as the “last of the great quests”. It deftly weaves together all the various tales about the Grail, finished and half-finished, into one near-definitive tale. From beginning to end, the only difference is that the story refuses to state exactly what the Grail is. While the narrative mentions the Christian interpretation of it containing the cup of Christ - which is probably not what Chrétien de Troyes, the man who invented the story of the Grail, had in mind. The story states that the device of an ever-flowing container which could heal and feed the world was not knew in mythology, nor was the idea of a deadly spear as is seen in the tale of the Fisher King. Whatever view the reader might take, the conclusion of the Quest for the Holy Grail marks the end of the high point of life in Camelot.

[Scott Raphael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frankly, it’s dry and dull. Meant to be something of a reference book, while crossing the boundary to storytelling, it fails at both, being too distant from its narratives to feel engaging, but too detailed to be general reference. Compared to something like the series’s Ghosts, it’s very weak. It really only details two stories, breaking them into pieces, and occasionally introducing legendary figures previously unmentioned to give them a short “subplot” before returning to the heroes we’re supposed to be learning about. There are also significantly fewer artworks included than there were in Ghosts, and the art in conjunction with the stories is the main part of the appeal, and another useful source of reference. The second half is better, both because the King Arthur legend is the more interesting if the two included here, and because it contains more variety of stories (more secondary figures introduced) and of images (much more art in chapter 4 than anywhere else). But this cannot redeem an otherwise dull book that falls short of expectations and which generally lacks a much-needed variety of quality, interesting content.

[Boxwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different than the other books in the series, as this one focuses on a narrow range of mythology and narrows its focus even more to just a handful of characters: Cúchulainn, Lancelot, Balin, and Galahad. Still a fascinating and enjoyable read, like the others, though.

[Mark Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved stuff about knights when I was a kid and this one hit the spot exactly.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, it has a lot of stories, but the organization of them is rather scatterbrained.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of the series so far. Focused mostly on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, with some stellar illustrations.

[Jamie Belanger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is almost like reading two different books. I was convinced I was going to give this book a 2-star rating based on the first half. It starts with a collection of legends about an Irish hero named Cuchulain. Many of the legends have tons of internal references, and the text quite often tells you to (see page 17) or (see page 22). This makes the first half of the book feel like it was slapped together.

The second half of the book is devoted to Arthurian legends, and has a much more coherent feel to it. The stories flowed well into each other. Basically, the second half had the same level of polish I had come to expect from the other books in this series. The internal artwork was excellent throughout, even in the lackluster first half.

In summary, I'd give the first two chapters of this book a 2-star rating, and the second two chapters a 4-star rating. If you start reading it and get annoyed, just skip to the Arthurian section instead of abandoning the book completely.

[Athena · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review for all of these books in this series is the same.

Time-Life has once again done an outstanding job putting together a series. From cover to cover they are thoughtful, beautiful books. I'm starting to sound generic, but it's true.
I'm a DK fan, I like white backgrounds and side notes with clear sections for every subject. This series has none of that. What they do have is an old book feel. Timeless artwork, thoroughness, and very well written makes these a must on my occult/paranormal bookshelf at home. I've been collecting the series slowly over several years and still have a few books to go. I refuse to go on amazon and buy them. It's all in the hunt for me. There is no subject they have left untouched. I highly recommend them.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first encounter with the myths of Cú Chulainn. Still has a warm place in my heart.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of short articles and stories.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad. Some beautiful pictures and some very familiar tales.