Le Morte d'Arthur, Thomas Malory's seminal compilation of the Arthurian legend, originally consisted of eight titled volumes (one of them further divided into two parts) written in the 15th-century Middle English. Malory's editor and publisher, William Caxton, reorganised them into 21 numbered books composed of 506 chapters, each given a descriptive title in his 1485 print edition.
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Malory division The titles used in Malory's Winchester Manuscript, along with sample modernised titles used by Arthurian scholars Eugène Vinaver (Clarenden Press, 1947) and P. J. C. Field (D. S. Brewer, 2013):
Book I + Fro the Maryage of Kynge Uther unto Kyng Arthure Version Other titlesAlternativeFro the Maryage of Kynge Uther unto Kyng Arthure that Regned Aftir Hym and ded Many BataylesCaxtonBooks I–IVVinaverThe Tale of King ArthurFieldKing Uther and King Arthur
Book II + The Noble Tale betwyxt Kynge Arthure and Lucius the Emperour of Rome Version Other titlesAlternativeThe Tale of the Noble Kynge Arthure that was Emperoure Hymself thorow Dygnyté of His HondysCaxtonBook VVinaverThe Tale of the Noble King Arthur That Was Emperor Himself through Dignity of His HandsFieldKing Arthur and the Emperor Lucius
Book III + Noble Tale of Syr Launcelot du Lake Version Other titlesCaxtonBook VIVinaverThe Noble Tale of Sir Launcelot du LakeFieldSir Launcelot du Lake
Book IV + The Tale of Syr Gareth of Orkeney Version Other titlesAlternativeThe Tale of Syr Gareth of Orkeney That Was Called Beaumayns by Syr KayCaxtonBook VIIVinaverThe Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney That Was Called BewmaynesFieldSir Gareth of Orkney
Book V + Trystram Version Other titlesAlternativeThe Fyrste Boke of Syr Trystram de Lyones The Secunde Boke of Syr Trystram de LyonesCaxtonBooks VIII–XIIVinaverThe Book of Sir Tristram de LyonesFieldSir Tristram de Lyones: The First Book Sir Tristram de Lyones: The Second Book
Book VI + The Tale of the Sankgreal Version Other titlesCaxtonBooks XIII–XVIIVinaverThe Tale of the Sangreal Briefly Drawn Out of FrenchFieldThe Sankgreal
Book VII + Syr Launcelot and Quene Gwenyvere Version Other titlesCaxtonBooks XVIII–XIXVinaverThe Book of Sir Launcelot and Queen GuinevereFieldSir Launcelot and Queen Guenivere
Book VIII + Le Morte Darthur Version Other titlesAlternativeThe Moste Pyteuous Tale of Le Morte d'Arthur Saunz Gwerdon [*]CaxtonBooks XX–XXIVinaverThe Death of King Arthur or The Most Piteous Tale of the Morte Arthur saunz GuerdonFieldThe Morte Arthur
[*] Saunz Guerdon, meaning Without Reward in Old French.
Caxton division The following list uses William Caxton's 15th-century print chapter titles, rendered in a Modern English modernised form by John Rhŷs in his 1906 J. M. Dent & Sons edition.
