Tennyson's Camelot: The Idylls of the King and its Medieval Sources

by David Staines

As the principal narrative poem of nineteenth-century England, Tennyson's Idylls of the King is an ambitious and widely influential reworking of the Arthurian legends of the Middle Ages, which have provided a great body of myth and symbol to writers, painters, and composers for the past hundred years. Tennyson's treatment of these legends is now valued as a deeply significant oblique commentary on cultural decadence and the precarious balance of civilization. Drawing upon published and unpublished materials, Tennyson's Camelot studies the Idylls of the King from the perspective of all its medieval sources. In noting the Arthurian literature Tennyson knew and paying special attention to the works that became central to his Arthurian creation, the volume reveals the poet's immense knowledge of the medieval legends and his varied approaches to his sources. The author follows the chronology of composition of the Idylls , allowing the reader to see Tennyson's evolving conception of his poem and his changing attitudes to the medieval accounts. The Idylls of the King stands, ultimately, as the poet's own Camelot, his legacy to his generation, an indictment of his society through a vindication of his idealism.

Genres: Arthurian

236 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1982

About the author

David Staines is a Canadian literary critic, university professor, writer, and editor. Staines studied at the University of Toronto, where he obtained a BA in 1967, and at Harvard University, where he obtained an MA in 1968 and a PhD in 1973.

He currently serves as a Professor of English at the University of Ottawa. He has written or edited more than 15 books on medieval culture and literature, and on Canadian culture and literature. He is now engaged in the arduous task of reading and writing on “The History and Development of Canadian Fiction.” Staines is a member of the Board of Trustees of the RBC Taylor Prize.

In 2011, he was awarded the Order of Ontario for helping to establish the Giller Prize, Canada's highest award for fiction, and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. In 2011, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada "for his contributions as a champion of Canadian literature and mentor to young writers."