I have incurred both personal and academic debts in this attempt to trace as full a picture as possible of the sources that Sir Thomas Malory used to compose his Morte Darthur. My thanks must go first to Professor P. J. C. Field for entrusting an untried Ph.D. student with a project that he had wished to pursue himself. That project, a study of Malory's minor sources, culminated in my dissertation. From that first instance of generosity, he has never failed to set inspiringly high standards in scholarship, dedication, industry, and friendship. Lucy Armitt and Ad Putter spotted many errors and weaknesses, to this work's general improvement. Carleton Carroll kindly gave me the benefit of his expertise in Old French. This book has also greatly benefited from the friendship, advice, and assistance of Samantha Rayner, who has from the beginning unselfishly given invaluable moral and scholarly support.

I have also benefited from the help and support of many friends on both sides of the Atlantic. In particular, I am grateful to Professor Field's family, his wife Vanessa and his daughters Catherine and Elizabeth, and to Jack Rayner for making an expatriate feel much more at home. I must also name here Margerie Dobbin, Wendy Charles, Barbara Stevenson, Laura Dabundo, Bradford Fletcher, and Hugh T. Kennan. I also owe thanks to the librarians of the University of Wales, Bangor, and of Kennesaw State University, particularly to Rita Spisak, for their patience and efficiency.