The Lancelot-Grail Reader is a single-volume condensation of the complete five-volume translation of the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles of Arthurian romance.
The Lancelot-Grail Reader showcases in a single volume significant episodes from Garland's complete five-volume translation of the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles of Arthurian romance.
Dating from the early 13th century, the Vulgate Cycle relates the entire course of Arthurian legend, from the early history of the Grail to Arthur's death. The five component romances, written by an anonymous author or group of authors, are the Estoire del Saint Graal, the Estoire de Merlin, the huge Lancelot propre, the Queste del Saint Graal, and the tragic conclusion, the Mort Artu.
The Post-Vulgate Cycle, also written anonymously, is a modified version of the Vulgate material reconstructed by scholars from surviving fragments translated into Spanish and Portuguese. Instead of focusing on the illicit love of Lancelot and Guenevere, the Post-Vulgate author sets Arthur and the Grail at center stage.
Like the original five-volume set, The Lancelot-Grail Reader is the work of a team of translators including General Editor Norris J. Lacy, Martha Asher, E. Jane Burns, Carleton E. Carroll, Carol J. Chase, William W. Kibler, Roberta L. Krueger, Rupert T. Pickens, and Samuel N. Rosenberg. This volume, edited for students, Arthurian scholars, and enthusiasts, also includes a concise introduction and suggestions for further reading.
"The efforts of Norris J. Lacy and his associates have made this important work available to a wider audience in a form which is both readable and reliable." -- Arthuriana"This English translation is beautifully done...will delight readers from the first paragraph to the last." -- Library Journal"Norris Lacy and his team of translators have done an immense service to scholars, providing a translation that does a fine job in treading the fine line between readability and intelligibility on the one hand and accuracy and fidelity to the original language on the other. They are to be thanked and commended." -- The Medieval Review
