Editing Thomas Malory (section)

== Works ==
{{main|Le Morte d'Arthur}}

Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' (''The Death of Arthur'') is the source of the modern form of most Arthurian mythology, and is the only major work of English literature between [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], around a century earlier, and Shakespeare, around a century later. It has been called the first English novel. Malory's main sources for his work included Arthurian French prose romances, mainly the [[Lancelot-Grail|Vulgate (''Lancelot-Grail'')]] and [[Post-Vulgate Cycle|Post-Vulgate]] cycles, [[Geoffrey of Monmouth|Geoffrey of Monmouth's]] [[Historia Regum Britanniae|''Historia Regum Britanniae'' (''History of the Kings of Britain'')]], and two anonymous English works called the [[Alliterative Morte Arthure|Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'']] and the [[Stanzaic Morte Arthur|Stanzaic ''Morte Arthur'']].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/mcshane-malorys-morte-d-arthur-exhibition-guide |title=Malory's Morte d'Arthur: Exhibition Guide |last1=McShane |first1=Kara L. |date=2010 |website=The Camelot Project: A Robbins Library Digital Project |publisher=University of Rochester |access-date=14 October 2014}}</ref>

The entire work is eight romances that span twenty-one books with 507 chapters, which was said to be considerably shorter than the original French sources, despite its vast size.<ref>Aurner, p. 365.</ref> Malory was responsible for organizing these diverse sources and consolidating them into a cohesive whole. The work was originally titled ''The Whole Book of King Arthur and of His Noble Knights of the Round Table'', but printer William Caxton changed it to ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' (originally ''Le Morte Darthur'') before he printed it in 1485, as well as making several other editorial changes. According to one theory, the eight romances were originally intended to be separate, but Caxton altered them to be more unified.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dichmann |first=Mary E. |date=September 1950 |title=Characterization in Malory's ''Tale of Arthur and Lucius'' |jstor=459579 |journal=PMLA |publisher=Modern Language Association |volume=65 |issue=5 |pages=877–895 |doi= 10.2307/459579|s2cid=163419276 }}</ref>

There has been some argument among critics that Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' was primarily intended as a political commentary of Malory's own era. Malory portrays an initially idyllic past under the strong leadership of King Arthur and his knights, but as intrigue and infighting develop, the utopic kingdom collapses, which may have been intended as a parallel and a warning against the infighting taking place during the Wars of the Roses.<ref>S. Peverley, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/i20464303 Political Consciousness and the Literary Mind in Late Medieval England: Men 'Brought up of Nought' in Vale, Hardyng, Mankind, and Malory']. Studies in Philology 105 (2008).</ref> The seemingly contradictory changes in King Arthur's character throughout the work have been argued to support the theory that Arthur represents different eras and reigns throughout the tales.<ref>Aurner, p. 366.</ref> This argument has also been used to attempt to reconcile Malory's doubtful reputation as a person who continually changed sides with the unexpected idealism of ''Le Morte d'Arthur''. It remains a matter of some debate whether this was a deliberate commentary or an imaginative fiction influenced by the political climate. All these arguments depend upon acceptance of the Newbold Revel Malory as the author.

The sources of the romances that make up ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', and Malory's treatment of those sources, correspond to some degree with those of a poem called ''[[The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle]]''; they also both end with a similarly worded prayer to be released from imprisonment. This has led some scholars in recent years to believe that Malory may have been the author of the poem.<ref>{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17899 |title=Malory, Sir Thomas (1415x18–1471) |last1=Field |first1=P. J. C. |date=2004–2011 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/17899 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Norris, Ralph |date=2009 |title=Sir Thomas Malory and the Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell Reconsidered |url=http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/facpubs/2487/ |journal=Arthuriana |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=82–102 |doi=10.1353/art.0.0051|s2cid=162024940 }}</ref>