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Just starting out and don't know where to begin?
Just starting out and don't know where to begin?
Anyone new to Arthurian Legends will here find guidance on introductory Medieval texts (and some more recently written). The stories are grouped into sections to help you decide where to begin. Click the arrow to learn more.
By Familiarity
PAGE:
No prior knowledge required!
Features abridged versions of famous key texts.
Also features short, self-contained stories, often poems.
SQUIRE:
Base knowledge recommended.
Moderately complex stories with longer page counts.
Still beginner friendly for the right reader who likes a challenge!
KNIGHT:
Extensive knowledge recommended.
Unabridged famous key texts.
Some alternate interpretations of famous key texts with complex narratives.
HERE BE DRAGONS:
Lesser-known stories unrepresented in famous key texts.
Often complex and referential to key texts.
Many features a brand new or previously unexplored character.
By Characters
KNIGHT OF MAIDENS:
Sir GawainKNIGHT WITH THE LION:
Sir YvainKNIGHT OF THE GRAIL:
Sir PercevalKNIGHT OF THE LAKE:
Sir LancelotTRISTAN & ISOLDE
MERLIN
FAIR UNKNOWN:
Sir GuinglainEREC & ENIDE
KNIGHT OF AVALON:
Sir LanvalKNIGHT OF THE VALLEY:
Sir Daniel
By Themes
LOATHLY LADIES
Alison & Dame RagnelleQUEST FOR THE HOLY GRAIL
Sirs Perceval, Galahad, Bors, Gawain, & MoreDEATH OF ARTHUR
King Arthur
Further Reading
Textbooks and encyclopedias which provide overviews of the legends are listed last. Dr. Dorsey Armstrong's Great Courses King Arthur lecture series also covers the more or less "full" history of the legends and can be viewed here.
By Familiarity
By Familiarity
Texts are sorted in recommended reading/difficulty order.
Texts are sorted in recommended reading/difficulty order.
PAGE
No Knowledge Required
- The Lancelot-Grail Reader
Anonymous
(French → English)- Select passages from the French Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) Cycle curated by head editor Norris J. Lacy.
- Provides an overview of a popular version of the legends which many other iterations draw from.
- While Lancelot-heavy as the name implied, it follows a multitude of characters and narratives.
- The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English)- Modern English translation of a short Middle English poem starring two famous and oft-adapted characters.
- Can be read in one sitting.
- Early French Tristan Poems
Béroul
(French → English)- 12th century French poems about the Tristan/Isolde romance prior to the long, meandering Prose Tristan that followed.
- Fewer characters to contend with and features many of the enduring motifs repeated in centuries to come.
- The poem by Béroul and translated by Norris J. Lacy is particularly good.
- The Mabinogion
Anonymous
(Welsh → English)- A collection of Welsh oral storytelling traditions written down in the 12th century.
- Relatively short stories about some of the oldest and most famous characters: Peredur (Perceval), Owain (Yvain), Geraint (Erec), Gwalchmai (Gawain), and more.
- Compliments the French works of contemporary author Chrétien de Troyes.
- The Knight of the Cart
Chrétien de Troyes & Godfrey of Lagny
(French → English)- Very famous courtly love poem by French author Chrétien de Troyes widely considered to be Lancelot's "first" appearance.
- Formed the basis for one of Arthuriana's most popular and lasting stories.
- Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
Pearl Poet or Gawain Poet
(Middle English → English Modern)- A world-famous poem with endless scholarship and adaptations.
- This translation by Burton Raffel balances poetry and readability.
- More info can be found in the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight documentary hosted by poet and translator Simon Armitage.
- Le Morte d'Arthur
Sir Thomas Malory
(Middle English → English Modern)- Abridged Modern English translation by Keith Baines of Sir Thomas Malory's Middle English epic.
- Tells the "full history" from Arthur's conception to his death in streamlined style and plain wording for ease of understanding an otherwise dense text.
- Includes endless side characters and [most of] the stories mentioned above including: the Knight of the Cart, the Tristan Legend, and the Quest for the Holy Grail all in one volume.
