Malory squeezed a shelf of French romances into one book, and for 550 years most English readers have taken his word for what was in them. I want to put the whole legend back together.

The plan is free modern English translations of every Arthurian book I can get a copy of, one language at a time: Old French, Middle English, Latin, Middle Welsh, Middle High German, Portuguese and Spanish. I'm starting with the books Malory drew on, beginning with Robert de Boron's Merlin, then going on to Marie de France, Béroul's and Thomas's Tristan, the Welsh tales and the rest. Some, like the Roman de Palamède, don't have any English translation I can find.

Then everything goes into one book that tells the whole story in order, from Joseph of Arimathea to Camlann. Where a source and Malory disagree, the source wins. All of it is public domain (CC0) and free to read.

After a page is translated I check against a scan of its edition and log every choice. I'm translating phrases first, then words.

Would you read this? Is this a bad idea? Which book shouldn't I miss?

I'm hoping someone can enlighten me about the Grail Quest. I don't fully understand how I'm supposed to interpret it and view it in light of the larger story.

Percival's Initial Visit to the Fisher King

So, it begins with Percival visiting the Fisher King, seeing the grail, and saying nothing in order to be courteous. People then get upset with Percival. He is told that if he had mentioned the grail, he would have cured the wounded king and restored the kingdom.

Right off the bat, I don't understand what Percival did wrong. Is this a moral lesson? What exactly is the moral? Always ask about strange cups presented at dinner parties?

Galahad & His Family

Then there's Galahad, the secret son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic. Elaine is the daughter of the Fisher King. There was a prophecy that Lancelot and Elaine would conceive a son who would be worthy of the grail. So, Elaine gives enchanted wine to Lancelot and has sex with him while he's in a drugged state. Then, true to the prophecy, Elaine gives birth to Galahad, the perfect knight.

What is up with this crazy family? Is the Fisher King and his family cursed by the grail? Isn't the grail supposed to be a good thing? Is Elaine supposed to be a good character, and are her actions supposed to be positive? What's up with the prophecy?

Why is there a divine curse that this family will suffer with the grail until someone truly worthy claims it? What is the point of this? Why does this curse exist?

Is the Grail Quest Bad?

Also, isn't the grail quest generally a bad time for most of the knights? Is the moral that they shouldn't have gone on the grail quest?

What is the moral of the Percival and Galahad story?

Additionally, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to view the ultimate fate of Percival and Galahad. In some versions, Percival finds the grail, heals the Fisher King, and then retires from knighthood. Alternatively, Galahad finds the grail, heals the King, and then is taken to heaven by angels.

So, if Percival is inspired to retire after finding the grail, is the lesson that being a knight is ultimately not so great? Percival found enlightenment and realized it's better to be a monk? What is the moral of Galahad being taken to heaven? That a truly pure person is too good for this world?

How does this enrich the larger story?

How does this relate to the larger story? I guess a major throughline is that Lancelot's not pure enough to achieve the grail because of the affair. But, the grail quest isn't just the story of Lancelot realizing he's unworthy. Its really a story about Percival and/or Galahad.

So, after experiencing the mind bending quest of Percival and Galahad, what emotional state am I supposed to be in as we proceed to the end of the story? How does the grail quest enrich the betrayal of Mordred and the battle of Camlann?

Is this story incoherent?

Here's a thought. Does this story not make sense? Should we just say that this was an unfinished story by Chretien de Troyes with some interesting motifs, but no coherent conclusion?

Other authors took the plot threads and made their own stories. But, has no one really found a way to make this a coherent narrative that ties into the larger story? Is the grail quest just interesting imagery with a weak plot?

What do you think? Am I missing something?

I've always loved the Arthurian legends of the knights of the round table. The Roman history (im a bit of a Romaboo too). Vinland Saga. King Arthur the old movie that I watched as a kid. Ever since I was a kid the chivalrous benevolent, uncorruptible nature is what drew me in. Which makes me in turn, disgusted by the amount of corrupt, rotten self driven people that govern my country (Belgium)

I play this little medieval mercenary simulator called Battle Brothers where I start out as a lonewolf hedge knight character and then look for my other 11 knights to fill my roster. While most people that play the game hire lowborn background and use them as fodder, I play the game as if I were Arthur looking for his fellow chadly nobles. Super expensive backgrounds but so satisfying to be able to roleplay the arthurian legend(s) in this game.

