On Arthur

Living in England, I’ve become quite interested in the legend of King Arthur and the various iterations of his tale that have fallen out over the centuries. The story of Arthur has been told and re-told for almost a thousand years, and each version reflects, to some degree, the cultural ideals of the society in which it was penned.

Arthur was likely a real person, though people throughout the centuries have added to his legend until fact and fiction are so intertwined, it’s hard to know who he really was, if he existed at all. There are hundreds of Arthurian books out there; sticking to the “classics” in this specific genre, I have produced the below reading list of 10 books. Of them, I’ve read 4 thus far, and not been disappointed. The majority are considered pure fiction, save for Geoffrey's work (history) and Cornwell's trilogy (historical fiction).

An Arthurian reading list

Geoffrey of Monmouth: The History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1136)

Chrétien de Troyes: Four Arthurian Romances (1170s)

(Unknown): Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (late 1300s)

Sir Thomas Mallory: Le’ morte de Arthur (1485)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson: The Idylls of the King (1850s-1880s)

Howard Pyle: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903)
T.H. White: The Once and Future King (1940s)

Bernard Cornwell: Warlord Trilogy- The Winter King, Enemy of God, Excalibur (1990s)