The Age of Chivalry, Thomas Bulfinch’s masterpiece of history and fable, recounts the legend of Arthur and the Round Table. A timeless tale retold by Milton, Dryden, Tennyson, and writers before and since, the Arthurian legend has metamorphosed from medieval Welsh texts to the French vernacular romances of Chrétien de Troyes, from obscure histories of a British chieftain of the fifth or sixth century to a chronicle of the advent of Christendom in the British Isles. In addition to revivifying these heroes, Bulfinch discusses their role in literature and art and explains the historical events and the worldview of the civilization that created them.
Thomas Bulfinch (1796–1867) was educated at Boston Latin, Phillips Exeter, and Harvard. A clerk in the Merchant’s Bank of Boston who wrote books in his spare time, he was the first to create a popular compendium of ancient myths and legends.
Mary Woods began her career in Washington, DC, where she performed at Ford’s Theater, the Folger Theater, Round House, and Washington Stage Guild. She spent several seasons at New Playwrights’ Theater developing new American plays. She is a veteran narrator of Talking Books for the Library of Congress, and received the Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Award for fiction in 1996. Formerly a radio news director, she now hosts a daily local affairs interview program on Catholic Radio, for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. She lives in Albuquerque, where she continues to act on stage and in film. She received her BA at the Catholic University of America in Fine Arts and Drama.