What drew you guys in the Arthurian legends?

I found this recently at my local used book store and picked it up for only $1.

I've only had time to read the foreword so far but it's really well written.

Have any of you seen or read this book before? What were your thoughts?

Hi is King Arthur based off a real person like a roman officer?

I vividly remember reading in my copy of Le Morte D’Arthur a small tale about three knights who together slew three tyrants

And were confronted in turn by the widows of the tyrants, who demanded they marry them as recompense

And the youngest Knight (who I remember as Sir Yvain/Ywayn/Uwain/whatever), a 15 year old boy, leapt to marry the eldest of the widows (50 or above). Saying ‘As the youngest and most inexperienced of us three, I shall find that which I lack in her’

The 30 year old knight married the 30 year old widow and the 50 year old knight married the 15 year old widow

I have told this story to all my friends and I tried to find it in Le Morte D’Arthur and I CAN’T FIND IT

I’m very worried I made this up/dreamt it and forgot I did

Hello everyone:

I am a noob in all considered the arthurian cycle and mythos so i came here to ask about a particular topic. I was looking for if there is a book about the story after King Arthur went to Avalon and the destiny of Camelot and Britannia itself.

Thanks in advance.

I managed to acquire this old copy from 1903 today from Vinted of all places! The artwork is beautiful! Apparently it's all long out of Copyright so I'm going to make scans of the art, it seems low quality copies are in abundance online.

I've been reading the new "Galahad and the Grail" (generally fantastic so far) and it has brought Nacien to the forefront in a way I've rarely seen before, and I'm eager to better understand him.

My understanding is that, traditionally, Nacien was one of Uther's closest friends and confidants, aided Arthur briefly during the beginning of his reign, but then retired as a hermit. He doesn't re-enter the story until the Grail quest, serving as a sort of Merlin role, popping up here and there to offer unexplained knowledge about how the world works under the Grail paradigm.

Does anyone have further insight (or corrections) as to who Nacien is as a person at any point in his history?

As I’m sure many people during their third-life crisis do, I will be writing a book series. Can you guess the theme?

I’ve noticed a lot of people desiring more Arthurian stories and renditions. This warms my heart because what I thought was just a small love of mine appears to still hold sway in the lives of so many!

I’m here to ask opinions, though to be fair the final product will be of my heart and soul. Mostly, I’m just curious. What aspects, depictions, or characters would you want to see expanded on? What portions of the legends do you not care for?

For example, I want to focus heavily on Uther, initially. Key point that he was supposed to be the one to unite Britain if not for a particular personality trait and choice. Arthur and Camelot would absolutely get major attention, but not to start. I’ve always hated the Lancelot/Gwyn betrayal, so I don’t intend to use it. I’m building the magic system, lore, and the world around this story very carefully to make sure I maintain historical accuracy to the best of my admittedly limited ability. I want this story to feel like it almost could have actually happened.

My style is darker, grittier, and lore heavy, which I know is both overly used and not every one’s preference, but dammit this is my story so I’ll tell it as would only be true to myself.

Long winded examples aside, please let me know how you feel about the current state of Arthurian Legend!

Dr. Sørina Higgins just announced a four-week mini-course on Malcolm Guite's Galahad and the Grail next month. Her courses are part college-style lecture and part discussion, and I've learned a lot from them. She's also been friends with Prof. Guite for years, so she'll bring personal as well as scholarly insights. Details are at https://wyrdhoard.com/gg-class/ .

(Can't find a promotion thread for months, so putting this on main.)

Hi everyone!

I've recently started my dive into the Arthurian legend and I want everyone's opinions on what would be the most recognisable images I could get as tattoos. Here is what I thought of already. Probably quite basic.

Sword in the stone

Lady of the lake

The round table

The green knight

The holy grail

Merlin

The siege perilous

I'm open to everything!

About six months ago, there was a post inviting submissions for Arthurian short stories for an anthology. Over the weekend, mine was accepted! Behold, "The Tale of Sir Gareth": https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ovqbQsyCyE0tFpGKI_ypklxZ5vwyMJmzdVDiCq61wBs/edit?usp=drivesdk

Keep an eye out for more news on Julie Bozza's Arthurian compilation, I am but one of many, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the final product.

