Idylls of the King. Return Again to the Matter of Britain.

I doubt I could recall the sheer number — let alone the titles — of all the books, comics, short stories, films, and television shows I have consumed based upon the tales of King Arthur. Clearly the stuff resonates with creators, or there wouldn’t be so much of it. And equally clearly it resonates with me.

I was visiting friends and family in Oregon a few moths back. In an antique store I picked up a volume (copyright 1903) of selections from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. I do not pretend to possess the qualifications or aptitude to critique poetry, nor even the interest in developing the qualifications or aptitude. But I do enjoy revisiting the Arthurian Legends in their multitudinous variations and incarnations. And Idylls of the King is one of the major incarnations.

Tennyson wrote the Idylls in blank verse. So those looking for rhymes will be disappointed. But it flows. For those interested in the nuts and bolts of iambic pentameter, meter, anapest, spondees, trochees and the like, this particular volume contains a primer of sorts. Personally I think reading it aloud in an attempt to follow the rules of scansion would be a mistake. Merely reading it as one would a novel soon drops you into the flow. It feels melodic.

More importantly for me, it reads well. The three idylls selected are terrific. Unlike the spare recitation of events provided by earlier compilations of the legends, (e.g., Le Morte d’Arthur), Tennyson brings a poet’s (or dramatist’s) eye to detail, motivation, and character.

Gareth and Lynette is the first selection. Tennyson draws wonderful character portraits of the Kitchen Knight and the haughty, dismissive maid. The action scenes, rather than consisting of “Knight X encountered Knight Y and unhorsed him,” are fleshed out. It isn’t Robert E. Howard level visceral mayhem, but Tennyson does a fine job conveying the blood and bone-breaking violence. Lynette’s gradual appreciation of Gareth is well-done.

Lancelot and Elaine is second. The central sin that undoes the glories of Camelot is on full display here, even though the central plot is the tragedy of the unrequited love of Elaine. This is sort of a longer variation of Tennyson’s take on the same story, The Lady of Shallot. I’m resisting quoting bits here. Read it yourself for portraits of the guilty lovers and the husband perhaps willfully withholding suspicion.

The third Idyll is The Passing of Arthur. It is haunting. No matter how many times you read about it, Arthur’s end is always tragic and moving, in light of what could have been. Tennyson’s version can be appreciated by those steeped in Arthurian lore, but also just as easily by those who have merely watched Excalibur and liked it.

I’m glad I picked up this little volume. Of course it has only whetted my appetite for the complete work.

If you are interested in picking up a complete work, the four-volume set of Semi-Autos and Sorcery is available, and at remarkably reasonable rate.