HIT:SEC> King Arthur in literature

["RITA KAIKOW (OCEANSIDE HIGH SCHOOL)" <K12OCKZR@HOFSTRA.EDU>]

I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to
all who responded to my recent posting.

Thanks again,
Rita


Original posting

The English Department Chair. in my High School (Grades 9-12) would
like to incorporate an outside reading assignment which involves
reading literature that revolves around King Arthur.

--
==============================================================================
Rita Kaikow, MLS                                | Oceanside High School Library
     Library Media Specialist,                  | 3160 Skillman Avenue
     NSLS K12oc Internet Coordinator,           | Oceanside, NY 11572
     President: Long Island School Media Assoc. |
K12ocKZR@HOFSTRA.EDU                            | [Phone: 516/678-7534]
==============================================================================

Responses:

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The Pendragon Cycle
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World Historical Fiction for Young Adults, by Lee Gordon (Highsmith,
1995) has a whole section on Arthurian literature.

Titles for HS kids from that book:
The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley (12th grade, mature)
Hawk of May, Gillian Bradshaw (vol. 1)
Kingdom of Summer, by Gillian Bradshaw (vol.2)
In Winter's Shadow, by Gillian Bradshaw (vol 3)
TheTesting of Tertius, by Robert Newman
Guinevere, by Sharan Newman
The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur
   by Howard Pyle
Last Pendragon, by Robert Rice
Merlin Trilogy, by Mary Stewart
   (The Crystal Cave, the Hollow Hills, and
    the Last Enchantment)
The Wicked Day, by Mary Stewart
The Road to Camlann; The Death of Arthur,
     by Rosemary Sutcliff
A Connecticutt Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by
     Mark Twain
The Winter Prince, by Elizabeth Wein
The Book of Merlyn, by T. H. White
The Once and Future King, by T.H. White
The Sword in the Stone, by T. H. White
Child of the Northern Spring, by Persia Wooley
Guinevere, the Legend in Autumn, by Persia Wooley
Queen of the Summer Stars, by Persia Wooley.
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Daphne DuMaurier's series (can't remember titles)

>I got a good book from Demco called "Of Swords and Sorcerers."

>I shop the bookstores every weekend, and lately I've seen some wonderful
>illustrated variations of the legends themselves. I don't have any
>particular titles for you, but check the children's folklore section if you
>have a big bookstore like Borders. Robert D. San Souci has some great
>picture book versions "Young Merlin," "Young Arthur," and "Young
>Guinevere." Even for secondary (especially if you have readers that are not
>as skilled) these could be good. I never feel that San Souci "writes down".
>In fact, I think he's a little difficult for the picture book set.

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>This is useful for background information and detail concerning the
>development of the Arthurian legend.  My High Schoolers have enjoyed it!
>*The Search for King Arthur* by David Day.  This was published by Facts
>on File.  I would recommend it.

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>You no doubt have gotten responses that mention the biggies... the series by
>T.H. White, the one by Mary Stewart, and the series by Rosemary Sutcliff are
>all great retellings and work well in the high school English classroom.
>These three make an excellent range of reading difficulty levels, running
>Stewart, White, Sutcliff from most difficult to easiest. One title I was not
>familiar with that you might want to look at is Thomas Berger's *Arthur
>Rex*. I just discovered this in our collection, and have not had a chance to
>read it myself, but being very fond of  his better known *Little Big Man*
>will try to soon. Also, what I know of Berger would make me want to read it
>before I recommended it to a student.

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>One book which I really like is Arthur the King by Graeme Fife, Sterling
>Publishing, 1991.  Its subtitle is "the themes behind the legends" and
>covers a number of different sources.  Good luck
>Carole

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 Mary Stewart has a series of books dealing with Arthur and Merlin which
would be appropriate for older high schoolers.  And don't forget T.H.
White's _Once and Future King_ which tells the whole story.  _The Sword in
the Stone_ is the first section of this book which tells of ARthur's
childhood up to the point that he removes the sword from the stone.  I
believe Marion Zimmer Bradley's _Mists of AValon_ and the others in that
series are about Arthur, tho' they may focus more on Merlin.

I believe that John STeinbeck rewrote the story too, and this book was
published posthumously.  I own a copy but it's at home and I'm at school.
II remember liking it very much as I read it, and it is likely to be very
accessible reading for YAs as STeinbeck was a "plain" writer.  I am sure
there are many, many other versions available.  Good luck.
\
Holly

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Rita--I just remembered.  You might want to try to find a facsimile or an
example of a page from the first printed version of Arthur in English,
William Caxton's Morte d'Arthur from the late 16th c.

Holly

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Wow!!  Another one of my personal interests on the LM_NET discussion list.
Plus, our curriculum has called for all of our college-prep seniors to read
a novel related to Arthurian Legend.  Here are the books I can think of off
the top of my head...


Bradley, Marion Zimmer  _Mists of Avalon_
   This book tells the familiar legends of Merlin & King Arthur through the
eyes of the women of legend.

Lawhead, Stephen R. _Taliesin_, _Merlin_, _Arthur_, and _Pendragon_
    This series follows the Arthurian legend starting with Merlin's father
(who in this series is the druid Taliesin) and goes over well with YA's who
like fantasy.

