It is perhaps because Morte d'Arthur is easily read that it has
become a storehouse, a treasure-book, to which other writers have
gone and from which they have taken stories and woven them afresh
and given them new life. Since Caxton's time Morte d'Arthur has
been printed many times, and it is through it perhaps, more than
through the earlier books, that the stories of Arthur still live
for us. Yet it is not perfect - it has indeed been called "a
most pleasant jumble."* Malory made up none of the stories; as
he himself tells us, he took them from French books, and in some
of these French books the stories are told much better. But what
we have to remember and thank Malory for is that he kept alive
the stories of Arthur. He did this more than any other writer in
that he wrote in English such as all English-speaking people must
love to read.
*J. Furnivell
BOOKS TO READ
Stories of King Arthur's Knights, by Mary Macgregor.
Stories from Morte d'Arthur, by C. L. Thomson. Morte d'Arthur,
Globe Edition.
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