Fiction Excerpts: King Arthur and the Round Table (Core Classics®)

Fiction Excerpt 1: The Sword in the Stone (Part One)

In the days of old, Britain was ruled by King Uther Pendragon. The dragon was his emblem, and he was a mighty warrior and a great ruler. He was not only the greatest man in battle, but he was wise, too, for he followed the counsel of Merlin, a great magician and seer. Merlin could cast magic spells and change shapes to look like an animal or another person. He was called a seer because he could see the future—for everyone, that is, except himself. Uther Pendragon had a son named Arthur. One day, when Arthur was still young, Merlin had a terrifying vision. He foresaw that Uther Pendragon would soon die from a plague that was sweeping the land. And he saw that, because Arthur was only a baby, many of the other noblemen would try to take his place as king. Some might even try to harm him, and war would break out. So Merlin secretly gave Arthur into the care of a noble knight, Sir Ector, who did not know he was protecting the king’s son and heir. Sir Ector raised Arthur along with his own son, Kay. Just as Merlin had predicted, Uther Pendragon died, and the British lords began to feud with each other over who should be king. For years, Britain was torn with warfare and strife. When Merlin felt that the time had come, he went to the Archbishop of Canterbury and said that if the archbishop would call the lords of the land to London at Christmas, a miracle would reveal who was the rightful king of Britain. The archbishop did as Merlin asked. On Christmas Day, all the lords attended church. When they came out, they found in the churchyard a square marble stone. In the middle of it was an anvil, and into the anvil was thrust a sword. The stone gripped the naked sword by the point, and on the blade was written in gold letters: “Whosoever pulls out this sword from this stone and anvil is the true-born King of Britain.” Each lord tried to pull the sword out, but all failed. News of the sword in the stone spread, with an invitation to all the knights of the land to come try to pull out the sword. A jousting tournament was announced for New Year’s Day. The knights would first compete on the jousting field; then they would attempt to remove the sword. All the great lords attended a church service on New Year’s Day. Among them were Sir Ector and his son, Sir Kay, who had only recently been made a knight.

TEACHER RESOURCES 215 Arthur, only fifteen years old and completely unaware of his kingly birth, acted as Kay’s assistant, or squire. After the church service, all rode in a merry company to the jousting field. When Sir Kay realized he had left his sword behind, he asked Arthur to ride back and get it for him. Arthur rode as fast as he could to their lodging but found the door locked. Arthur had seen the sword in the stone but did not know of the legends surrounding it. He said to himself, “I will ride to the churchyard and take that sword in the stone, for my brother shall not be without a sword this day.”

216 MEDIEVAL EUROPE