The Story of the Champions of the Round Table (Howard Pyle)

The Story of the Champions of the Round Table is the second of an Arthurian quadrilogy by American author and illustrator Howard Pyle (here is the first). Written in 1905, it covers three of Arthur's most famous knights: Sir Launcelot, Sir Tristram, and Sir Percival. In this second volume, we have the following stories:

• The Story of Sir Launcelot
• His origins (being delivered to, and raised in, the Enchanted Castle of the Lake)
• His knightly adventures (escaping a trap by Morgana le Fay, helping King Bagdemagus beat the King of North Wales, saving a town from the Giants, and more)
• The Book of Sir Tristram
• His upbringing and being made a Knight of Cornwall
• Fighting in Ireland on behalf of King Mark
• Loving (be being forced apart from) the Belle Isoult due to King Mark's evils
• His friendship with Sir Lamorack
• How he went mad for a time and met his end
• The Book of Sir Percival
• His naive and isolated upbringing
• His introduction to, and achieving knighthood from, King Arthur
• His training by Sir Launcelot
• How he freed the Castle of Beaurepaire

Like the first volume, Pyle presents the court in a favorable light (Sir Launcelot's love for Guinevere is entirely noble, for example) and he fleshes out the earlier Medieval stories. In this volume, Arthur is largely absent. The bulk of the book is about Sir Tristram, and his tale (along with Sir Percival's) are particularly well done. It is repetitive (the "solve all problems by jousting" gets old), to be sure, but solid.

Rating: A-