Tennyson's Sources and Adaptations
Tennyson based his retelling primarily on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and the Mabinogion, but with many expansions, additions, and several adaptations, a notable example of which is the fate of Guinevere. In Malory she is sentenced to be burnt at the stake but is rescued by Lancelot; in the Idylls Guinevere flees to a convent, is forgiven by Arthur, repents, and serves in the convent until she dies. Tennyson amended the traditional spellings of several names to fit the metre.
Read more about this topic: Idylls Of The King
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“Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
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