Recounting the final days of Arthur, this thirteenth-century French version of the Camelot legend, written by an unknown author, is set in a world of fading chivalric glory. It depicts the Round Table diminished in strength after the Quest for the Holy Grail, and with its integrity threatened by the weakness of Arthur's own knights. Whispers of Queen Guinevere's infidelity with his beloved comrade-at-arms Sir Lancelot profoundly distress the trusting King, leaving him no match for the machinations of the treacherous Sir Mordred. The human tragedy of The Death of King Arthur is so impressed Malory that he built his own Arthurian legend on this view of the court - a view that profoundly influenced the English conception of the 'great' King.
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Language Notes
Text: English, French (translation)
About the Author
The author of The Death of King Arthur is unknown, though it is generally thought he was a Frenchman, probably from Champagne writing around 1230-35. James Cable was educated at Exeter and Nancy Universities and holds a Ph.D. in Old French. He was subsequently a lecturer in French at London University.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Moving Close to the Tale,
By
This review is from: The Death of King Arthur (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
While "The Death of King Arthur" is the shortest romance in the entire Lancelot-Grail cycle (formerly known as the "Vulgate Cycle" and a principal source of Sir Thomas Malory) it is also one of the best suited to modern tastes. Unlike the earlier segments of the cycle (the Lancelot or the Quest of the Holy Grail particularly) it does not underline its themes through endless variant repetitions that irritate the modern reader. Instead, the plot is remarkably linear and focuses on the love of Lancelot and Guinevere, and the disastrous consequences that their affair wreaks on King Arthur and his entire kingdom.
Because it was originally written as a sequel to the Lancelot and Grail portions of the cycle, certain knowledge is assumed for the reader. The reader is assumed to know that Arthur is the King, that Lancelot is his boldest knight, and that the Round Table is recovering slowly from a long and very destructive Grail Quest. Without the lengthy process of interlacing adventures between Lancelot and Gawain or Bors and Gareth, it can be difficult for the true weight of the story to come across to the uninitiated. Cable's translation is workmanlike and readable, and serves as a worthy introduction to this classic tale until such time as the recent English translation of the entire cycle (Lancelot-Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation, edited by Norris J. Lacy) is available in an affordable paperback series. (I bought the hardback at an exorbitant price per volume myself.)
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully Tragic,
By GG Gawain (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Death of King Arthur (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
I could not put this book down once I began to read. The story begins after the Grail Quest, when the King recounts all those who were lost. The loyalty King Arthur feels towards his knights, living or dead, is moving in comparison to today's vacuum of leadership. The complicated love affair between Lancelot and Queen Guinevere is unsettling because as one reads, the unraveling of Camelot is slowly exacerbated by their innocent yet treacherous passion for each other--including the King. King Arthur's self denial of the love affair is touching and stretches faith to its limits. But one can't help take both sides because the story is so well rounded from all points of view. Compared to other translations such as Keith Baines, of Signet Classics, this James Cable translation by Penguin is superior because it keeps the arcane language used in the period, thus capturing the flavor of the times, whereas Baines seems to water it down.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great,
By
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This review is from: The Death of King Arthur (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
This is a fantastic and although at first glance rather simplistic novel, the plot continues to thicken and weave around the growing and eventually provoking character development.
Penguin Classics FTW.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
After Master Walter Map had put down in writing as much as he thought sufficient about the Adventures of the Holy Grail, his lord King Henry II felt that what he had done would not be satisfactory unless he told about the rest of the lives of those he had previously mentioned, and the deaths of those whose prowess he had related in his book. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
finest knight, fine knights, brandishing his sword, story stops, many noble men, single knight, liege man, noblest man, great prowess Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sir Gawain, King Arthur, Sir Yvain, Round Table, Sir Lancelot, King Bors, King Yon, Joyeuse Garde, King Caradoc, King Ban, King of North Wales, Lancelot del Lac, Jesus Christ, Queen Guinevere, King Lionel, Lucan the Butler, Mador de la Porte, Sagremor the Foolish, Holy Grail, Tower of London, Great Britain, Salisbury Plain, Black Chapel, Galegantin the Welshman, Hector des Mares New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
After Master Walter Map had put down in writing as much as he thought sufficient about the Adventures of the Holy Grail, his lord King Henry II felt that what he had done would not be satisfactory unless he told about the rest of the lives of those he had previously mentioned, and the deaths of those whose prowess he had related in his book. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
finest knight, fine knights, brandishing his sword, story stops, many noble men, single knight, liege man, noblest man, great prowess Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sir Gawain, King Arthur, Sir Yvain, Round Table, Sir Lancelot, King Bors, King Yon, Joyeuse Garde, King Caradoc, King Ban, King of North Wales, Lancelot del Lac, Jesus Christ, Queen Guinevere, King Lionel, Lucan the Butler, Mador de la Porte, Sagremor the Foolish, Holy Grail, Tower of London, Great Britain, Salisbury Plain, Black Chapel, Galegantin the Welshman, Hector des Mares New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 1
book:
41
books
cite this book:
See all 41 books citing this book
- The History of the Kings of Britain (Penguin Classics) by Geoffrey of Monmouth in Front Matter
- Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe by Richard W. Kaeuper on page 55, page 61, and page 166
- The Lady and the Virgin: Image, Attitude, and Experience in Twelfth-Century France (Women in Culture and Society Series) by Penny Schine Gold on page 26, and Back Matter
- The Eclogues: Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics) (Latin and English Edition) by Virgil in Back Matter
- The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Classics) by Matsuo Basho in Back Matter
- Personal Writings (Penguin Classics) by Ignatius of Loyola in Back Matter
See all 41 books citing this book
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