If the Morte D’Arthur was really written in prison and by a prisoner distressed by ill-health as well as by lack of liberty, surely no task was ever better devised to while away weary hours. Leaving abundant scope for originality in selection, modification, and arrangement, as a compilation and translation it had in it that mechanical element which adds the touch of restfulness to literary work. No original, it is said, has yet been found for Book VII , and it is possible that none will ever be forthcoming for chap. 20 of Book XVIII , which describes the arrival of the body of the Fair Maiden of Astolat at Arthur’s court, or VII for chap. 25 of the same book, with its discourse on true love; but the great bulk of the work has been traced chapter by chapter to the “Merlin” of Robert de Borron and his successors (

Bks. I ⁠–⁠ IV ), the English metrical romance La Morte Arthur of the Thornton manuscript ( Bk. V ), the French romances of Tristan ( Bks. VIII ⁠–⁠ X ) and of Launcelot ( Bks. VI , XI ⁠–⁠ XIX ), and lastly to the English prose Morte Arthur of Harley MS. 2252 (