I received for Christmas, along with my Controversial Book of the Year, a surprising selection, titled Arthurian Romances. It was an enjoyable and unexpected read. Let’s talk about this collection of tales and why this romance is anything but PG. This is book number ten in the 24 in 2024 challenge.
Plot summary
There are four different stories in this book, so each has a slightly different plot. But the general outline of each story is mostly the same. A knight, seeking honour and adventure, takes on a quest. Along the way, he encounters a lady fair, and vows his love to her, come what may.There are sneaky dwarfs, enchanted castles and evil knights in bright armour.
The original romance
These four stories are such a foundational part of Western literature and culture. We probably don’t even realise quite how much they have influenced us. King Arthur and his court. The Holy Grail. The whole concept of knights in shining armour racing to the aid of damsels in distress. Chretien De Troyes was the man who immortalised these concepts. Arthurina Romances are the original, the OG romances.
In this concept of romance, the focus is mostly on the male protagonist. Seeking honour and adventure, he sets out either from King Arthur’s court, or to join it. Along the way he must battle and defeat nights, wild animals, enchantments and the snares of women who are not his lady love. The lady love is often discovered in the course of these adventures. She is beautiful beyond all telling, gentle, wise and virtuous. Interestingly, this virtue doesn’t extend quite as far as one might think.
A different way of storytelling
Given the age of these stories, it isn’t surprising that the narrative style is different to modern writing. These are works transcribed from oral tradition, which were sung in great halls. This means the style is full of descriptions and moral lessons, as well as action and little narrative asides. It’s a unique style that we don’t see today.
I did find that it could be a little dry. Repeated descriptions of battles just don’t do it for me. There were long discourses on the subject of love which I found pretty, but distracting. Sometimes it was hard to pick up the thread of the story again after a three page description of the love the knight feels for his lady.
It is also, interesting, not exactly PG reading. There are cases of adultery and other indiscretions that could seem surprising in such an old work. But, as I discovered when reading Chaucer, the Middle Ages were anything but uptight! For this reason, I would not recommend this book for children or younger teens. It could be read aloud to children, with a few select skips. You won’t lose anything in the story if you would like to avoid the saucy bits. They are shrouded in enough poetic mystery that it isn’t on the no read list, but if you have any ability to read between the lines, be warned.
Almost at the halfway mark already! That’s actually great, because I know there will be periods when I don’t get to new books, and instead re-read the my favourites.
