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Tales Of King Arthur Since the romanticizing of the Arthurian legends by Geoffery of Monmouth, the historian, during the twelfth century, the legendary 'king of England' has been the source of inspiration for kings, poets, artists and dreamers alike. The most famous work is probably Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, completed around 1470, and published in many abridged and complete versions. Malory's work contains in one the legend that had been continually added to over the years by many different writers who introduced such elements as Sir Galahad, and the ill-fated love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere. Geoffery of Monmouth had been the first to put the legends surrounding Arthur into literary form in his History of the Kings of Britain. He described Arthur's genealogy as the son of Uther Pendragon and Igerna, or Igraine, wife of the Duke of Cornwall, and brought in Merlin the magician, who disguised Arthur as the Duke in order to romance Igerna at Tintagel Castle while the real Duke was away. Geoffery also introduced Arthur's famed court (placed at Caerleon-on-Usk) and his final battle and defeat at the hands of Modred, his treacherous nephew. Ar