MP3 Audios - Classic Literature

"Le Morte d'Arthur remains an enchanted sea for the reader to swim about in,
delighting at the random beauties of fifteenth-century prose."--Robert Graves

This monumental work made the Arthurian cycle available for the first time in English. Malory
took a body of legends from Celtic folklore that had been adapted into French literature, gave
them an English perspective, and produced a work which ever since has had tremendous
influence upon literature.

The story begins with King Uther Pendragon's use of enchantment to lay with Igraine, Duchess
of Cornwall. Arthur is conceived and taken away in secret, returning as a young man to claim
the throne by pulling the sword Excalibur from the stone. In retelling the story of Arthur's rule
of Britain, Malory intertwines the romances of Guinevere and Launcelot, Tristram and Isolde,
and Launcelot and Elaine. Sir Galahad's appearance at Camelot begins the quest for the Holy
Grail. Finally, Camelot is brought down by the conflict between King Arthur and his natural son,
Mordred.