Do you remember when it seemed like every other Fantasy novel or series that came out was a retelling of the Arthurian cycle? I love the “Matter of Britain” (as the Arthur legends were termed in the Middle Ages) but there definitely came a time when I felt “Arthurian-ed out.”

But as with all trends there are some books that remain enduring favourites. Here are a few of my favourite Arthur retellings:

Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “The Mists of Avalon”, first published in 1983. I recall being enthralled when I first read it—by  its interweaving of Celtic myth and real history, and the combination of politics and battles and magic, romantic and sexual relationships—but most of all that the entire story was told from the perspective of the women in the Arthurian cycle. That was definitely a first for me in my Fantasy reading and one I liked, opening up the notion that women’s history and women’s voices in and through storytelling had something to say: something that mattered.

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“The Crystal Cave” by Mary Stewart (1970) — I first encountered Mary Stewart as a writer of romantic thrillers, so was unsure what to expect when I picked up The Crystal Cave, which is an Arthurian retelling from the perspective of Merlin (or Myrddin Emrys) the bastard son of a Welsh princess in the period at the end of the Roman-British era and the beginning of the Saxon invasions. But I loved the way Ms Stewart wove the magical story into probable history—as much as we can deduce it—and provided alternative rationales for how Merlin, as a real man, might have woven his magic. So in this sense it is what I would call the “legendary history” style of Fantasy but still a must-read (together with its sequels, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment and The Wicked Day) for lovers of the Arthurian tales.

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“Down the Long Wind” by Gillian Bradshaw also falls into the “legendary history” quadrant of the Fantasy ‘verse and is the omnibus publication of the trilogy comprising The Hawk of May (1981), Kingdom of Summer (1981), and In Winter’s Shadow (1982).  This retelling focuses on the Arthurian story from the perspective of Gwalchmai, literally the “hawk of May” whom most would know better as Gawain. Like both The Mists of Avalon and The Crystal Cave, Bradshaw’s retelling has a strongly historical context, although it is focused more exclusively in a Celtic milieu than either of the other two books and draws on the older myth cycle of Gawain as a sun hero, in this case wielding Excalibur in its guise as the sword of Lugh.

Hmmm, perhaps like me, you are starting to detect a theme here, which is that the three Arthurian retellings I have enjoyed most all have a strongly historical base, albeit woven through with older magic and myth. So it is perhap not surprising that another strong favourite is a straightout historicalization (I think that’s a real word!)—Rosemary Sutcliff’s “Sword At Sunset” (1963), which sets the Arthurian story in a similar end-of-Roman British era to Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave. In this case Arthur is Artos, the bastard son of a long-dead Uther, but raised by his uncle, Ambrosius, to lead the Roman-British fight against the invading Saxons. I have always been strongly drawn to this portrayal of Arthur as a very human man, struggling with the internal divisions between the Celtic and Roman British, as well as the external struggle against the  Saxons.

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But there is one more version of the retelling that I feel deserves a mention, simply because of the imaginative twist that Patricia Keneally-Morrison takes with the Arthurian cycle as part of her Keltiad--a space-faring Celtic kingdom (Keltia) where the traditional myths are told in a SciFi-Fantasy setting. The Hawk’s Gray Feather (1991) is the first of the Arthur trilogy, told through the voice of Taliesin, followed by The Oak Above the Kings (1994) and The Hedge of Mist (1996). Despite the space setting these are probably more magical books than any of those previously mentioned, and provide an innovative treatment of the traditional “Matter of Britain.”

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So how about you—do you have a favourite Arthurian retelling you’d like to share?