Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

Excerpt from Stories of the Days of King Arthur No schoolboy now-a-days needs to be told that the Arthur of the legends is to all intents and purposes a fictitious personage. That there was a great Chieftain among the Britons of the name of Arthur, who rose to preeminence by his military prowess during the sanguinary struggles which resulted in the English Conquest, may be regarded as certain but as to the extent of his dominions, the duration of his reign, and even the chief scenes of his exploits, all is doubtful. It is partly from an unwillingness to commit too great a trespass on historical fact, and partly from a desire to omit tedious and monotonous records of fighting, that the compiler has dismissed with a brief reference the epi sode of Arthur's Continental invasion and conquest of the Roman Empire, which occupies considerable space in Mallory's work, and is the subject of more than one of the metrical romances. The Quest of the Holy Grail has been briefly treated because of the mystical nature of the subject.(gamma. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Arthurian legend closes with a promise: On a distant day, when his country calls, the king will return. His lost realm will be regained, and his shattered dream of an ideal world will, at last, be realized. This collection of original essays explores the issue of return in the modern Arthurian legend. With an Introduction by noted scholar Raymond H. Thompson and 13 essays by authors from the fields of literature, art history, film history, and folklore, this collection reveals the flexibility of the legend. Just as the modern legend takes the form current to its generation, the myth of return generates a new legend with each telling. As these authors show, return can come in the form of a noble king or a Caribbean immigrant, with the mystery of an art theft or a dying boy's dream.