Selections From Sir Thomas Malorys Morte Darthur

is some difficulty in tracing the influence of a great book like Malory's, for the suggestions that come from it may be so indirect that they cannot be followed. Yet the wonderful thing about the Morte Darthur is that, so far as we can follow it, we find it has been a perennial inspiration to poets, and that it has furnished the material, and even a part of the diction, of more than one exquisite poem. No other English book has called into being such a library of poetry as has the Morte Darthur, The bulk of this poetry is work of the 1Qth century, but traces of Malory's influence are not lacking in earlier centuries. . 1 Sommer's account of the sources, omitting all detail, runs as follows : Bks. i, ii, iii, iv are based upon some form of the Merlin story, which we can follow in various French MSS. Bk. v is a prose version of the English poem La Morte Arthure of Huchown (ed. Brock, E. E. T. S.), with slight additions from other sources. Bk. vi is based upon the French Lancelot. Bk. vii has not yet been traced to its source. Bks. viii, ix, x represent the French romance of Tristan, with the exception that chs. xxi-xxviii of Bk. x, telling of the adventures of Alysanader le Orphelyn and of the Great Tournament of Surluse, are taken from the French Prophecies of Aferlin. Bks. xi-xvii are in the main from the Lancelot, though some chapters are doubtful. Bks. xiii-xvii follow the story of the quest of the Grail, included in the Lancelot. Bks. xviii-xxi present a more d...