It only makes me increasingly annoyed as every new character resembles the ones before and must face such-and-such a sorceress (who appears equally without background or context) and joust some more guys.

This is, admittedly, a personal preference, but for a reader who enjoys immersing himself in the worlds of Dune and Narnia and Middlearth, the surface-level Realm of Logres does not draw me in. Where are the peasants? The nobility? The real relationships and life events that cause me to care about Gawain and Gaheris and Percival? And Arthur!? Where is the rhyme and reason that form a fabric to make the magical events (and there are plenty) a part of Logres’ reality and not just random, unexplained events that move the plot along? The Realm of Logres seems to be entirely populated by beautiful young women and handsome young knights, all galavanting around without responsibilities or anything to do but fight and fall in love and feast. It’s the lack of a believable world for those fantastical elements to work themselves out in. It’s not, however, the magic and monsters that bother me.

The “world” of Logres feels detached from reality and its stories random and inexplicable. The problem, however, is that all of these stories, though tied together with a general storyline, seem to float without real context. First, as this book well demonstrates, much of the legends are individual stories about knights going out and doing “knightly” things: saving damsels, killing dragons, jousing, etc. Kingdom falls.Ĭonfession: I have come to dislike the King Arthur stories.

One of said knights, Launcelot, betrays his King via a love affair with Queen Guinevere. I’m not going to dwell on the plot summary here as much of it is common knowledge at this point: the boy Arthur pulls sword from stone, grows up to establish his kingdom (highlighted by a very round table), sends out knights to perform chivalric and heroic deeds (some of which focus on the Quest of the Holy Grail). Green, who has written into narrative many famous myths and legends (including Robin Hood, which I reviewed earlier), took the many tales and versions of the King Arthur legend and, in his own words, “endeavored to make each adventure a part of one fixed pattern – Arthur’s Kingdom, the Realm of Logres, the model of chivalry and right striving against the barbarism and evil which surrounded and at length engulfed it.” I came across it as another “classic” (says so on the cover) for the Literature 5 class I teach. So begins King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green.

Roger lancelyn green king arthur