Episode 833: Galahad and the Grail with Malcolm Guite

Everywhere we look, we see the benefits of the modern world. But what have we lost? In Episode 833, Jacke talks to Malcolm Guite about his new book Galahad and the Grail, the first of a four-volume series, Merlin's Isle: An Arthuriad, which poetically retells the Arthurian legend of Galahad's quest to find the Holy Grail.

Here's a short excerpt, in Malcolm's words, a prelude:

It's called Take Up the Tale. This is how it happened. As I walked out one morning, all in the soft fine rain, it seemed as though a silver veil was shining over hill and vale as though some lovely long-lost spell had made all new again.

And through that shimmer in the air, I seemed to hear a sound, as though a distant horn were blown in some lost land that I had known, that seemed to speak from tree and stone and echo all around. And with the music came these words, Poet, take up the tale, take up the tale this land still keeps.

For more from about the book, take a listen to the full episode. Galahad and the Grail is the first book in the four-volume epic cycle.

• Galahad and the Grail (available now)
• The Coming of Arthur (publication date: November 9th)
• Days of the Round Table (Fall 2027)
• The Passing of Arthur (Spring 2028)