Publisher's Synopsis
King Pellinore in Arthurian legend, is the king of the medieval kingdom of Listenoise. He was the Son of King Pellam and brother of Kings Pelles and Alain, he is most famous for his endless hunt of the Questing Beast, which he is tracking when King Arthur first meets him. Pellinore beats King Arthur after three jousts and breaks the sword Arthur had withdrawn from the stone. He gets another sword from the Lady of the Lake soon after that is called Excalibur. Merlin puts a spell of enchantment on Pellinore to save Arthur's life. Arthur praises Pellinore's skill, and they soon become friends, with Arthur inviting him to join the Knights of the Round Table. He has many sons: Tor, Aglovale, Lamorak, Dornar, and Percival all eventually join the Round Table as well. His daughter is thought to be a servant of the Holy Grail and helps Percival, Galahad and Bors achieve the mystical objective. King Arthur is a legendary British King who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. According to William Claxton, Sir Thomas Malory's original book titled Le Morte D'Arthur (The Death of Arthur) was finished in the ninth year of Edward IV. It was about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. It is considered to be the last important English book written before the introduction of the printing press into England. Claxton's story of how the book was brought to him and why he printed it may be read in his preface in Volume One, Book I. Claxton's own story of how the book was brought to him and why he printed it may be read in his own preface. From this we learn also that he was not only the printer of the book, but to some extent its editor also, dividing Malory's work into twenty-one books, splitting up the books into chapters. If the reader wants to read all the books in Volume One and/or Volume Two they may be purchased at a significantly reduced price as listed under the title "Times and Death of King Arthur." The original text from the introduction to chapters in Malory's books is added below chapter titles in this book to help give a flavor to how things were written in the fifteenth century. This edition retains the chapters of Caxton's Book III, Volume One. An attempt has been made to retain his work while making it easier for the reader to follow the story using modern English and updated spelling.
