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I was wondering which version of the Arthurian legends you prefer. I was brought up on Mallory, but realise that he was seeing it through the prism of much later times, which doesn't stop the language and story-telling being superb. As a lover of Wagner's operas, I also love Wolfram von Eschenbach's telling of 'Parsifal', and going down another route, I have always been fascinated by the anonymous narration of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'.

Interesting question. I view the Arthurian legends more from the movies that have surrounded them than the books. There have been SO many whether focused on Arthur or Merlin. For example, the movie and TV shows named Merlin. Or First Knight with Richard Gere and Sean Connery... I think they all have merits...

A very interesting topic.
Just as with Mallory, and the French writers, when you look at the earlier legends/stories as told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gildas and others, you still need to peel back the material added to the Arthur canon.
Having done quite a bit of reading on the subject, and looked at the various theories of whether there really was an Arthur, I can say this: we will never know for sure if there truly was an Arthur. If there was, and he wasn't just a Welsh folk hero, he almost certainly was not a king. He was probably a military leader, or a warrior of some repute.
The era in which he was said to have lived was very sparse for written material, so the oral traditions that have passed down could have flavoured the truth. However, I do think his name was not Arthur, but possibly a nickname, "Arcturus", or Bear. Possibly he was a warrior of the Romanized Britons, whose feats became a shining light for the Welsh of later years, as they fought encroachments from both the Saxons and the Irish.
As to the legends, I too was brought up with the Mallory style legends, but have enjoyed in later years reading the earlier materials.

I tend to see Mallory as the standard. However, I have recently enjoyed The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead. It includes the main movements and characters of the more mainstream version but also makes a connection with Atlantis. Lawhead's POV is also distinctly Christian, though not in a cheesy or offensive way.

jaylperry wrote: ↑11 Feb 2018, 13:27 I tend to see Mallory as the standard. However, I have recently enjoyed The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead. It includes the main movements and characters of the more mainstream version but also makes a connection with Atlantis. Lawhead's POV is also distinctly Christian, though not in a cheesy or offensive way.

If you enjoyed The Pendragon Cycle, try Marion Bradley's Mists of Avalon.

pinefamily wrote: ↑11 Feb 2018, 17:16 If you enjoyed The Pendragon Cycle, try Marion Bradley's Mists of Avalon.

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll look at it.

In the modern re-tellings, Zimmer Bradley's 'Avalon' books are certainly my favourites!

Sir Thomas Malory version was my introduction to Arthurian legend, and I enjoyed Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon books. T.H. White's Once and Future King series is my favorite. It is both funny and sad, and I always feel just a little more human after reading them.

I think I read parts of Malory in a King Arthur seminar, but the Steinbeck (yes, the same Steinbeck who wrote Of Mice and Men and Grapes of Wrath) edition I read was the one I read all the way through.

It was a really nice edition, with some beautiful illustrations and slightly smaller than 8 1/2' by 11' pages, it was a really good book to read one day when I was stretched out under a tree when my relatives were doing several home repairs.

Since my uncle and mom needed to do several things that required someone to flip off the switchboard, I was in charge of bringing supplies and water in to them then turn off and on power. I would read through a story or two in the book then hurry in with water, tool, or to go to the switchboard.

I did read the Mists of Avalon series, but since I went through all six prequel books written by her and her successor, including one that is closer to her science fiction/fantasy novels and not part of the official list, it seemed like it took a long time to get there.

I've got the Merlin series written by Mary Stewart on my TBR list; anyone read those?

I need to find the Oxford University published study on Arthurian stories; that has a good bibliography and character index.

I've always hated the arthurian stories, probably just due to their ubiquity. But there are a few exceptions. I read the 'Ill Made Knight' part of the 'Once and Future King' series and it was fairly decent.
A 'Connecticut Yankee' is also quite good albeit to long, Twain obviously not a fan of arthur either as he tries to take a sledgehammer to the mythos in that one.

But my favourite arthur is (despite my dislike of poetry too ) 'Idyll's of the King' by Tennyson. Its weirdly down to earth .

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I've got the Merlin series written by Mary Stewart on my TBR list; anyone read those?
[/quote]

I read the series many years ago and thought they were excellent.

I initially wanted to get my PhD in medieval studies, and U Penn is still my dream school. Unfortunately, professors with that specialty were not retiring when I was starting my graduate studies, so I went a different route.

My major papers during my senior year of undergraduate studies and throughout my master's degree centered on Arthurian legend. It was so much fun!

My favorites are Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (I'm not a big Tolkien fan but I like his translation), and... the Lais of Marie de France. She focuses on the other knights instead of Arthur and Lancelot. Lanval features Guinevere, but not in a positive light. Bisclavret is also really fun (it is a werewolf story).

I've heard tons of good things about The Once and Future King and the Mists of Avalon series. They are next on my list for serious reads.

I also have a first edition of Tennyson's Idylls of the King. It is one of my prized possessions.

I read the versions by Roger Lancelyn Green, which I really enjoyed as the stories were very much in the style of Lord of the Rings or Narnia, which I loved when growing up. Also, sidenote: the BBC show, Merlin, is my favourite show in the entire world and I binge it every year