Malcolm Guite's Grail Quest Ballad Cycle

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I was only last year introduced to the books, blog, and “A Spell in the Library” YouTube Channel of Anglican Priest, Poet, and Inklings expert, Malcolm Guite.

Late to the party, maybe, but I instantly came under the spell of Guite’s gentle erudition, pipe-smoky voice, and hobbity dwelling and demeanor. His poem-a-day journey through Advent, Waiting on the Word, became my daily morning companion in the weeks before Christmas, 2021, and will once more accompany my Advent journey in 2022, beginning in only a few short weeks.

On one of his YT vlogs, Guite mentioned the Arthurian/Grail Quest ballad cycle he was working on. It was clear from the context that this was a project with which his regular viewers would be well acquainted, and that he had often read aloud from his work-in-progress. Delighted, I went on a little quest of my own to find previous vlogs about this project.

I was even more delighted when I began hearing the ballads themselves. They are both deep and charming, and beautifully evoke the spiritual meaning at the core of the age-old Grail Quest.

Banging around YouTube for an hour or so, I was able to come up with my own little YT playlist of Guite’s Arthurian vlogs, in chronological order. I’m sharing the links here, along with their publication date, and highly recommend your taking the time to give them a listen. (If any other fans out there see that I’ve missed any, please let me know!)

Here we go:

The Ballad of Galahad and the Naiad (1/21/21)

Some of My Arthurian Treasures (2/21/21)

An Old Arthurian Book and a new Arthurian Ballad (4/08/21)

The Knighting of Galahad (4/19/21)

The Seige and the Sword (4/22/21)

Galahad comes to Camelot (4/26/21)

Take up the Tale (5/6/21)

The Coming of the Grail (5/10/21)

The Quest begins (5-14-21)

The Silver Shield (07/06/21)

Sir Percivale and the Lion (8-23-21)