In this brief update, I wanted to share with you a short video I have made giving some context to my forthcoming translation of the Alliterative Morte Arthure (King Arthur's Death). In this small section, I am reading some of the opening lines of the original manuscript; the sub-titles below each page give a flavour of the translation. I hope this conveys some of the flavour of what you can expect when the book is fully funded.

King Arthur's Death is a masterpiece of the fourteenth century allitrative revival. This whole project is a mammoth undertaking: translating 4300+ lines of a mediaeval Yorkshire/Lincolnshire poem of c.1400 is no easy task but I hope you will find my efforts worthwhile when the book is funded and published. As I write, the book has reached 82% of its target so we are getting closer by the day.

Accompanying the book, as with my translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, will be a series of lincocut prints which again I hope capture the spirit and message of this magnificent epic work. The video touches on some of the illustrative techniques I have incorporated into the work. I will also be including historical and political insight into the writing of the poem, as well as detailed notes and a glossary.

This book has been a labour of love. I could not have made all this progress without your continued support. Please do feel free to pass on this message to others you think would like to support the book; we are so close now to the next phase in its journey!

Kind regards

 

Michael Smith

Author, Translator, Printmaker