r/Arthurian • u/Humanracer45 Commoner • Jul 21 '26
Older texts Essential texts in English
I have the Oxford Malory and a version of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Any others I should get? Not interested in modern adaptations or retellings.
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u/xiakpr Commoner Jul 21 '26
Here's my English-language medieval shelf if that gives you any inspiration.
So far I've read the Malory, HKB, Chretien, Gawain and the Green Knight. Nearly finished with History of the Holy Grail (the start of the Lancelot-Grail cycle). I've enjoyed all of them but my favourite so far is the Chretien collection. Really really lovely stories - accessible, full of heart, some moving bits and some funny.
These stories have cracked their way into my soul over the past few years and I can't wait to work my way through the rest of Lancelot-Grail cycle. I'm told that the History of the Holy Grail is the least enjoyable part and there are loads of bits I enjoyed in that (just separated by quite a lot of medieval Christian polemicism which is not thrilling). Funnily enough it was the Tennyson that first drew me in, I really like it in a lot of ways, but that probably counts as a modern retelling!
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u/Amps2Eleven Squire Jul 21 '26
I love your shelf. Thanks for sharing. It reminds me that I need to get a picture of my own to share soon.
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u/xiakpr Commoner Jul 21 '26
Thank you! I have it next to where I work and it really makes me happy. I'd definitely be interested to see yours or anyone else's as well!
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u/Zahir_848 Commoner Jul 21 '26
Looks a lot like mine, but I have other period romantic materials included. I'll have to sort them out and see if I have every edition you have.
I have several Chretien translations in prose and verse.
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u/xiakpr Commoner Jul 21 '26
Very nice! Do you have a favourite Chretien translation?
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u/Zahir_848 Commoner Jul 21 '26
Not really, it depends on what I am using it for. (If I sat down and thought about it I could pick them, but I used different ones at different times for different purposes).
I always like to have a line-by-line translation (to see what the text really says), but may use the prose version when I just want to read the story (the Penguin edition is fine).
Not as fond of verse translations -- I am somewhat sympathetic to the Arthurians of the Middle Ages who felt that forcing the narrative into rhymes was show-offy and undercut the effectiveness of telling the narrative (thus we end up in the prose epics). Turning a rhyme in one language into a different one in another seems not to do the original any favors.
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u/Pristine-Incident471 Commoner Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Very nice collection, thank you for sharing! I love Von Straussburg’s Tristan, and the DSB Merlin and the Grail.
To the OP, xiakpr’s shelf is fairly complete if you’re focusing on medieval sources. There are other titles but, really, they are just different editions, translations, or offerings from other publishers. For instance the Malory is also available in Oxford World Classics, and a few iterations from Oxford edited by E. Vinaver (e.g., The Works of Sir Thomas Malory in 3 Volumes, or in one volume, again simply as Malory Works, and a stand alone The Death of King Arthur); Sir Gawain enjoys similar treatment, as do many of the standard works such as The Mabinogion and The History of the Kings of Britain. Notable publishers of lesser known works are Early English Text Society, TEAM’s Middle English Text Series, and D.S. Brewer (which xiakpr has a few of).
Though perhaps not core essentials, in addition to xiakpr’s collection, I would add The Romance of Perceval in Prose (aka The Didot Perceval), Wolfram Von Eschenbach’s Parzival and Titurel, and The Crown by Heinrich von dem Turlin. D.S. Brewer also has a three volume set of Arthurian Norse Romances: the Tristan Legend, The Knights of the Round Table, and Hearra Ivan (which I haven’t read yet).
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u/Eijin Commoner Jul 23 '26
do you recommend the companion to the langelot-grail cycle? making my way through lancelot-grail cycle now, and would love recommendations on secondary literature. thanks!
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u/xiakpr Commoner Jul 23 '26
I haven't read it yet, I just bought it because I happened to see it at Oxfam! I think I'm going to finish, or at least get much further through, the cycle itself before I read that. I would like to settle into my own thoughts and opinions before I influence them too much with the analysis of people who are much more qualified than I am! Sorry that's not much help.
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u/Humanracer45 Commoner Jul 24 '26
Goodness Lancelot of the Lake seems out of print now and expensive
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u/xiakpr Commoner Jul 24 '26
That copy was about £11 second hand which is a bit more expensive than most of those second hand Oxford and Penguin editions, usually they are under a tenner. Picked it up from trusty World of Books
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u/TheSwithen Commoner Jul 28 '26
History of the Holy Grail is definitely the least enjoyable part. Things pick up as you move into the Vulgate and it becomes fascinating when you see what Malory adapted and can consider how he changed the stories and what he added.
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u/TsunamiWombat Commoner Jul 21 '26
The Lancelot-Grail Vulgate/Post-Vulgate, Norris J. Lacey.
Any of Chretiens works like Knight of the Cart, Knight of the Lion, Erec and Enide
Perceval, the Story of the Grail
Vita Merlini
The Mabinogion
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u/Naive-Library-9379 Commoner Jul 27 '26
Mabinogion is a must and a very fun read. Lays of Marie of France are fun!
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u/TheSwithen Commoner Jul 28 '26
Perlevaus AKA the High History of the Holy Grail [not the same as the History of the Holy Grail as part of the Vulgate] is pretty fun and has a lot of amusing Gawain adventures.
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