SQUIRE
Base Knowledge Recommended
- The Story of Merlin
Anonymous
(French → English)- The second book of the French Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) cycle about the origins of Merlin, Arthur, Guinevere, and the Orkney brothers before the birth of Lancelot.
- Reads like a modern day novel.
- Note: Skip The History of the Holy Grail; it is to the Grail Quest what The Silmarillion is to The Lord of the Rings.
- Lancelot Parts I-III
Anonymous
(French → English)- The first half of the French Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) cycle following the life and adventures of Lancelot and other Knights of the Round Table.
- Reads like a modern day novel.
- Elaborates on Lancelot's Lake-Kingdom upbringing, his love for Guinevere, his love for Galehaut, and the quests of many other knights.
- Lancelot Parts IV-VI
Anonymous
(French → English)- The second half of the French Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) cycle following the life and adventures of Lancelot and other Knights of the Round Table.
- Reads like a modern day novel.
- Adapts Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere, Galehaut's death, the conception of Galahad, and the quests of many other knights.
- Alliterative Morte Arthure
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English)- A relatively short alternate version of Arthur's fall from power in Middle English.
- Origin of Mordred's named sword Clarent.
- King Artus
Anonymous
(Hebrew → English)- An incomplete Hebrew version of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur which reimagines the story as Jewish instead of Christian.
- Nevertheless, it offers a digestible and universally recognizable interpretation of the legend.
- Shorter than Le Morte d'Arthur.
- Life of Merlin (Vita Merlini)
Geoffrey of Monmouth
(Latin → English)- Latin text written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century.
- Merlin's backstory and the origin of many Arthurian motifs such as the Isle of Women and notable appearance of healer Morgan.
- The History of the Kings of Britain
Geoffrey of Monmouth
(Latin → English)- Fictionalized history written in Latin by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century.
- Dense and lore-heavy, it contains the origins of famous stories oft-adapted like Merlin's youth, Arthur's conception by deceit, and the battle against the giant of Mont Saint Michel.
KNIGHT
Extensive Knowledge Recommended
- La Tavola Ritonda
Anonymous
(Italian → English)- The only complete Tristan story in Italian.
- Expansive narrative that begins with the prior generation (Uther, Meliodas, etc.) before covering all of Tristan/Isolde's lives and the Fall of Camelot.
- Has a sequel about Morgan le Fay's daughter, Pulzella Gaia.
- Perlesvaus
Anonymous
(French → English)- A major source of inspiration for the Vulgate.
- The Post-Vulgate Part I
Anonymous
(French → English)- The Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate)'s ugly step sister.
- The basis of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and origin of famous stories such as the triple quest at Guinevere and Arthur's wedding.
- The Post-Vulgate Part II
Anonymous
(French → English)- The Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate)'s ugly step sister continued.
- More of The Merlin Continuation, plus The Quest for the Holy Grail and The Death of Arthur, but worse than what the Vulgate had.
- Came out following the Prose Tristan, so everyone is cartoonishly evil and extra racist.
- Le Morte d'Arthur
Sir Thomas Malory
(Middle English → Modern English)- An academic translation by Dr. Dorsey Armstrong.
- Tells the "full" history of the legend with vast yet interconnected storylines.
- Has a character index in the back.
HERE BE DRAGONS
Lesser-Known Stories
Unrepresented Prior
- The Adventure of Melóra and Orlando
Anonymous
(Irish → English)- Short and sweet story about Guinevere and Arthur's daughter, Melóra, and her ascension to knighthood.
- The Old Knight
Anonymous
(Greek → English)- The only known Arthurian story in Greek.
- The story of an elderly knight returning to service to defeat the Knights of the Round Table and save a girl.
- The Crop-Eared Dog
Anonymous
(Irish → English)- A prince of India is transformed into a talking dog and aided in this rare non-Holy Grail related Galahad adventure.
- The Story of Silence
Anonymous
(French → English)- A gender-bending story preserved in a single manuscript discovered in 1911 after being hidden away for centuries.
- Follows the titular character Silence, born a girl, but raised as a boy and trained as a knight.
- Morien
Anonymous
(Dutch → English)- A Dutch romance starring a Black knight, Morien.
- Offers a rare look and Medieval anti-racism.
