Stories of King Arthur

by Michael Morpurgo

In this collection of two spellbinding stories, War Horse author and former Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo brings the legendary King Arthur to life. High King of Marooned on a sandbank, the boy faces certain death. With the sea closing in, his final wish is to see heaven. Waking up in a strange bed, he sees an old man sitting by the fire. It is Arthur, the great warrior king of legend, and from his lips, the boy hears of a world of magic, evil and betrayal...The Sleeping When Bun Bendle is struck blind, he feels like he is drowning in blackness. The discovery of an ancient tomb and a strangely familiar sword will change him forever. These gripping historical adventures could only have come from the master storyteller of Private Peaceful, An Eagle in the Snow, Listen to the Moon, and An Elephant in the Garden. Michael Morpurgo has written more than forty books and won the Whitbread Award, the Smarties Award, the Circle of Gold Award, the Children's Book Award and has been short-listed for the Carnegie Medal four times.

Genres: Fantasy, Arthurian, Short Stories

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1913

About the author

Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.

Reviews

[Maria Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

La reseña completa en http://inthenevernever.blogspot.com/2...

“Nunca hubo allí una lucha tan encarnizada, puesto que enfrentaba a hermanos con hermanos, amigos con amigos”.

Pocos personajes han conseguido que se viertan ríos de tinta como el mítico rey Arturo. Un monarca que dentro del imaginario popular encarna un ideal tanto en los tiempos de guerra como en los de paz. Por ello, hoy les quiero hablar de una de las novedades publicadas por Pulpture Ediciones en su colección Almaya: Cuentos de la muerte de Arturo y el Mabinogion, de Beatrice E. Clay. Una adaptación del mito artúrico que sirve tanto para iniciarse de manera amena en las aventuras del afamado rey como para descubrir aspectos menos conocidos sobre sus compañeros, los caballeros de la Mesa Redonda.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a retelling of the Arthurian legends for children, written by Beatrice Clay, who as far as I can figure out, was an Englishwoman writing in the early 20th century. I read this one when I was a kid myself, back in the day.

[Elsbeth Kwant]

Read in a nicely musty-smelling Everyman Edition (1920) that we picked up at Montacute House. Familiar stories, mostly, with a few new ones, like the adventures of Sir Geraint and the Fair maid of Astolat. Enjoyable read.

[Julie Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up from gutenberg.org as a replacement for the Keith Baines translation of Le Morte d'Arthur. Thus far what I have read is a duplication of what I'd read in the Baines work. I am finding it much more coherent and readable.

UPDATE
These stories were fascinating. For one thing I'd never read the actual stories (or any translation of them) but had just absorbed what our culture "knows" about King Arthur. I was bemused by how much of Monty Python and the Holy Grail was obviously taken from these but upon reflection realized that English schools probably require more actual reading of these. Or, if not, that the stories themselves are probably a bit closer to the surface there than here.

As well, seeing knightly chivalry practiced over and over made a forcible impression upon me as a reflection of Christian living (minus all the cutting off of heads, obviously). However, I repeatedly noticed levels of courtesy and chivalry practiced on a scale that our society would do well to emulate. In a sense we have plenty of heads cut off all the time in the way that people feel free to lambaste others publicly.

A great book and one that I'm glad I read.

Here's my published review.

[Chris Rodda · Rating 3 out of 5]

In her 1905 Edwardian retelling of Mallory’s Morte d’Arthur, Beatrice Clay includes Morgan le Fay, but - as it’s for a family audience - elides most of the salacious aspects of the stories involving Morgan, Edith or Guinevere. So the stories are brief and come across as reports on what happened, no attempt at characterisation or overarching plot. That might be a true reflection of Mallory! But the ‘horse bro’ chivalry gets rather tedious - it’s all toxic masculinity - and by the end it seems more a relief than a tragic end. However Dora Curtis’ illustrations are gorgeous!

[Doc Pastor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Las palabras de Beatrice E. Clay desde el primer momento logran que el lector viaje junto a los legendarios Caballeros de la Mesa Redonda, hacen que nos conmovamos con sus aventuras y admiremos su gran sentido del honor. Sencillamente Cuentos de la muerte de Arturo y el Mabinogion nos transporta una época de ensueño, de magia y de aventura.

La crítica entera en http://docpastor.com/cuentos-de-la-mu...

[Watersrundeep · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very old and I was unable to find an isbn number or publication date for it. Beautiful illustrations by Dora Curtis.

[Covadonga Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro sencillo, pero lleno de referencias al ciclo Artúrico, muy interesante y editado exquisitamente.

[Nicholas Cavalier · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains 2 seperate books - The first is a poor retelling of some classic King Arthur stories, the second is well imagined but I think my 10 year old son will appreciate it more than I did.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

188 - 2021