malorydaily

[malorydaily]

crazy that merlin is like “despite the horrific circumstances of my birth, I choose to reject the evil destiny expected of me and instead to live an upright life” then proceeds to lead like, the most evil life imaginable

[malorydaily]

Every single post until the end is queued now, so we shouldn't have any interruptions for the last 3 books. We're really close to the end!

Book 19: starting Feb 11

Book 20: starting March 1

Book 21: starting April 1

[malorydaily]

Hi, I seem not to have received chapter in February yet, is it me or is something wrong?

Not at all! I had to take a quick unscheduled break to catch up with queuing the upcoming chapters to avoid more breaks in the future, we are starting again in 2 days, on the 11th of Feb!!!

[malorydaily]

I forgot that "Lancelot gets shot in the ass" is a part of the plot

[malorydaily]

Hey there! I wanted to thank you for starting this readalong :) It's not a book I would have tackled by myself, it felt too archaic and complex to be "for me" but your project made it seem doable and even fun! I followed along with the daily emails for maybe 3 months, then (literally) lost the plot and realized short daily snippets weren't working for me. After a break, I picked the book up again this fall to read in longer sessions. I really found myself getting dragged in, got into the flow of the language, and enjoyed myself more than I had thought possible! Finished the book on New Year's Eve and I never would have done that if you hadn't started Malory Daily. Thank you so much!

hey if I have even managed to get one more person reading Le Morte D'Arthur, I consider this project a success. congratulations on finishing the book!!!!

[malorydaily]

Hey guys -- the next book will be a little late to start because I'm unfortunately quite ill at the moment :( see you on Jan 5th!

[malorydaily]

Arthur's different genealogies from the book "Heroes of the Round Table" by Mike Dixon-Kennedy.

[malorydaily]

we will return on the first of December... it's the beginning of the end yall

[malorydaily]

so frustrated with the goings-on in the last few chapters of book 11 of le morte d’arthur! honestly, poor sir launcelot

he’s tricked into bedding dame elaine via witchcraft (because she takes on the visage of queen guenever, and the fact that that successfully gets launcelot to sleep with her still astounds me given that guenever is wedded to arthur… the prevalence of non-monogamy in these stories is very surprising to me), and when launcelot comes-to he’s very ashamed of himself and is rebuked by queen guenever (which on the one hand i understand but also, like, he was magicked)

and then sir launcelot gets tricked again by elaine’s handmaiden brisen, comes-to, goes to talk to guenever, is severely rebuked by her to the point of self-defenestration, and then dame elaine has the audacity to claim to sir bors, “I said never nor did never thing that should in any wise displease him” (chapter 9) and blame guenever’s rebuke for launcelot’s madness and disappearance??? pretty sure launcelot was very much displeased to realize he was tricked into laying with elaine!!!

the man literally can’t catch a break

i don’t know much about sociocultural expectations at the time of le morte, but i know that knights sometimes had unrealistic (by today’s standards) expectations placed upon them… but i just can’t understand why sir launcelot is considered to be so spiritually lacking (chapter 6) for laying with dame elaine while under a spell, or why queen guenever is blamed so heavily for launcelot’s disappearance, and i seriously don’t understand why dame elaine and dame brisen don’t receive any rebukes other than from guenever, particularly when “witchcraft/spellcraft/magic is bad” has sort of been a running theme throughout the books (unless i’m misremembering)…?

these are genuine questions by the way, so if anyone is able to answer them i’d appreciate it!

[malorydaily]

Chapters seem not to have been sent for the last two days. Is it me or is there some kind of unscheduled break?

queue ran out and I didn't notice :( thanks for letting me know!!! We will get back to Malory today

[malorydaily]

Happy 1 year of Malory Daily! Thanks to everyone who has read & is still reading. We still have a little way to go until the end of the book so stay tuned for more knightly adventures...

[malorydaily]

You know how you mentioned damsels in distress in medieval times? I’m just wondering if you have any interesting examples

i’m assuming you’re asking about the “damsels causing distress” in medieval literature post that I made and yeah for sure! the one that comes to mind first is meleagant’s sister in knight of the cart by chretien de troyes. it’s a 12th century poem (like a long poem, roughly 7000 lines). lancelot gets kidnapped by a knight named meleagant and is lamenting his horrible fate in a tower, crying and sobbing and very much unable to do anything to get out. all the sudden meleagant’s sister rolls up with a pickax to break him out—she owed him a favor (after he cut off a guy’s head at her request earlier in the poem) and I guess is not on good terms with her brother. she creates a pulley contraption I think to get the pickax to him and he’s able to break the tower enough to escape. I think this instance is funny because it is so reverse damsel in distress (the knight being the helpless one in the tower) but yeah this poem has both the “sever this man’s head for me please” thing that comes up a lot in arthurian lit and her kind of playing the role of a knight.