- Daniel of the Blossoming Valley
Der Stricker
(German → English)- High-fantasy story with lots of magic and unique protagonist.
- Jaufre
Anonymous
(Occitan/Tagalog → English)- Another high-fantasy story full of magic.
- "Jaufre" is an alternate spelling of the French character Griflet.
- Lanzelet
Ulrich von Zatzikhoven
(German → English)- An alternate story for Lancelot in which there is no affair.
- The Knight of The Two Swords
Anonymous
(French → English)- A story following common Arthurian motifs of "new knight compared to Gawain."
- Meriadeuc is the chosen one who can wield the special sword.
- The Marvels of Rigomer
Anonymous
(French → English)- The story of an echanted castle Rigomer.
- Perceforest | A Perceforest Reader
Anonymous
(French → English)- The pre-history of Arthurian Legend.
- "Each one of Perceforest’s six parts is the length of a substantial novel – the shortest is as long as Moby Dick."
- The Faerie Queene
Edmund Spenser
(Early Modern English → Modern English)- One of the longest poems in the English language at nearly 35,000 lines.
By Characters
By Characters
Texts are sorted in chronological order.
Texts are sorted in chronological order.
KNIGHT OF MAIDENS
Sir Gawain
12th Century
- De Ortu Waluuanii
Anonymous
(Latin → English)
- The Girl With The Mule
Paien de Maisières
(French → English) - The Crown
Heinrich von dem Türlin
(German → English) - Valvens Þáttr
Anonymous
(Icelandic → English) - Roman van Walewein
Pennine & Pieter Vostaert
(Dutch → English) - The Knight With The Swords
Paien de Maisières (possibly)
(French → English) - The Perilous Cemetery
Anonymous
(French → English)
- Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
Pearl Poet or Gawain Poet
(Middle English → Modern English)
- The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English) - The Turk and Sir Gawain
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English) - Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales
Anonymous
(Middle English) - Sir Gawain and The Lady of Lys
Anonymous
(French → English) - Golagros and Gawane
Anonymous
(Middle Scots → Modern English)
- Sir Gabein: From Camelot to China
Anonymous
(Yiddish → English)
KNIGHT WITH THE LION
Sir Yvain
12th Century
- Yvain: Knight With The Lion
Chrétien de Troyes
(French → English) - Owain/The Lady of the Well
Anonymous
(Welsh → English)
- Iwein
Hartmann von Aue
(German → English) - Ívens Saga
Anonymous
(Icelandic → English)
- Hærra Ivan/Herr Ivan Lejonriddaren
Anonymous
(Swedish → English) - Ywain and Gawain
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English)
KNIGHT OF THE GRAIL
Sir Perceval
12th Century
- Perceval: The Story of the Grail + Continuations
Chrétien de Troyes
(French → English) - Peredur
Anonymous
(Welsh → English) - Perceval
Robert de Boron
(French → English)
- Didot Perceval
Robert de Boron
(French → English) - Parzival
Wolfram von Eschenbach
(German → English) - Perlesvaus
Anonymous
(French → English) - Parcevals Saga
Anonymous
(Icelandic → English)
- Sir Perceval of Galles
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English)
- The Adventures of the Big Fool
Anonymous
(Irish → English)
KNIGHT OF THE LAKE
Sir Lancelot
12th Century
- The Knight of the Cart
Chrétien de Troyes & Godfrey of Lagny
(French → English) - Lanzelet
Ulrich von Zatzikhoven
(German → English)
- Vulgate: Lancelot Parts I-III
Anonymous
(French → English) - Vulgate: Lancelot Parts IV-VI
Anonymous
(French → English) - The Lancelot-Grail Reader (abridged Vulgate)
Anonymous
(French → English) - From Camelot to Joyous Guard (abridged Vulgate)
Anonymous
(French → English) - Sir Lancelot of the Lake (abridged Vulgate)
Anonymous
(French → English) - Spanish Lancelot Ballads
Anonymous
(Spanish → English)
- The Lancelot Compilation
Anonymous
(Dutch → English)
- Lancelot of the Laik
Anonymous
(Middle Scots)
FAIR UNKNOWN
Sir Guinglain
12th Century
- Le Bel Inconnu
Renaut de Bâgé
(French → English)
- Gliglois
Anonymous
(French) - Beaudous
