entitled The Works of Sir Thomas Malory. Virtually all
scholars and critics now reject this concept of totally
separate works but do accept the episodic nature of
the work even within the eight main sections and the
existence of a number of inevitable inconsistencies both
between and within the main sections.
The Winchester manuscript is separated from
Malory’s own writing by at least one intermediate
copy and lacks a few leaves at beginning and end.
Although Caxton had the Winchester manuscript in his
shop for a period of time, his own edition differs from
it signifi cantly. He edited the text by cutting it into 21
books comptising 507 chapters, adding a fi ne Prologue
and chapter headings, reducing some of the explicits,
shortening (to its advantage) the episode of the Roman
War by almost half, and making some other minor
verbal changes. By comparing the two versions we can
reconstruct Malory’s authentic text, which is now most
nearly approached by Vinaver’s edition.
The language of the Winchester manuscript and
Caxton’s edition is mainly standard mid-15th-century
London English, with occasional northernisms. Being
prose, it is easily modernized; the original, though
old-fashioned and containing a few unfamiliar words,
offers no diffi culty apart from idiosyncratic spelling.
As a narrative the story is engrossing, but it is not at all
like a modern novel, and to read it as such is to court
disappointment and misunderstanding.
Summary
Malory plunges straight into his story, telling of the
begetting of Arthur by Uther Pendragon, king of all Eng-
land, on the beautiful widow (as she has just unwittingly
become) of the duke of Cornwall, Uther being magically
transformed by Merlin into the duke’s likeness so as
to enter her bedroom. The laconic matter-of-fact style,
concentrating on essentials, contrasts piquantly with
the drama of passionate feeling and the magic. This
contrast, much developed, is part of Malory’s unending
fascination. As his great story progresses, he makes less
use of magic, though it is always an element of mystery
in the background, suggesting a dimension beyond the
material world and becoming prominent again near the
end, with the return of Excalibur to the lake and the
queens who carry off the dying Arthur.
We learn of Arthur’s fostering, his acceptance as king
by the miracle that he alone can draw a sword from a
stone, and the gradual establishment of his power over
dissident barons and neighboring kings. Merlin’s magic
helps. Arthur lusts after King Lot of Orkney’s wife, Mor-
gause, mother of Gawain and other heroic knights and,
unknown to him, his own half-sister. On her he begets
Mordred, who will ultimately be his death. Arthur loves
and marries Guinevere, though Merlin warns him that
she and Lancelot will love each other. She brings with
her the Round Table, which henceforth will denote the
elite company of knights in Arthur’s court.
This fi rst section thus sets the scene and establishes
Arthur’s supremacy, though with its account of wars it
is a little less typical of Malory’s mature style, which
concentrates more on individual adventures. Malory is
attempting to summarize his complex sources of French
prose romance, turning them into a kind of history, and
minor inconsistencies inevitably arise. This section also
contains the tragic tale of the brothers Balin and Balan;
with its concentration on individuals, its fated accidents,
nobility of temper, deceit, dissension, and tragedy it is
as stark and moving a story as any Icelandic saga.
But there are also stories of mystery, magic, adven-
ture, betrayal, and mishap that end in triumph. Arthur
gains the magic sword Excalibur from the Lady of the
Lake. The noble concept of the High Order of Knight-
hood is affi rmed, reinforced as it is by the oath, sworn
by knights of the Round Table at the annual feast of
Pentecost, never to do wrong, always to honor ladies,
and so on.
Malory’s explicit to the fi rst main section refers to
himself as a “knight-prisoner” and appears to suggest
that he may not be able to continue to write. But the
opening words of the second section echo this explicit so
clearly as to make continuity certain. This next section
is based mainly on a 14th-century English alliterative
poem, the Morte Arthure, which makes Malory’s own
style more alliterative. It tells how Arthur rejects the ob-
ligation to pay tribute to the emperor of Rome and how
he wages successful war right into Italy. Here Lancelot
makes his fi rst appearance as a brave young warrior.
The third main section moves into the area Malory
has made his own for ever—the feats of individual
knights wandering in search of adventure in strange
forests and castles. The hero of this book is Lance-
lot himself, Malory’s favorite knight, killing wicked
knights, rescuing ladies, resisting seduction. He is
rumored to be the lover of Queen Guinevere, which he
denies, and Malory does not describe their love. It is a
relatively short section, delightfully varied and vividly
interesting in event, created from a cunning selection of
incidents widely spaced in Malory’s voluminous source,
the French prose Lancelot.
Having now established both Arthur with his Round
Table and Lancelot, the supreme example of chivalry,
Malory turns in his fourth section to the story of another
knight, signifi cant to the whole history, exemplary in
himself, and an adornment to the Round Table—Sir
Gareth of Orkney, brother to Sir Gawain. The source
is unknown. The story is based on the familiar general
pattern of the Fair Unknown, who is a young hero, hand-MALORY, THOMAS