The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation ed. by Norris J. Lacy, James J. Wilhelm (review)

Compiling and editing an anthology presents a daunting task. Revising an existing one—especially one so widely used and assembled by another scholar—further complicates the job, even though so much of the work has already been done. In this third edition of The Romance of Arthur, which collects myriad Arthurian works from the Middle Ages translated by a host of worthy scholars, Norris Lacy tears gently at the seams of James Wilhelm’s earlier edition to create a better version of this already definitive text. The backbone of the text remains the same; this is still recognizably Wilhelm’s anthology, but Lacy has managed to tweak and add to—and subtract from—the second edition in ways that make sense and should, on the whole, satisfy those teaching undergraduate Arthurian literature courses.

The success or failure of a revision lies mainly in how it distinguishes itself from its predecessor. This third edition evidences a number of key changes, most of which will be received quite well. Texts included in the second edition are all represented here, although there are significant cuts to Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, with the new excerpt about 75% shorter than the previous one. Lacy explains in his ‘Preface’ that many instructors already supplemented the anthology with a full Malory edition. This large reduction prevents the wholesale elimination of any item and protects other texts from being trimmed. Although Malory scholars and enthusiasts—and I am in that camp—will likely wince at seeing the Morte slashed to the episodes concerning the sword in the stone (added in this edition), Arthur’s dream, and his battle with Mordred and subsequent death, the breadth of the new anthology should mitigate that pain.

Trimming the Malory section opened the text for considerable new material, in particular several grail texts, which were notably absent from the earlier edition. Readers will now find excerpts from Chrétien de Troyes’ Perceval, Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, and The Quest for the Holy Grail. Though relatively short excerpts, these three texts thematically round out the anthology. The inclusion of the German Parzival also nicely cements the geographical scope of the text; German literature was previously represented only in a short lyric. The anthology now includes translations of texts written in Latin, Welsh, French, German, Norse, Spanish, Italian, and Middle English. Also new to this is edition is Marie de France’s Lanval, which focuses on Arthur’s court and thus provides a nice complement to the depiction of Mark’s court in Marie’s Chevrefueil, which appears in both editions. Lacy has also increased the material from Thomas’s Tristan, adding ‘The Marriage Soliloquy’ as well as the ‘Hall of Statues’ episode, not extant in any Thomas fragments, but found in and translated from the Norse Tristrams saga ok Ísöndar.

Lacy’s third edition also includes some updating of the material carried over from the second edition, which was published in 1993. These changes take two main forms: new translations and revised introductory matter. Individual contributors were invited to freshen up their pieces and, according to Lacy, many chose to do just that. As a result, the bibliographical notes often contain scholarship from the years between the two editions. When updated, they should prove a very useful resource for students. However, the unevenness of the bibliographies—some are not updated at all—is the biggest disappointment in this new edition. It would be nice to see the last two decades of scholarship represented for all texts.

The final distinction one will see in this edition is the substitution of three new translations. Lacy includes his own translation of Marie’s Chevrefueil; this is quite fitting as it pairs nicely with his Lanval translation. This third edition presents Malory in...