(typewriter clicks and thuds) (upbeat music) (text thuds) - [Malcolm] Well, hello, my name is Malcolm Guite.

I'm an English poet, and this is my book, "Galahad and the Grail."

- [Jeremy] Malcolm, I gotta tell you, I felt like a kid again reading this.

- [Malcolm] Oh, great.

Well, that's just what I hoped.

- [Jeremy] Why do you think the legend is so compelling?

- I think it has images and archetypes that speak well beyond its own time.

I mean, just from this point of view, the idea of the Arthur as the young boy who's been adopted and fostered and doesn't quite know who he is and who meets Merlin who kind of gradually helps him to realize and who has a destiny to be King, that's an exciting story, but actually, it's also the story of every young man.

It's about what it is to grow to maturity.

It's about finding that older, wiser advisor.

It's about growing into who you should be.

And every generation needs to come back to these great stories.

Each generation asks them different questions, and they have wisdom.

- Taking on something like this seems daunting to me.

- Yeah.

- So where did the idea even come from?

- So, one of the great things about, you know, being a Brit and being in the British Isles is these stories are, you know, indigenous.

They go right back, and there's just loads of places in England that have Arthurian associations.

And my idea originally was to just do like a slow walk round Britain and have the prose, this is modern Britain.

And then I say a poem, and the land wakes up and the land itself tells the story that it keeps.

But in the end, I thought having two narratives where you've got prose and then poetry, it's all a bit too kind of tricksy and postmodern.

And I thought, "What would I have wanted as a young man?"

I would've wanted a ringing, singing rhythmic ballad, kind of carrying its own music.

And in the end, the way the poetry works is it's like a backbeat.

It's kind of like the galloping of your horse's hooves as you're out on quest.

It's carrying you forward.

And in fact, I have a little note at the beginning where I say, "Read it out loud."

- Yeah.

Malcolm, it's such an accomplishment.

Thank you for doing this.

- Well, thank you very much for having me.

It's been great to talk about it.

- And thank you for watching "A Word on Words."

I'm Jeremy Finley.

Remember, keep reading.

(typewriter dings) - [Malcolm] "And even I, in these dark times, have heard and found it true, so I have taken up the tale and given it to you."