As I perused the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain and Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, the one thing that stands out the most between the two is the way they are written. The subjects of both works are tellings of historical events, however Monmouth’s writing feels more akin to documentation of historical facts much like our history books today are. In fact Monmouth states in his own work, “So I began at Walter’s request to translate that book into Latin, content with my own lowly style and not seeking to gather gilded expressions from other writers’ gardens”. This, I feel, is an answer to the works of Malory which is written in a more romantic style and tries to portray itself as if it was written by someone who was there witnessing the events, however there seem to be flourishes and moments of slight unbelievability, or even events that no one else should have been witness to. While both works are still very hard to read I feel that Monmouth is more for those who would prefer a history, and Malory is more for those who want the fantasy.
Quests Abroad 