Stories of King Arthur and His Knights Retold from Malory's "Morte dArthur" — A Reader’s Guide

A Reteller's Hand at Work

Cutler's adaptation is not a simple abridgment. He reshapes Malory's prose into a more uniform, modernized English, smoothing out archaic syntax while retaining key phrases like 'the goodliest fellowship.' His chapter divisions impose a clear narrative arc: the early chapters (I–X) establish Arthur's legitimacy and the Round Table's founding; the middle sections (XI–XXIII) follow individual knights like Launcelot, Gareth, and Tristram; the later chapters (XXIV–XLII) focus on the Grail quest and the kingdom's collapse. This structure guides a first-time reader through the legend's major episodes without the confusion of Malory's interwoven storylines.

The Weight of Chivalric Language

Cutler's vocabulary consistently emphasizes honor, worship (meaning renown), and courtesy. In the excerpt from Chapter XXIII, Sir Percivale declares he will not return to court 'till men speak more honour of me than ever men did of any of them both'—a line that echoes Malory's preoccupation with reputation. The adapter also retains formal combat descriptions: knights 'lashed together as eagerly as it had been two lions,' and strokes are 'mighty' or 'buffets.' These recurring phrases create a rhythmic, almost ritualistic quality in battle scenes, reinforcing the code of chivalry that governs every encounter.

Setting as Moral Landscape

Cutler's settings are rarely neutral. Castles, bridges, and forests function as tests of knightly virtue. In the excerpt, Sir Percivale finds a knight 'bound with a chain fast about unto a pillar of stone' at a bridge—a literal embodiment of an 'evil custom' that must be broken. The castle of Cardican harbors treachery; the bridge becomes a site of rescue and combat. Later, Launcelot's madness leads him to King Pelles's castle, where he is healed in an 'island enclosed with a fair water.' These locations are not merely backdrops but active moral arenas, where a knight's actions restore or corrupt order.

The Quest as Structural Driver

From the Grail quest to Percivale's search for Launcelot, Cutler uses quests to propel his narrative forward. The excerpt shows Percivale leaving his brother and riding 'alone' after parting at Cardican, a moment that isolates him for his own adventure. This pattern recurs: knights separate from the court, undergo trials, and either return with greater honor or, like Launcelot in his madness, lose themselves. The quest structure gives each chapter a clear goal—rescue a captive, win a lady, find a relic—while the overarching search for the Grail binds the later chapters into a unified spiritual journey.

Readers new to Arthurian legend will find Cutler's version a reliable entry point: it preserves the essential episodes and moral weight of Malory's work while streamlining its complexity. Pay attention to the chapter titles—they often hint at the thematic focus of each section, from 'Wise Merlin's Foolishness' to 'The Victory of Sir Bors over Himself.' The illustrations listed in the front matter (by Margetson, Burne-Jones, and others) also suggest a visual tradition that complements the text's chivalric ideals.