Book I + Caxton I Chapter Title (Rhŷs 1906)I"How Uther Pendragon sent for the Duke of Cornwall and Igraine his wife, and of their departing suddenly again"II"How Uther Pendragon made war on the Duke of Cornwall, and how by the mean of Merlin he lay by the duchess and gat Arthur"III"Of the birth of King Arthur and of his nurture"IV"And of the death of King Uther Pendragon"VI"And how Arthur was chosen king, and of wonders and marvels of a sword taken out of a stone by the said Arthur"VII"How King Arthur pulled out the sword divers times"VIII"How King Arthur held in Wales, at a Pentecost, a great feast, and what kings and lords came to his feast"IX"Of the first war that King Arthur had, and how he won the field"X"How Merlin counselled King Arthur to send for King Ban and King Bors, and of their counsel taken for the war"XI"Of a great tourney made by King Arthur and the two kings Ban and Bors, and how they went over the sea"XII"How eleven kings gathered a great host against King Arthur"XIII"Of a dream of the King with the Hundred Knights"XIV-XVI"How the eleven kings with their host fought against Arthur and his host, and many great feats of the war"XVII"Yet more of the said battle, and how it was ended by Merlin"XVIII"How King Arthur, King Ban, and King Bors rescued King Leodegrance, and other incidents"XIX"How King Arthur rode to Carlion, and of his dream, and how he saw the Questing Beast"XX"How King Pellinore took Arthur's horse and followed the Questing Beast, and how Merlin met with Arthur"XXI"How Ulfius impeached Queen Igraine, Arthur's mother, of treason; and how a knight came and desired to have the death of his master revenged"XXII"How Griflet was made knight, and jousted with a knight"XXIII"How twelve knights came from Rome and asked truage for this land of Arthur, and how Arthur fought with a knight"XXIV"How Merlin saved Arthur's life, and threw an enchantment on King Pellinore and made him to sleep"XXV"How Arthur by the mean of Merlin gat Excalibur his sword of the Lady of the Lake"XXVI"How tidings came to Arthur that King Rience had overcome eleven kings, and how he desired Arthur's beard to trim his mantle"XXVII"How all the children were sent for that were born on May-day, and how Mordred was saved"
Book II +Caxton II Chapter Title (Rhŷs 1906)I"Of a damosel which came girt with a sword for to find a man of such virtue to draw it out of the scabbard"II"How Balin, arrayed like a poor knight, pulled out the sword, which afterward was cause of his death"III"How the Lady of the Lake demanded the knight's head that had won the sword, or the maiden's head"IV"How Merlin told the adventure of this damosel"V"How Balin was pursued by Sir Lanceor, knight of Ireland, and how he jousted and slew him"VI"How a damosel, which was love to Lanceor, slew herself for love, and how Balin met with his brother Balan"VII"How a dwarf reproved Balin for the death of Lanceor, and how King Mark of Cornwall found them, and made a tomb over them"VIII"How Merlin prophesied that two the best knights of the world should fight there, which were Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristram"IX"How Balin and his brother, by the counsel of Merlin, took King Rience and brought him to King Arthur"X"How King Arthur had a battle against Nero and King Lot of Orkney, and how King Lot was deceived by Merlin, and how twelve kings were slain"XI"Of the interment of twelve kings, and of the prophecy of Merlin, and how Balin should give the dolorous stroke"XII"How a sorrowful knight came before Arthur, and how Balin fetched him, and how that knight was slain by a knight invisible"XIII"How Balin and the damosel met with a knight which was in likewise slain, and how the damosel bled for the custom of a castle"XIV"How Balin met with that knight named Garlon at a feast, and there he slew him, to have his blood to heal therewith the son of his host"XV"How Balin fought with King Pellam, and how his sword brake, and how he gat a spear wherewith he smote the dolorous stroke"XVI"How Balin was delivered by Merlin, and saved a knight that would have slain himself for love"XVII"How that knight slew his love and a knight lying by her, and after, how he slew himself with his own sword, and how Balin rode toward a castle where he lost his life"XVIII"How Balin met with his brother Balan, and how each of them slew other unknown, till they were wounded to death"XIX"How Merlin buried them both in one tomb, and of Balin's sword"
Book III