the requests for severing men’s heads comes up TONS in the 15th century book le morte d’arthur by thomas malory, particularly at the beginning of the book. in the story of balin and balan, a knight named balin draws this lady’s sword that can only be drawn by a worthy knight, then leaves to go questing. two minutes later another lady shows up and says hi king arthur can you please please please grant me a gift please just a little gift? and he’s like ok sure. and she says great, either give me the head of sir balin or the lady who was here with the sword. arthur takes back his offer (understandably) although balin ends up beheading her (because apparently she killed balin’s mom, so also a lot going on with this lady). about two chapters later we switch to the quest of sir tor. he meets a beautiful young lady who is like hi sir knight can you please please please do me a little favor please could you? and he says sure and you guessed it—the favor is to behead a knight she doesn’t like (the knight killed her brother). this happens a LOT but these are the two examples I remembered. there are very often damsels riding around camelot seeking bloodshed for their grievances and causing distress. the knights never see it coming too lmao. every time they promise whatever she wants and then are like like “damn I think I’m gonna have to kill this guy”

[malorydaily]

The Witch's Tree (Merlin and Nimue) from Burne-Jones' Flower Book

[malorydaily]

The King with the Hundred Knights name reveal!!!!!

[malorydaily]

happy birthday to le morte d'arthur!!

[malorydaily]

<3

[malorydaily]

Beginner’s Guide to Medieval Arthuriana

Just starting out at a loss for where to begin?

Here’s a guide for introductory Medieval texts and informational resources ordered from most newbie friendly to complex. Guidebooks and encyclopedias are listed last.

All PDFs link to my Google drive and can be found on my blog. This post will be updated as needed.

Pre-Existing Resources

Hi-Lo Arthuriana

♡ Loathly Lady Master Post ♡

Medieval Literature by Language

Retellings by Date

Films by Date

TV Shows by Date

Documentaries by Date

FAQ

Arthurian Preservation Project

The Camelot Project

If this guide was helpful for you, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi!

Medieval Literature

Page (No Knowledge Required)

The Vulgate Cycle | Navigation Guide | Vulgate Reader

Culhwch and Olwen

The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle

The Marriage of Sir Gawain

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

The Welsh Triads

Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory

Squire (Base Knowledge Recommended)

The Mabinogion

Four Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes

King Artus | scan by @jewishlancelot

Morien

Knight (Extensive Knowledge Recommended)

The History of The King's of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Alliterative Morte

Here Be Dragons (Weird or Arthurian Adjacent)

The Crop-Eared Dog

Perceforest | A Perceforest Reader | PDF courtesy of @sickfreaksirkay

Wigalois | Vidvilt

Guingamor, Lanval, Tyolet, & Bisclarevet by Marie of France

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Grail Quest

Peredur (The Mabinogion)

The Story of the Grail + 4 Continuations by Chrétien de Troyes

Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach

The Crown by Heinrich von dem Türlin (Diu Crône)

The High Book of The Grail (Perlesvaus)

The History of The Holy Grail (Vulgate)

The Quest for The Holy Grail Part I (Post-Vulgate)

The Quest for The Holy Grail Part II (Post-Vulgate)

Merlin and The Grail by Robert de Boron

The Legend of The Grail | PDF courtesy of @sickfreaksirkay

Lancelot Texts

Knight of The Cart by Chretien de Troyes

Lanzelet by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven

Spanish Lancelot Ballads

Gawain Texts

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle

The Marriage of Sir Gawain

Sir Gawain and The Lady of Lys

The Knight of The Two Swords

The Turk and Sir Gawain

Perilous Graveyard | scan by @jewishlancelot

Tristan/Isolde Texts

Béroul & Les Folies

Prose Tristan (The Camelot Project)

Tristan and The Round Table (La Tavola Ritonda) | Italian Name Guide

The Romance of Tristan

Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg

Byelorussian Tristan

Educational/Informational Resources

Encyclopedias & Handbooks

Warriors of Arthur by John Matthews, Bob Stewart, & Richard Hook

The Arthurian Companion by Phyllis Ann Karr

The New Arthurian Encyclopedia by Norris J. Lacy

The Arthurian Handbook by Norris J. Lacy & Geoffrey Ashe

The Arthurian Name Dictionary by Christopher W. Bruce

Essays & Guides

A Companion to Chrétien de Troyes edited by Joan Tasker & Norris J. Lacy

A Companion to Malory edited by Elizabeth Archibald

A Companion to The Lancelot-Grail Cycle edited by Carol Dover

Arthur in Welsh Medieval Literature by O. J. Padel

Diu Crône and The Medieval Arthurian Cycle by Neil Thomas

Wirnt von Gravenberg's Wigalois: Intertextuality & Interpretation by Neil Thomas

The Legend of Sir Lancelot du Lac by Jessie Weston

The Legend of Sir Gawain by Jessie Weston