The Lost Tales of Sir Galahad is the second high quality production I’ve read from the Rabbit Room Press. And they keep impressing me—not just with the craftsmanship of their books but with the beauty of the content. In this volume, they ask over twenty contemporary writers to provide a “lost” tale that might fit in the chronicles of Sir Galahad, the famous knight from King Arthur’s court. The entries range from traditional to humorous to poetic. That range is an advantage, since different stories will appeal to different young readers (and plenty of older ones).
My personal favorite is the poetic tale “Sir Galahad and the Naiad” from Malcolm Guite, who has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary poets. Speaking of a tyrant who had polluted the lucid and life-giving stream of the naiad, he writes,
He may have sought to dam the source
And triumph for a while,
But there’s a Source behind the source
Which no man can defile.
Perhaps an allusion to a St. John of the Cross poem, these lines immediately made me think of God, the Source behind all sources, the Truth behind all truth. Biblical and literary allusions of this sort crop up from time to time throughout the volume, which makes each chapter a sort of treasure hunt, in addition to an engaging read.
Jonathan Rogers’s chapter made me smile throughout. “Sir Galahad and the Knight of Unmitigated Calamity” is full of witty sarcasm. My favorite part was an argument between Sir Galahad and this mysterious knight. After Galahad tried to buttress his reputation with the engraving on his sword—This sword is for the greatest knight in the world and for him who shall win the Holy Grail—his opponent says Galahad has taught him something.
"You have taught me that this is a country where the engravers determine a knight’s greatness. I have gone about this the hard way, destroying the doughtiest knights of Britain with my sword and fist in order to prove my greatness. I see now that I should have just hired a sword-engraver."
The creativity of the tales is complemented by the illustrations from Ned Bustard, both historical and humorous at times. My kids loved them. The book itself is bound in red leather with a gilded title and the impressed image of Sir Galahad in black, rising up on his steed. The whole thing, like The Light Princess, is a work of art.
If you have kids interested in knights and their daring deeds (and who doesn’t?), this is a beautiful book with a variety of stories worth adding to your kids’ library. As a parent, you might find you dip into it even more than they do, and you’ll be richly rewarded if you do.
