Introduction to The Morte Darthur, Parts 7 and 8

Summary

Editors’ Note

In 1968 Derek Brewer's edition of the last two tales of Malory's Morte Darthur appeared in the York Medieval Texts series published by Edward Arnold. The introduction, which we reprint here (omitting only section VIII, A Note on the Text), is still remarkably fresh and relevant over forty years later. He was ahead of his time in his interest in anthropology, for instance; but he also situated his comments in a broad historical context, referring both to the fall of the Roman Empire and to the effects of the Second World War. His account of what he calls ‘the honourable society’ demonstrates not only his erudition and elegant style, but also his humanity.

We have not attempted to update the bibliography, but have expanded individual references to give fuller citations, and have silently corrected punctuation and spelling where necessary. Brewer's page references for Malory are mostly to his own edition; we have added in square brackets references to the three-volume Vinaver/Field edition of 1990, and also to Caxton's book and chapter divisions. His references to earlier sections of the Morte are taken from the first Vinaver edition of 1947; we have updated them to the page numbering of the fuller second and third editions.

Elizabeth Archibald

David F. Johnson

I

Malory's series of stories has delighted five centuries of readers, whether or not their own lives have been as exciting as his book. The Arthurian tales, that mixture of myth, adventure, love-story, enchantment, tragedy, live in his work as the essence of medieval romance, yet always with a contemporary relevance. This combination of romantic remoteness with contemporary relevance was true even in his own day. He wrote in the middle of the fifteenth century, a period of sagging confidence, and bewildering change, when England's empire had been almost entirely lost. He was looking backward to an imagined, more primitive, if glorious past. Contemplation of this past, however, was to provide, besides its intrinsic interest, an analysis of the problems of the present, and also an ideal for the future. The Morte Darthur was a part of the movement that transformed the medieval knight into the English gentleman. It expresses those potent ideals of the gentleman's private virtue and public service that despite many failings activated English society and influence up to the first half of the twentieth century.