Le Morte Darthur: The Seventh & Eighth Tales

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 "P. J. C. Field, the world's preeminent Malory specialist, has wisely chosen to offer here Malory's seventh and eighth tales, recounting the decline and end of Camelot.  The authoritative text is accompanied by indispensable notes and preceded by a remarkably thorough and learned—but never obscure—Introduction sufficient to prepare students and other readers to profit fully from the texts. This book is ideal for those coming to Malory for the first time and a distinct pleasure for those who already know him well."
     —Norris J. Lacy, E. E. Sparks Professor of French and Medieval Studies, Penn State University

 "P. J. C. Field has revised his long-out-of-print edition of the seventh and eighth tales of Morte Darthur, which are arguably the best and most influential parts of Malory's book. This edition offers students an excellent, affordable introduction to Malory's tragedy and to Arthurian romance in general and is the ideal text for the instructor who does not have time in class to teach the earlier parts of the book as well. The substantial seventy-seven–page Introduction presents essential and accurate information about the development of the Arthurian legend and the social, intellectual, and historical context in which Malory's book was written as well as discussions of Malory's French and English sources, the content and style of Morte Darthur, and the life of the author. The edition includes a detailed commentary, considerably expanded from the earlier version; glosses at the bottom of the page; and a glossary of words not immediately recognizable to those unaccustomed to reading Middle English. This text is an excellent work of scholarship by the leading authority on Sir Thomas Malory and will be welcome to those who teach general courses in medieval literature, in Middle English, and in comparative Arthurian romance."
     —Edward Donald Kennedy, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 "Superb introduction, ample breadth and depth, excellent tone and level of engagement. Glosses are clear and useful. Students will read this."
     —Sarah Dangelantonio, Professor of English, Franklin Pierce University

 "An extended introduction treats the Arthurian legend and Malory's sources, as well as the cultural contexts of the book, including the probable events of Malory's own life.  The commentary is expanded from the first edition to offer detailed explanatory notes. Unfamiliar terms are glossed at the bottom of the page and a full glossary included. The scholarship is, as would be expected from Malory's great modern editor and biographer, comprehensive and impeccable."
     —Medium Aevum

 "P. J. C. Field, dean of Malory scholars, is the uncontested successor to Eugene Vinaver, whose standard three-volume Oxford edition of the Morte Darthur Field revised in 1990. Back in 1978, while a lecturer at the University of Wales, Bangor, he had published freestanding hardcover and paperback editions of the seventh and eight tales, the most admired and studied books of Malory's definitive medieval compendium of Arthurain legend.
    "Thirty years on, Peter Field, now Professor Emeritus at Bangor and President of the International Arthurian Society, has revised and updated his 1978 edition with new ancillary material in a convenient edition useful for the classroom and instructive for the specialist. The roughly eighty-page introduction provides full preparation for the reading of Malory's thoroughly annotated tales. Here Field gives a comprehensive presentation of the text and of related topics, following Arthur from his presumed historical origins to the final medieval treatment in the Morte. Included is the indispensable background on the medieval ideal which Malory championed from prison in 1469-70. Other subsections address the debate over Malory's identity, addressed separately by Field in his 1993 book The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Malory (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer), as well as an analysis of the ambition, nature (including style), and success of Malory's masterwork. In addition to footnotes unraveling syntax and semantics, the edition is rounded out with a comprehensive commentary in the form of notes which merit reading from end to end. They effectively address many uncertainties—grammatical, literary, psychological—that continue to trouble students and teachers. New to this work is a selective glossary superior to those in previous editions by D. S. Brewer in 1968 and Greg Waite in 1993, both no longer reprinted. The bibliography is updated through 2006 at least. Renaissance men and other gentle readers will welcome Field's passing references to Sidney, Spenser, Milton, and Henry VIII."
     —Roy Rosenstein, American University of Paris, France, in The Sixteenth Century Journal

About the Author:

P. J. C. Field is Professor Emeritus of English, University of Wales, Bangor, and President of the International Arthurian Society.