Now I know why I never read Malory’s Le
Morte d’Arthur until now. These tales, beautifully retold by Peter Ackroyd,
have knights fighting for the honor of a chaste woman while bedding down any
other women they can find. Arthur is a
boorish king who has no compunction in having his Queen Guinevere to be burned
for infidelity while he has managed to bed down his half sister and sire Sir
Mordred. And then there is Sir Lancelot,
who marries a fair maid, but will not bed her because of his love for
Guinevere. As for Sir Galahad, son of Sir Lancelot, his search for the Holy
Grail is just a round of fight after fight until the Grail disappears. Knights number in the thousands in a country
that probably had only a few hundred inhabitants and kings and knights can
travel hundreds of miles in a couple of days in a country where there are no
real roads. I know it is oral tradition
and fantasy, but at least make it believable.
Reviewer:
Dorothy Pittman
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