Synopsis "King Arthur & Sir Tristram: Book X, Volume Two (in English)"
Tristram, is the hero of the Arthurian Tristran and Isoud story. He was a Cornish knight of the Round Table and is the son of Isabelle and Meliodas and the nephew of King Mark of Cornwall. He was sent to fetch Isoud back from Ireland to wed the king, however, he and Isoud accidentally consume a love potion while enroute and fall helplessly in love. The pair undergo numerous trials that test their secret affair. A knight is usually a large, mighty man that has a huge reputation to live up to. He is granted the title of knighthood by a monarch or other leader for service to the monarch or country, especially in a military capacity. Historically, in Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors. During the Medieval era, knighthood was considered to be a class of moderate nobility. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback, They needed to be proficient in jousting with a spear and sword. The modern female equivalent in the United Kingdom is Dame although in medieval times it meant noble lady. King Arthur is a legendary British King who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. The development of Arthurian legend and the character of Arthur came to light in Le Morte d'Arthur, Thomas Malory's retelling of the entire legend in a single work in English in the late 15th century. Malory based his book on various previous romance versions, Malory's primary source, in particular was the religious The Noble Tale of the Sangreal in the French Vulgate Cycle's La Queste Del Saint Graal. It appears that Malory attempted to create a comprehensive collection of Arthurian stories with various references to the Sangreal (Holy Grail). According to William Claxton, Sir Thomas Malory's original book titled Le Morte D'Arthur (The Death of Arthur) was finished in the ninth year of Edward IV. It was about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. It is considered to be the last important English book written before the introduction of the printing press into England. Claxton's story of how the book was brought to him and why he printed it may be read in his preface in Volume One, Book I. Le Morte D'Arthur was one of the earliest printed books in England, published by William Caxton in 1485. Most of the later works are derivative of Malory's as is this series of books. Claxton's own story of how the book was brought to him and why he printed it may be read in his own preface. From this we learn also that he was not only the printer of the book, but to some extent its editor also, dividing Malory's work into twenty-one books, splitting up the books into chapters. If the reader wants to read all the books in Volume One and/or Volume Two they may be purchased at a significantly reduced price as listed under the title "Times and Death of King Arthur." The original text from the introduction to chapters in Malory's books is added below chapter titles in this book to help give a flavor to how things were written in the fifteenth century. This edition retains the chapters of Caxton's Book X, Volume Two and an attempt has been made to retain his work while making it easier for the reader to follow the story using modern English and updated spelling.
