Le Morte D'Arthur

Rating:
Summary: A classic epic to be cherished forever
Review: Knights...wizards...fair ladies...castles...magic.
We've all grown up with it and we've always loved such tales. The Arthur Legend will always be among my favourites and one of the most popular and familiar stories ever. Sir Thomas Malory tells this fantastic legend from beginning to end in beautiful language. Le Morte D'Arthur is everything-- action, adventure, romance, fantasy, drama...and it's full of good old-fashioned lessons and morals. It's a beautiful reminder of forgotten ways, countries, people and events that are brought to life in our imaginations. I certainly would recommend this book to anyone who loves classic legends, exciting characters and epic wars and love stories. Also to anyone who is very patient. It can take a long time to get through 896 pages.

Rating:
Summary: much loved book that is hinge-pin for all Grail Lore
Review: The Bible is the most sold book in print. Unfortunately, a bit of garbage is the second Malleus Maleficarum. However, I wonder if this book comes in third. One wonders if Thomas Malory had any idea how this book would still be a steady seller today? Ah, to the days of writing what you WANTED, in the manner you wanted without an editor coming in and telling you need to remove 20,000 words!

This book has been reprinted endless and one can see why it will continue to be so. And considering all this was writing by hand, not in WORD, it must have taken years to finish. Of course, these days more of his works are translated, but that does not dim the power of his imagery or the wonder of the tales he created. Face it, if Arthur were around he would call Malory his PR man!

Le Morte D' Arthur is likely the best known and most influential work of the Fifteenth Century. The whole Camelot mania began with this book and continues to this day. Why, because it raising values we all would like to achieve, at time when chivalry, honour and justice were valued.

This one volume, complete and unabridged edition is superbly illustrated. A Grail Lore Library is incomplete without a copy. I am sure, even the avid lore addict would love a new copy as a gift for likely is old one is well used.

Rating:
Summary: much loved book that is hinge-pin for all Grail Lore
Review: The Bible is the most sold book in print. Unfortunately, a bit of garbage is the second Malleus Maleficarum. However, I wonder if this book comes in third. One wonders if Thomas Malory had any idea how this book would still be a steady seller today? Ah, to the days of writing what you WANTED, in the manner you wanted without an editor coming in and telling you need to remove 20,000 words!

This book has been reprinted endless and one can see why it will continue to be so. And considering all this was writing by hand, not in WORD, it must have taken years to finish. Of course, these days more of his works are translated, but that does not dim the power of his imagery or the wonder of the tales he created. Face it, if Arthur were around he would call Malory his PR man!

Le Morte D' Arthur is likely the best known and most influential work of the Fifteenth Century. The whole Camelot mania began with this book and continues to this day. Why, because it raising values we all would like to achieve, at time when chivalry, honour and justice were valued.

This one volume, complete and unabridged edition is superbly illustrated. A Grail Lore Library is incomplete without a copy. I am sure, even the avid lore addict would love a new copy as a gift for likely is old one is well used.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book!
Review: The core story of Arthur: how he defeated the Saxons and saved the Britons is completely absent in this late Medieval canonical version of the Arthur story. What we have is an English re-telling of the tales the French told about him, ultimately going back to Welsh sources. Arthur is clearly portrayed as English in this re-telling, and has all the apparatus of a 15th Century monarch, such as Parliament, tournaments etc. In a sense, this book summarizes the whole cultural experience of the Middle Ages! This particular edition of the book is absolutely beautiful! It has nice, large print and is decorated brilliantly throughout with paintings of the legends with a lovely Medieval-Celtic-mysterious theme.
The main storytelling strategy employed is that of the unexpected: there are always knights, ladies, giants, wizards, sorceresses and strange beasts popping up, requiring the knights to take some kind of action.
The stories can get quite crude at times, both sexually and otherwise (the parts involving giants and maidens is quite disturbing actually!), and we have to throw out our traditionally held ideas of what knighthood is all about in order to appreciate what is really at work here. 'Gentle maidens' are not 'gentle' in the modern sense, but rather 'powerful/upper-class' and seem to have a penchant for slaying their enemies and causing just as much damage as the knights do: HARDLY the sterotype we are accustomed to regarding ladies in the time of 'knights in shining armour'. The 'sword' fights tend to end up with a grappling match on the ground where one knight finally removes the other's helmet and beheads him with a knife. This is raw and ready stuff, and it will show you to what degree children's books in our culture have led to a popular gross misunderstanding of the original tales.
The author, Malory, whoever exactly he was (and he CERTAINLY was NOT a criminal) must have thought of Arthur as an English hero deserving an English edition recounting his deeds. Researchers say that he stuck to re-telling the plot of the French stories, as if he thought he were getting at the 'truth behind the legend' to tell the 'true' story of Arthur. He seems to have had first hand experience in battle, as the fighting in the book is very realistic and he seems particularly interested in telling us about the thousands of fights in detail. A major part of the story is how Arthur conquers Rome: something that none of us would ever believe was there unless we had seen it written in the book! Merlin, believe it or not, dies (well, not exactly dies, but is out of the story anyways) near the very beginning of the book! Arthur has sex with anyone's wife he wants to! There are so many things in this book that you won't believe could ever have been written in this, THE tome of Chivalry! The Middle Ages is always in style, and it is always incredibly popular. This is the kind of book you can enjoy many times, and it is moreover REAL Medieval fantasy stuff, not the pulp-fiction-fantasy stuff so common at every bookstore. Read this book written by a real knight about 'real' knights! The spirit of the Middle Ages is one we can all enjoy and benefit from in our much more complex modern lives.

Rating:
Summary: Beloved Legend That Is Now Collected Wonderfully
Review: This is such a beautiful book to own. This really is the definitive King Arthur novel, honestly I wouldn't pick up any other version of the story, but this.
Hundreds of books have been written about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but this is just a must have.
Beautiful illustrations and in original fourm.

Rating:
Summary: only required arthurian reading
Review: This is the most comprehensive and beautifully written account of the Arthurian saga. It traverses the entirety of Arthur's exploit filled life from birth to his "death", as well as the stories of the most illustrious knights of the Round Table. There is not a single piece of the Arthurian legend (or history to some people) that is not recounted and recounted masterfully. It contains everything, numerous tournaments, conquests of Roman emperors, the tale of the Siege Perilous, and of course, the quest for the Holy Grail. This book will immerse you in the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table to the point where you can hear the swords clashing.

Rating:
Summary: only required arthurian reading
Review: This is the most comprehensive and beautifully written account of the Arthurian saga. It traverses the entirety of Arthur's exploit filled life from birth to his "death", as well as the stories of the most illustrious knights of the Round Table. There is not a single piece of the Arthurian legend (or history to some people) that is not recounted and recounted masterfully. It contains everything, numerous tournaments, conquests of Roman emperors, the tale of the Siege Perilous, and of course, the quest for the Holy Grail. This book will immerse you in the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table to the point where you can hear the swords clashing.