List of Ancient Arthurian Texts

If there is one literary figure responsible for most of what we now consider modern fantasy, it’s that of King Arthur. While we can’t possibly list all of the media in the Arthurian Legends, even just the ancient texts, we can list some of the most significant. This is the Arthurian ancient text timeline.

What’s on the Ancient Arthurian Text timeline?

This timeline does not attempt to list everything with any connection to the Arthurian legends. Doing so would be all but impossible, even for ancient texts. But we do attempt to list most of the more significant contributions to the Arthurian mythos. And we’ve also attempted to keep our list to that which is easiest to obtain. Some stories are highly obscure and hard to track down. For this reason, we try and stick with the tales that you can easily get your hands on.

This timeline focuses on ancient texts that are related to King Arthur. While most of these are public domain, some of them have English translations that are copyrighted. We’ve tried to provide links to all public domain materials where possible. These texts are restricted to some of the most notable Arthurian texts, those that progressed the mythos forward in important ways.

Where to start reading the ancient Arthurian texts?

For those who want a deep dive into the scholarly side of King Arthur, we recommend starting from the beginning. This will give you a solid understanding of how the legends have evolved over time. But for those interested in the most important texts, we recommend The History of the Kings of Britain, Le Morte d’Arthur, and the poems by Tennyson.

We hope you enjoy this timeline! If you like it, you might want to consider visiting our Arthurian Legends Hub. Check it out!

And if you see any significant text you think we should add, don’t hesitate to let us know!

