512 pages, Bramhall House, ISBN-13:
978-0517020609
Contained
within the pages of this book is, perhaps, the most notorious of all stories to emerge
from the depths of the Dark Ages of European history. Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table: A Rendition in Modern Idiom rendered by Keith Baines is one of the greatest works of English literature and
the source of the Arthurian legends as we know them today. This legendary tale
of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is an exquisite story of
adventure, love, honor and betrayal, and throughout the whole of Malory's story
there is the underlying theme that a thing's making is ultimately it's undoing,
be it kingdom, man or quest. Not only is this theme evident in this story, but
in Malory's own life as well. Le Morte d'Arthur is a truly legendary work of art,
given new life in this splendid rendition by Keith Baines.
Baines' re-issue of this classic entirely transforms the reading of these epic tales from nearly unbearable and painful (due to the old English words and spelling) into an easy to read
and, yeah, awesome telling of the legend of King Arthur. I found Baines' rendition not only made the reading more understandable but so much
more enjoyable, as well. And not only that, the amount of reading is very
noticeably reduced in length because all the “ye's” and “thy's” were cut out
entirely. You can get all the information in 20 pages in this book that
would've taken you 30+ pages in the original old-English version (one thing I did notice about Baines' version compared to the older text is that in Book 4, Chapter 25 of
the original text, there are FOUR sons that Sir Marhaus fights, but in Baines'
rendition there are SIX sons; but that is the only detail that I have noticed
that is different). Everyone who loves and admires the tales of King Arthur owe Keith Baines a dept of gratitude for his hard work.
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