Le Morte D'Arthur

by Thomas Malory, Joseph Glaser (Editor)

Overview

This brisk retelling of Le Morte D'Arthur highlights the narrative drive, humor, and poignancy of Sir Thomas Malory’s original while updating his fifteenth-century English and selectively pruning over-elaborate passages that can try the patience of modern readers.

The result is an adaptation that readers can enjoy as a fresh approach to Malory's sprawling masterpiece. The book's most famous episodes--the sword in the stone, the cataclysmic final battle--are all here, while lesser-known key episodes stand forth with new brightness and clarity.

The text is accompanied by an up-to-date bibliography, including websites and video resources, and a descriptive index keyed--like the retelling itself--to the book and chapter divisions of William Caxton's first printed edition of 1485.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781624663819
Publisher:	Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/05/2015
Series:	Hackett Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Joseph Glaser is Professor Emeritus of English, Western Kentucky University. Four of his previous works--Troilus and Criseyde in Modern Verse, The Canterbury Tales in Modern Verse, Middle English Poetry in Modern Verse, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight—are also published by Hackett.

Read an Excerpt

Le Morte D'Arthur

Volume One

---

By Thomas Malory

IndyPublish.com

Copyright © 2003 Thomas Malory
All right reserved.
ISBN: 1404371494

---

Chapter One

How Uther Pendragon sent for the duke of Cornwall and Igraine his wife, and of their departing suddenly again.

IT befell in the days of Uther Pendragon, when he was king of all England, and so reigned, that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall that held war against him long time. And the duke was called the Duke of Tintagil. And so by means King Uther sent for this duke, charging him to bring his wife with him, for she was called a fair lady, and a passing wise, and her name was called Igraine.

So when the duke and his wife were come unto the king, by the means of great lords they were accorded both. The king liked and loved this lady well, and he made them great cheer out of measure, and desired to have lain by her. But she was a passing good woman, and would not assent unto the king. And then she told the duke her husband, and said, I suppose that we were sent for that I should be dishonoured; wherefore, husband, I counsel you, that we depart from hence suddenly, that we may ride all night unto our own castle. And in like wise as she said so they departed, that neither the king nor none of his council were ware of their departing. All so soon as King Uther knew of their departing so suddenly, he was wonderly wroth. Then he called to him his privy council, and told them of the sudden departing of the duke and his wife.

Then they advised the king to send for the duke and his wife by a great charge; and if he will not come at your summons, then may ye do your best, then have ye cause to make mighty war upon him. So that was done, and the messengers had their answers; and that was this shortly, that neither he nor his wife would not come at him.

Then was the king wonderly wroth. And then the king sent him plain word again, and bade him be ready and stuff him and garnish him, for within forty days he would fetch him out of the biggest castle that he hath.

When the duke had this warning, anon he went and furnished and garnished two strong castles of his, of the which the one hight Tintagil, and the other castle hight Terrabil. So his wife Dame Igraine he put in the castle of Tintagil, and himself he put in the castle of Terrabil, the which had many issues and posterns out. Then in all haste came Uther with a great host, and laid a siege about the castle of Terrabil. And there he pight many pavilions, and there was great war made on both parties, and much people slain. Then for pure anger and for great love of fair Igraine the king Uther fell sick. So came to the king Uther Sir Ulfius, a noble knight, and asked the king why he was sick. I shall tell thee, said the king, I am sick for anger and for love of fair Igraine, that I may not be whole. Well, my lord, said Sir Ulfius, I shall seek Merlin, and he shall do you remedy, that your heart shall be pleased. So Ulfius departed, and by adventure he met Merlin in a beggar's array, and there Merlin asked Ulfius whom he sought. And he said he had little ado to tell him. Well, said Merlin, I know whom thou seekest, for thou seekest Merlin; therefore seek no farther, for I am he; and if King Uther will well reward me, and be sworn unto me to fulfil my desire, that shall be his honour and profit more than mine; for I shall cause him to have all his desire. All this will I undertake, said Ulfius, that there shall be nothing reasonable but thou shalt have thy desire. Well, said Merlin, he shall have his intent and desire. And therefore, said Merlin, ride on your way, for I will not be long behind.

Continues...

---

Excerpted from Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Malory Copyright © 2003 by Thomas Malory. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Editorial Reviews

"I've just finished reading Joseph Glaser's Le Morte D'Arthur. I'm very pleased with it: the introduction is helpful without becoming an extended essay, the suggested reading seems solid and diverse, and the index is VERY useful, even for someone who has read Malory before. At last, a reader can keep all the knights and ladies straight! A fine entry point to a grand text, and when I next have an occasion to teach a course involving chivalry, I'll plan to use this very affordable edition."  
—Craig Caldwell, Department of History, Appalachian State University


"A highly readable, reduced, and modernized Malory. . . . The effective condensation of a seemingly uncontainable network of narratives is an impressive feat. . . . Glaser's storylines are distinct, not dense, his dialogue is concise, not digressive, and his language is unassuming, not luxuriant. While these features do not match most readers' impressions of Malory's style, his Arthurian tales of adventure, love, death, and betrayal are all here for a new readership to relish.
      "[T]his new narrative brings the intersections of plot lines to the fore, helping readers to see the larger structural connections between seemingly disparate episodes and themes. With some of the density removed, readers can more readily see storylines that often get submerged, such as the ongoing feud between the families of King Pellinor and King Lot that starts, stops, and reignites across multiple books. Glaser even appends a detailed index of characters and important objects that includes short descriptions of their appearances in sequence throughout the text. This index is exceedingly helpful because it highlights unifying themes and character development as well as clearly demonstrates that the main character of the Morte is Lancelot, not Arthur. Whereas Arthur's index entry is approximately a page and a half long, Tristram's is two pages, and Lancelot's is close to three. The index also reveals amusing repetitions and contradictions, including two dead Colgrevaunces and five Elaines."
—Alex Mueller, University of Massachusetts, Boston, in The Medieval Review


"Glaser's project of modernizing and condensing Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur is refreshingly successful. Both an extremely accessible introduction to the text for beginners and a handy reference tool for experts, the compact volume can easily be enjoyed by all modern readers." 
—Rachel Levinson-Emley, University of California, Santa Barbara, in Comitatus


"Preserves most of the original and provides a simplified reduction for the bewildering array of plot lines and characters who wind in, and out, and often back in again to the narrative thread. Hackett Publishing Company and Joseph Glaser have provided an aesthetically appealing, serviceable, and inexpensive addition to the Malory shelf.”
—Katherine Haynes, Aquinas College Nashville, in Sixteenth Century Journal

From the Publisher