#	Amazon	Name	Media	Author/Director	Date	Time/Series	Notes
1		De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae	Novel	St. Gildas	0500-01-01	6th Century	Mentions the Battle of Badon Hill, long associated with Arthur.
2		Y Gododdin	Novel	Aneirin	0600-01-01	7-8th Century	The first mention of Arthur in any text
3		Historia Britonum	Novel	Nennius	0828-01-01	9th Century	Chronicles the Battle of Badon and the Saxon conquest of the britons.
4		Annales Cambriae	Novel	Anonymous	0900-01-01	10th Century
5		Preiddeu Annwfn (The Spoils of Annwn)	Novel	Taliesin	0900-01-01	10th Century	The text recounts an expedition with King Arthur to Annwfn or Annwn, the Welsh name for the Celtic Otherworld.
6		Trioedd Ynys Prydein (Triads of the Isle of Britain)	Novel	Anonymous	1000-01-01	11th Century	Contains The Triads of the Horses, Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain, and Twenty-four Knight sof Arthur's Court.
7		The Legend of St. Goeznovius	Novel	Anonymous	1019-01-01	11th Century
8		Vita Sancti Cadoc	Novel	Lifris of Llancarfan	1086-01-01	11th Century
9		Englynion y Beddau	Novel	Anonymous	1090-01-01	11th Century	Part of the Black Book of Carmarthen
10		Pa Gur yv y Porthaur	Novel	Anonymous	1090-01-01	11th Century	Part of the Black Book of Carmarthen
11		Vita Sancti Euflami	Novel	Anonymous	1100-01-01	12th Century
12		Culhwch and Olwen	Novel	Anonymous	1100-01-01	12th Century	One of the earliest stories concerning King Arthur and his court.
13		Vita Sancti Carannog	Novel	Anonymous	1100-01-01	12th Century
14		Vita Santi Gildae	Novel	Caradoc of Llancarfan	1120-01-01	12th Century
15		Vita Sancti Paternus	Novel	Anonymous	1120-01-01	12th Century
16		Gesta Regum Anglorum	Novel	William of Malmesbury	1125-01-01	12th Century
17		Historia Anglorum	Novel	Henry of Huntingdon	1129-01-01	12th Century
18		Historia Regum Britanniae	Novel	Geoffrey of Monmouth	1136-01-01	12th Century
19		Vita Merlini	Novel	Geoffrey of Monmouth	1140-01-01	12th Century	Often included in editions of the History of the Kings of Britain.
20		Roman de Brut	Novel	Wace	1155-01-01	12th Century
21		Tristan	Novel	Béroul	1170-01-01	12th Century
22		Tristan	Novel	Thomas of Britain	1170-01-01	12th Century
23		Lanval	Novel	Marie de France	1170-01-01	12th Century
24		Chevrefoil	Novel	Marie de France	1170-01-01	12th Century
25		Erec and Enide	Novel	Chrétien de Troyes	1170-01-01	12th Century
26		Cligés	Novel	Chrétien de Troyes	1170-01-01	12th Century
27		Folie Tristan d'Oxford	Novel	Anonymous	1175-01-01	12th Century
28		Yvain, the Knight of the Lion	Novel	Chrétien de Troyes	1180-01-01	12th Century
29		Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart	Novel	Chrétien de Troyes	1180-01-01	12th Century
30		Life of Saint Kentigern	Novel	Jocelyn of Furness	1185-01-01	12th Century
31		Perceval, le Conte du Graal	Novel	Chrétien de Troyes	1190-01-01	12th Century	Incomplete
32		Works of Robert de Boron	Novel	Robert de Boron	1190-01-01	12th Century	Consisting of Joseph of Arimathea, Merlin, and Perceval
33		Vita Sancti Illtud	Novel	Anonymous	1190-01-01	12th Century
34		Lanzelet	Novel	Ulrich von Zatzikhoven	1194-01-01	12th Century
35		Brut	Novel	Layamon	1200-01-01	13th Century
36		Lancelot-Grail (The Vulgate Cycle)	Novel	Anonymous	1210-01-01	13th Century
37		Tristan	Novel	Gottfried von Strassburg	1210-01-01	13th Century
38		Perlesvaus (High History of the Holy Graal)	Novel	Anonymous	1210-01-01	13th Century
39		Parzival	Novel	Wolfram von Eschenbach	1210-01-01	13th Century
40		Diu Crône (The Crown)	Novel	Heinrich von dem Türlin	1220-01-01	13th Century
41		Daniel von Blumenthal	Novel	Der Stricker	1220-01-01	13th Century
42		Jaufre	Novel	Anonymous	1225-01-01	13th Century	No translation in the public domain.
43		Prose Tristan	Novel	Luce de Gat, Helie de Boron	1230-01-01	13th Century
44		Post-Vulgate Cycle	Novel	Anonymous	1240-01-01	13th Century
45		The Lancelot-Compilatie	Novel	Anonymous	1250-01-01	13th Century
46		L'âtre périlleux (The Perilous Cemetery)	Novel	Anonymous	1250-01-01	13th Century
47		Garel von dem blühenden Tal	Novel	Der Pleier	1250-01-01	13th Century
48		Tandareis und Flordibel	Novel	Der Pleier	1250-01-01	13th Century
49		Meleranz	Novel	Der Pleier	1250-01-01	13th Century
50		Brut y Brenhinedd	Novel	Anonymous	1250-01-01	13th Century
51		Sir Tristrem	Novel	Thomas of Britain	1250-01-01	13th Century
52		The Black Book of Carmarthen	Novel	Anonymous	1250-01-01	13th Century
53		Roman de Silence	Novel	Heldrius de Cornwall	1260-01-01	13th Century
54		Melech Artus	Novel	Anonymous	1279-01-01	13th Century
