King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

I use this text as one of the "novels" that I teach in my British Literature high school class. Although the reading level is listed as ages 9-12, it works well at this level because some of the vocabulary is antiquated (smote, damsel, scabbard, jerkin, etc.) It is a very good translation of Le Morte D'arthur, and Roger Lancelyn Green has done a tremendous job of condensing the volumes of stories in that work into this selection. There are illustrations as well to help students visualize what is happening. Unfortunately, as we become more geared to "viewing" stories on a screen, the skill of imagination in our children is greatly compromised, so pictures help them see the story. This version accomplishes that task, even though the pictures are simply black and white. For readers who enjoy quest stories and legends, this is wonderful choice.

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT A YOUNG MAN WHO CAME TO THE CITY AND WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD PULL A SWORD OUT OF AN ANVIL. HE THEN WAS PRCLAIMED KING AND HE HAD KNIGHTS WHO WERE THE GREATEST IN THE LAND THAT SAT AT HIS COURT. MANY SEARCHED FOR THE HOLY GRAIL AND MANY FAILED. BUT ONE MAN THAT HAD PROVED HE WAS A WORTHY KNIGHT WAS GIVEN KNIGHT HOOD BY KING ARTHUR HAD SEARCHED AND WAS THE ONLY ONE WORTHY TO GUARD THE HOLY GRAIL. THE OTHERS HAD HIDDEN SECRETS OR JUST HAD NOT PROVEN THEMSELVES WORTHY. IN THE END KING ARTHUR'S KINGDOM IS DESTROYED AND EVENTUALLY IS NEVER MORE AND THAT WAS THE END OF KING ARTURS REIGN.

This was the first King Arthur book I ever had. In more recent years I've read Le Morte D'Arthur, the Mabinogion, Bulfinch's Age of Chivalry, and a hundred other collections, some for children and some for adults. This is still the best-written, most comprehensive version I've found. It tends to read a little like King Arthur's Greatest Hits--no bad thing, really. The story of Geraint and Enid is in there from the Mabinogion, Germanic legends are plundered to discover a bride for Sir Perceval, and Gawain fans will be pleased to know that his spotless character has been restored. He even gets to find the Grail! There are many other children's collections out there, but none of them as comprehensive as this. As for the old classics, they can be hard to get and, like Mallory's , do unforgivable violence to favourite characters and then spend half the book on the story of Tristan and Iseult.

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.