Galahad and the Grail

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 Galahad and the Grail, by Malcolm Guite


A young coworker of mine follows this author and let me know about this project: a four-volume poetic retelling of the Arthurian story.  It's titled "Merlin's Isle."  This is the first volume, and The Coming of Arthur will be the second in November. Malcolm Guite is an Anglican pastor and has spent much of his life studying the stories.  I'm pretty picky about my modern retellings, but the beautiful cover attracted me, and I was very curious.

First, the part where the story is entirely in poetry.  Guite keeps it simple, in balladic lines that are easy to read and would be pleasant to read aloud.  He sometimes uses common phrasing from ballads, which is nice.  Otherwise, it's arranged in three books of several staves (chapters) each. And Guite certainly knows his stuff!  An appendix explains his sources, here mostly Malory and the Quest for the Holy Grail (this gave me an opportunity to feel extremely smug for a moment, which was fun).

The actual story is very impressive; a lovely telling of the story of Galahad, his companions Perceval, Bors, and Dindrane, as well as all the other stuff you'd expect.  It flows well, it's exciting and magical, and all your favorite episodes are included.  I kept wondering if he would put in the bit describing the origins of the magical ship, and he did -- and got it in very concisely too.  Some things he elides over a bit in order to smooth out the various sources or cement the symbolism and meaning.  Perceval's unfortunate question has to be left out.  But the result is pretty great.

This was probably written as a read-aloud and would be wonderful for it.  I can think of several young parents I know who would love to read it aloud to their kids (usually in a few years, those kids are teeny!)  I wound up recommending it to several.

It's also a beautiful book!  The detail and illustrations are really nice.  Illustrations are all woodcuts.

I'm looking forward to seeing how all four turn out!  Highly recommended, especially to parents looking for a read-aloud to older kids.  If they enjoyed listening to the Hobbit, they'd be fine with this too.

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