Extollager
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2010
- Messages
- 9,271
I've begun reading Sebastian Evans's 1898 translation of this medieval work, The High History of the Holy Graal. "Perlesvaus" is a form of the name Perceval.
Evans's translation was easy to come by, a hundred years ago. For one thing, it was picked up by the Everyman's Library -- the Penguin Classics of its day.
Now here's something intriguing. This book -- Evans's translation -- was significant to some of our favorite fantasy writers.
1.C. S. Lewis discovered it as a teenager and wrote a rave letter to his friend Arthur Greeves about the experience. About 30 years later, he wrote to a correspondent about how it was one of his favorite things to read, along with Malory's Morte d'Arthur and the prose romances of William Morris. (Morris, who was revived 50 years ago for Ballantine's Adult Fantasy series, and Evans, sound alike, with a mildly medieval prose style that is easy to read. Offhand I'd say that, as far as I have read, Evans is a bit more modern-sounding than Morris.)
2.J. R. R. Tolkien had a copy of the Evans in his personal library, as we learn from Cilli's brand-new book Tolkien's Library. He and E. V. Gordon mention the Evans in their edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
3.The "Third Inkling," Charles Williams, author of the Grail thriller War in Heaven, discusses the Evans in his unfinished work The Figure of Arthur, which may be found in the book Arthurian Torso.
4.To mention a non-Inklings author -- Arthur Machen found Evans's translation worthy of praise but another work by him worthy of debate, in his essay "The Secret of the Sangraal," (reprinted in The Shining Pyramid [London: Secker, 1924]). Machen wrote the unsatisfactory Graal novel The Secret Glory and the moving tale "The Great Return."
The High History of the Holy Graal is available online. You can buy a copy at a very cheap price from abebooks.com.
The present thread is intended to be a place for discussion of this exceptional book.
Evans's translation was easy to come by, a hundred years ago. For one thing, it was picked up by the Everyman's Library -- the Penguin Classics of its day.
Now here's something intriguing. This book -- Evans's translation -- was significant to some of our favorite fantasy writers.
1.C. S. Lewis discovered it as a teenager and wrote a rave letter to his friend Arthur Greeves about the experience. About 30 years later, he wrote to a correspondent about how it was one of his favorite things to read, along with Malory's Morte d'Arthur and the prose romances of William Morris. (Morris, who was revived 50 years ago for Ballantine's Adult Fantasy series, and Evans, sound alike, with a mildly medieval prose style that is easy to read. Offhand I'd say that, as far as I have read, Evans is a bit more modern-sounding than Morris.)
2.J. R. R. Tolkien had a copy of the Evans in his personal library, as we learn from Cilli's brand-new book Tolkien's Library. He and E. V. Gordon mention the Evans in their edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
3.The "Third Inkling," Charles Williams, author of the Grail thriller War in Heaven, discusses the Evans in his unfinished work The Figure of Arthur, which may be found in the book Arthurian Torso.
4.To mention a non-Inklings author -- Arthur Machen found Evans's translation worthy of praise but another work by him worthy of debate, in his essay "The Secret of the Sangraal," (reprinted in The Shining Pyramid [London: Secker, 1924]). Machen wrote the unsatisfactory Graal novel The Secret Glory and the moving tale "The Great Return."
The High History of the Holy Graal is available online. You can buy a copy at a very cheap price from abebooks.com.
High History Graal by Evans - AbeBooks
The High History of the Holy Graal, Vol 1 Translated From the French Classic Reprint by Sebastian Evans and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com.
www.abebooks.com
The present thread is intended to be a place for discussion of this exceptional book.
