King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales

This nice collection of tales of King Arthur and his knights of the table round is a wonderful reading for anyone concerned with the history of western civilization and the thought that helped shape it. The book begins with Merlin, and really King Uther Pendragon and the wife of the Duke of Cornwall, Igraine, and the conception of one King Arthur. Following are tales of knight errantry, profiles of brave souls such as Guinevere, Arthur, Merlin, and perhaps most notably, Sir Lancelot and his erstwhile beloved Elaine, and their child, Sir Galahad. The tales are highlighted by prophecies, magical kingdoms, chaste maidens and not so chaste queens. These are, of course the christianized versions of these stories, but it is a strange christianity indeed. The eucharist holds no sway here, where instead, the sankgreall, or holy blood, just appears, sometimes from a cenosr a dove bears in it's mouth, other times leeching from a long sword bore by Christ Himself (to Sir Galahad). Angels bear away noble souls to heaven, while sorcery and magic are promulgated side by side with christian feasts and observances. The thin line between paganism and christianity is blurred to the point the stories bear an uncontested occultic thread from beginning to end which is to good effect here. This is a book when once bought, will be treasured. Hopefully still for many years to come!

My mother gave me this book when I was six years old, and I fell in love immediately. It covers just about every classic Arthurian story, so it's a good introduction to the legends. The formal language is evocative of both the medieval period from which the stories come and the magical realm in which they take place. The woodcut illustrations have a 'stained-glass' look, and add to the atmosphere of the tales. Reading it, you feel that you are getting at the 'original' stories rather than a modern retelling; Green allows the quests and adventures to stand on their own, much as they exist in Malory or the medieval romances, without forcing his voice and version of events onto them. For this reason, I prefer it to other introductory collections of the stories. It's a classic, one that I've reread probably hundreds of times over the last twelve years.

I've used this text to teach upper-division college classes on the Arthurian legend, and I'd say that this is the best text for that purpose.First, although there are some useful and interesting tales missing (such as the tale of Sir Lancelot, and the tale of Sir Gareth), most the the truly vital ones are there -- and the death of Arthur is presented in its entirety.Second, Vinaver DOES modernize the spelling. But you can't modernize the spelling of an archaic word and, since he is NOT writing a translation but providing a modern-spelling edition, he simply standardizes the spelling of the archaic words and provides a gloss on each one. This is much more useful than the banal translations by Keith Barnes and Richard Barber (Legends of Arthur, from Boydell and Brewer).This edition is the best way to get used to Malory's beautiful style without having to figure out Middle English spellings (which isn't really very difficult in Malory's case). It's a well organized book, and makes Malory appealing without compromising on the language -- which is one of Malory's greatest facets.The only problem I have with this text is Vinaver's insistence on re-ordering the tales according to Malory's French originals. "The Knight of the Cart" should be presented AFTER "The Poisoned Apple," and certainly not before the Quest of the Holy Grail. It makes much better sense where Malory put it, where it shows Lanbcelot's deteriorating morals as his relationship with Guenever intensifies. Also, I'd like to see either more from the Quest for the Holy Grail, or nothing at all. The tiny fragment of the story presented here is almost incomprehensible to first-time readers.

As a teacher, and Arthurian Legend enthusiast, I have found these tales applicable to both middle, and high school students. Timeless stories of chivalry and honor accurately retold by Green excited students, who devoured chapter after chapter of guts and gore, evenly balanced with heroic knightly deeds. In the end students wanted more, and sought other titles independently. Note: TH Lawrence's Sword in the Stone is not an ample substitue. Students found it to be trite, childish, and laborious. It does however demonstrate how authorial interpretation of original plotlines can make or break a story. This book is worth the money.

The Roger Lancelyn Green version for King Arthur is an excellent Arthur version for beginners. I read this book for one of my classes at my school(Belen Jesuit Prep.)My teacher is an Arthur fanatic. He also got my whole grade involved in Arthur with this book. My favorite tale is The Last Battle. The only bad thing is that King Arthur and the realm of logres comes to such a tragic end.