55		The Dream of Rhonabwy	Novel	Anonymous	1290-01-01	13th Century	Part of the Red Book of Hergest and associated with the Mabinogion.
56		Stanzaic Morte Arthur	Novel	Anonymous	1300-01-01	14th Century
57		Sir Perceval of Galles	Novel	Anonymous	1300-01-01	14th Century
58		The Avowyng of Arthur	Novel	Anonymous	1300-01-01	14th Century
59		Perceforest	Novel	Anonymous	1344-01-01	14th Century
60		Peredur, son of Efrawg	Novel	Anonymous	1350-01-01	14th Century	Part of the Red Book of Hergest and associated with the Mabinogion.
61		Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain	Novel	Anonymous	1350-01-01	14th Century	Part of the Red Book of Hergest and associated with the Mabinogion.
62		Geraint and Enid	Novel	Anonymous	1350-01-01	14th Century	Part of the Red Book of Hergest and associated with the Mabinogion.
63		Mabinogion	Novel	Anonymous	1350-01-01	14th Century
64		Sir Libeaus Desconus	Novel	Thomas Chestre	1390-01-01	14th Century
65		Sir Gawain and the Green Knight	Novel	The Pearl Poet	1390-01-01	14th Century
66		Yvain and Gawain	Novel	Anonymous	1390-01-01	14th Century
67		The Awntyrs off Arthure	Novel	Anonymous	1390-01-01	14th Century
68		Sir Cleges	Novel	Anonymous	1390-01-01	14th Century
69		Lancelot of the Laik	Novel	Anonymous	1390-01-01	14th Century
70		Sir Launfal	Novel	Thomas Chestre	1390-01-01	14th Century
71		Alliterative Morte Arthure	Novel	Anonymous	1400-01-01	15th Century
72		King Arthur and King Cornwall	Novel	Anonymous	1400-01-01	15th Century
73		Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle	Novel	Anonymous	1400-01-01	15th Century
74		Prose Merlin	Novel	Anonymous	1450-01-01	15th Century
75		The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle	Novel	Anonymous	1450-01-01	15th Century
76		Le Morte d'Arthur	Novel	Sir Thomas Malory	1485-01-01	15th Century
77		Orlando Innamorator	Novel	Matteo Maria Boiardo	1498-01-01	15th Century
78		Arthur of Little Britain	Novel	Anonymous	1500-01-01	16th Century
79		The Boy and the Mantle	Novel	Francis James Child	1500-01-01	16th Century
80		The Greene Knight	Novel	Anonymous	1500-01-01	16th Century	Part of the Percy Folio.
81		The Jeaste of Sir Gawain	Novel	Anonymous	1500-01-01	16th Century
82		The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain	Novel	Anonymous	1508-01-01	16th Century
83		The Misfortunes of Arthur	Novel	Thomas Hughes	1587-01-01	16th Century
84		The Faerie Queene	Novel	Edmund Spenser	1590-01-01	16th Century
85		Tom a Lincoln	Novel	Richard Johnson	1607-01-01	17th Century
86		The History of Tom Thumbe, the Little, for his small stature surnamed, King Arthurs Dwarfe	Novel	Richard Johnson	1621-01-01	17th Century
87		Tom Thumbe, His Life and Death	Novel	Anonymous	1630-01-01	17th Century
88		The Birth of Merlin, or, The Childe Hath Found His Father	Novel	William Rowley	1662-01-01	17th Century
89		Prince Arthur: An Heroick Poem in Ten Books	Novel	Richard Blackmore	1695-01-01	17th Century
90		King Arthur: An Heroick Poem in Twelve Books	Novel	Richard Blackmore	1697-01-01	17th Century
91		On King Arthur's Round-table at Winchester	Novel	Warton, Thomas	1777-01-01	18th Century
92		The Grave of King Arthur	Novel	Warton, Thomas	1777-01-01	18th Century
93		Vortigern and Rowena	Novel	W. H. Ireland	1799-01-01	18th Century
94		The Lady of Shalott	Novel	Alfred, Lord Tennyson	1833-01-01	19th Century
95		The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights	Novel	James Knowles	1862-01-01	19th Century
96		The Boy's King Arthur	Novel	Sidney Lanier	1880-01-01	19th Century
97		Tristram of Lyonesse	Novel	Algernon Charles Swinburne	1882-01-01	19th Century
98		Idylls of the King	Novel	Alfred, Lord Tennyson	1885-01-01	19th Century
99		A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court	Novel	Mark Twain	1889-01-01	19th Century
100		The Story of King Arthur and His Knights	Novel	Howard Pyle	1903-11-01	20th Century (No Copyright)
101		Kairo-kō	Novel	Natsume Sōseki	1905-01-01	20th Century (No Copyright)
102		The Life of Sir Aglovale de Galis	Novel	Clemence Housman	1905-01-01	20th Century (No Copyright)
103		The Story of the Champions of the Round Table	Novel	Howard Pyle	1905-01-01	20th Century (No Copyright)
104		The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions	Novel	Howard Pyle	1907-01-01	20th Century (No Copyright)
105		Launcelot and Elaine	Short Film	Charles Kent	1909-11-13	20th Century (No Copyright)
106		The Story of the Grail and the Passing of King Arthur	Novel	Howard Pyle	1910-01-01	20th Century (No Copyright)