Thomas Malory, Le Morte D'Arthur

Karen Elaine Smyth (University of East Anglia)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1470 - 1485

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Romance

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth-century prose narrative

Le Morte d’Arthur

displays the culmination and decline of the ideology of chivalric romance. The last medieval English work of the Arthurian legend before the Renaissance,

Le Morte D’Arthur

is the first full-length book in English about the adventures of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, the knights of the Round Table and their quest for the Holy Grail. The Arthurian legend professes to record the history of a British king who, around the 5th or 6th century, successfully united the disintegrating tribal kingdoms of Roman Britain and resisted the Saxon invasion. During this time of peace and stability, Arthur reputedly created a court of international renown for its military prowess and aristocratic culture. Malory’s tale…

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1991 words

Citation: Smyth, Karen Elaine. "Le Morte D'Arthur". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 May 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4075, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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Thomas Malory, Le Morte D'Arthur

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