Robert de Blois
(French) - Wigalois
Wirnt von Gravenberg
(German → English) - Wigamur
Anonymous
(German → English) - Cantari di Carduino
Anonymous
(Italian)
- Sir Libeaus Desconus
Anonymous
(Middle French → Modern English)
- Vidvilt
Anonymous
(Yiddish → English)
- Widwilt
Anonymous
(Yiddish → English)
TRISTAN & ISOLDE
12th Century
- Early French Tristan Poems
Béroul
(French → English) - Tristrant
Eilhart von Oberge
(German → English) - Tristan and Iseult
Gottfried von Strassburg
(German → English)
- The Romance of Tristan (abridged Prose Tristan)
Anonymous
(French → English) - The Tristan Legend
Brother Robert
(Icelandic → English) - A Welsh Tristan Episode
Anonymous
(Welsh → English)
- Sir Tristrem
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English) - Tristano Panciatichiano
Anonymous
(Italian → English) - Il Tristano Riccardiano
Anonymous
(Italian → English) - Il Tristano Corsiniano
Anonymous
(Italian → English)
- La Tavola Ritonda
Anonymous
(Italian → English)
- Povest o Trishchane
Anonymous
(Byelorussian → English)
MERLIN
12th Century
- Life of Merlin (Vita Merlini)
Geoffrey of Monmouth
(Latin → English) - Prose Merlin
Robert de Boron
(French → English)
- The Story of Merlin
Anonymous
(French → English)
- Prose Merlin
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English)
EREC & ENIDE
12th Century
- Erec and Enide
Chrétien de Troyes
(French → English) - Geraint son of Erbin
Anonymous
(Welsh → English)
- Prose Erec
Anonymous
(Burgundian → English)
KNIGHT OF THE VALLEY
Sir Daniel
13th Century
- Daniel of the Blossoming Valley
Der Stricker
(German → English) - Garel of the Blooming Valley
Der Pleier
(German → English)
KNIGHT OF AVALON
Sir Lanval
12th Century
- Sir Lanval
Marie de France
(French → English)
- Januals ljóđ
Anonymous
(Norse → English)
- Sir Launfal
Thomas Chestre
(Middle English → Modern English)
- The Vision of Sir Launfal
James Russell Lowell
(Modern English)
By Themes
By Themes
Texts are sorted in chronological order.
Texts are sorted in chronological order.
LOATHLY LADIES
Alison & Dame Ragnelle
14th Century
- The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue
Geoffrey Chaucer
(Middle English → Modern English)
- The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English) - The Marriage of Sir Gawain
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English)
QUEST FOR THE
HOLY GRAIL
Sirs Perceval, Galahad, Bors, Gawain, & More
- See: KNIGHT OF THE GRAIL
- Prose Merlin
Robert de Boron
(French → English)
- The History of The Holy Grail (Vulgate)
Anonymous
(French → English) - The Quest for the Holy Grail (Vulgate)
Anonymous
(French → English) - The Quest for The Holy Grail (Post-Vulgate)
Various
(French → English) - The Crown
Heinrich von dem Türlin
(German → English)
- Y Seint Greal
Anonymous
(Welsh → English)
- The Legend of The Grail (Nigel Bryant's Modern Compilation)
Anonymous
(French → English)
DEATH OF ARTHUR
King Arthur
12th Century
- Roman de Brut
Wace
(French → English)
- Stanzaic Morte and Alliterative Morte Arthure
Anonymous
(Middle English) - Alliterative Morte Arthure
Anonymous
(Middle English → Modern English) - Le Morte d'Arthur
Sir Thomas Malory
(Middle English → Modern English)
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias
Character-focused handbooks, dictionaries, and other encyclopedias for beginners.
Character-focused handbooks, dictionaries, and other encyclopedias for beginners.
The Arthurian Handbook
by Norris J. Lacy & Geoffrey Ashe (1997)
"This is the second edition of The Arthurian Handbook, a critical survey of the Arthurian legend in all periods and languages. Like the first edition, it deals extensively with the complex question of Arthurian origins and with the early development of the legend. Later chapters study Arthurian literature (from Geoffrey of Monmouth to the present) and the expression of Arthurian themes in the other arts: manuscript and book illustration, painting, sculpture, tapestry, opera, film, and other media."
