Sutcliff has dealt directly with Arthurian materials in her adult novel, Sword at Sunset, and in three other books for young adults: Tristan and Iseult, The Sword and the Circle, and The Road to Camlann. She has also written several novels dealing with ancient Britain, some of which touch on the historical figure of Arthur. Her first important trilogy (The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, and The Lantern Bearers) culminates in the battle led by Ambrosius, the real-life figure most often identified by historians as the model for King Arthur. Sutcliff has also written about knighthood and chivalric virtues in Knight's Fee.