Stories from Le Morte D'Arthur and the Mabinogion

Before Tolkien, before modern fantasy, there were the legends of Camelot. These are the original tales that shaped the imagination of Western literature: the mystery of the sword in the stone, the glory of the Round Table, the doomed love between Lancelot and Guinevere, the holy quest for the Grail. Beatrice E. Clay weaves together the great medieval compilations of Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur and the older Welsh Mabinogion, distilling centuries of legend into prose that thrills and haunts. Here is Arthur's birth and coronation, his knights battling sorcerers and dragons, the political intrigue that fractures a kingdom, and the final battle where even the mightiest fall. These are not polite fairy tales. They are stories of loyalty and betrayal, of honor and shame, of men and women grappling with destiny. The magic is real, the stakes are mortal, and the tragedy of Camelot's fall still resonates across the centuries. For anyone who has ever dreamed of chivalry, wondered at the meaning of the Grail, or wept for a fallen king.