The Boy's King Arthur (Dover Children's Classics) - Softcover

Lanier, Sidney

3.97

353 ratings by Goodreads

9780486448008: The Boy's King Arthur (Dover Children's Classics)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486448002 ISBN 13: 9780486448008

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2006

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This rousing collection of tales offers readers an adventure-packed introduction to the legendary King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Retold by the famous American poet and writer Sidney Lanier, the stories are adapted from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, written in the15th century. The tales are told in the style and language of the original.
Readers will thrill to the glorious adventures of Arthur and his knights: the mysterious birth of Arthur, how Arthur pulled the sword from the stone to become King of England, Sir Percival's search for the Holy Grail, the tragic romance of Tristram and Isolde, Launcelot's gallant battle to save Queen Guenevere from a death sentence, and Arthur's final struggle with the evil Sir Mordred.
These stories capture the age-old drama and romance surrounding the fabled king and his followers, all sworn to uphold lofty ideals of courage, honesty, loyalty, and devotion. This inexpensive volume invites a new generation of readers to enjoy these time-honored tales of gallant knights and fair ladies.
These stories have inspired numerous film adaptations, including the 2017 release King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law, Eric Bana, Djimon Hounsou, and Annabelle Wallis.

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About the Author:

Sidney Lanier (1842-1881) was born in Macon, Georgia. After serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, he held a variety of jobs and traveled widely throughout the northern and southern states. In addition to earning success as a poet, Lanier received praise as a professional flutist with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore before he died of tuberculosis in 1881.

Scholars have determined that there were at least six Thomas Malorys alive in the 1400s when Le Morte d'Arthur was written. Considerable evidence points to the likeliest author as one Sir Thomas Malory or Maleore of Newbold Revell in Warwickshire, who was born in the first quarter of the fifteenth century. A member of the gentry, he became a soldier in the service of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, with whom he fought in the siege of Calais in 1436. In records of the period he is accused of various crimes--including armed robbery, attempted murder, and rape--and he is said to have executed several dramatic escapes from prison.
Several things about Malory seem indisputable. As in Arthur's time when post-Roman Britain was in a state of fierce tribal war, he lived in an age of great unrest. Europe was still recovering from the Black Plague and a century of war. In England, two powerful families fought for the throne. Although he may have been a scoundrel, Malory was also, it seems clear, a man of ideals who believed in courage and loyalty, and who mourned the passing of chivalry. Incarcerated for long periods, he had many hours to fill his imagination with French romances and tales of chivalry, volumes of which were readily at hand. It is thought that Le Morte d'Arthur was written during his imprisonment.
Malory referred to himself as a 'knight-prisoner.' With a military man's passion for the details of conquest, a prisoner's sense of injustice, and a penitent's desire for redemption, he dedicated himself wholeheartedly to this retelling of the Arthurian legends. Sir Thomas Malory died, it is presumed, around 1471.

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