en the Saxons were overrunning Britain; but their achievements
were not chronicled by Sir Thomas Malory until late in the fifteenth
century.

Sir Thomas, as Froissart has done before him, described the habits of
life, the dresses, weapons, and armour that his own eyes looked upon in
the every-day scenes about him, regardless of the fact that almost every
detail mentioned was something like a thousand years too late.

Had Malory undertaken an account of the landing of Julius Caesar he would,
as a matter of course, have protected the Roman legions with bascinet or
salade, breastplate, pauldron and palette, coudiere, taces and the rest,
and have armed them with lance and shield, jewel-hilted sword and slim
misericorde; while the Emperor himself might have been given the very suit
of armour stripped from the Duke of Clarence before his fateful encounter
with the butt of malmsey.

Did not even Shakespeare calmly give cannon to the Romans and suppose
every continental city to lie majestically beside the sea? By the old
writers, accuracy in these matters was disregarded, and anachronisms were
not so much tolerated as unperceived.

In illustrating this edition of "The Legends of King Arthur and his
Knights," it has seemed best, and indeed unavoidable if the text and the
pictures are to tally, to draw what Malory describes, to place the fashion
of the costumes and armour somewhere about A.D. 1460, and to arm the
knights in accordance with the Tabard Period.

LANCELOT SPEED.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Marriage of King Arthur

Then fell Sir Ector down upon his knees upon the ground before young
Arthur, and Sir Key also with him.

The Lady of the Lake

The giant sat at supper, gnawing on a limb of a man, and baking his huge
frame by the fire

The castle rocked and rove throughout, and all the walls fell crashed and
breaking to the earth

Came forth twelve fair damsels, and saluted King Arthur by his name

Prianius was christened, and made a duke and knight of the Round Table

Sir Lancelot smote down with one spear five knights, and brake the backs
of four, and cast down the King of Northgales

Beyond the chapel, he met a fair damsel, who said, "Sir Lancelot, leave
that sword behind thee, or thou diest"

"Lady," replied Sir Beaumains, "a knight is little worth who may not bear
with a damsel"

So he rode into the hall and alighted

Then they began the battle, and tilted at their hardest against each ot