Tennyson had a life-long interest in the legend of King Arthur and after the huge success of his poem 'Morte d'Arthur' he built on the theme with this series of twelve poems, written in two periods of intense creativity over nearly twenty years. Idylls of the King traces the story of Arthur's rule, from his first encounter with Guinevere and the quest for the Holy Grail to the adultery of his Queen with Launcelot and the King's death in a final battle that spells the ruin of his kingdom. Told with lyrical and dreamlike eloquence, Tennyson's depiction of the Round Table reflects a longing for a past age of valour and chivalry. And in his depiction of King Arthur he created a hero imbued with the values of the Victorian age - one who embodies the highest ideals of manhood and kingship.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend is both a critical history of the Arthurian tradition and a reference guide to Arthurian works, names, characters, symbols, and places. Seven essays offer a comprehensive survey of the legends in all of their manifestations, from their origins in medieval literature to their adaptation in modern literature, arts, film, and popular culture. It also demonstrates the tremendous continuity of the legends by examining the ways that they have been reinterpreted over the years. The indispensable reference on the subject, it also contains encyclopedic entries, bibliographies, and a comprehensive index. The extensive chapter-by-chapter bibliographies, which are subdivided by topic, augment the general bibliography of Arthurian resources.Comprehensive in its analysis and hypertextual in its approach, the Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend is an essential reference book for Arthurian scholars, medievalists, and for those interested in cultural studies of myth and legend.

The text is unabridged, with original spelling and extensive, easy-to-use marginal glosses and footnotes. No other edition accurately represents the actual (and likely authorial) divisions of the text as attested to by its two surviving witnesses―Caxton’s 1485 print and, especially, the famous Winchester Manuscript. The Winchester Manuscript is now generally agreed to be the more authentic of the two earlier texts. The Norton Critical Edition is the first edition of Malory to recover important elements of this manuscript: paragraphing marginal annotations hierarchies of narrative division as signaled by size and decorative intricacy of initial capitals and font changes The Norton Critical Edition also represents, in black-letter font, the striking rubrication of proper names in the Winchester Manuscript, reconstructing for readers something of an authentic medieval reading experience, one which gives visual support to Malory’s extraordinary representation, in character and setting, of a chivalric ideal. No other student edition of Malory contains such extensive contextual and critical support.

For more than 500 years, the epic adventures of King Arthur and his knights have been one of the most potent forces in English literature. This lavishly illustrated volume examines all the different strands of the Arthurian myth, bringing together a wide variety of materials, fully complemented by paintings, engravings, maps, and family trees.

The most comprehensive account of the story of Arthur, the Round Table and the Grail is to be found in the work known as Lancelot-Grail or the Vulgate Cycle. It tells the story of the Arthurian world from the events of the Crucifixion, where the Grail originated, to the death of Lancelot after the destruction of the Round Table. It draws in many different strands, from the pseudo-historical stories about Arthur to the romances of chivalric adventure and the spiritual quest for the Grail. It consists of five works: the longest is Lancelot, a kind of chivalric history of the Round Table, which leads into the quest for the Grail and Arthur's death. The first two books were added later, and provide an account of events up to Arthur's birth. Not long after the cycle was completed, another writer retained the first two books of the Vulgate cycle but recast the last three books with a rather different emphasis; this version is known as the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and is one of the main sources used by Sir Thomas Malory. Available as a ten volume set or a single volumes.

Idylls of the King is Lord Tennyson's epic retelling of the Arthurian legend through twelve lengthy poems, depicting Arthur, his Knights, Queen Guinevere, and the mythic kingdom. Published between the years 1859 and 1885, Idylls of the King is arguably Tennyson's greatest work. Based chiefly from authoritative sources such as Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur and the Mabinogion, Tennyson would expand upon and alter the legendary canon in order to fit the narration he sought to convey. The twelve idylls are all written in blank verse, and for their references to movements dated after his sources (Romanticism and Gothic architecture in particular) Tennyson's work may also be read as allegorical to the lofty ideals of the Victorian era. This edition presents the poetry in an attractive, columned format, complete with a table of contents for ease of reference.

Born the bastard son of a Welsh princess, Myridden Emrys -- or as he would later be known, Merlin -- leads a perilous childhood, haunted by portents and visions. But destiny has great plans for this no-man's-son, taking him from prophesying before the High King Vortigern to the crowning of Uther Pendragon . . . and the conception of Arthur -- king for once and always.

The legends of King Arthur and his knights have passed down through the generations since medieval times. In this spellbinding trilogy, Rosemary Sutcliff recreates all the mystique and mystery of the golden age of Camelot for a new generation.