The Book of Arthur: Lost Tales From the Round Table

by John Matthews

The tales of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are universally known and loved. Countless retellings exist, based for the most part on Sir Thomas Malory's great work, Le Morte d'Arthur. Yet Malory drew on only a fraction of the vast ccles of stories that circulated throughout the Middle Ages. Many of them are as every bit as exciting as those we know so well but have been almost completely overlooked, remaining lost in dusty tomes of 19th- and early 20th-century scholarship.

The Book of Arthur offers an extensive selection of those 'forgotten tales' together with an introduction detailing their origins, the traditions that gave rise to them and their place in the Arthurian tradition. They include the adventures of Sir Jaufre in his romantic quest for the fair Brunnisend, and the story of Gawain's strange birth, his upbringing among poor folk and his final rise to Emperor of Rome. There is also a range of the earliest accounts of Arthur, deriving from the Celtic storytelling tradition. Here is the original Arthur, represented in such powerful tales as 'The Life of Merlin' and 'The Tale of Lanval'. Also included is the saga of 'Melora and Orlando', in which we meet King Arthur's daughter, and the first modern retelling of the strange and wwondrous romances from medieval Ireland, 'The Crop-eared Dog' and 'The visit of the Grey-hammed Lady'.

This fascinating compendium of lore, adventure, magic and romance will extend the knowledge of Arthur and his knights far beyond hitherto known and familiar boundaris. In so doing, it will redefine many of the accepted myths and legends surrounding the charismatic figure of Arthur.

Genres: Arthurian, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adult, Mythology, Literature

416 pages, Hardcover

First published May 28, 2002

About the author

John 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.

Reviews

[Arthurianmaiden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely an essential arthurian book if you want to dwelve into less known arthurian texts! Jaufre was kind of wild and amazing and never thought I actually would ever find a translation of it!

The chapters are:

(Celtic Tales)
The Life of Merlin
The Madness of Tristan
The Adventures of the Eagle Boy
The Adventures of Melora and Orlando
The Story of the Crop-eared dog
Visit of the Grey Ham
The Story of Lanval

(Tales of Gawain)
The rise of Gawain
Gawain and the Carl of Carlisle
The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
The adventures of Tarn Wathelyn
The Mule without a bridle
The knight of the Sword
Gorlagros and Gawain

(Medieval texts)
The knight of the parrot
The vows of King Arthur and his Knights
The fair unknown
Arthur and Gorlagon
Guingamor and Guerrehes
The story of Meriadoc
The story of Grisandole
The Story of Perceval
Sir Cleges
The Boy and the Mantle
The lay of Tyolet
Jaufre
The story of Lanzalet

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Closing the book on this one, it was enjoyable to read for the first half of it but, to no fault of their own it was just the way storytelling went in ye olden days, the stories began to get very monotonous and run together to me. Maybe if I weren't trying to read it in one run it would be more enjoyable but I'd be more likely to forget to pick it up again. Still, very informative and made me get the feel for and appreciate medieval romances! Fun to see where certain tropes come from, also fun to see what tropes the medievals favored.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2008 - Read many of the stories. Not terribly engaging.

2011 - picked up again, in between two of Mary Stewart's four Arthurian books. At least I have a little more perspective now. These tales are truly built from the oral legends. If I can slow down and make myself "hear" them as if I were in the 11th century being entertained by these tales, I'm a little more understanding of their style. We'll see if I can increase my star-rating when I've finished them all. I have no interest in finishing these - again. Library donation.

[Pollymoore3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are less well known stories than the ones found in Malory, and it's good to have them brought to our attention. A lovely book, but marred by poor production values: a good copy editor would have stamped out all those awful typos ("ascent" instead of "assent" occurred so many times I nearly got on my palfrey to ride to King Arthur's court and petition for some gorgeous knight to deliver me from the typo monster. But I couldn't because my brachet had been stolen by a giant who was being pursued by a fair unknown youth.....)

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are Arthurian tales - not exactly lost, but overlooked, not included in the canon - and many are B-stories, knock-offs, told by lesser bards. But that is what makes them so interesting - they fill out the picture of an oral tradition of story-telling, tale weaving, that changed with every telling and every audience. Definitely makes for a richer fabric of legend. (Matthews notes are especially good and complete the picture.)

[Meadow Frisbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot has been told of King Arthur. And here is a new collection of stories told between bards and villages for centuries.
All the stories have been translated for this volume and each one brings a new idea and adventure to the life of Arthur and all his faithful knights, friends and family. they contain monsters and sword fights, fair maidens and adventure. All are about 5-10 pages long, so great for a quick mediaeval story.

[Laurel Bradshaw]

A nice collection of little-known stories (mostly post-Malory), translated and paraphrased by John Matthews. I intend to purchase this book.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book with many of the little-known Arthurian tales. I certainly never knew of stories that included a daughter for Arthur -- he usually has a pack of sons to contend with...

[Danny Alvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're into Arthurian legend, this is a really good read. Lot's of pre-Christian influence stories.