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 first title in a brand-new series. Merlin is no magician, merely a scholar and advisor to King Arthur. But after the supposedly magical Stone of Bran is stolen--along with the legendary sword Excalibur--and one of Arthur's squires is brutally murdered during the theft, Merlin must use the power of reason to catch a murderer. Original.

Composed in Old French between about 1220 and 1240, the Lancelot-Grail Cycle is a group of five prose romances centered on the love affair between Lancelot and Guenevere. It consists of an immense central core, the Lancelot Proper, introduced by The History of the Holy Grail and The Story of Merlin and concluded by The Quest for the Holy Grail and The Death of Arthur. This volume brings together thirteen essays by noted scholars from the first symposium ever devoted exclusively to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle. Exploring the cycle's evolution across the literatures of medieval France, Italy, Spain, Catalonia, and England, the authors take a variety of approaches that highlight a broad range of cultural, social, historical, and political concerns and offer a comparative and interdisciplinary vision of this great romance.

Throughout Camelot, he is whispered to be a magician, a sorcerer, a wizard. But Merlin is merely a scholar, a practitioner of medicine, and King Arthur’s trusted advisor. Though he possesses no otherworldly abilities, his keen intellect grants him certain powers of deduction. Though he labored to help Arthur unite all of the Britons under his rule, Merlin’s work is not done. The vassal kings are a contentious, superstitious rabble, who have not easily accepted Arthur as their liege. And Arthur himself, to Merlin’s distress, is still prey to the old beliefs. He is convinced that he can bring peace and prosperity to Camelot with the Stone of Bran, an ancient skull-shaped artifact purported to be magical. But after it is stolen from the king’s own private chambers—along with the legendary sword Excalibur—and one of Arthur’s squires is brutally murdered during the theft, Merlin, along with his apprentice Colin (the maiden Nimue in disguise) must use the power of reason to conjure up a miracle and catch a murderer.