As far as medieval stories go, it is undoubtedly Le Morte D’Arthur by Ser Thomas Malory. It is the first collection I know of that collates all of the various legends of Arthur and puts them down in one tome.
Interestingly, though it was not actually written as a book itself, but as a serial written by Malory while he was imprisoned during the Wars of the Roses.
Eventually it was compiled into a book. Technicaly only the lat part of it is called Le Morte d’Arthur, but that is the best part.
Having said that it is, of course, very much a late medieval book. I mean, there are endless lists of knights, interminable accounts of tourney battles…If reading an play-by-play, almost second by second account of an extinct sport is your cup of tea, you will love this book. But don’t get me wrong, it is great. Most great modern Arthurian novels or series are based on Le MOrte D’arthur.
As far as modern retellings go I would recommend the following:
This book retells the tale of Arthur from beginning to end. While deeply influenced by Le Morte D’Arthur, T.H. White departs quite a bit from traditional tellings of the saga. Beginning with a whimsical, humorous account of Arthur’s magical youth and training by Merlin, the book gradually turns into a heavy rumination on mankind’s inhumanity to man, with the bright-eyed, intelligent Arthur gradually being ground down by the realities of politics and rule into despair.
Another brilliant, Le MOrte D’Arthur based retelling is Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon.
The familiar story here is told from the woman’s perspective and manages to be completely fresh because of it. The main character is Morgan LeFay, the half-sister of Arthur cast as a villain in most stories. Here she is a pagan priestess fighting to preserve her culture in the wake of a rapidly spreading Christianity. But other female characters (Ygraine, Guinevere) are also fully fleshed out, complex characters given great depth and motivation. I highly recommend this book.
Just don’t read too much about Bradley: she was a monster in life. It is helpful to separate the artist from the art.
There are a number of historical retellings out there. Of those which I have read, I loved Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles. (Starting with The Winter King.) This mostly dispenses with the traditional story and tells a wholly original tale set in a very vivid post-Roman Britain. It’s got the usual Cornwell hallmarks: incredibly written battles (he writes them better than anyone), blonde damsels and evil priests, but the books are really well written “guy books” , placing the reader in what is essentially a completely different world of superstition and fear.
For young adults or older children Rosemary Sutcliffe’s trilogy retelling the story still ranks among the most beautiful books I have ever read. (I read them at 13.)
Nothing much original in her stories, (although she also has a historical ARthur novel that stands separate.) Just sheer loveliness of writing.
Her series starts with The Sword and the Circle.
Written April 10th
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