Steinbeck, John _The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights_
    Steinbeck stays very close to Sir Thomas Malory.  Not as light or fun
to read as many of the other Arthurian romances.

Stewart, Mary _The Crystal Cave_, _The Hollow Hills_, _The Last
Enchantment_, and _The Wicked Day_
    This series is probably the BEST of all of them.  Merlin in this series
in the bastard son of Ambrosius, Uther Pendragon's brother, who starts
uniting Britain.  Through his magic, Merlin helps Uther bed and win
Ygraine, the wife of the Duke of Cornwall, where Arthur is conceived.  If
you've ever seen Excalibur, this story will seem very familiar, even though
I don't think the movie and this series of books is related.

White, T.H. _The Once and Future King_, _The Book of Merlyn_, and _The
Sword in the Stone_
   Classics, and very light and fun reading about Arthur (Wart to his
childhood friends), Merlin, and the knoghts of the Round Table.

Patricia

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There is a wealth of information about King Arthur and related materials on
the web.  (I enjoy Steinbeck's telling of the story, although he never
finished it it has been published, and the notes at the end are a wonderful
opportunity to get a look at the progress of the project.  The telling starts
out fairly flat and gets very engrossing as he hits his stride.  But that's
just a personal note, to be considered or ignored as you choose.)

Here is one sample of a listing copied from the net.  I don't have url's, but
it is pretty easy to find them using any of the search engines.

Which Books Should I Read ?

In such a vast field of literature (over a thousand books) this is a
difficult question. Several books are recommended time
and time again:

       Historical
              Arthur's Britain by Leslie Alcock
              The Age of Arthur by John Morris
              Anything by Geoffrey Ashe ( The Discovery of King Arthur , King
Arthur's Avalon , and The Quest for
              Arthur's Britain )
       Modern Fiction
              T.H. White's Once and Future King
              Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon
       Modern Theories (new age ?)
              Anything by John Matthews ( The Grail Seekers Companion , The
Arthurian Way )
              The Grail Legend by Marie Louise Von Franz, Emma Jung
       Reference
              The Arthurian Encyclopaedia
              The Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legend
       Old Texts
              Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
              Perceval Chretiens de Troyes
              Parzival Wolfram Von Eschenbach
              Mabinogion (various translations)

There are many others and the choice of which to read is largely a matter of
taste. For fuller references, please refer to the
book list.

Helen

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Someone just suggested a site for the Merlin poem that might help you:
http://rodent.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/cphome.htm

Kay

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    Rita--I read a great novel by Tom Berger(Little Big Man) called Arthur
    Rex.  It was a very interesting take on the Arhurian legends with
    Berger unique, somewhat twisted point of view--and, IMO, very droll.

Julie

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"The mists of Avalon" is a very long book, but is one of my personal
all-time favorites.  It retells the Arthurian story from the point of view of
the women involved, with more historical authenticity.

Brenda

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Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey Harcourt Brace 1996
ISBN 0152273220  Available from www.amazon.com in library binding as
well as in regular and paperback.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart

The Once and Future King by Terence Hanbury White, and

The Book of Merlin: The Unpublished Conclusion to the Once and Future
King also by Terence Hanbury White (I have a copy of this one).

These and many, many more are available on-line at amazon.com

Jean

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Re King Arthur in Literature

Mists of Avolon by Marion Zimmer Bradley  (from the women's point of
view)

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart (and others in the series)

maybe The Merlin Effect by T.A. Barron  (series about Merlin.  I'm not
sure of the level on these but I think they may be meaty enough for 9th
gr.

Jan

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The Mary Stewart trilogy about Merlin and Arthur is great!  When I =
taught high school English I rarely had a student who did not like =
reading the books - The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and the Last =
Enchantment.  Good Luck!

Janice
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How about the stories about Gwain?  Sir Gwain and the Lothly Lady or Sir
Gwain and the Green Knight?  Both are by Mallory.  YOu might also check
the Welsh stories since experts feel Arthur originated in Wales.  Here
are some web sites that should have some info.
Avalon : Arthurian Heaven
http://reality.sgi.com/employees/chris_manchester/arthur.html
Online Medieval and Classical Library
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/
The Cardiff Arthurian's Links Page
http://www.cf.ac.uk/uwcc/archi/howshall/arthurm/arthbook.html

Martie

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I have a few titles to contribute.

_The Road to Camlann : the death of King Arthur_, by Rosemary Sutcliff.
Dutton 1981      0-525-44018-6

_Tomorrow's Magic_, by Pamela F. Service.  Atheneum 1987  0-689-31320-9

_Quest for a King : searching for the real King Arthur_, by Catherine M.
Andronik.  Atheneum 1989     0-689-31411-6

_Arthur : high king of Britain_, by Michael Morpurgo.  Harcourt Brace &
Co. 1995     0-15-200080-1

I have not read the first one, but it's hard to go wrong with Rosemary
Sutcliff.  I have read the second and third.  _Quest for a King_ is a
*great* book!  It tells about the legend as well as the true story, as
much as is known.  The fourth one I just purchased and have not had a
chance to read, but it looks good.

Roberta

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Rita - Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series of five books is
outstanding.  Characters are younger than high school age but reading
level is more 9th grade than 6th grade.

 J. Smith

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