When Guenevere and the faithless knight Lancelot plan to annouce themselves as the rightful rulers of England during her birthday celebration, King Arthur and Merlin make their own plans for thwarting the two until murder enters the picture and they are forced to help the enemy. Original.

Arthur, king of all Britain, has not been fortunate in his marriage. Guenevere has long kept her own court in the forbidding castle known as the Spider's House, living there openly with Lancelot. Still, even Merlin, who has little use for the pair, would never have predicted that they would plot to present themselves to the Byzantine Empire as the rightful rulers of England. Then when Guenevere's father is murdered on the eve of her birthday celebration and Lancelot stands accused, Arthur orders Merlin to find the truth of the matter.

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. Based on medieval Arthurian legends, CliffsNotes on The Once and Future King is a twentieth-century version of young Arthur's quest for the sword Excalibur and his claim to the throne of England. Including many well-known and much-loved episodes with Merlyn, the sorcerer; Morgan La Fay, the witch; and knights jousting and hounds engaged in the hunt, White's novel adds to the lore surrounding the person of King Arthur. This study guide covers all four volumes of The Once and Future King with special emphasis given to the most popular volume, The Sword in the Stone. Other features that help you study include Character analyses of major players Personal background of the author, T.H. White A critical essay on Arthurian films A review section that tests your knowledge A Resource Center full of books, articles, and websites Classic literature or modern-day treasure—you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

This brisk retelling of Le Morte D'Arthur highlights the narrative drive, humor, and poignancy of Sir Thomas Malory’s original while updating his fifteenth-century English and selectively pruning over-elaborate passages that can try the patience of modern readers. The result is an adaptation that readers can enjoy as a fresh approach to Malory's sprawling masterpiece. The book's most famous episodes--the sword in the stone, the cataclysmic final battle--are all here, while lesser-known key episodes stand forth with new brightness and clarity. The text is accompanied by an up-to-date bibliography, including websites and video resources, and a descriptive index keyed--like the retelling itself--to the book and chapter divisions of William Caxton's first printed edition of 1485.

A comprehensive encyclopedia of characters, places, objects, and themes found in the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table. Draws from all significant source between Gildas' De Excidio Britanniae written about 540 AD and Tennyson's 19th-century Idylls of the King, including versions from throughout Europe. The entries range from a short identifying sentence to nearly ten pages for the king himself. Each is referenced to a source, which are presented in a endtable showing author and tit date, form, and langua description; keywords from the entries; and recent editions, a vital bit of information such references usually neglect. The cross-referencing is fairly good, often done as a full entry identifying a name as a variant of another, so the lack of an index is not a problem. Distributed in the US by Taylor and Francis. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR