It tells the story of the Arthurian world from the events of the Crucifixion, where the Grail originated, to the death of Lancelot after the destruction of the Round Table. It draws in many different strands, from the pseudo-historical stories about Arthur to the romances of chivalric adventure and the spiritual quest for the Grail. It consists of five works: the longest is Lancelot, a kind of chivalric history of the Round Table, which leads into the quest for the Grail and Arthur's death. The first two books were added later, and provide an account of events up to Arthur's birth. Not long after the cycle was completed, another writer retained the first two books of the Vulgate cycle but recast the last three books with a rather different emphasis; this version is known as the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and is one of the main sources used by Sir Thomas Malory. Available as a ten volume set or a single volumes.

    

    John's Priory, Carmarthen, the famous Black Book includes a mixture of thirteenth-century secular and religious items penned by a Welsh monk, but there are also passages purporting to come from more ancient times. Meirion Pennar's selected translations include the dialogue between Myrddin (Merlin) and Taliesin, and the verses said to have been written by Merlin after the Battle of Arderydd, when he was hiding in the Caledonian Forest.