+Caxton III Chapter Title (Rhŷs 1906)I"How King Arthur took a wife, and wedded Guenever, daughter to Leodegrance, King of the Land of Cameliard, with whom he had the Round Table"II"How the Knights of the Round Table were ordained and their sieges blessed by the Bishop of Canterbury"III"How a poor man, riding upon a lean mare, desired King Arthur to make his son knight"IV"How Sir Tor was known for son of King Pellinore, and how Gawaine was made knight"V"How at the feast of the wedding of King Arthur to Guenever, a white hart came into the hall, and thirty couple hounds, and how a brachet pinched the hart, which was taken away"VI"How Sir Gawaine rode for to fetch again the hart, and how two brethren fought each against other for the hart"VII"How the hart was chased into a castle and there slain, and how Sir Gawaine slew a lady"VIII"How four knights fought against Sir Gawaine and Gaheris, and how they were overcome, and their lives saved at the request of four ladies"IX"How Sir Tor rode after the knight with the brachet, and of his adventure by the way"X"How Sir Tor found the brachet with a lady, and how a knight assailed him for the said brachet"XI"How Sir Tor overcame the knight, and how he lost his head at the request of a lady"XII"How King Pellinore rode after the lady and the knight that led her away, and how a lady desired help of him, and how he fought with two knights for that lady, of whom he slew the one at the first stroke"XIII"How King Pellinore gat the lady and brought her to Camelot to the court of King Arthur"XIV"How on the way he heard two knights, as he lay by night in a valley, and of other adventures"XV"How when he was come to Camelot he was sworn upon a book to tell the truth of his quest"
Book IV
+Caxton IV Chapter Title (Rhŷs 1906)I"How Merlin was assotted and doted on one of the ladies of the lake, and how he was shut in a rock under a stone and there died"II"How five kings came into this land to war against King Arthur, and what counsel Arthur had against them"III"How King Arthur had ado with them and overthrew them, and slew the five kings and made the remnant to flee"IV"How the battle was finished or he came, and how King Arthur founded an abbey where the battle was"V"How Sir Tor was made knight of the Round Table, and how Bagdemagus was displeased"VI"How King Arthur, King Uriens, and Sir Accolon of Gaul, chased an hart, and of their marvellous adventures"VII"How Arthur took upon him to fight to be delivered out of prison, and also for to deliver twenty knights that were in prison"VIII"How Accolon found himself by a well, and he took upon him to do battle against Arthur"IX"Of the battle between King Arthur and Accolon"X"How King Arthur's sword that he fought with brake, and how he recovered of Accolon his own sword Excalibur, and overcame his enemy"XI"How Accolon confessed the treason of Morgan le Fay, King Arthur's sister, and how she would have done slay him"XII"How Arthur accorded the two brethren, and delivered the twenty knights, and how Sir Accolon died"XIII"How Morgan would have slain Sir Uriens her husband, and how Sir Uwaine her son saved him"XIV"How Queen Morgan le Fay made great sorrow for the death of Accolon, and how she stole away the scabbard from Arthur"XV"How Morgan le Fay saved a knight that should have been drowned, and how King Arthur returned home again"XVI"How the Damosel of the Lake saved King Arthur from a mantle which should have burnt him"XVII"How Sir Gawaine and Sir Uwaine met with twelve fair damosels, and how they complained on Sir Marhaus"XVIII"How Sir Marhaus jousted with Sir Gawaine and Sir Uwaine, and overthrew them both"XIX"How Sir Marhaus, Sir Gawaine, and Sir Uwaine met three damosels, and each of them took one"XX"How a knight and a dwarf strove for a lady"XXI"How Sir Pelleas suffered himself to be taken prisoner because he would have a sight of his lady, and how Sir Gawaine promised him to get to him the love of his lady"XII"How Sir Gawaine came to the Lady Ettard, and how Sir Pelleas found them sleeping"XXIII"How Sir Pelleas loved no more Ettard by the mean of the Damosel of the Lake, whom he loved ever after"XXIV"How Sir Marhaus rode with the damosel, and how he came to the Duke of the South Marches"XXV"How Sir Uwaine rode with the damosel of sixty year of age, and how he gat the prize at tourneying"XXVI"How Sir Marhaus fought with the duke and his four sons and made them to yield them"XXVII"How Sir Uwaine fought with two knights and overcame them"XXVIII"How at the year's end all three knights with their three damosels met at the fountain"
Book V