Although Thomas Malory the highwayman-knight may not in fact have been the author of Le Morte d'Arthur, his criminal activities are no evidence either for or against his claim to authorship of the work. The author of Le Morte d'Arthur says at the end of his book that he is "the seruaunt of Ihesu both day and nyght," and throughout the hook the stiff code of chivalry is played against humane and flexible Christian charity. On the other hand, Malory's myth of Arthur is essentially secular in its focus. Even the Grail Quest, as Malory treats it, is more secular than holy and ironic in spirit: it shows nobility of soil] and, at the same time, through its slaughter of many of Arthur's knights, it dangerously weakens the kingdorn. If the God of Malory's universe is as much a God of love as a ruler of destiny, Merlin — part man, part wizard, part devil — is his only available prophet. What the author of Le Morte d'Arthur knows best is battle, jealousy, sexual lust, sudden rage, frustrated idealism, and the waste of human potential.
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