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Loading... Death of King Arthur (edition 2012)by Simon Armitage (Author)
Work InformationThe Death of King Arthur: A New Verse Translation by Anonymous (Author)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I struggled with this at first and dipped in and out but when I actually read it properly I got into the rhythm and it flowed. It is not one of my favourites, though. ( ) Fabulous poetry - both the original (quite a lot is understandable when read next to the translation) and the new verse translation. However the subject matter is not terribly interesting..... basically it is a propaganda exercise at a time when the English had been gradually losing control of the vast lands of Western France. King Arthur is repeatedly described as entitled to rule the Roman Empire as 'did all his ancestors except Uther'. I really, really tried, got over half way through but despite the power of the verse the subject is just too dull. Lists of rich people killing or being killed in various different ways. I skipped over the rest of the book to see if there was any plot or any interest in his homecoming but it was just more of the same. An interesting curiosity, but not much to recommend here. If you're reading for the story, there isn't a lot to it; the text's focus is on the campaign against Rome. It's a straightforward war story with very little by way of mythic trappings, and the titular event is dealt with almost as an afterthought. If you're reading for the language, the original verse is interesting enough, but I thought Armitage's "translation" added very little. The text would have been better served by a good glossary for usages unfamiliar to modern readers. no reviews | add a review
First appearing around 1400, The Alliterative Morte Arthur, or The Death of King Arthur, is one of the most widely beloved and spectacularly alliterative poems ever penned in Middle English. Now, from the internationally acclaimed translator of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, comes this magisterial new presentation of the Arthurian tale, rendered in unflinching and gory detail. Following Arthur's bloody conquests across the cities and fields of Europe, all the way to his spectacular and even bloodier fall, this masterpiece features some of the most spellbinding and poignant passages in English poetry. Never before have the deaths of Arthur's loyal knights, his own final hours, and the subsequent burial been so poignantly evoked. Echoing the lyrical passion that so distinguished Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, Simon Armitage has produced a virtuosic new translation that promises to become both the literary event of the year and the definitive edition for generations to come. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)821.1Literature English & Old English literatures English poetry 1066-1400 Early English period, medieval periodLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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