Arthurian literature starter kit
I’ve been having a lot of Arthurian feelings lately, so I thought that I’d put together a selective list of medieval Arthurian texts and where to find them. If I’m duplicating a masterpost of someone else’s hard work that I’ve failed to find in tag searches, apologies (and let me know so I can link back in this for maximum Arthurian goodness!)
Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain
Only sections deal with Arthur, but 1) the whole thing is enjoyable and 2) this version has Vortigern and dragons. Full text here.
Like Geoffrey, Layamon is writing a history of Britain, and Arthur is part of it. It’s readable in Middle English if you have a little bit of background or a lot of patience. Have a link to the Arthurian sections in modern English.
These are wondrous and strange and I love them; they are a world of homeliness and magic, where ravens soar and Arthur plays chess for the fate of the earth and bargains with magic beasts, but also where Arthur and his knights sit around telling stories and playing games and eating chicken in the afternoons. (The Mabinogion is also why I started crying when Ioan Gruffudd’s voice-over for the terrible King Arthur movie started; I need to hear more Arthurian stories read in a Welsh voice.) Victorian translation online here, modern one for sale here.
Gottfried von Straßburg, Tristan
Angst, pain, poetry. Full text online here, edition for sale here. There are those who prefer Béroul’s version, but… I just really love Gottfried. It’s so imbued with a sense of the sadness of the world, and the nobility of human endeavor! I have feelings.
Chrétien de Troyes, Le Chevalier de la Charette
Chrétien is the reason Monty Python has French jokes. Pick a romance, any romance, but The Knight of the Cart is my favorite Chrétien starting point. I also really like Yvain, though, and have seen it in new eyes ever since hearing a conference paper arguing that his lion could be read as a service animal! <3
Note: I’m leaving out Chrétien’s and Wolfram’s Percival romances; if you want to read about the quest for the Holy Grail, more power to you.
Marie de France, Lay of Sir Launfal
I needed to get Marie on here! And this is a haunting look at the proximity and distance of faerie in an Arthurian world. Full text here, contextualizing notes here.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
This is such a great poem about community and landscape, magic and honor, fear and desire. I first read Tolkien’s translation, but have recently been really into Armitage’s (which has the Middle English in parallel text, yay.)
Thomas Malory, Le Morte D’Arthur
I sometimes ask myself why it is that I love Malory so much, and I think it’s because he’s such a great storyteller. And the emotional realism of this will punch you in the gut. Repeatedly. There’s a reason Steinbeck chose to retell this version.
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