Idylls of the King

By Alfred Tennyson and William T Vlymen

Book Overview

With Idylls of the King, one of the giants of Victorian literature turned his considerable talents to the chivalric lore surrounding a larger-than-life British ruler, King Arthur. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, cast his interpretation of Arthurian myth into the form of an epic poem, and his tales of Camelot soar to remarkable imaginative heights to trace the birth of a king; the founding, fellowship, and decline of the Round Table; and the king's inevitable departure. Encompassing romance, heroism, duty, and conflict, Tennyson's poetry charts the rise and fall of a legendary society.
"The Coming of Arthur" chronicles the victorious battle with which the king also wins Guinevere's hand; "Gareth and Lynette," "The Marriage of Geraint," and "Geraint and Enid" likewise concern tests and triumphs of love, virtue, and valor. The tragic tale of two brothers, "Balin and Balan," is followed by "Merlin and Vivien," recounting the wizard's betrayal at the hands of a femme fatale. "Lancelot and Elaine," a classic story of unrequited love, leads up to the grand climax, "The Holy Grail," followed by "The Last Tournament" and "The Passing of Arthur."
Generations of readers -- both poetry lovers and devotees of myth and legend -- have exulted in these stories "About the founding of a Round Table / That was to be, for love of God and man / And noble deeds, the flower of all the world."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486437957
• ISBN13: 9780486437958
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Purchased in “Good” condition; came w significant notations and markings

The cover was not as shown, which was disappointing. Then, upon flipping through the pages, I see copious notations, underlining, and markings blocking text and proving to be a visual annoyance…this is most definitely not in “good” condition.

THE MAGIC OF CAMELOT

For Tennyson, the Arthurian legend was an evolving love affair that lasted throughout the poet's life, and the "Idylls of the King" is the ultimate offspring of that enchanted love. Composed of a dozen individual yet interlinked story-poems, the Idylls span the whole of Malory's opus from Arthur's glorious rise to power to his fog-shrouded and mysterious death, "lest one good custom should corrupt the world." But Tennyson humanizes Malory's stories and infuses the whole with an almost Shakespearean aura of tragedy, redefining many of the legendary tales with a new level of gravitas unmatched before or since. The Idylls include:* The Coming of Arthur, introducing the Age of Camelot* Gareth and Lynette, a variation of the popular "Fair Unknown" theme and one of Arhturiana's most beloved stories as well as perhaps the one which most perfectly embodies the golden values of chivalry* The Marriage of Geraint, taken from the works of Chretien De Troyes, who called the titular knight "Erec"* Geraint and Enid, a lovely tale of marital trust* Balin and Balan, one of the grimmest and bloodiest of all Arthurian tales, about the struggle between decency and monstrousness within us all* Merlin and Vivien, the sorcerer's swan song, and the most believable portrayal of the amoral Vivien, too often given a pass by other writers, which I've seen* Lancelot and Elaine, a tale better known as "The Lady of Shalott,"in which Tennyson's love for the magnificent yet benighted Lancelot of the Lake shines through* The Holy Grail, narrated by Sir Percivale, and the most powerful depiction of the Grail Quest there is* Pelleas and Ettarre, one of my favorite Arthurian tales from Malory and elsewhere, though Tennyson's retelling is a major downer that foreshadows the coming collapse of King Arthur's utopia, and features a Sir Pelleas both nobler and darker than Malory's abused but redeemed knight* The Last Tournament, a bleak but serendipitious version of the Tristram (Tristan) saga, and which brings the Pelleas story to an ugly close* Guinevere, focuses on the discovery of her adultery with Lancelot and the ensuing breakup of Camelot, culminating in a heartrending dialogue between King Arthur and his fallen Queen* The Passing of Arthur, the climactic book of the whole saga, in which King Arthur confronts the traitor Modred, strikes with mighty Excalibur one last time, and Sir Bedivere delivers the King's sword up to the Lady of the LakeTaken as a whole, the Idylls are perhaps the greatest artistic achievement in all of Arthurian literature. They are not the whole story however, and in fact Tennyson seems to assume his reader is already intimately familiar with Malory's book, so I would recommend newcomers to the legend do their homework first. The Idylls do have a strong, pervasive Christian backbone, much to Tennyson's credit, which automatically puts his work on a far higher moral plane than Bradley's "Mists of Avalon" and some other contemporary versions of

An epic Arthurian Romance

This lengthy poem about King Arthur's court is written in grand epic style, in the spirit of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and Paradise Lost, and drawing on these and other great epics. Tennyson follows many of the traditional epic conventions here--the epic similes, the epic quests, etc. But this work is not wholly an epic, it is rather more of a Romance. The book is divided into various sections, each dealing with a knight (or knights) of King Arthur's court. The adventures they encounter are various and only remotely connected, but there is a back story to each. Something is going on behind the scenes. The first part of the book deals with the rise of Arthur, and of the glory of his kingdom. The second part focuses on the gradual decline of his influence, and culminates with the King's discovery of Lancelot and Guinevere's affair. This is one of my favorite Arthurian romances. Tennyson's verse is beautiful and vivid, and his story is both compelling and easy to follow. No study of English Romanticism would be complete without Tennyson, and this is one of his finest works.

If I were stranded on a deserted island...

this is the one book I would bring with me. Tennyson's poetry is simple enough to be understood, but challenging enough to stretch your mind. I take a copy with me to conventions and read it when the lectures get boring. There are ten "idylls," or chapter-length poems. The meter is regular but there is no rhyme. The language is old-fashioned, but modern enough to read with only a rare glance at a dictionary. Each idyll focuses on a major event: the seduction of Merlin by Vivien, the death of Elaine the lily maid, Arthur's discovery of Guenivere's betrayal, and so forth. There is enough action in each idyll to keep the story moving.Tennyson's characters show both a nobility I wish I had and a human frailty I understand. The idyll on Guenivere is my favorite. Tennyson conveys the tragedy of a marriage broken by adultery so movingly that I feel as though I were there, and yet he leaves the reader with a profound sense of hope. When I read it, I feel stronger and wiser, ready to fight a dragon or enemy knight, or find a true and lasting love.