I’ve been asked to look up good Arthuriana books to start with, and read to come to know King Arthur. I will be the first to admit to being surprised by this, if it was Greek, Norse or Japanese myths I could weirdly readily answer. But Arthur is a figure that though I’ve read some modern books about, I’m probably less familiar than some.
But while I’ve been looking through some books such as Kings of Great Britain, this has pushed me to take a more serious look at more Arthuriana legends and to kick Dan in the rear into hand me back my copy of Geoffroy of Monmouth’s classic work.
Truth is there is no definitive book on Arthur (sadly). But the vast majority of the stories out there have been accrued over time.
In various stories Arthur is portrayed such as that of Lanval as being a futile, weakling (Lanval’s story can be good, it is known as the Lai de Lanval by Marie de France, but it is it must be said a little distressing to read, if you love Arthur) or Malory’s Morte d’Arthur as a mega-conqueror.
After a cursory look at all the tomes assembled (I will include a link to wikipedia where there is a fantastic list; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_of_Britain). But the trouble with wikipedia is that while they are good for lists, they aren’t perfect (well duh).
So let’s go with the first book or books I might recommend.
Erec and Enide, Cligès, Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, Perceval, the Story of the Grail, all seem to be supposed to be read in this order and all are by Chrétien de Troyes. I prefer his works in French, I’ve only read snippets (mostly of Yvain), but I intend to do a full on book-club of all his works as I remember being told some of his stories as a kid but not much else.
I know I should boast of knowing more about Chrétien but, I don’t want to lie, I’m more familiar with the Iliade, the Odyssey and other mythological tales like those (and of course Heracles). But Arthur while I love him, I do not know every story of his, but Chrétien I know to be a fantastic read because I have distant memories of him being read to me and of seeing snippets.
I highly recommend him, just going by memory and off of what I’ve seen recently in documentary format (I’ve been preparing for a book-club for some time).
Gawain & The Green Knight is a piece of work that is remarkable and can be quite a bit of work to read, but it is good.
The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain - This one serves to my knowledge as a good follow-up to the Green Knight. I’ve not read it, but I’ve heard of the tale before looking it up (Gologras, weirdly is a name that’s come up in my research and memory years ago, not sure why until I looked up this tale). This tale looks funny, great and as though it would make a great movie, seriously I highly recommend it and intend to read it as soon as my present studies are set aside. It is a Scottish tale set in France, so you know it must be good (the Scots are FANTASTIC writers and poets).
Next comes Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, which I’ve read a great many snippets and I believe the beginning and ending in its entirety or near entirety (it would have been when I was browsing as a young man, this had to have been 10 years ago? Not sure). The story is a good one, well told as far as memory holds, and I plan to read it rather more thoroughly.
There are more, but I plan to go through them ever so slowly, in the coming months and as I’m not as familiar with a great many, I will not recommend them. I know of the above, or have read pieces here and there, so feel comfortable that they are quality literature and thus should be read (I plan to thoroughly read them).
Next we come to the modern age, and honestly this is a trickier beast. Some are good, others (to most) are atrociously bad. I will only recommend what I deem to be good.
The Boy’s King Arthur - This one is quite good and is a collection of some older stories re-written at the start of the 20th century thereabouts. It is quite fun and a good starting point. Perhaps the best.
King Arthur’s Knights - Another simply bound, and simply told version of Arthur, not so bad. These simpler versions can be good.
Merlin 1998 - The novelised versions of the 1998 miniseries-movie are fantastic, they are well-researched, perfectly written and are amongst my favourite reads. They also posit Merlin against a formidable force of nature by the name of Mab, and you really get to pity the whole cast of characters. Also there’s a cinematic version 3 hours long that really should have been longer but is a perfect cinematic experience.
Pendragon series - Yes this is quite good, I’m not as familiar as others with it, but it is quite good. Stephen Lawhead wrote some of the most popular versions of Arthur, that have had an enormous influence on the popular imagination. But I do remember his stories being quite good.
TH White’s Once and Future King - While I recommend these stories, they are not my favourite, and the reason is that he makes Lancelot ugly (ridiculous), he involves him in a comedic love-triangle that feels like it belongs on the Young and the Restless, seems to have little regard for Gawain (my favourite knight). He also tears out Arthur’s spine after the initial few stories, and leaves him a maudlin mess. And yet the prose is superb, and though he breaks the fourth wall in the last book (to horrible effect) this is a book that I do recommend you read at least once.
Prince Valiant Comics- I love these, sorry but I just love these and consider them amongst the greatest comics ever written and am not ashamed to admit to reading them when younger and that they are some of my main forays into Arthuriana these days. I still crack them open on occasion, Val is a great hero and his family feel like one, and his friends stand tall and King is amongst the greatest depictions of that character imaginable.
I know it is controversial to acknowledge weakness, and not being as well-read as others. I intend to correct this error in the coming months, Arthur I must admit has fallen below on my book-shelf beneath Lord of the Rings for a podcast, Silmarillion for similar reasons, and also the Brus Poem of Scotland as I seek to translate it into English and French. I read rather more history than Arthuriana these days, but as said intend to correct this.
Arthur is a must read in whatever form he comes in, and ought to be enjoyed at least more than once as there are few heroes more aspirational than he, or his nephew Gawain and few who stand the test of time quite so well. To all the Americans out there, King Arthur is the OG Superman. Long before the Man of Tomorrow shined brightly and was saving the lovely, vivacious Lois Lane, Arthur was busy saving maidens, Camelot and protecting the rights of every man, woman and child in Logres.
I’ve been asked by a friend about the Christian themes in the Arthurian Legends, so I’m ploughing through Malory’s Morte D’Arthur.
I’ve never read the Arthurian tales before. I’m enjoying them.
"seems to have little regard for Gawain (my favourite knight)"
Gawain is also my favorite. He is the Clint Eastwood of the Round Table; deeply principled, but irascible, impetuous and fallible. "Green Knight" is the best-known cycle, but I think my favorite is "Loathly Lady." Gawain always receives a comeuppance from his errors and learns by them.
"I know it is controversial to acknowledge weakness, and not being as well-read as others."
Well, it needs to stop being controversial. Never let your lack of knowledge about a topic constrain you or prevent you from speaking. If you are ignorant, admit to your ignorance and plow forward. It is a common phenomenon for outsiders to see problems that insiders and experts are blind to. Clout doesn't matter, truth does.