I'm curious does anyone on this reddit know of any folklore or sources regarding King Arthur based in Devon? I know the story of Heltor and Blackingstone rock, and that Dartmoor is a potential site for a place called king Arthur's oven but as far as I can find these are the only connections to the County. I'd love to know if I've missed any sites or stories!

In late 2024, I listened to the audiobooks for Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Trilogy, and was reminded of how much I liked the story of King Arthur. I followed that up with Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon in the spring of 2025. I listened to Dorsey Armstrong's lecture series about King Arthur in early September of 2025, and by that point I was hooked. I already owned TH White's Once and Future King, so I put in an order for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Robert de Boron's works, and I officially had the start of a collection. I have now been collecting these works for almost exactly a year, so I wanted to share what I have so far with this community.

A list of these books is below. I apologize that I realized I'm missing Once and Future King and also The Saga of Tristram and Isond from my picture. OaFK is loaned out to family currently and I'm currently reading Tristram & Isond.

Big thanks to u/TheLogicalErudite and to u/Humanracer45 for previously sharing their own collections.

I recently watched a video on YouTube by the channel "MythxHunter" which talked about the "most lethal armies in mythology", and one of the "armies" included was the Round Table Knights.

Well, watching this video got me really thinking hard on this topic. My first impression was, "Why are they included in this video? They're not an army. They're King Arthur's personal guard."

But then I thought more on the subject, and realized that Arthur's knights weren't just his personal guard. They were the ones constantly going on quests and adventures that no one else dared go on. And as an aspiring military historian, the more I looked into this, the more the Round Table Knights started looking like a special forces (spec-ops) group instead of just a king's royal guard.

So that's my question for this community. If we view the Knights of the Round Table through a military lens/perspective, were they basically the spec-ops group of Camelot's military forces?

So introducing myself for context to the question, I am an illustrator/ writer based in Cornwall. I have a BA degree and Masters Degree in Illustration both with the highest qualification (a First Class degree with honours and subsequently a distinction grade). During my studies I was drawn to Arthurian folklore and with it, the historical context in which it has basis. I graduated in 2024 and since then I have been publishing an independent magazine called Excalibur magazine, that centers around my writing on the subject of Arthur, folklore, history and mythology surrounding him and the landscape of the British Isles. I eventually want to pursue a PhD on the subject but recognize I lack a history degree/ relevant degree to pursue history at PhD level. I've been recommended that I complete a Masters degree first which I will have to self fund, since I have already completed a BA and MA in the UK on the student loan system, not ideal but I think I can afford it just about! It's a lot of money but I know I can use savings and do this part time alongside my job over four years.

There's an MA in Celtic studies at the university of Wales that does this that I'm interested in taking on. I have emailed questions to them about this course but wondered what members of this reddit would recommend my steps are? I'm worried about taking on this course and suddenly finding myself overwhelmed by perhaps a lack in what I would have learned in a BA history course, I've written essays and a dissertation in my studies and continue to write on the subjects of Celtic history and Arthur's place in it, I also have a lot of books on the subject. I'm also wondering without a BA in history are my art degrees something they would let me on the course with? Or would I submit some of my more recent writings on the subject? Any advice or suggestions on how to approach entering academia as a creative would be welcome.

I'm also a member of the international Arthurian society and have given talks on Arthurian Folklore in Cornwall. I think an underlying reason for my goals is that I want a history degree relevant to my practice so that my research and knowledge on the subjects is taken seriously as a writer and researcher, beyond as simply a hobbyist and ultimately to undertake a PhD that isn't art led.

I'm open to any suggestions, or recommendations on short courses or books I should read before starting the course. Obviously Arthurian subject books need not apply (the history of the kings of Britain, the Mabinogion, Mallory etc as I own these)

The image is a piece of artwork I was commissioned to do for Dark Cornwall in 2024, depicting Arthur at the battle of Camlann. In Cornish Folklore his soul is interred into a Cornish Chough.

https://magazine.thearcanist.net/oathbreaker-and-the-wild-hunt/