Histories of the Kings of Britain: King Arthur

By: Geoffrey Monmouth

Narrated by: Jack Chekijian

This may rightly be considered one of the first published sources of the King Arthur legend. The translation by Sebastian Evans of this selection of Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle of ancient British kings differs in several respects from more popular versions of Arthurian tales published centuries later. Notably absent here are the Round Table of knights, the Holy Grail, Guenevere's affair with Sir Lancelot, and the Lady of the Lake. In their place is a pseudohistorical account of Arthur's role in British wars against Saxons and Romans - not a work of chivalrous knights in shining suits of armor encountering maidens and monsters, but rather an attempt to forge a national epic for the British people.

Public Domain (P)2016 Jack Chekijian

Just a facts version of King Arthur stories.

This version differs from Le Morte D'arthur in some ways. This one pays far more attention to detail where the battles are concerned. This actually precedes Le Morte D'arthur by 300 years. Le Morte D'arthur is filled with many stories of the knights of the round table, a great deal of chilvalry of knights and it has a light hearted story with a strong sense of morality. This story is far more "fact" oriented and to be fair Arthur never was crowned the emperor of Rome: historians suspect that this was written this way to add an element of superiority to the past of Britain. That's not to say Arthur never existed just that he may have been a more regional ruler. The histories does a great job of telling the battles and what led Arthur to Rome to become the emperor it then briefly mentions what happened when they got back from Rome and the death of Arthur and the slaying of Mordred. Le Morte D'arthur is a far more interesting story but this has its advantages too; like the story where King Arthur killed the giant in combat this version was far more descriptive. By the end of book 5 of the Le Morte D'arthur, Arthur has already defeated Rome and has been crowned the emperor. Le Morte D'arthur is 21 books: so you see the difference in scale. This book really only covers the first 5 chapters however the reader should remember this book predates Le Morte D'arthur by 300 years. It was an interesting read even if it were a bit dry.

a Great King

wonderful to hear a different version of King Arthur. Nicely done. eazy listening enjoyed it.

Propaganda

Clearly a propaganda piece of the time period. The anachronisms are staggering. Half the peoples and places they claim Arthur to have fought didn't exist as described during the 5th century when Arthur lived.

Fantastic and Seemingly Accurate

It starts out like it's going to SEEM boring but it gets intense and brutal pretty quick! This portrays a very admirable but NON-Disney perspective of King Arthur that's honestly really refreshing lol

Great story

Having listened to Mallory, this is a great source to hear too. One gets a sense of the earlier Briton reality, even if mostly legend. One can see where the imagination was sparked and is still sparked by need, bravery, and tragedy.