The classic story of the pageantry of King Arthur's court unfolds in all its splendor of knights and their ladies, jousts and battles, magic spells, and distressed damsels. King Arthur founded his Round Table of twenty-eight of the bravest men in all his kingdom and charged them to be true and faithful knights, to be chivalrous to ladies, and to help the poor. No finer group of men was ever assembled. In this vivid story the reader sits unseen at the Round Table and accompanies Arthur and his knights in all their quests, their tournaments, and their wars. He is present when Arthur is chosen King of England and the magic sword Excalibur given him by the Lady of the Lake. He rides with Sir Balin to slay the invisible knights, and sees Merlin the Magician fall under his own spell for love of the damsel Nimue. He follows Sir Lancelot on his adventures and accompanies Sir Galahad on his quest for the Holy Grail. From the dust jacket of the reprint

PREFACE

The writer of this volume, embodying the valiant deeds of King Arthur and his Knights of the Table Round, cannot lay claim to any original work in its compilation. The old history of Sir Thomas Malory, modified to some extent, and compared with many subsequent works concerning Arthur, has been drawn upon in the pages following. But the "Morte d'Arthur" has been revised by the present writer, and the ancient spelling modernized in nearly every instance, having been retained only where the context leaves it not doubtful.

Besides these alterations, it has been found necessary to expunge and, in one instance at least, to alter the relationship of the characters as given in the old romance. The necessity for these modifications, in preparing the volume for the young, will be apparent to every adult student of the "Morte d'Arthur." We will not more particularly specify the places in which such alterations have been made: those who are already well acquainted with the history of King Arthur will not need to search, and those who have not already read the romance will not miss the portions omitted. We have thus endeavoured to preserve the consistency of the narrative while purging it of any questionable matter, and "toning down" motives and conduct, which if painted in their true colours would offend.

We think this explanation due to ourselves, lest we should be thought presuming in having altered or omitted certain passages in the "Morte d'Arthur;" but we will not apologize for our alterations or omissions. Writing for boys, we have preserved all the vigour and valour o the action, and as much of the original as our limits permitted, with a due regard to good taste and their improvement; and we trust our readers will accept this explanation in good faith.

...King Arthur is supposed to have lived in the sixth century, and the first edition of the "Morte d'Arthur" was printed in 1485, by William Caxton; the next were printed by Wynkyn de Worde, in 1498 and 1529. Since then several editions have appeared, with modern introductions by eminent literary hands.

We annex as an Appendix at the end of the volume, the Preface of William Caxton himself, which may prove interesting to younger generations.

H.F.

From the book