Tales of King Arthur (Henry Gilbert)

Tales of King Arthur, published in 1911, is a re-telling of the Arthurian legend for children.  A classic treatment, there are many familiar stories and figures here.  The chapter [story] list:

- How Arthur was made king and won his kingdom
- Sir Balin and the stroke dolorous
- How Lancelot was made a knight, the four witch queens, and the adventures at the chapel perilous
- The knight of the kitchen
- How Sir Tristram kept his word
- The deeds of Sir Gertaint
- How Sir Perceval was taught chivalry, and ended the evil wrought by Sir Balin's dolorous stroke
- How Sir Owen won the earldom of the fountain
- Of Sir Lancelot and the fair maid of Astolat
- How the three good knights achieved the holy grail
- Of the plots of Sir Mordred; and how Sir Lancelot saved the Queen
- Of Sir Gawaine's hatred, and the war with With Sir Lancelot
- Of the rebellion of Mordred and the death of King Arthur

I liked Henry Gilbert's take on Robin Hood, so I was anticipating this one.  Unfortunately, this didn't do it for me.  The tales weren't compellingly told and, worse, diminished the power of the tragedy by watering down or minimizing key aspects of the story (like Lancelot & Guinevere's relationship).  I assume the changes were made to make it more appropriate for children, but other versions for children- like Rosemary Sutcliff's- are much superior.  I read half, skimmed the rest, and moved on.

Rating: C+