The Arthurian Name Dictionary
by Christopher W. Bruce (1999)
"The Arthurian Name Dictionary is intended as a general reference for Arthurian scholars, fans, and hobbyists. It lists proper names from nearly every "Arthurian" text written between the sixth century and the nineteenth, and for more than half of these (the most significant texts) is comprehensive, including all characters and places, major and minor, who appear in the texts."
The Arthurian Companion
by Phyllis Ann Karr (1997)
"Arthurian enthusiasm takes two forms—research and storification—and divides into two schools—the realistic and the romantic. This volume is based primarily on the romantic storifications of Malory and the French prose authors who appear to have supplied Malory much of his material. It is not a work for those who are searching for "The Real Arthur", nor is its emphasis on Arthur as the unifier of Britain and the holder back for a generation of the Saxon tide."
Warriors of Arthur
by John Matthews & Bob Stewart (1987)
"We shall try to place before the reader a fresh perspective of those times, of the warriors who fought with Arthur, of the kind of weapons they used and the kind of armour they wore, and of the world in which they lived. Because it was the nature of the Celtic peoples who made Arthur their hero to award the gifts of magical powers or weapons, we shall also discuss the nature and skills of the magical warrior, and find that even here are echoes of the real world of the sixth century.
"Finally we shall show how the methods of battle practised by Arthurian men and women (for there were female warriors also in those days) have been preserved into almost contemporary times through the nature of the Celtic spirit, which has itself changed hardly at all since Arthur's day. Because above all the people of those times loved stories, we shall tell some of the best-loved tales again, in our own words but faithfully as far as possible to the spirit of the times."
"Finally we shall show how the methods of battle practised by Arthurian men and women (for there were female warriors also in those days) have been preserved into almost contemporary times through the nature of the Celtic spirit, which has itself changed hardly at all since Arthur's day. Because above all the people of those times loved stories, we shall tell some of the best-loved tales again, in our own words but faithfully as far as possible to the spirit of the times."
A Casebook Series
edited by Norris J. Lacy (1996-2006)
- Arthurian Women (1996)
edited by Thelma S. Fenster - The Grail (2000)
edited by Dhira B. Mahoney - King Arthur (2002)
edited by Edward Donald Kennedy - Tristan and Isolde (2002)
edited by Joan Tasker Grimbert - Lancelot and Guinevere (2002)
edited by Lori J. Walters - Perceval/Parzival (2002)
edited by Arthur Groos & Norris J. Lacy - Merlin (2003)
edited by Peter H. Goodrich & Raymond H. Thompson - Gawain (2006)
edited by Raymond H. Thompson & Keith Busby
The Legend of Series
by Jessie L. Weston (1897-1913)
Arthur by Country Series
edited by Ad Putter (1991-2014)
- The Arthur of the Welsh (1991)
edited by Rachel Bromwich, A. O. H. Jarman, & Brynley F. Roberts - The Arthur of the English (1999)
edited by W. R. J. Barron - The Arthur of the Germans (2000)
edited by W. H. Jackson & S. A. Ranawake - The Arthur of the French (2006)
edited by Glyn S. Burgess & Karen Pratt - The Arthur of the North (2011)
edited by Marianne E. Kalinke - The Arthur of Medieval Latin Literature (2011)
edited by Siân Echard - The Arthur of the Italians (2014)
edited by Gloria Allaire & F. Regina Psaki
A Companion Series
edited by Norris J. Lacy (2003-2014)
- A Companion to Malory (1996)
edited by Elizabeth Archibald & A. S. G. Edwards - A Companion to the Gawain-Poet (1997)
edited by Derek Brewer & Jonathan Gibson - A Companion to Gottfried von Strassburg's "Tristan" (2003)
edited by Will Hasty - A Companion to Chrétien de Troyes (2005)
edited by Norris J. Lacy & Joan Tasker Grimbert - A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle (2006)
edited by Carol Dover - A Companion to Arthurian Literature (2009)
edited by Helen Fulton
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