Introduction

There is less paraphrase here than you probably think.

I’m an Arthurian scholar by training, and I couldn’t have spent years poring over Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur without having affection for it. I know some people grow to hate the topics of their PhD study, but I don’t have the willpower to spend that much time with something I don’t like. I ended my PhD enjoying Le Morte Darthur more than I did when I started. And one of the things I enjoy about it is its absurd, surreal, sheer ridiculousness.

This little book is an inexhaustive collection of some of my favourite moments from Arthuriana. Most of them are from Le Morte Darthur, because it is my favourite, but there are a few moments from scattered other sources included as well.

I wrote most of this first as a twitter thread, so to justify charging you for something that was mostly free the first time I’ve added illustrations, a table of contents, and a cross-referenced index, as well as one or two scenes I held back from the internet.

This book is made up of my favourite moments and scenes from Arthuriana that are unlikely to ever make it into a King Arthur movie, but I think they should.

I hope you enjoy it.